Go home now on bond.". Who would admit to such horrible things if he hadn't really done them? But now that I have a wonderful wife, and the two most beautiful children in the world, you get to finally follow me and make a family. Great article. Harder still was the family portrait with Riley in her princess dress and white satin slippers. But when one of Zellner's assistants tried to do so with a 40-pound bag-the approximate weight of Riley at the time of the murder-the bag was blocked by debris. By now, hundreds of townsfolk were clawing through brush and woods. she thought. Trying not to panic, Kevin searched the house. . Tyler shakes his head "no" several times. Local 630-955-1212 | Toll . In a case that saw numerous twists and even a false arrest, justice was finally delivered when the perpetrator was caught and made to pay for his crimes. Riley Fox story: '20/20' unveils new details in Wilmington girl's death Braidwood mayor charged with DUI after 3-car crash Victim ID'd in deadly crash on I-55 near Wilmington The tactics that produced Kevin Fox's statement, he says, are a case study in how to get someone to railroad himself. "I was raised with the idea that authorities were good people and that they should be respected.". Melissa first saw Kevin at a high-school volleyball game. Riley's pediatrician has said there was never a hint of prior sexual abuse. According to the summary, Kevin thought of driving to his mother-in-law's house, or perhaps taking Riley to the hospital. The media played a role in this suspicion. To those who didn't know Kevin Fox, the hearing seemed to offer a shocking solution to a terrible crime . The couple announced the birth of their son via social media to their friends and followers. She'd be a great big sister.". June 6, 2004: Kevin Fox of Wilmington reports his 3-year-old daughter, Riley, missing about 8 a.m. Hikers find her body about 3:30 p.m. in nearby creek after massive search. They live in Naperville now, a place they feel has given them a fresh start. Get your help from the State's Attorney so you can go home to your family. How do they sleep at night? A father of two, he made a failed run for Congress in 1994, but in the 2000 race for Will County state's attorney, the Republican Tomczak beat the incumbent Democrat, James Glasgow. Glasgow seemed like a fair man, but he had given no indication that he planned to drop charges against Kevin. . They were vacationing in the Ozarks. Months. A "source," his face hidden behind a black blob, his voice disguised, repeated the rumors in Jacobson's "exclusive" interview. , Inc. holds real estate brokerage licenses in multiple provinces. But this family's response-and I have to say when I met Kevin I understood-was that it isn't conceivable that someone like Kevin Fox could hurt anybody. The questions quickly shift to what Kevin did or didn't do that night. We wanted to know if they had found out what had happened. He grabbed the back of Kevin's shirt and pulled his face close. All. "Let the little children come to me," said the Rev. Fox Born: July 26, 1947 in Joliet, IL Died: April 8, 2021 in New Lenox, IL Age 73 of Wilmington, formerly of Joliet, passed away Thursday, April 8, 2021 at Silver Cross. MLS ID #11685368, PRO REAL ESTATE. The trip to the Ozarks had been for another friend's wedding. He answered all the questions and even volunteered to give DNA samples if it helped solved his girls murder. On October 21st, his father, Donald Tomczak, was arrested on a federal indictment in the Hired Truck scandal in Chicago. (Tomczak later accused Kevin of lying during his confession-concocting the story of the bathroom door to hide his guilt in molesting Riley.) He'd barely had time to grab a bite to eat all day. The interrogation and arrest of Fox, the suit alleges, was part of a last-ditch effort by Tomczak to win re-election. He admitted placing his finger in the vagina of the child. Pluth asks again. The few clues that might have pointed to other suspects were either discounted or ignored. "We felt we could never get an answer on the progress of the case," Kevin says. The couple had gone gambling in Las Vegas. ", Kevin says that Swearengen suggested the same "accident" scenario that he had proposed to Melissa nearly nine hours earlier. "Todd, what the hell! View Kevin Fox results in Arkansas (AR) including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. He began having nightmares in which he would see Kevin strapped to a gurney, about to receive a lethal injection. Chief Mickler currently resides in Wilmington with his wife, Rebecca, and their two sons. The state's attorney was quoted in the Chicago Tribune on October 29th as saying "the evidence shows us that [Riley] was sexually abused during life." Tall and striking, with dark brown shoulder-length hair, Zellner has made a name for herself by winning wrongful conviction cases. Suspicion hung over her family as time went by. "Riley's gone," the boy said. and we stand behind them.". Kevin told police that Riley was wearing a white T-shirt with a pink flamingo on it and pink capri pants. They agreed to tell their story to Chicago, they say, in hopes of calling attention to the injustices they believe they have suffered and to