Disclaimer: This blog post is for informational and entertainment purposes only, and it is not meant to cause harm to anyone connected with the case. Please do not contact, threaten, harm, malign, or otherwise intimidate those mentioned in the post. Please do not release any personal information of the people mentioned in this post, and do not join in attacks conducted by others. Per U.S. law, every person directly or indirectly connected with this case is innocent until proven guilty.

***Click here to support True Crime Musings!***

***Please share this post! Your shares could bring Margaret home.***

Who was Margaret Ellen Fox?

Margaret Ellen Fox was born on February 4, 1960, and raised in Burlington, New Jersey. Very little is known about Margaret’s early life, but she was described as a bright, determined, and caring girl. Although small in stature, she enjoyed roughhousing and playing with her four brothers. In the summers, they would swim and travel, and in the winters, they would go ice skating and sledding.

By 1974, Margaret blossomed into a sharp young woman, determined to accomplish her goals. That June, she graduated from St. Paul’s grammar school. At the time, she was taking piano and horseback riding lessons, two activities she greatly enjoyed. She also developed an interest in babysitting so she could afford her own clothes and activities. As such, she was determined to look for jobs, much to the chagrin of her parents. After multiple discussions, they agreed to let her take out an ad in the local paper, advertising her availability for jobs. Although she received many calls, one babysitting job, in particular, would shake both her family and her community for decades.

The Babysitting Job that Changed Everything

In June 1974, Margaret accepted a babysitting job in Mount Holly, a decision that would alter the course of her life and shake her community. This job was not originally intended for Margaret; it was for her 11-year-old cousin. Her cousin had turned down the job because it was far away, in another town called Mount Holly. However, this was not a problem for Margaret, as it was a seven-mile bus ride from her home.

Even though the 14-year-old was excited about the job, her father was skeptical. The job seemed straightforward; a caller named John Marshall offered Margaret $40 per week plus the cost of bus fares to watch his five-year-old son from 9:30 AM-1:30 PM. Marshall claimed his wife would pick up Margaret from the bus station and bring her to their home, and she would be dropped off at home between 2:00-2:30 PM. He further explained that the 14-year-old could bring her swimsuit since they had a pool in the backyard, as well as a swingset, activities that his son enjoyed.

Margaret was hired for this job on Wednesday, June 19th, with her start date set for Friday, June 21st. However, Marshall called the Fox home on the 20th, saying that he needed to delay the start date until the following Monday, June 24th, reportedly because of a death in the family. During this call, Margaret’s parents had a chance to talk with him, and neither reported anything unusual or suspicious.

Despite this, her father still had some reservations about her taking the job, but he ultimately allowed her to proceed.

Last Known Movements of Margaret Fox, a Chilling Discovery, and a Fake Phone Number

On the morning of June 24th, Margaret and her 11-year-old brother walked to the bus stop together, where she boarded the 8:40 AM bus to Mount Holly. Once there, she had been instructed to find the nearby red Volkswagen, driven by Marshall or his wife, who would then take her to the house. This would be the last time any member of the Fox family would see her.

Marshall had provided a phone number to Margaret and her parents in case they needed to get a hold of her while she was babysitting, and her parents had instructed her to call as soon as she arrived. That call never came, and this would be the first indication that something was amiss.

Her parents waited long enough for Margaret to arrive at her job (assuming the bus wasn’t delayed), and they called the number. It rang and rang until it was eventually picked up by a passerby.

That’s when her parents discovered the truth: the phone number they were given wasn’t for a residence. It was for a pay phone outside of a grocery store in Lumberton, New Jersey, two miles south of Mount Holly.

The 14-year-old was supposed to return by 2:30 PM, but when that time came and went and Margaret still hadn’t shown up, her parents’ worries escalated. Her father reached out to his friend, who was a police officer, and the two went to Mount Holly in search of the young woman. Although concerned, there was also an attitude of “wait and see,” as was customary for missing teens at the time. It was thought that maybe she ran away or went on an outing without informing anyone. But as the hours ticked by, this became less likely, especially since she had no history of running away.

