New Jersey : Margaret Ellen Fox
Burlington, New Jersey is a suburb of Philadelphia with just under 10,000 people that live there now. It was originally incorporated as a city in 1693 and then again after America’s independence in 1784. Burlington Coat Factory was founded in 1924 when a warehouse was purchased in the outskirts of the city and it sold discounted coats and outwear. The flagship store remained here until 2008 when a new site was acquired. The largest blueberries in the world were developed and raised in the county. Also the cranberry was found growing wild here when first settlers arrive.
According to neighborhood scout, Burlington NJ has a crime index of 31. And your chance of becoming a victim of violent crime is 1 in 369 which is higher than the 1 in 595 in all of New Jersey. But its still well below the national median. Property crimes are much more likely in this area. With chances being 1 in 77 in Burlington.
In 1974 when my case took place, crime rates were much higher. More than double the crime rates now. There are many well known events that happened in the 1970s. John Wayne Gacy, Watergate, Ted Bundy, Zodiac and even Jonestown. But in the town of Burlington, the disappearance of a 14 year old freckled faced young girl tore a family apart.
Margaret Ellen Fox was the only girl in a family of 8. Her brown hair hung just below her shoulders and had an auburn reddish tint. She had lost two of her right top teeth and you could tell she was just coming into her femininity. Like many young girls, she loved horses, had just begun playing the piano and was part of a stable yet somewhat strict home. Her family were devoted catholics and her father was the town plumber. Margaret loved to help around the house and was wanting to start owning her own money so that she could purchase clothes, headbands, accessories, and maybe even be able to pay for horseback riding lessons as sometimes that fell outside of the family’s budget. Knowing that Margaret was a responsible young girl, and after many conversations, her parents finally allowed her to place an ad in the local newspaper as a babysitter along with her 11 year old cousin, Lynne.
The ad read: BABYSITTERS - Experienced. Teen girls. Love Kids. Work at your house. Call… and then listed both of the girls numbers. It ran for the first time on June 18, 1974. The very next day Lynne received a call for a potential client by the name of John Marshall. He was requesting a babysitter for his 5 year old son from 9:30am to 1:30pm each day. He offered her $40 a week plus bus fare and that either him or his wife would bring her home around 2-2:30 each day but she would need to travel from Burlington New Jersey the 7 miles by bus over to Mount Holly to his home to watch his son. John Marshall said he would pick her up from the bus station take her to his house to watch his son. He said he had a pool in the backyard and a swingset and plenty of activities to keep them busy throughout the day. Lynne’s parents would not let her take this job as she was only 11 and they weren’t comfortable with her taking this job.
The opportunity was passed on to Margaret and as she had proven herself as a responsible teen, and after Margaret’s father had spoken with Mr. Marshall they agreed. He took down the man’s name and phone number and recalled thinking the man had to have been around 35-40 based on his voice and the way he spoke. Margaret and John had made plans to meet in person before the first day of work but for some reason this meeting would be rescheduled several times. The first day of employment was scheduled to be June 24, 1974. After reviewing a bus schedule and speaking with John again, they made a plan for Margaret to take the buss that leaves just a couple of blocks from the family’s home and to get off the bus at the stop closest to the corner of Mill and High streets once she got to Mount Holly. John told Margaret that his wife would pick her up in a red Volkswagen to then drive her to their home.
Excited for her first true day of employment, she woke up and got ready. Dressed in a light blue long-sleeved blouse with a floral pattern, maroon jeans with a yellow patch on one knee, a white and black checkered waist-length jacket, brown sandals with a heel strap and had her gold rimmed hexagonal glasses. She grabbed her brown bag, stuffed her bathing suit inside, threw in her glasses case that had a picture of Huckleberry Hound on it and bounced out the door with her younger brother Joseph. The two walk to the bus stop a couple of blocks away and wait for the bus to arrive. It comes rolling to a stop around 8:45 am and Margaret boards and waves goodbye to her brother.
She had told her parents that she would call when she arrived but when the call didn’t come in, her father assumed that she was just overly excited and forgot. When she didn’t return around the time frame she was expected home, her mother grew weary. She calls the number left by Margaret that was supposed to be to John’s residence and listened to the phone continue to ring over and over and over. It wasn’t until a passerby decided to pick up the ringing phone that they learned it was a payphone located outside of a grocery store in Lumberton New Jersey 2.2 miles from where Margaret was supposed to exit the bus on Route 38.
As most concerned parents they struck out and started searching themselves and when they had no luck in finding any sign of her they went to the police department shortly after midnight to file an official report. The Burlington City Police Department set out to investigate but very little information came in and after speaking with the family, they came to the consensus that Margaret wasn’t a runaway. They canvassed the surrounding areas as well as the bus Margaret was supposed to take. The few witnesses they were able to talk to had mentioned that when they saw her on the bus, she was clearly happy and excited to be on her way to her first real job. They said she was smiling from ear to ear. One said they saw Margaret talking to a young man in a red sports car after departing the bus near Mill and High Streets. This was her intended stop and John Marshall did say they would pick her up at that stop.
In an attempt to locate John Marshall, a search for the name was completed but there was a historical significance to this name. An attorney was named Jonathan F. Marshall along with many buildings being named after him throughout the town. This lead to many false leads, even more so as John and Marshall are not the most unique.
The FBI became involved within the first 3 days of her disappearance. They began recording calls to the Fox home. On the evening of June 28th, Margaret’s mother received a call she never wanted in regards to her only daughter.
It said “$10,000 is a lot of bread, but your daughter’s life is the buttered topping”. Margaret’s mother says “who is this” before the line disconnects. It was too short to trace, and the following day, June 29th, 1974, the Fox household received the first of two letters letter in the mail stating word for word exactly what the phone call. Knowing this occurred in New Jersey, the accent does seem to be geographically representative to the area. In fact the first time I heard it, I compared it to Lou Ferrigno. They guy who played the incredible hulk. It was stated very firm but not overly demanding. One article postulated that perhaps the caller was reading a script or that it was very well rehearsed.
