What more can they possibly want to know? With the case against Kevin collapsing, the new Will County State's Attorney Jim Glasgow held an immediate court hearing. For hours, Kevin and Melissa shook hands and gave hugs, receiving mourners until they could barely stand. From his Joliet offices, Will County State's Attorney Jeffery Tomczak kept close tabs on the investigation's progress. What about DNA testing? Fewer than 20 new single family homes were built last year in the villages of Coal City and Diamond. Later, Scott Denton, the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on Riley, signed an affidavit swearing that he had never talked to Tomczak and did not share his opinion about Riley's being alive when she was placed in the water. Little did he know that a few hours later, he would be waking up to the worst nightmare of his life and that his beloved daughter would be taken away from him forever. "I'm asking leave to file same." Kevin Wayne Fox, 52, of Bunker Hill, WV, passed away December 18, 2020. . Chad Fox looked on the rumors as confirmation that Kevin-still not represented by a lawyer-was a suspect, perhaps the only suspect. Select the best result to find their address, phone number, relatives, and public records. In that summer of Riley's disappearance, the men were again locked in a tight race against each other in a campaign that, the Chicago Tribune said, "was bound to get ugly" given the men's history. The case has set in motion a series of events that bitterly divided what had been a neighborly town; cast a shadow of suspicion over a tight-knit, well-respected family; and raised questions about whether justice was forsaken for personal and political ambitions. May 7, 2021 3-year-old Riley Fox was found inside a creek a little distance away from her home in Wilmington, Illinois. Among the questions the two men fielded were queries about whether politics influenced the timing of the interrogation. It had all happened so quickly-had seemed to make so much sense in the moment. Worse, when Bode finally got the DNA, the family was told testing would take two months, and that the chances of finding male saliva in Riley's DNA were slim because there was so little genetic material to test. She was led into Kevin's room where, she claims, Williams showed her a computer screen. "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.' 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 felt we could never get an answer on the progress of the case," Kevin says. The next day, an article and editorial in the local paper, The Free Press Advocate, excoriated Jacobson and NBC 5 and told the family's account: Melissa had traded in the car because she couldn't bear how it reminded her of trips around town with Riley. The interrogation and arrest of Fox, the suit alleges, was part of a last-ditch effort by Tomczak to win re-election. . Riley Fox Riley Fox (March 31, 2001 - June 6, 2004) was a 3-year-old girl from Wilmington, Illinois, who was murdered on June 6, 2004. Maybe the boy thought Kevin had left when he stepped outside for a quick smoke. He admitted placing her on the bank of the river, under the water. "We'll see," the defense attorney shot back. Immediately, we both started crying. But if he could get out on bond, he could straighten this mess out. (Lyons did not return calls seeking comment.). Many other people assumed he was guilty. Kevin and Melissa were high school sweethearts, and through they fell out for a bit after Melissa got pregnant for the first time, they soon moved in together and gave birth to a beautiful boy, Tyler. Kevin likes to keep his private life under wraps, and hence his present whereabouts are unclear. NewsBreak provides latest and breaking Wilmington, IL local news, weather forecast, crime and safety reports, traffic updates, event notices, sports, entertainment, local life and other items of interest in the community and nearby towns. But if Kevin was joking, the police apparently didn't get it. Her hair a tiara of chestnut curls, she wore a snow-white "princess" dress, a gossamer confection of satin and lace over white satin slippers. On one level, the couple could understand that the authorities might hold them-or at least Kevin-under suspicion. When you see your daughter dead, with dirt and mud on her face . As Kevin and countless others in the sanctuary laughed with delight, he returned her to her mother, who shook her head with resignation and took the girl to the pew. Jetta Myers graced the couples life with his arrival on December 18, 2017. If charges were to be filed, he would be the one to bring them. It put stress on the couple, and soon, they separated with Melissa moving out with both children. Tags: Crime & Law, Design Controls - Google AMP, Long Reads, Politics & City Life, Print-Specific Tags - Feature, Writers - Bryan Smith. "For it is to such as these the kingdom of God belongs.". Whats even sadder is that the detectives and all parties involved were not interested in finding the real monster who would take such a beautiful innocent child away from their family. (Williams refused to comment because of the pending litigation. He planned to drive the kids to Chicago in the morning to catch Melissa at the finish line. Are you kidding me?" His voice trails off. "There was nothing to eliminate him." He spent eight months in prison before he was released and ultimately cleared through DNA evidence. 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. 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. But we feel closer to her when we go there. Despite the elimination of all charges against Kevin, some still wonder how a child could be abducted from under a father's nose. What's more, investigators would be able to place the car along the route that led to Forsythe Woods, where Riley's body had been found. 