With more red flags appearing, law enforcement took over the case and began to search for her, and her parents filed a missing persons report at midnight on June 25th.

The Initial Police Investigation

Law enforcement, as well as members of the Burlington and Mount Holly communities, began to search for Margaret door-to-door. Meanwhile, the family shared her image with everyone they came across, hoping that someone would know where she was. Despite these efforts, no one seemed to know where she was, and no additional clues or evidence were uncovered.

Later on, a few witnesses reported that they saw Margaret at the corner of Mill and High Streets, near where she was supposed to wait for John Marshall. Beyond that, there were no additional sightings.

At this point, the authorities considered the possibility of a targeted attack. As a result, they wired the Fox family home and recorded all calls going in and out.

Despite intense searches that lasted for several days, the authorities made little progress in the investigation. It was as though she vanished the second she stepped off the bus.

Detective Lenard Burr was assigned to the case, and one of the first things he did was ride the bus from the Fox family home to the bus stop where Margaret got off that day. He hoped to talk to daily commuters, people who might’ve seen something the day she vanished. The information he gathered included the following:

• A few witnesses reported that she got off the 8:40 AM bus at her scheduled stop.
• According to one source, the teen struck up a conversation with a woman and her young son, who had grabbed Margaret’s hair.
• Another witness saw Margaret stepping off the bus and approaching a young man in a red sportscar. It was believed that since he was driving a red car, the teen asked him if he was John Marshall. Police later tracked this man down, questioned him thoroughly, and ruled him out as a suspect.

Unfortunately, none of these sightings went anywhere. The police exhausted all of their options (including consulting with a psychic), but it wasn’t enough to locate the missing teen.

FBI Involvement and the $10,000 Ransom Demand

Four days after Margaret’s disappearance, the FBI took over the case, and it was confirmed that an abduction had taken place. After days of recording the incoming and outgoing phone calls at the Fox family home, the authorities recorded a call from the man they believed was the abductor, John Marshall, who made a ransom demand of $10,000. The audio of this call wasn’t released until 2019 (45 years after Margaret was last seen) in the hope that someone would recognize the caller.

An audio clip can be heard here, courtesy of the FBI. Listener discretion is advised.

In the clip, which lasts a total of six seconds, a man is heard saying the following:

$10,000 might be a lot of bread, but your daughter’s life is the buttered topping.

Letters, Lies, and the SLA Hoax

The next day, Margaret’s parents received a letter in the mail with the same statement. In hopes of getting their daughter back, her parents withdrew the money and waited for the abductor to send additional instructions to set up an exchange.

However, two days later, they received another letter. This time, there were suggestions that it was tied to the Symbian Liberation Army (SLA), a group that was tied to the kidnapping of Patty Hearst five months prior. This letter instructed her parents to put the money in a box with blue wrapping, “same as Margaret’s blouse.” It further stated that

Margaret is all right. We only tore her blouse and broke her glasses. Follow the instructions.

After the second letter, there were no more instructions sent. Her family never heard from the abductor again.

Upon further investigation, the authorities determined that there were no active SLA groups in the area. It’s believed that the abductor used this name after seeing it in the news. It’s unknown whether the letters are legitimate or not, and fingerprints recovered from the letters have never been matched to anyone. However, the authorities believe the call was from Margaret’s abductor.

Suspects and Dead Ends in the Case

After hitting multiple dead ends, the authorities gathered the names and addresses of everyone in the area who owned a red Volkswagen, and they reached out to every man named John Marshall. They also reviewed Margaret’s notes about the job and her diary. Her diary revealed instances where the 14-year-old had been bullied in school and her wishes to move somewhere warmer. Although the authorities don’t believe she ran away, it added additional details about her life and mental state before her disappearance.

Meanwhile, several men named John Marshall were interviewed. Although some seemed suspicious, the authorities never had enough evidence to tie any of them to Margaret’s disappearance, even though one of them worked at the grocery store near the payphone that the abductor used.

A tip line was later established in a local prosecutor’s office, but despite an influx of sightings and tips from across the country, none of them uncovered any new information or led to the teen’s discovery.