breathe new life into an investigation that, even authorities admit, has not yielded any promising leads for months. They first tested where Kevin said he had left the body-according to his confession, he had placed it in the water at the base of the Kahler Bridge, slipping once as he made his way down the muddy embankment. Kevin, after all, had been the last person known to have seen Riley alive. The boy shakes his head. I knew it wasn't true. Since the prelude to Kevin's confession was not videotaped-a law requiring interrogations be videotaped would not go into effect for several more months-the purported promise pits detectives' word against Kevin's. . ABC News 20/20 features this murder in one of their episodes and takes the viewer through the harrowing ordeal Rileys family had to go through after losing their child. The defendants have sought to have the claim dismissed, arguing among other things that prosecutors are immune from such claims. Just before he was booked and taken to jail, Kevin says, the last thing he heard was the sound of the detectives in the hallway, laughing and congratulating themselves. Immediately, we both started crying. If you are interested to know where Kevin Fox is today, we have got you covered. Phone: (910) 343-3900. . "Rape kits"-samples of DNA collected from Riley's body-were sent to the Illinois State Police crime lab for analysis. "I felt like a zoo animal.". 3-year-old Riley Fox was found inside a creek a little distance away from her home in Wilmington, Illinois. When pressed about the car, Kevin recalls, he became exasperated and suggested sarcastically that someone must have snuck into his house, stolen his keys, taken the car, and returned it later. Delaware State Police have arrested 26-year-old Damiean Turner of East New Market, Maryland, for firearm and traffic-related offenses. A tip came in claiming that video surveillance cameras at the town's Mobil station might have captured a car like that at four in the morning of Riley's disappearance. They took Kevin into another part of the building. She initially hired Ernie Rizzo, the big, blustery, and controversial private eye. From 1997 to 1999, more than 50,000 children in the United States were abducted by persons other than family members, according to a 2002 study funded by the U.S. Department of Justice. I hated that, but I had no idea what to believe. Wilmington, Illinois - June 6, 2004 On the weekend of June 6, 2004, Melissa Fox and a group of friends participated in the AVON Walk for Breast Cancer in Chicago, where she stayed for two nights. Unable to sleep at first, he watched some TV, snacked, then went to bed around 2:30, turning on a fan against the hot night in the un-air-conditioned house. "We don't want to lose sight of one of the big tragedies-and major points-of this case," Zellner says, "the fact that, because the wrong man was pursued, a killer is still on the loose. Though the girl has Riley's apple cheeks and sweet disposition, neither parent would ever look on the child as a replacement for their lost daughter. The machine clicked on at a couple of minutes before the hour. Subscribe for free today! ", By now, Melissa's brother had arrived at the jail, as had Kevin's father. "We need you to come to the police station," an officer told them. As to the question of who would confess to a crime so heinous if they didn't do it, Steven Drizin, a leading authority on false confessions, says that is the least mysterious part of the story. About a mile away as the crow flies, a Wilmington mother and daughter had decided to search Forsythe Woods, a sprawling forest preserve with dense growth cut by a tributary of the Kankakee River called Forked Creek. Chad was on the phone to his father, desperately urging Kevin and Melissa to leave. Dawn's current home is located at Wilmington, IL. Finally, after more than an hour of interrogation, Pluth reaches for a box of tissues and thrusts it at Tyler. Date Posted: Sunday, February 26th, 2023. Kevin Fox was born in 1968. She had been following the case in the media, and she urged Chad to get his brother to talk to her. The boy, who is extremely shy with strangers, answers reluctantly, with head shakes and nods. He immediately noticed that the front door and screen were ajar. The Las Vegas trip was to attend a friend's wedding and had been planned and paid for months before Riley's death. Zellner returned to her office facing the daunting prospect of going to trial with a client who had confessed. Its 4.2 square miles occupy a rural stretch of old Route 66 (now Route 53) and offer the picture-perfect icons of Midwestern America. 