Tomczak was bulky with thinning hair. For all his initial trepidation, Kevin took to fatherhood in a way that surprised even his closest family. "And wondering, Why would they lie to me?" 81/63F. "No." Until now, the Foxes have remained silent about their ordeal. "We'd ask, but they'd always say something like We can't really discuss it.'" Harder still was the family portrait with Riley in her princess dress and white satin slippers. 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. Kevin Corke currently serves as an FNC correspondent based in Washington, DC. Kevin Fox was cleared of the charges when a DNA test excluded him from the assault and killing. "He is an amazing dad, I tell you what," says his mother, Dawn. A preliminary report indicated no signs of foreign DNA-with one possible exception: a test for saliva in her vagina came back "inconclusive.". Zellner says she also was struck by the unwavering belief in Kevin's innocence by the family, particularly Melissa. . Kevin, 20, was overwhelmed by the sudden turn of events, and the two broke up for a short period. ", The couple, however, have moved out of Wilmington. Outside the courtroom, more than 100 friends and family greeted them. The tactics that produced Kevin Fox's statement, he says, are a case study in how to get someone to railroad himself. He grabbed the back of Kevin's shirt and pulled his face close. "But Scott said not to worry, that they just needed to ask us a few questions before they told us whatever they wanted to tell us.". "He admitted duct-taping the child's mouth. "It wasn't like there was any time to cook up a story," she says. 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. Within moments, Swearengen appeared and led her into an adjoining room. ", 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." . To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store. The original detectives on the murder have been reassigned, the former state's attorney is now in private practice, and the little town where it occurred has suffered a loss of innocence, as well as wounds to its pride that may take years to heal. At 8:32 a.m., detectives turned on the video camera and began to tape Kevin's statement. he asks. At the small brick and concrete station, just off Main Street, police put Kevin in one room and Melissa in another. If charges were to be filed, he would be the one to bring them. 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. And the Fox family had indeed suggested a reward be offered, only to be told by police it was unnecessary. At one point, Chad received a call from a friend watching the Cubs game. When he first noticed Riley missing, he did not want to worry unnecessarily. "We felt we could never get an answer on the progress of the case," Kevin says. 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. And if it became clear that there was no new information they should leave immediately. The two had clashed on nearly everything, from elections to court cases to ethical conduct. He turned to Lyons, incredulous that the detective hadn't told him earlier. Tomczak wrapped up the hearing by asking for a $25-million bond, a request that drew gasps from the gallery. Not fair! He joined the network in 2014. Months. In less than an hour, it seemed the whole town had turned out. He was cordial, they recall, but he also insisted that the two be separated. A self-described small-town boy from Wilmington, Illinois, he was there to act as best man for his older brother, Chad. Still, Pluth pursues her questioning. 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. Three miles away, a Wilmington police cruiser returned to Kevin and Melissa's house. . "This isn't political," he said. "We'll see," the defense attorney shot back. Kevin would have to be freed. Kevin Corke is an American journalist and is presently a White House Correspondents' Association for Fox News in Washington D.C. Corke has covered four U.S. administrations (Bush, Obama, Trump, Biden). "We know you killed your daughter," they said, according to the suit. Maryland Man Arrested After Crashing Stolen Vehicle. . 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. When the FBI began its investigation in 2009, it was two years after a jury awarded Fox and his then-wife, Melissa Fox, $15.5 million for the Will County Sheriff's Office investigators' false. Tyler shakes his head "no" several times. Check Background Get Contact . A Wilmington crime scene investigator arrived within minutes. God Bless and stay safe. He duct-taped his daughter's mouth and bound her wrists together with tape. "Throughout my life, I've always followed in your footsteps," Kevin said. The only reason I go back now is to visit Riley's stone.". Her husband, Kevin, stayed home with her son, Tyler and her three-year-old daughter, Riley. Even though Kevin was freed of all charges, he claimed that the false imprisonment had a massive impact on his life. 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. Kevin is a producer and writer, known for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999), The Negotiator (1998) and Lie to Me (2009). 