The Misery Machine - The Case of Riley Fox

Starting point is 00:00:00 Riley Ann Fox was born on March 31st, 2001 in Cancicki, Illinois to parents Melissa and Kevin. She had a brother named Tyler who was three years older than she was. Riley lived her whole life in Wilmington, Illinois, where Kevin's family lived for several generations. Wilmington is a small rural town, around 50 miles from Chicago. Now, according to her mother, Riley had this perfect black hair and perfect little round face and blue eyes. She was funny. She was silly, just so talkative, and she was friendly to everyone she met. She was just a sweetheart. Melissa's friend said that Riley was a spunky, sassy little girl who could be a little princess. Riley's outgoing nature was clear from her wide smile that she'd

Starting point is 00:00:51 share with those around her. She loved spending time fishing with her father and brother just as much as she enjoyed coloring. She often wore her hair in pigtails with bangs that skirted around her expressive eyebrows. Pink was her favorite color, and she faithfully watched Dora the Explorer. Kevin and Melissa started dating in high school. As the story goes,

Starting point is 00:01:13 an outgoing Melissa asked out the shy Kevin on a first date. Only a few years later, Melissa became pregnant with a young couple's first son, Tyler. The pair briefly separated but later reconciled. Soon, Kevin Dr. dropped out of school to support his family with a union painting job. Three years after they moved in together, Kevin and Melissa were married, with Riley's birth following a year later. Kevin was initially afraid of parenthood, but became a doting father

Starting point is 00:01:41 to Tyler and Riley. According to his mother, he is an amazing dad. I tell you what, he changed more diapers and fed and bath the kids way more than the average father. On June 5th, 2004, Kevin left Tyler and Riley with Melissa's mother while he went to a concert with one of Melissa's brothers and another friend. Earlier that same day, Melissa had met up with her friend, staying overnight in Chicago for an early morning breast cancer awareness walk. At 1 a.m., Kevin picked up his children rather than leaving them overnight with her grandmother. They were going to cheer Melissa on the next morning at the finish line, and he wanted to get an early start. Beforeing to Kevin, he was tired and let them sleep in the living room rather than making them. up their beds. After smoking a last cigarette outside, he locked the door and went to sleep

Starting point is 00:02:28 in the master bedroom. On June 6, just before 8 a.m., Tyler woke his father with the words, Riley's gone. Trying to remain calm, Kevin went through the house, searching all her usual spots without any lock. He noticed that both front doors were ajar, despite being locked the night prior. Kevin called the police, choosing the non-emergency line, a decision that some viewed is suspicious. When talking to the police, they reportedly told him that it was the right way to handle the situation because, and I quote, in a lot of cases, a child wanders off and they can't find them at first. Now, within an hour of Kevin's call, a full-scale search operation was mounted, with upwards of 500 volunteers working towards one common goal to bring Riley Fox home.

Starting point is 00:03:17 Melissa learned of Riley's disappearance when she called Kevin to be picked up at the finish line. Lisa told her friend that Kevin was crying and said, I can't find Riley. She and the friend left immediately to return home. The closer she got to home, the more dread she felt. She said, for some reason, I had this terrible feeling that I was never going to see her again. At around three in the afternoon, a mother and daughter chose to search the Forsyth Woods, which is about a mile from the Fox home. It was then that they saw something floating in the can.

Starting point is 00:03:51 Yankegee Rivers forked creek. It was a little girl. Within minutes, a Wilmington crime scene investigator was at the scene to tentatively verify the identity of the child found floating face down in the creek bed. It was Riley. Afterwards, officers returned to the Fox family home and advised Melissa and Kevin that they would need to be taken to the station. They remain stone-faced, revealing nothing despite Melissa and Kevin's frantic pleas for information. When Melissa and Kevin reached the police station, they were placed in separate rooms. They were left for 45 minutes until the officers led the worried and now furious parents into another room, where they were joined by Kevin's mother, father, and brother.

