Almost a year later, Fox was freed from the Will County Jail, and his murder. $271,900. "But the awful truth is," he says, "I wanted to see more. He admitted placing his finger in the vagina of the child. Later, however, he would reflect on the bittersweet nature of the day. She had been following the case in the media, and she urged Chad to get his brother to talk to her. WILMINGTON, Ill. -- Five years had passed since the 2004 murder of 3-year-old Riley Fox when FBI Special Agent Lori Warren began working on what she called "the most important case of my. . Kevin Fox and his family paid little attention to the politics of the race. "Say it was an accident. "Your family doesn't love you," he shouted. On October 21st, his father, Donald Tomczak, was arrested on a federal indictment in the Hired Truck scandal in Chicago. We wanted to know if they had found out what had happened. Television satellite trucks roared into town, deploying their parabolic dishes and disgorging reporters. High 24F. ", At one point, according to the lawsuit, Hayes leaned close and told Kevin that he "knew people" at the jail, "and would make sure' that Kevin was fucked' every day unless he told them what they wanted to hear." Kevin says he was incredulous. "I feel sad for the whole community that we were betrayed." A self-described small-town boy from Wilmington, Illinois, he was there to act as best man for his older brother, Chad. The elder woman had just made her way to the edge of the creek when she noticed something that looked to her like a plastic bag. Kevin Corke is an American journalist born on 6 February. An Amber alert for Riley Fox had flashed on the scoreboard. They later portrayed his statement as an attempt to provide a possible alibi. By the afternoon, more than 500 people were scouring the area, some on horseback, others on bicycles or all-terrain vehicles. She quickly became known around town as the precocious little girl who loved Dora the Explorer, the kind of child who insisted on picking out her own flower girl dress-only after plis and curtsies in front of a mirror. The boy weeps. Get your help from the State's Attorney so you can go home to your family. Zellner filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Foxes in November 2004, in U.S. District Court in Chicago, claiming a violation of due process, malicious prosecution, false imprisonment, and defamation. Why did Kevin call the nonemergency line instead of 911 the morning of Riley's disappearance? Kevin says Swearengen's tone changed abruptly. But the court reduced the damages awarded to Kevin Fox and his wife, Melissa, to $8 million, down from about $12.2 million. And that she did not have. Instead, going on a "gut feeling," he said, they "rolled bones" in the hope they could elicit a confession. Respect! Kevin would have to be freed. He's a local resident. he recalls saying. Trying not to panic, Kevin searched the house. "The only way to guarantee that Kevin Fox would not be executed was to find DNA that excluded him with 100-percent certainty," she says. We thought, This is the night. But because so many people had called with similar observations about the Foxes' spending habits, the station decided it couldn't ignore the rumors.). We hope he finds some comfort soon and would like to wish him all the happiness for the coming days. After Kevin graduated high school and entered college, Melissa got pregnant with their first child Tyler. The person behind the mixup, the lawsuit alleges, was Ed Hayes. Again, this was the first he'd heard of it. Melissa Mack (right) with her husband Ryan and newborn baby Jett Myers Tickets to see Kevin James perform in Joliet at the Rialto Square Theatre go on sale this Friday at 10 a.m. . . Some questioned why a reward had never been offered. Once, he nods. AGE 40s Kevin J Fox Saint Jacob, IL View Full Report Used To Live In Relatives Maryland Man Arrested After Crashing Stolen Vehicle. During that town hall style session, Mayor Ben Dietz delivered a state of the city speech to the more than four dozen people in attendance, laying out . Within moments, Swearengen appeared and led her into an adjoining room. Outside the courtroom, more than 100 friends and family greeted them. Eighteen of those children were stolen from the home. Wilmington, Illinois, just south of Joliet, stands amid the vast cornfields and high grass prairies of the Kankakee River valley, a little more than 50 miles southwest of Chicago. Pluth starts off with basic questions about where Tyler lives and what kind of sports he likes. Pluth pursues. Protocols should be revised and people in positions of authority need to be accoutable for their actions! 