Riley Fox was a 3-year-old girl from Wilmington, Illinois, who was murdered on June 6, 2004. After Riley's father was initially accused and then cleared by DNA evidence, paroled convict Scott Eby confessed to the crime and was convicted.
Disappearance
On June 6, 2004, the night of the disappearance, Riley's father Kevin Fox had picked up his children from their grandmother's house around 1 am. Too tired to carry his children up to bed, he laid Riley on the couch and Riley's older brother Tyler on the living room chair. He then went to his room, watched TV and went to sleep around 2:30. The next morning he was awakened by Tyler, who told him that Riley was gone. After searching and checking with neighbors, he called police.
The girl's father, Kevin Fox, was initially charged based on a coerced confession. He spent eight months in jail before being cleared by DNA evidence showing that someone else had committed the crime. Fox's attorney Kathleen Zellner was responsible for discovering that DNA evidence existed and getting it tested. Police had found a pair of mud-covered shoes at the scene with the name Eby written inside, but did nothing with this evidence. They ignored other important clues as well, such as on the night Riley disappeared, a nearby house was burglarized. The Fox family later won a $15.5 million jury verdict in a federal civil rights lawsuit against Will County Sheriff's Office and the detectives who had coerced Kevin Fox's confession. Scott Eby was later charged on five counts of first-degree murder and one count of predatory sexual assault after DNA evidence linked him to Riley. At the time he was charged, Eby was serving two consecutive seven-year sentences. Eby confessed that he burglarized a nearby home, then cut through a screen door of Riley's home. He found Riley on the couch, put her into his car, and drove her to the park where he assaulted her in a restroom. Then he drowned her in a nearby creek. He received a life sentence without the possibility of parole. He had been on parole and living about a mile from the Fox's home at the time of the crime.