The family immediately went to the bank and withdrew the funds for the ransom and waited for further instruction. Not all families have liquid funds of that caliber, and it makes me wonder if the kidnapper had knowledge of this family being able to afford this specific ransom or if this is sheer coincidence. Two days later another letter was received with slight differences. This one said “$10,000 was a lot of bread and your daughter’s life was the buttered topping” along with the signature “So Long Again” with each letter capitalized.
The phrases have switched tenses. Going from present tense to past tense. Also not receiving any instructions for the parents to pay the ransom left the Fox family broken. This phone call would be locked away as evidence and not released to the public. Some of the investigations brought out a person of interest. He was described as a white male, with very blue eyes, light blonde or red hair worn in the crew cut style. He had extremely white teeth and drove a red-orange Volkswagen. Many people law enforcement talked to stated he had spoken with young women and attempted to pick up several in the Mount Holly area before.
The first stall in Margaret’s disappearance starts to settle in, even the media slows the coverage of her story. Over a year later, a 53 year old convict, Charles Clowbridge, confessed to kidnapping Margaret and that he murdered her and disposed of her remains off of a cliff in the Catskill Mountains in New York. This convict later recanted his statement and then authorities were able to clear him completely as a suspect.
In 1977, police look into a known sex offender who happened to live in the Mount Holly area and drove a red volkswagen but after a solid alibi he was removed as a person of interest.
The second stall in Margaret’s disappearance followed for 13 years. That is until the remains of a Jane Doe were found 72 miles away in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey on December 10, 1988. Having minimal forensic tools compared to now, an artist composite sketch was created and distributed in 1989 and then a clay reconstruction followed shortly after in 1992.
The remains were to be of an unidentified woman between the ages of 15-18 years old, stood between 5’1” and 5’4” tall and weighed between 100-200 pounds. The remains were also found wearing brown sandals that were a size 6.5. Margaret’s name was considered as a potential identity for these remains but in 1998 she would officially be ruled out with DNA.
After this potential lead didn’t pan out, Margaret’s case goes cold. And when I say goes cold… it FREEZES. FORTY FIVE YEARS to the day after Margaret disappears, the FBI would release an enhanced version of the ransom phone call in hopes to spark someones memory when they hear that voice making demands. Also working with an artist, FBI releases only the second age progression photo showing what Margaret may look like. In 2019, she would have been 56 years old.
June 24, 2023, marks 49 years since Margaret has been seen alive. When she was last seen she was only 5’2” tall and weighed around 105 pounds. She was missing her two top right teeth and wore glasses, a gold charm bracelet and a gold necklace both with a blue stone. No evidence connected to Margaret has ever been found nor do they have any items that may connect to a potential kidnapper.
Police firmly believe that Margaret was taken and the only true suspect they could list was a man with the name of John Marshall that worked at the A&P grocery store near the pay phone. He was ultimately cleared after many interviews, alibi checks and polygraph tests.
Margaret’s parents passed away before any answers were given. A $25,000 reward was also gathered for any information leading to an arrest or conviction of her abductor. Margaret’s siblings are still seeking answers or their sister along with a retired Willingboro Police Department Detective who has been helping search since 2017.
If you have any information in Margaret Ellen Fox’s disappearance please contact the Burlington City Police Department at 609.386.0262 ext 211, or the Federal Bureau of Investigation Newark Field Office at 973.792.3000.
Sources:
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98498629/the-record/
https://www.fox5ny.com/podcasts/the-missing-what-happened-to-margaret-ellen-fox
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/us-news/fbi-releases-chilling-ransom-call-17266118
http://www.missingin.org/reg3351/margaret_ellen_fox.htm
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98502090/the-daily-courier/
https://www.fbi.gov/audio-repository/newark-margaret-ellen-fox-phone-call-062419.mp3/view
https://people.com/crime/police-release-ransom-call-45-years-after-girl-went-missing/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55361574/margaret-ellen-fox/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98498343/asbury-park-press/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98498530/the-news/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55317142/margaret-ellen-fox/
https://www.missingkids.org/poster/NCMC/959832/1/screen
https://ncuffs.com/the-unsolved-disappearance-of-margaret-fox/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98500550/courier-post/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23361145/courier-post/
https://www.burlingtoncountytimes.com/story/news/crime/2019/06/24/open-wound-for-our/4839853007/
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/6077?nav
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98501012/the-philadelphia-inquirer/
https://www.chillingcrimes.com/blogs/missing-persons/margaret-ellen-fox
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98502613/the-philadelphia-inquirer/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55361328/margaret-ellen-fox/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29372582/1974-unsolved/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98497547/the-daily-journal/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/62711588/the-daily-journal/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98502508/daily-news/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55316927/margaret-ellen-fox/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55316692/margaret-ellen-fox/
https://rcccmcc.com/2020/05/30/margaret-ellen-fox/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55361611/margaret-ellen-fox/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55294942/margaret-ellen-fox/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55317207/margaret-ellen-fox/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55317176/margaret-ellen-fox/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE2KYWL_GbE
https://charleyproject.org/case/margaret-ellen-fox
https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/25/us/new-jersey-fbi-cold-case-call/index.html
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98500468/asbury-park-press/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Margaret_Ellen_Fox
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/threads/nj-margaret-fox-14-burlington-24-june-1974.17787/page-5
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55317082/margaret-ellen-fox/
https://missingpersonscenter.com/missing-persons-directory/missing-kids/margaret-ellen-fox
https://uncovered.com/cases/margaret-fox#sources