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. When it was over, Williams told Kevin that he had failed. For Chad, the fight to clear his kid brother's name became a crusade. As if the image wasn't terrible enough, he said, she had been "able to remove the duct tape from her wrists prior to succumbing to drowning in the water.". Local 630-955-1212 | Toll . He was not a match, Bode reported. "They thought they had me convinced," she says. "You're overcome by grief. On a recent April evening, however, their attentions are devoted to gentler undertakings: their new baby girl, Teagan, who was born on March 8th. When the FBI began its investigation in 2009, it was two years after a jury awarded Fox and his then-wife, Melissa Fox, $15.5 million for the Will County Sheriff's Office investigators' false. We found 59 records for Kevin Fox in Wilmington, IL. 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. After being photographed and fingerprinted, Kevin arrived at the Will County Adult Detention Center less than a mile from the sheriff's office, spent and sick with anxiety. "I had never even met him before and he was just screaming in my face. "We didn't want to turn it into another JonBenet Ramsey case. "We think you were involved." 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. Melissa, who was also told that Kevin had failed, demanded to see the results. "Where did he take Riley? Her father, an avid fisherman, had learned he had cancer, and he wanted to spend what time he had left in a peaceful place along a river, she says. Tomczak, now in private practice in Joliet, was added in July 2005. By Guilfoyle's account, the boy also said things that seem to contradict known facts-that Kevin had dressed Riley in pajamas, for instance. "See all that red?" Kevin Fox, Rileys father, was affected a lot as he was still in mourning when he was seen as the prime suspect and even put in jail for the same. The results did not match, and hence after eight months of being imprisoned, Kevin was finally let go. People wonder: who would do it? Even if Kevin had accidentally hurt Riley, he would have tried to resuscitate her-he was certified in CPR. He has also, on matters unrelated to the case, been in error in at least 13 instances, according to the Fox suit. Protocols should be revised and people in positions of authority need to be accoutable for their actions! 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. Virtually none of the principals involved in the case has gone untouched. By midnight that night, Kevin says, the detectives had dropped all pretense of friendliness. For hours, Kevin and Melissa shook hands and gave hugs, receiving mourners until they could barely stand. To accommodate the expected crowds, Riley's viewing, five days after the murder, was held at the town's largest church, St. Rose Catholic. More than 6,000 people attended the wake-nearly 1,000 more than the entire population of Wilmington. Also added were the polygraph examiner, Richard C. Williams, Pluth, Kaupas, and a jail guard. (Lyons did not return calls seeking comment.). To his family, the event seemed staged, a dog-and-pony show orchestrated by Tomczak. The family sued the state and won $15 million, which later was reduced to $8.5 million. "That door was paper thin," Zellner says. The Nightmare: A Look at the Riley Fox Case, 2020 Chicago magazine / A Chicago Tribune Media Group website, Photograph: Courtesy of Chad and Stacy Fox. The interrogation and arrest of Fox, the suit alleges, was part of a last-ditch effort by Tomczak to win re-election. On this night, however, leafing through a picture book, with Kevin holding Teagan, and Tyler peering over Melissa's shoulder, they can smile when they reach the photograph of the happy family they once were, when the biggest worries were a best man's toast and a little girl wanting to stand beside her daddy. (Through his attorney, Gerald Haberkorn, Hayes denied any allegations of impropriety. As she neared Wilmington, Melissa felt a chill. she asks. With the case against Kevin collapsing, the new Will County State's Attorney Jim Glasgow held an immediate court hearing. Parenting takes a level of intelligence and refuse to pass laws that require logical IQ before they become a parent. The medical examiner also noted light bruising on Riley's head. Kevin Fox, who could have faced the death penalty, was released with all charges dropped. he recalls saying. Northwestern University School of Law's Center on Wrongful Convictions reports that 60 percent of the 42 wrongful murder convictions since 1970 in Illinois have rested in whole or in part on false confessions. (Hunter says today that even if he had been available, he would have refused to give the test on that occasion because Fox's interrogation had been so lengthy and confrontational.) Kevin likes to keep his private life under wraps, and hence his present whereabouts are unclear. 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. I looked at him square in the eyes the whole time, and I knew my brother was not lying to me. He spent eight months in prison before he was released and ultimately cleared through DNA evidence. 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." This time there were no cameras or tape recorders. 