The Fox Family’s Ongoing Search for Justice

By August (two months after Margaret was last seen), her case began to grow cold, and investigators were assigned to other cases. Her family tried to continue to search for her, but it soon became clear that they were exhausted and frustrated, especially her father. Despite this, he spent the rest of his life searching for his daughter, fighting to bring her home.

Nearly two years later in May 1976, investigators believed they received a break when a 56-year-old man confessed to being involved in her disappearance. However, this turned out to be a hoax, as there was no evidence that he had contributed to her disappearance. He was also in the hospital the day she was abducted, and he was later charged with giving false testimony to police.

In the years since, investigators would follow leads here and there, but no break ever came in her case. In 1993, Margaret’s father passed away, followed by her mother in 2003, never learning what happened to their only daughter. As DNA technology has advanced, Margaret has been ruled out as being one of 19 different Jane Does. Although the authorities consider her case to be cold, her family and community still long for answers and justice. Although it’s believed that she was abducted and murdered, the disappearance of Margaret Ellen Fox remains unsolved.

Why Margaret Ellen Fox’s Case Still Matters

The disappearance of Margaret Ellen Fox is tragic, mysterious, and heartbreaking. A young teen, eager to establish her independence, seeks out a babysitting job. She hops on the 8:40 AM bus as instructed, only for her to seemingly vanish as soon as she arrives at her stop. And even though there was no evidence to suggest so, her case was written off as a runaway.

Sadly, this was common at the time. Up until recently, if a teenager disappeared, the first assumption was that they ran away. And while some did run away, there were plenty who disappeared due to foul play.

In addition, there were systemic issues within law enforcement that likely prevented this case from being solved. For instance, police departments didn’t have standardized procedures to share information across departments. This prevented information from being shared with neighboring departments, leading each to work in their own bubbles.

Since then, police departments across the country have enacted standardized procedures to share information with neighboring departments, and we’re more aware of the reasons why teenagers disappear. Both have helped to resolve many missing persons cases.

However, the consequences of both remain for the missing, their loved ones, and their communities. If you look at websites like The Charley Project, there are thousands of cases of missing teens that are 30+ years old. And just like Margaret, they’re still waiting for answers and justice.

When it comes to Margaret’s case, there aren’t a lot of theories. Although the authorities assumed she was a runaway, they have since stated that they believe she was abducted. They believe the man posing as “John Marshall” had something to do with her disappearance, but they’ve never been able to identify him. To my knowledge, the authorities never released a sketch of what this man looked like, making it harder to identify him.

Apart from a few witness sightings, we don’t know much about Margaret’s movements that day. Authorities believe that more people saw her, but they didn’t want to get involved.

So, we’re left with questions and unknowns. We don’t know what happened once Margaret stepped off the bus. We don’t know who “John Marshall” is, and we don’t know the extent of his involvement in her disappearance. We don’t know who she talked to once she got off the bus or if she got in a vehicle.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed with the uncertainty of this case. But when you push away all of the questions, you’re left with a 14-year-old girl, full of hopes and dreams, who never made it home after her babysitting job.

All she wanted was to babysit. And it cost her everything.

But hope is not lost. If the right person comes forward, if John Marshall is identified, this case could finally be solved. Margaret could be located, and her family, friends, and community could get the closure they deserve.

Someone knows what happened. Is it you?

***

If you’re looking for more information about the disappearance of Margaret Ellen Fox, there isn’t much information available. Most of my information came from the Trace Evidence Podcast, and without them, this post would not have been possible. The following sources helped me as I wrote this post:

• The Charley Project
• The Doe Network
• The FBI: Reward and New Information Offered on the Anniversary of a Burlington County Cold Case
• The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
• Trace Evidence Podcast: The Disappearance of Margaret Ellen Fox
• Wikipedia: Disappearance of Margaret Ellen Fox

If you have any information about the disappearance of Margaret Ellen Fox, please contact the Burlington City Police Department at 1-609-386-3300. You can also contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678.

What do you think happened? Let me know in the comments.