701 Market St, Wilmington, NC 28401-4646. "My niece was kidnapped and murdered from her own home," he said, "-no answers from the cops for months, a deliberate railroading of my brother, my family nearly falls apart because of the sadness and stress, the terrible perception by the public of us defending Kevin. On this day, however, the mood was festive. "If you saw one, generally the other was right behind," Curt Fox says. An appeals court Wednesday agreed with a federal jury's 2007 finding that Will County police framed Kevin Fox for the rape and murder of his 3-year-old daughter Riley, but reduced the damages . The next day, Kevin Fox's DNA was compared with the sample. Zellner also began looking into an element that seemed to have been forgotten: the DNA evidence taken from Riley. "I don't think I've ever seen a more beautiful sight," he says. Five months after the murder, the police claimed that Kevin had confessed to Rileys murder. For Tomczak it could also provide a diversion from a new headache that had suddenly surfaced. Zellner also re-examined the bathroom door that had supposedly hit Riley. The image was almost as precious, in fact, as the photo a few pages later of Chad, Stacy, Kevin, Melissa, Tyler, and Riley smiling back at the camera in their wedding formalwear. A videotape captured the session, conducted by a forensic interviewer named Mary Jane Pluth, who works for the Will County Children's Advocacy Center. And they turn the page. 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. But it slowly dawned on him that the whole thing-the supposed sympathy of the detectives, the "friendship" of "Scott," the seemingly cordial questioning-had been a ruse. Hayes made Kevin watch as he filled out an arrest sheet for first-degree murder. "We think you know more than you're telling us," Kevin says the detective told him. Subscribe for free today! Meanwhile, the members of Kevin's family hold firm to their unwavering belief in the man who they say became, like his murdered daughter, a victim. "We put all our faith in them. The ruling elite is now past retardation for many centuries. . ", The couple held hands as they made their way across the parking lot to the Will County sheriff's office in Joliet at about 7:30 that night. "They thought they had me convinced," she says. Tomczak, now in private practice in Joliet, was added in July 2005. "When I reached out to Kevin and said, I believe you,' I think they got pissed." Kevin, 20, was overwhelmed by the sudden turn of events, and the two broke up for a short period. 442-H New York Standard Operating Procedures New York Fair Housing Notice TREC: . No. The tactics that produced Kevin Fox's statement, he says, are a case study in how to get someone to railroad himself. The Fox family expressed staunch support of Kevin. "I was raised with the idea that authorities were good people and that they should be respected.". "That door was paper thin," Zellner says. Months went by with no breaks in the case. The original defendants included Will County detectives Hayes, Swearengen, Guilfoyle, Ruettiger, and two others. Chad recalls the moment vividly: "Kevin looked at me and said, I didn't do this. She adored her father. ), The exam began at just before one in the morning and took a little over an hour. Five months after three-year-old Riley Fox of Wilmington was brutally murdered, her father, Kevin, confessed following a long night with Will County detectives. The results did not match, and hence after eight months of being imprisoned, Kevin was finally let go. Other family members were less comfortable. "We'd ask, but they'd always say something like We can't really discuss it.'" 3-year-old Riley Fox was found inside a creek a little distance away from her home in Wilmington, Illinois. By the afternoon, more than 500 people were scouring the area, some on horseback, others on bicycles or all-terrain vehicles. When he first noticed Riley missing, he did not want to worry unnecessarily. 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. 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. "The people lack the probable cause to continue to hold him on these charges and would be unable to meet our burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt." Select the best result to find their address, phone number, relatives, and public records. That night, Kevin drove to Chicago, too, to attend a concert with a friend and one of Melissa's brothers. You're told there is overwhelming evidence against you, including a failed polygraph. View Source Share Save to Suggest Edits Memorial Photos Flowers Memorials Region North America USA Illinois 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. That Saturday night, she stayed at a campsite with friends in Skokie. '", At this point, Melissa says, she knew something wasn't right. "They found her at Forsythe Woods," Curt answered in a broken voice. Both stations share studios on Shipyard Boulevard in Wilmington, while WSFX-TV's . After three hours alone, Melissa grew furious. He says the police told him he was right not to panic, that "in a lot of cases a child wanders off, and they can't find them at first." The girl was kidnapped from. He then went home and slept," the prosecutor said. As for sexual abuse, "I'm not a stupid person," Melissa says. "We think you were involved." After Champagne and pizza at Zellner's office, Kevin, Melissa, and Tyler spent the evening at Chad and Stacy's apartment in Chicago, safely away from the media. A picture of the children would make its way into Chad's wedding album, a cherished memento of a perfect day. I hated that, but I had no idea what to believe. In fact, it would be the last photo of all of them together, taken as it was just two weeks before the little girl would be found floating face-down in a creek. The few clues that might have pointed to other suspects were either discounted or ignored. But because so many people had called with similar observations about the Foxes' spending habits, the station decided it couldn't ignore the rumors.). To those who didn't know Kevin Fox, the hearing seemed to offer a shocking solution to a terrible crime . "I felt like I had nothing to hide," he says, and he worried that hiring an attorney might make him look guilty. Some questioned why a reward had never been offered. To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store. . Kevin had been up for more than 24 hours and he'd had little to eat. 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. Short period I was raised with the sample imprisoned, Kevin drove to Chicago in the villages of Coal and... One in the villages of Coal City and Diamond 3-year-old Riley Fox was found inside a creek a distance. 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