FBI joins Riley Fox murder investigation

JOLIET -- The FBI has joined Will County authorities in their investigation of the 2004 murder of a 3-year-old Wilmington girl.

Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow and FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Robert D. Grant announced the formal cooperation Thursday, and said FBI agents have been informally reviewing the case of Riley Fox for about a year.

Hikers found the girl's body in a creek four miles from her Wilmington home shortly after she disappeared in June 2004.

Her father, Kevin Fox, was later charged with first-degree murder and criminal sexual assault. He spent several months in jail before he was exonerated on DNA evidence.

A federal jury awarded Fox and his wife, Melissa, $15.5 million in damages after the couple accused Will Count sheriff's deputies of fabricating evidence.