77/48F. He looks away. A steady drizzle fell, while inside, mourners wept to a slide-show collage set to the songs "My Girl" and Sarah McLachlan's "Angel." Melissa reeled. "He said, I can't find Riley.' "We'd ask, but they'd always say something like We can't really discuss it.'" "When I saw the pictures . "He is an amazing dad, I tell you what," says his mother, Dawn. When Judge Dan Rozak dismissed the case, the courtroom exploded into applause and cheering. Case closed. But early Sunday morning, Tyler woke up Kevin to tell him that Riley was missing. he asks. With the case against Kevin collapsing, the new Will County State's Attorney Jim Glasgow held an immediate court hearing. Kevin, on the other hand, claimed that the police coerced him into admitting guilt. "We were still young, so it was scary," Kevin says. One detective, Scott Swearengen, played toss with Tyler and often dropped by for coffee at Curt and Dawn's house, where Kevin and Melissa had moved after Riley's murder. Kevin worked as a union painter to earn a living, while Melissa got a job as a waitress. [1] After Riley's father was initially accused and then cleared by DNA evidence, paroled convict Scott Eby confessed to the crime and was convicted. Parenting takes a level of intelligence and refuse to pass laws that require logical IQ before they become a parent. "Todd, what the hell! The few clues that might have pointed to other suspects were either discounted or ignored. A little before eight in the morning, however, Tyler came into Kevin's room. That Saturday night, she stayed at a campsite with friends in Skokie. But the parents believed they had cooperated in every way possible, including providing DNA samples, consenting to searches, and answering questions. "For it is to such as these the kingdom of God belongs.". Visitation Friday, March 28th, 3 to 9 p.m. Funeral Saturday, 9:45 a.m., to St. Symphorosa Church. . It put stress on the couple, and soon, they separated with Melissa moving out with both children. 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. Chad Fox looked on the rumors as confirmation that Kevin-still not represented by a lawyer-was a suspect, perhaps the only suspect. Nonetheless, the family members were deeply hurt by the TV report, as well as by the realization that people in town were gossiping about them. Months went by with no breaks in the case. He was cordial, they recall, but he also insisted that the two be separated. TueWedThuFriSat. "I didn't do it, Melissa," he answered back, looking her in the eye. The Will County sheriff seems content to blame former Will County state's attorney Jeff Tomczak for any missteps. You're told there is overwhelming evidence against you, including a failed polygraph. Yet before dawn Saturday, the former church deacon shot and killed each of his three young sons as they lay sleeping. Even so, as time passed and word spread that Riley Fox was missing, a search was mounted. His image hovers ghostlike in the frame. "So just say you did it." For the first time publicly, Kevin and his wife, Melissa, talk about their ordeal, an account of pain, mystery, and undying faith, wrapped around an enduring tragedy. . Williams told Kevin that if he passed he would be cleared in his daughter's death, according to the lawsuit; if he failed, he would be charged with murder. "I'm asking leave to file same." The Rossi family had moved to Wilmington when Melissa was in the third grade. Dressed in a tuxedo-dapper but slightly self-conscious-Kevin Fox took his place at the wedding altar inside Holy Name Cathedral, awestruck by the majesty that surrounded him: the light slanting through the stained glass windows, the arches soaring up to gilt ceilings, the bas-relief of Abraham offering to sacrifice his child. The only way to dissuade them, he says they told him, would be to take a polygraph test. Mark M. Strothmann, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Wilmington, quoting Mark 10:14. Best MatchPowered by Whitepages Premium Best MatchPowered by Whitepages Premium Best Match Kevin Edward Fox Morrilton, AR (previously lived in Wilmington, IL) AGE 40s AGE 40s Kevin Edward Fox At the time, it seemed like a happy though standard family portrait. (Tomczak later accused Kevin of lying during his confession-concocting the story of the bathroom door to hide his guilt in molesting Riley.) Five months after the murder, the police claimed that Kevin had confessed to Rileys murder. ", Kevin began to pound the walls. I knew it wasn't true. Seventeen years after the murder and abduction of three-year-old Riley Fox from Wilmington, Illinois, a new two-hour "20/20," featuring reporting by Anchor David Muir, has newly obtained recordings and documents that reveal shocking new details about the case.The two-hour program reports on how the mystery unraveled, including how authorities mistakenly zeroed in on Riley's father, Kevin . "I swear to God I didn't do it." The judge ordered that the genetic material be sent right away. There he saw three pairs of feet poking out of the bottom of the bedcovers. An autopsy would later reveal that the girl had been sexually abused and probably died from drowning. You can tell me," she says. (Through his attorney, Gerald Haberkorn, Hayes denied any allegations of impropriety. As for sexual abuse, "I'm not a stupid person," Melissa says. The Foxes owned a dark blue Ford Escape. The two had clashed on nearly everything, from elections to court cases to ethical conduct. Mar 2020 - Present3 years. Born in Atchison, Kansas, November 6, 1928, Jim was the second son of Jared Copeland Fox III and Ethel Carroll Fox. "I knew he was innocent, and I knew my family was in for the fight of its life," he says. How could a lightweight bathroom door knock a little girl out so completely that she appeared dead? 