Starting point is 00:04:37 The police officers stared at the couple for a long time before finally answering their questions with, they found her at Forsyth Woods. She didn't make it. After an autopsy was performed, it was reported that the little girl was dressed in the white shirt with flamingos that she'd been put to bed in, but her underwear and pants were missing. She had been gagged using duct tape, and the sticky residue from the adhesive was found on her arms. Her face and body were covered with the mud found in the murky waters. At autopsy, a bruise was noted on Riley's head. It was also determined that the little girl had been the victim of SA. DNA testing noted the presence of saliva in her

Starting point is 00:05:21 private parts. Riley's cause of death was listed as drowning. Her manner of death was homicide. Wilmington Detective Scott Sweringen and Ed Hayes were assigned to the case immediately. Kevin and Melissa understood that they would need to be cleared given the fact that those closest to a crime are looked at first. They cooperated with every single request for questioning, searches, and DNA samples. When pushed to hire a lawyer, Kevin insisted that he did not need one, fearing that this could make him look guilty. He showed faith in the system, saying, I was raised with the idea that authorities were good people,

Starting point is 00:05:59 that they should be respected. Now, though they were resistant to the idea at first, Kevin and Melissa allowed Tyler to be questioned. The authorities were hopeful that he could help with timelines and missing details that could help the detectives with a case that appeared to be stalled. However, his videotaped interview showed something closer to an interrogation as the forensic interview

Starting point is 00:06:20 opted for a harsh and merciless approach. The same question, whether Kevin left the house on the night Riley was abducted, was asked repeatedly with slight variations, while the lead detective, Edward Hayes, watched through the one-way mirror. The forensic interviewer, Mary Jane Pluth, worked for the Will County Children's Advocacy Center.

Starting point is 00:06:41 As she ruthlessly interrogated Tyler about his father's whereabouts in the night in question, the boy kept saying, no, no, I don't know. This brought him to tears. And he hid inside his sweatshirt's hood and asked for his mommy and daddy. As Pluth continued, even the boy curled up into the fetal position, face shiny with tears and struggling to catch his breath. Reportedly, at the end of this interview,

Starting point is 00:07:05 Tyler had answered no in excess of a hundred and seventy times. Detective Michael Guilfoyle returned Tyler to his parents' home, writing up a summary of a conversational interview in the car. There was no record of this interview, with the written report showing a more verbal and definitive Tyler. Allegedly, Tyler reported seeing his father wash clothes that evening and said that his father took Riley somewhere during the night. This account was at odds with known facts.

Starting point is 00:07:36 The tide of popular opinion began to turn against the Fox family as months passed without an arrest or even a new lead. A tip about their dark blue Ford Escape being seen at a gas station near the area where Riley was found seemed suspicious. In addition to what was seen as extravagant uses of donated money for a Riley fund made the town start to doubt Melissa and Kevin's innocence. Months after Riley's death, Kevin was the main and only suspect. Despite DNA being available that could confirm or deny his innocence,

Starting point is 00:08:11 he remained under close monitoring almost from the beginning. Police officers took videos and pictures. of him at his daughter's funeral. The detectives often stopped by for a chat that was disguised obviously as a thinly disguised opportunity to ask him the same questions over and over again. On October 26, Melissa and Kevin were contacted and informed that they should visit the police station again. Allegedly there was new information. Kevin was exhausted after waking up at 4.30 a.m. to paint houses all day. They were relieved to think that they might actually find out what had happened to their daughter. Kevin later said, we put all our faith in them. We thought this is the night.

Starting point is 00:08:52 Detective Scott Sweringen greeted the two, telling them they needed to clarify some points before they were told the new information. Melissa was tucked into a conference room and Kevin was escorted to a separate section of the building. She remembered questioning to herself why the door locked when she was left alone in a conference room. On the other side of the building, Kevin was taken into a typical interrogation room with a one-way mirror and a group of detectives, including Ed Hayes. He was asked again why he called the non-emergency line. But this time, the detectives kept adding more questions. Why did his son say he left the house that night? Why was his car spotted near the gas station at 4 in the morning? When he answered, with a bit of frustrated

Starting point is 00:09:36 sarcasm, the detectives pounced on it and held the statement up as his futile attempt to give himself an alibi for June 6th. Their attitudes changed and the interrogation became more and more confrontational. Eventually, Detective Sweringen said, we think you were involved. On the other side of the building, Melissa was becoming more and more angry, finally kicking the door and screaming loudly. After being ignored for three hours, Detective Sweringen finally pulled her into another room and sternly told her that some red flags were making them consider Kevin a suspect. Melissa was told about the car placement, Tyler's statements, and the scenario they'd constructed to explain the situation. This involved Kevin bumping Riley's head and assuming