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. He still holds Riley close to his heart and cherishes the beautiful memories his daughter left him with. "He changed more diapers and fed and bathed the kids way more than the average father.". Fewer than 20 new single family homes were built last year in the villages of Coal City and Diamond. In addition, Corke serves as a recurring guest-anchor on FOX News @ Night (weeknights . "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. ", Kevin's account of the interrogation continues: Swearengen burst into the room, out of breath and saying he had just talked to Tomczak. Zellner is skeptical. Kevin Fox was born in 1968. "You don't have much time," Hayes warned. Why would Tyler say Kevin had walked out during the night with Riley? With his help, an investigative team began to re-enact each element of Kevin's statement to test it for plausibility. "You look at a stone with your daughter's picture, knowing that her body is in the dirt rather than in your arms. A search for the young girl began. (Pluth did not return calls or an e-mail message.). She had traded in the Ford Escape for a new car. "The state's attorney's office at that point needs to get involved and say, Wait a minute. 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. Back to Top. Visitation Friday, March 28th, 3 to 9 p.m. Funeral Saturday, 9:45 a.m., to St. Symphorosa Church. A few years later, Kevin and Melissa became proud parents of baby Riley, and the family seemed to be quite happy. 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 Indeed, he had promised to press ahead with the death penalty. More often than not, the detectives would instead question Kevin and Melissa. 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. The girl was kidnapped from. He then ran next door, where Riley's best friend lived. The timing of the charges also seemed curious, coming just six days before a tight election for state's attorney between Tomczak, the incumbent, and a bitter rival, James Glasgow. "Riley's gone," the boy said. "He was crying," she recalls. Kevin Wayne Fox, 52, of Bunker Hill, WV, passed away December 18, 2020. The complaint accuses them of conducting a sloppy investigation that, from the start, focused almost exclusively on Kevin Fox and ignored any evidence that might have cast doubt on his guilt. Corke is a Harvard University Kennedy School of Government graduate and was recognized as a Littauer Fellow for his devotion to public service, leadership, and academic achievement. 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. Chief Mickler currently resides in Wilmington with his wife, Rebecca, and their two sons. Subscribe to one or more of our free e-mail newsletters to get instant updates on local news, events, and opportunities in Chicago. The timing was less than ideal for the couple. . "There are some red flags that are making us look at Kevin," Melissa recalls the detective saying. 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. How could a lightweight bathroom door knock a little girl out so completely that she appeared dead? she quotes him as saying. Three-year-old Riley Fox of Wilmington, Illinois, was kidnapped from her home early in the morning on June 6, 2004, as her brother and father slept nearby. "People would walk by my cell and sit in front and look at me," he says. The Fox family expressed staunch support of Kevin. The story seemed preposterous. Par for the course. "It's all right to say you did it." Zellner also re-examined the bathroom door that had supposedly hit Riley. Seventeen years ago, Zellner's client, Kevin Fox, was wrongly arrested and charged with killing his little girl. Zellner returned to her office facing the daunting prospect of going to trial with a client who had confessed. Kevin Fox and his then-wife Melissa's daughter Riley went missing June 6, 2004. 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. I made you drive me around when you got your license. ", By now, Melissa's brother had arrived at the jail, as had Kevin's father. 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. Many of them questioned the confession. Hayes made Kevin watch as he filled out an arrest sheet for first-degree murder. 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. Find a suspect, any suspect, and nail him/her. Tomczak added other details: The girl had been placed in the water while she was still "alive and moving and kicking." But early Sunday morning, Tyler woke up Kevin to tell him that Riley was missing. Panicking, he scooped her up and carried her to his car, retrieving some duct tape from the back. ), Around Wilmington, rumors began to swirl that the Foxes were using money donated to a "Riley fund" for extravagant vacations and luxury purchases. "I kept saying, What's going on? Read More Business Details. He wore a red jump suit and was shackled at the legs and hands. He then went home, cried for a while, and went to sleep. "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. "I don't think I've ever seen a more beautiful sight," he says. The weeks dragged by. 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. Glasgow seized on the charges, suggesting his opponent would be soft on crime. Subscribe for free today! 