Riley A. Fox

Riley A. Fox

March 31, 2001 - June 6, 2004

Riley A. Fox was born on March 31, 2001 to Melissa and Kevin Fox. She had an older brother named Tyler. On the weekend of June 6, 2004, Riley's mother, Melissa had left for Chicago to participate in  a walk for breast cancer. Riley's father, Kevin, also went to Chicago to attend a concert with one of his friends. The two left Riley and her brother with Melissa's mother, Sandy Rossi. 

Kevin returned at around 1:00 a.m. He picked up his children and drove them home. He was very tired by this time, so instead of tucking them into their beds as he usually did, he put Riley to sleep on the couch, and Tyler to sleep on a chair with a footstool. He then locked the door, and found he couldn't sleep, so he watched television and had a few snacks until about 2:30 a.m., when he finally fell asleep. 

Kevin had planned to drive Riley and Tyler to Chicago the next morning to see their mother cross the finish line of the walk for breast cancer, but a little before 8:00 a.m., Tyler woke up his father and told him that Riley was gone. Kevin immediately woke and searched the house for his three year old daughter. Upon doing this, he noticed the front door and screen were ajar. 

Riley was reported missing, and many people began searching for her. Melissa had called Kevin to arrange the family meeting at the end of the finish line, but when Kevin picked up the phone, he was crying, and and said that he couldn't find Riley. Melissa and a friend of hers headed home without hesitation. At around 3:00, Riley's body was discovered about a mile away from her home.

A mother and daughter were searching the woods when the mother neared the bank of the creek, she thought she saw a plastic bag. The 'plastic bag', was not a bag at all, but Riley's body, floating face down in the creek. An autopsy later revealed that Riley had been sexually assaulted and then drowned. Her mouth was covered with duct tape, and adhesive residue on her arms revealed that she had probably been bound.

Kevin Fox was jailed for nearly eighteen months, but then he was released because DNA tests failed to link him to the crime. In late May of 2010, officers announced that  a man named Scott Eby, who was a convicted sex offender was on parole at the time of Riley's murder. Scott Eby confessed to killing Riley after stealing from another house near Riley's. 

After kidnapping her, Scott Eby drove to a nearby park and sexually assaulted Riley on the floor of a public restroom before dumping her body in the creek. He is now being charged with Riley's murder.