Starting point is 00:10:23 she was dead, using duct tape and assault to make the kidnapping story believable. Melissa was confused and has stated that she initially briefly thought, why would they lie to me? They were making me question myself. I hated that, but I had no idea what to believe. When Kevin's father and brother arrived at the police station, the detectives dismissed them as easily as they had Melissa. Detective Sweringen told Kevin's father that he was 27 years old and came to the investigation office voluntarily. Later, it was revealed that Kevin asked for his father and an attorney several times and was told essentially the same thing. By midnight, four and a half hours into the marathon questioning session, the detective summoned a polygraph operator. They bullied Kevin into consenting by saying that the only way to prove he had not killed Riley

Starting point is 00:11:16 was to prove it by passing the lie detector test. This test took around an hour, and Kevin was told that he had failed. Detective Richard Williams, who administered the polygraph himself, told him, you did it. It's all right to say you did it. Upon being told that Kevin had failed the polygraph, Melissa demanded to see Kevin in the polygraph. Detective Williams told her that all the reds scattered through the reds scattered through the results were failed questions. Melissa was immediately suspicious of the situation and told Kevin that everything's going to be okay. He responded, I didn't do it, Melissa. I swear to God,

Starting point is 00:11:53 I didn't do it. Infuriated by Melissa's faith in her husband, Detective Ed Hayes, whom she'd met for the first time that night, screamed in her face. And I quote, Your fucking husband killed your fucking daughter and he doesn't love you or her. She She remembered crying, trembling with fear for her husband, and anger that someone she just met had screamed obscenities in her face. She never doubted Kevin again after that moment. Melissa was separated from her husband once again, and Kevin was taken back to his cramped interrogation room and forced to watch Detective Ed Hayes draft an arrest sheet for murder. He told Kevin, you don't have much time. If I finished the sheet, you were being charged with

Starting point is 00:12:34 first-degree murder with 30 years to life. Allegedly Detective Hayes told Kevin that he would ensure Kevin was violated daily while incarcerated, though he used more graphic terms than that, unless he confessed to causing Riley's death. The detectives allegedly abused their authority by telling Kevin that your family doesn't love you, just say you did it. Finally, that Riley is in the room with you right now. She is in pain and needs closure before slamming down brutally explicit pictures of Riley taken shortly after her body was found. Next, Detective Sweringen slammed into the room theatrically out of breath and quoted the state's attorney as telling him to, Hurry back, I can help this kid if he acts now. I can make a deal for him. At this point in the interview, Kevin had been up for around a full day and interrogated with almost any technique the detectives could imagine for around 12 hours. When he was told, say it was an accident, get your help from the state's attorney so you can go home to your family if he was.

Starting point is 00:13:40 You pass it up. You will spend your life in prison. If you say it was an accident, it's involuntary manslaughter with a three to five year sentence. You'll serve half. Go home now on bond. An important bit to point out is that in Illinois, detectives are not allowed to promise reduced sentences or a lesser charge in exchange for a confession. Subsequently, the detectives denied making these statements and promises. Reflecting, Kevin stated that these terms made him feel like even though he, he was innocent, if he pled guilty and was released on bail, he could straighten this mess out. At 8.32 a.m., Kevin's confession was recorded, over 13 hours since he and Melissa had entered the station. This taped confession, unreleased to the public, was shown to his attorney Kathleen Zellner, who immediately noted his unfocused manner and inability to form sentences.

Starting point is 00:14:35 allegedly Kevin did not supply the confession. Instead, he mainly answered yes or no to the detective's questions. Kevin's confession stated that he went to the bathroom at 2.30 in the early morning hours of June 6. He had swung the door open too quickly and had accidentally hit Riley. She was knocked out in a panic state and he thought she was dead. Picking her up, he quickly debated taking her to the hospital or her grandmother's house for a but instead chose to stage an abduction with duct tape over her wrists and mouth. He drove her to the creek where she'd been discovered and placed in the river after inserting

Starting point is 00:15:16 his finger inside of her to make it look like she had been assaulted. He then supposedly went home and fell asleep crying. It is interesting to note that only this confession was taped. At a 14 hours of interrogation, this equates to 20 minutes or 2% of the time. that he was there. Despite the empty promises he was fed to coerce this confession, Kevin was immediately taken to jail. The last thing he heard on his way out was the sound of the detectives laughing and congratulating themselves. The pattern followed by the detectives is textbook behavior to coerce confessions. Detectives use careful patterns of manipulation to bully suspects,

Starting point is 00:16:00 exhausted by long hours into thinking that confession makes sense. In effect, Making a confession is a solution the accused can live with. As Kevin sat in his prison cell, the community in Wilmington was splitting into two camps, those who believed Kevin's protested innocence and those who felt deceived. One woman said, He watched everybody search for his child the whole day. The whole community was betrayed. Now this may go without saying,

Starting point is 00:16:28 as if where we are in this case isn't example enough. No matter if you are innocent, and you feel that lawyering up will make you look guilty, do not talk to police without a lawyer, especially if you think you're suspected for murder. I know it's hard during grief, especially when a loved one of yours is missing. And hopefully, I hope dearly that you're never in a situation like this.