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 . "It's now or never," the lawsuit claims the detective said. Rather than providing a running narrative, she says, Kevin often simply answered "yes" or "no" to the detectives' questions. (Today, Fox's legal team says that the results were at best unreliable.) They tricked me.' (Will County investigators refuse comment on the quality of the videotape. Kevin and Melissa have visited it many times, as they have Riley's grave in Wilmington's Oakwood Cemetery. Almost immediately after his arrest, Kevin and Melissa brought this multi-count, multi-party lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. Riley Fox was sexually assaulted, bound with duct tape, and drowned in a creek in Wilmington, Illinois. She put her hand on Kevin's leg. WSFX-TV (channel 26) is a television station in Wilmington, North Carolina, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. 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. Finally, Kevin claims in the suit, he was shown pictures of his dead daughter, her mouth still covered with duct tape, nude from the waist down, taken moments after she had been pulled from the creek. And he realized he needed to take responsibility for his child. "Because I think to myself what Riley would be doing right now. The lab had found a man's saliva-just enough to extract a full DNA profile. Even though the court paid Kevin and his wife $15.5 million (later reduced to $8.5 million) as compensation for the ordeal, Kevin said he could never recover his reputation in the town. 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. When Kevin returned to his home in Wilmington, Illinois, around 1am on June 6, 2004, after picking up his children from their grandmother's home, he was exhausted. "Everything's going to be OK," she told him. 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. Though the police denied using force, Kevins attorney had the DNA from the crime scene tested against Kevins own DNA. But Bode, insisting on following protocol, said they'd have to wait for the final report. Info: 773-581-9000. "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?" The suit claimed. Join Facebook to connect with Kevin Fox and others you may know. Guilfoyle, meanwhile, began banging handcuffs on the table in front of Kevin. Kevin had been up since 4:30 that morning and had spent much of his day working at a painting job. His blotchy face shines with tears. But he agreed with Zellner. More than six months later, DCFS reported finding no evidence to support the allegation. The Tribune reported last year that while the FBI had paid $10,000 to Trisha Kiefer, Eby's former girlfriend, for her help in solving one of the Chicago region's most notorious crimes, the Fox . It was now after six in the morning. You don't need your father.'". They later portrayed his statement as an attempt to provide a possible alibi. What more can they possibly want to know? $271,900. Gone were any underwear and capri pants. They describe a codified series of emotional and intellectual manipulations designed to break down even the strongest of personalities. "They'd come back with their legs scratched up and bleeding," recalls Kevin. From his Joliet offices, Will County State's Attorney Jeffery Tomczak kept close tabs on the investigation's progress. Glasgow would later say he was "shocked" at the results. He shakes his head one final time. "We need you to come to the police station," an officer told them. There, the couple gave birth to another daughter, Teagan, in 2006. It put stress on the couple, and soon, they separated with Melissa moving out with both children. "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. Kevin Fox and his family paid little attention to the politics of the race. 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 Five months after. Before that, she was a television news reporter for ABC and FOX affiliates in North Carolina and Illinois. A few hours later, at a reception at the Park Hyatt, Kevin drew on the moment as he stood to toast his brother, Chad, and Chad's new wife, Stacy. A federal jury awarded Fox and his wife, Melissa, $15.5 million for false arrest and. In the cold, shallow, murky water of Forked Creek, Riley's body floated, face-down. . "Hurry back. Only once, in fact, had the little girl wandered away from the small ranch house-that time, to play with a friend. "I'm not saying he shouldn't have been . Why was no duct tape found? Still, both wept when they learned Melissa was carrying a girl. Will County sheriff's detectives had taken charge, assuming jurisdiction because the crime scene was in a forest preserve. Par for the course. Almost a year later, Fox was freed from the Will County Jail, and his murder. Court Upholds Finding that Police Framed Kevin Fox; Jury Awards Kevin Fox, Wife $15.5 Mil; Will Taping Interrogations Fix the System? "They found her at Forsythe Woods," Curt answered in a broken voice. the friend asked. As for Tyler, Kevin had no idea his son had made such a statement-it was the first he'd heard of it. 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. 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