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 After returning home with his children at around 1 am, Kevin put his kids in the living room and went to bed at 2:30 am. Virtually none of the principals involved in the case has gone untouched. Not even close. Also, Tomczak alleged during Kevin's initial hearing that "the autopsy report indicated [Riley] was alive and struggling when placed in the water." Zellner says she also was struck by the unwavering belief in Kevin's innocence by the family, particularly Melissa. More often than not, the detectives would instead question Kevin and Melissa. "We felt like we were finally going to find out what had happened," Kevin says. 28, 2008. With his help, an investigative team began to re-enact each element of Kevin's statement to test it for plausibility. The enormity of what had just happened, what he had just done, had not yet sunk in. He left Tyler and Riley with Melissa's mother, Sandy Rossi. According to a statement he later gave police, he picked the kids up and drove them home at around 1 a.m. Then, too tired to make up their beds, he laid them down in the living room-Riley on the couch and Tyler on a chair with a footstool. Beyond the walls of the sheriff's building dawn was arriving. Then, on June 7th, came the answer. . Three miles away, a Wilmington police cruiser returned to Kevin and Melissa's house. I had never been treated like that before. "Everything that [detectives] had was still pointing to this guy," says Will County Sheriff's spokesman Pat Barry. He shakes his head one final time. The Will County Sheriff's Office defends its detectives' handling of the case, including the 14 1/2-hour interrogation that led to Fox's confession. The medical examiner also noted light bruising on Riley's head. "This isn't political," he said. When it was over, Williams told Kevin that he had failed. At a press conference, Glasgow stopped short of directly criticizing Tomczak, but the implication was clear: he thought the case had been mishandled, particularly when it came to the long delay in DNA testing. "No." For hours, Kevin and Melissa shook hands and gave hugs, receiving mourners until they could barely stand. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. He had suffered threats and the ridicule of guards, according to his lawsuit. He began having nightmares in which he would see Kevin strapped to a gurney, about to receive a lethal injection. He laid Riley on the couch and placed his son, Tyler, in the chair in the living area before going to his room to watch TV. The detective surmised that Kevin had applied the duct tape and committed the sexual assault to make it look as if the little girl had been kidnapped. 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. ", The couple, however, have moved out of Wilmington. the friend asked. Kevin told police that Riley was wearing a white T-shirt with a pink flamingo on it and pink capri pants. With bond set at $25 million, the family decided, on Zellner's advice, not to try to get Kevin out, but to put their money toward clearing his name. (A water usage report from that night suggests that the washing machine did not run.) "Riley is in the room with you right now," the lawsuit quotes Guilfoyle as saying. 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. Par for the course. If you say it was an accident, it's involuntary manslaughter with a three to five year sentence. Now, just a handful of minutes after giving his statement, he sat behind a Plexiglas window with a phone in his hand, shaking his head and crying as his older brother, Chad, and Kathleen Zellner watched helplessly and offered what comfort they could. He then went home and slept," the prosecutor said. Melissa recalls asking, still holding out hope that their daughter was alive. "We'll see," the defense attorney shot back. Who would admit to such horrible things if he hadn't really done them? 701 Market St, Wilmington, NC 28401-4646. According to the sheriff's summary of the interrogation, when Curt Fox told the detectives that he wanted them to stop questioning his son, Swearengen replied, "Kevin is 27 years old and he came to the investigation office voluntarily." For all his initial trepidation, Kevin took to fatherhood in a way that surprised even his closest family. More than 6,000 people attended the wake-nearly 1,000 more than the entire population of Wilmington. Subscribe to one or more of our free e-mail newsletters to get instant updates on local news, events, and opportunities in Chicago. "We put all our faith in them. "There was nothing to eliminate him." Ultimately the detectives went with a far less experienced examiner-Richard C. Williams, a Cook County detective who, according to the Fox lawsuit, had conducted only about 90 tests. 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