Starting point is 00:17:00 Let this case be an example. Do not be questioned by police without a lawyer. Kevin's brother Chad hired Kathleen Zellner, an attorney who was known around the area for her work overturning wrongful convictions. They both visited Kevin in the Will County Jail the morning after his confession. Kathleen watched as Kevin said, crying and desperate, I didn't do this, they tricked me, and realized why his family supported him without reservation. Her job to clear Kevin's name was twofold. debunking statements made by the Will County State's attorney Jeffrey Tom's Act and using DNA to clear Kevin's name. A large heavyset man, the state's attorney was prone to theatrics, all of which were evident in the hearing where the charges were filed, including the intent to seek the death penalty.

Starting point is 00:17:52 It seemed a bit coincidental to many that this over-the-top performance took place days before a hotly contested election for state's attorney. Attorney Tomzak justified the charges he laid against Kevin Fox with several claims, that evidence showed Riley had been abused in life, a claim that was immediately investigated and dismissed. Riley's pediatrician spoke out as well, saying that there were never any prior findings of such a thing. The attorney also alleged that the autopsy reported that Riley was alive and struggling when placed in the water. Dr. Scott Denton was the forensic pathologist,

Starting point is 00:18:32 who performed Riley's autopsy. He signed an affidavit that he didn't believe Riley was alive when she was placed in the water. This is interesting to note as her cause of death was listed as drowning. In addition, Dr. Denton swore he never had spoken to the state's attorney. Six days after Kevin was arrested, James Glasgow won the race for state's attorney by only 9,000 votes. He appeared to be fair, but given the circumstances, refused to even, consider dropping the charges. Instead, he indicated his intent to continue seeking the death penalty. Attorney Zellner performed some unorthodox investigations as it began to look as if Kevin would be forced

Starting point is 00:19:18 to stand trial. Her investigative team tried to recreate every aspect of the force confession. The bathroom door that Kevin supposedly hit Riley with was so flimsy to be impossible to achieve the deep unconscious effect that Kevin was led to describe. Kevin also agreed that he had placed Riley's body in the river, which would have never led her body to the place it had been found. Tass indicated that Riley's body would have had to have been thrown from the bridge that spanned the river. The most important facet of Kathleen Zellner's case was DNA evidence.

Starting point is 00:19:54 Initially, it was stated that DNA found within Riley's body was inconclusive. She did not understand what that meant. It was given hope when a forensic scientist told her the state crime lab simply didn't have the sophisticated capabilities needed to test properly for DNA. Upon this realization, a court order was secured allowing a private lab with the appropriate testing capacity to perform the DNA tests. Three weeks later, the genetic samples had not been received by this new lab. Unsurprisingly, the DNA was sent to,

Starting point is 00:20:29 several wrong destinations until it finally got sent to the correct lab. Two months passed as the Fox family waited, but finally the news came through. There was enough material for a genetic DNA sample, and more importantly, Kevin Fox was not a match, not even a questionable one. Later tests at different labs showed the same results. Nine days after the report was submitted, at the Will County Courthouse where he had been charged with a homicide of his daughter. The prosecutor withdrew the charges. He stated that the DNA resulted in an absolute exclusion of Kevin Fox and that the people

Starting point is 00:21:09 lacked the probable cause to continue to hold him on these charges. Kevin was behind bars for eight months, terrified of fellow inmates who taunted him, and the death penalty that he was threatened with. After Kevin was released, Riley's case went cold until it was. passed on to the FBI. This did not happen until 2009, making the Foxes question whether they would ever receive answers. Thankfully, the FBI came onto the scene and made it a point to act as if they were the first investigators to approach the case. The FBI noticed that several facts and potential clues have been left unresolved as the Willes County police detectives pursued Kevin relentlessly.