21244 W Highway 113 Rte #113, Wilmington, IL 60481. He wore a red jump suit and was shackled at the legs and hands. Best of 2022 Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Top 250 TV Shows Most Popular TV Shows Most Popular Video Games Most Popular Music Videos Most Popular Podcasts. Elsewhere in the building, in a small, cramped room with a low ceiling and a one-way mirror about the size of a cereal box, Kevin sat in a corner, facing a group of detectives, including an intense man with strawberry-blond hair and a flushed complexion: Ed Hayes. He shakes his head one final time. Beyond the walls of the sheriff's building dawn was arriving. Zellner insists that there was exculpatory evidence-in the so-called rape kits with material taken from Riley. Zellner is such a bad ass!!! ", And yet, "I'm sitting there thinking there's videotape of the car," she says. A copy of the tape has not been released to the public, but Zellner has viewed it and she claims Kevin's manner is vague and halting. Though the police denied using force, Kevins attorney had the DNA from the crime scene tested against Kevins own DNA. Melissa, describing her husband as a wonderful father, made it clear immediately that she believed he had been railroaded. "She didn't make it. In the weeks that followed, Melissa and Kevin found the investigators to be supportive, even friendly. All told, Kevin was interrogated that night for more than 14 hours; only 20 minutes were taped. "You're overcome by grief. A self-described small-town boy from Wilmington, Illinois, he was there to act as best man for his older brother, Chad. To his family, the event seemed staged, a dog-and-pony show orchestrated by Tomczak. He spent eight months in prison before he was released and ultimately cleared through DNA evidence. Nonetheless, since Kevin's release, a fresh group of investigators has taken over the case, though nothing promising has turned up. And that she did not have. . The parents' doting nature meant that Riley and Tyler rarely strayed far from their sight. Select the best result to find their address, phone number, relatives, and public records. "You guys are nuts!". After the bailiff called the court to order, Tomczak laid out what he called cold, hard evidence of the father's guilt, including a confession. I don't even know how to describe it. "What kind of Cracker-Jack-box cops don't have the decency to tell the parents of a murdered little girl that their daughter is dead?" "We think you know more than you're telling us," Kevin says the detective told him. When the bag was thrown from the bridge, however, it twice floated to the spot where the body had been found. "See all that red?" ", The people of Wilmington seemed to divide into two camps. Case closed. "Everything's going to be OK," she told him. It is heartbreaking to see such a devoted and doting father go through the seemingly never-ending and painful ordeal of losing his daughter and his entire family. The ceremony's original choreography called for Riley to turn right at the front of the aisle and join her mother's pew. the friend asked. "I thought it was a little strange," Melissa says. 31 Largemouth Ln, Wilmington, IL 60481. . he asks. "There are some red flags that are making us look at Kevin," Melissa recalls the detective saying. He called Wilmington police, but not wanting to raise an alarm prematurely, he would later explain, he decided to call the nonemergency line-a choice that was later questioned. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. In less than an hour, it seemed the whole town had turned out. Zellner also re-examined the bathroom door that had supposedly hit Riley. The terms of the "offer" echoed in his head. While much of his work there involved coverage of the Bush Administration as a member of . Meanwhile, several statements by Tomczak, which later proved unfounded, cast another shadow over Kevin. Why can't I see my husband!'" On November 2nd, six days after Kevin's arrest, Glasgow defeated Tomczak 121,000 votes to 112,000 to win the state's attorney's race. Later, however, he would reflect on the bittersweet nature of the day. The Fox family had called Wilmington home for generations. WILMINGTONRoger J. Johnson, 62, of Wilmington, passed away Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023 at his home. As often as not, the town's dozen full-time police officers are looked on less as faceless authorities than as neighbors and friends and former high-school classmates. Zellner is skeptical. They later portrayed his statement as an attempt to provide a possible alibi. Other family members were less comfortable. But after the initial testing by the state crime lab, with its inconclusive finding on saliva, the DNA had been sent to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, which had a nine-month backlog. Next. "You don't have much time," Hayes warned. Hope they find some peace. "So just say you did it." ", Kevin began to pound the walls. After a brief reunion with Melissa and Tyler, Kevin emerged from the jail with his arms raised in triumph and stood before a mob scene of cameras and well-wishers. Twitter Lhamo. "I'm not saying he shouldn't have been . "I had never even met him before and he was just screaming in my face. "I've had other families come in a situation like this and they've had some hesitancy-Well, he's always been kind of troubled but I don't think he'd do anything violent.' Many of them questioned the confession. Later that same afternoon, detective Michael Guilfoyle took Tyler to the Fox family's home. (The DNA was subsequently retested at a different laboratory, and the results again excluded Kevin.). How solid was the evidence? He quit school and the two moved in together. It wasn't always this way. 28, 2008. . 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