Starting point is 00:21:51 There had been a burglary at the house across the street from the Foxes, but due to the small scale, with only $40 being taken, it was not considered relevant. One of the things that initially made the detective's focus on Kevin was that there was no forced entry to the house. In reality, there was a broken screen door which was disputed throughout the case. Additionally, there was a pair of shoes found within the crime scene with their owner's name written on them. The Fox family offered a $100,000 reward for information that would assist the FBI in closing the case. Ironically, They had been told by the police not to issue a reward, even though they had been anxious

Starting point is 00:22:30 and insistent upon doing so. This reward directly led investigators to a woman named Tricia Kiefer. According to Ms. Kiefer, she noticed her ex-boyfriend acted weirdly when she expressed her sadness about Riley's death. His response led her to be suspicious, stating that the way he said it was cold, but he didn't mean it. It was like an actor reading a script, and for some reason, stuck in my head. This ex-boyfriend was named Scott Ebby, who was serving two seven-year sentences at the time of his FBI interview. Days after the FBI visit, he attempted to unalive himself and left a letter to explain his actions, and he titled it, A Confession to Murder. The FBI returned to interview Scott, and this time he admitted to the burglary across the street.

Starting point is 00:23:21 The broken screen door seemed to encourage Scott to continue his spree of robbery. He walked into the house without any effort, saw nothing that he could easily steal, and in his own words, I was getting ready to leave, and I looked back and, I don't know, for some reason, I fixated on that little girl. He decided to take her to the Forsyth Woods, where he assaulted her in the bathrooms. Scott realized that his disguise had slipped and it would be possible for Riley to identify him. He was terrified, and he killed her before throwing her body in the water. Even more damning than this signed confession, his DNA was a match, and in 2010 he pled guilty to first-degree murder and predatory essay. Attorney Zellner called Melissa with the news that they had finally arrested Riley's killer.

Starting point is 00:24:13 Melissa later referred to this closure as a nightmare come true. Melissa requested that Scott Ebby not be considered for the death penalty. This was not misguided mercy on her part, or rather a desire that he lived with the knowledge of his crimes and how they had affected her family. She was granted her wish when he received life in prison with no possibility of parole. She commented that the sentence made her feel, in her words, definitely some closure, some peace, knowing that Scott Ebby was going to pay the price for what he had done, but could it ever measure up? No. Melissa got the chance to look her daughter's killer in the face. She spoke scornfully to him, calling him a monster and a coward. She said, I quote, Although you took Riley from me, you cannot take the time I shared with her. I will always

Starting point is 00:25:06 treasure those memories and feel so lucky to have had the privilege and the honor to be Riley's mom. Riley is the one we will all remember. She's our little princess. After Kevin was released, the family advocated for a bill known as Riley's Law. If it was successful, it would expedite DNA testing after a child is murdered. Melissa and Kevin stayed together for several years after the conviction, but, like many families faced with trauma of that magnitude, they divorced after leaving Wilmington and having another child. They both remarried and forged new families. Melissa still lives for her family, she stated, I fight every day to be happy and to live my life to the fullest for Riley and my other kids.

Starting point is 00:25:53 I'm going to keep living. I'm not going to let Scott Ebby destroy any more of me or my life. On March 20, 23, Kevin Fox lost his life at 46 years old in a car accident in Arkansas, where he had moved with his family. He started a new business and had three beautiful children with his second wife. Attorney Kathleen Zellner contacted for a statement said Even though his life was cut short and it's tragic for the people that loved him, he led an incredible life. He was just the nicest, warmest person.

Starting point is 00:26:30 Scott Ebby died in prison at the age of 52, almost 20 years after Riley's murder. No cause of death was given. Riley was laid to rest in the Oakwood Cemetery in Wilmington. Her wake was attended by over six, thousand people, almost 1,000 more than the entire population of the town. She wore the white dress she'd chosen when she was a flower girl for Chad and Stacey Fox's wedding, and the town mourned her with pink ribbons, butterfly pins, and pink ties. Hundreds more attended her funeral the next day,

Starting point is 00:27:04 warning the loss to the songs My Girl and Sarah McLaughlin's angel. In his final words, the little girl's pastor spoke emotionally, saying, children come to me, for it is to such as these the kingdom of God belongs. The town of Wilmington dedicated a small garden to the remembrance of Riley, hoping that its citizens could begin to heal. It's a small area, around the corner from the house she was abducted from, and near a playground that Riley loved. Melissa no longer lives nearby but often visits, reflecting on what Riley's life could have been and mourning the bright light that was taken from the worlds.

The Misery Machine - The Case of Riley Fox

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