NJ NJ - Margaret Fox, 14, Burlington, 24 June 1974

[Bit of hope]

Right! I feel like I’m getting new info or different info with every new article.

So that is why its important to get the info right, analyzing the here say...media filling in and the facts....me nagging....seems like it...but I just want a clear view of the facts....Thanks everybody adding new information. If it's from the FBI I take it for real.

 

[dotr]

Reward and New Information Offered on the Anniversary of a Burlington County Cold Case — FBI
June 24, 2019
Reward and New Information Offered on the Anniversary of a Burlington County Cold Case
Margaret Ellen Fox was 14 when she boarded a bus in Burlington City, headed for Mount Holly, on June 24, 1974, and disappeared. Margaret left home to go to a babysitting job. Her family has not seen or heard from her since. Today, on the 45th anniversary of her disappearance, the FBI is announcing a reward of up to $25,000 for information that leads to the arrest and/or conviction of whoever is responsible for Margaret’s disappearance.

An audio recording (below) from the hours after Margaret’s disappearance is being released in an effort to find her abductor. Phone calls were being recorded at the Fox home in the hours after Margaret was reported missing. One call purports to be from a man claiming he had Margaret in his custody and who demands money for her return. On the portion of the call that was recorded, the caller says, “$10,000 might be a lot of bread, but your daughter’s life is the buttered topping.” Additionally, FBI’s forensic lab in Quantico, Virginia, created an age-progressed photo of Margaret that is in circulation on posters seeking information.


Margaret Fox left her Burlington City home the morning of June 24, 1974 and took the 8:40 a.m. bus to Mount Holly, New Jersey, for a babysitting job. She was hired by a person who was responding to an ad in the newspaper. The prospective employer told Margaret he would pick her up in Mount Holly at the corner of Mill and High Streets. Witnesses reported seeing a young girl matching her description getting off a bus that day near Mill and High Streets in Mount Holly. The phone call from the prospective employer was traced to a phone booth at a supermarket in Lumberton, New Jersey.

Over the years, the FBI and the Burlington City Police Department have reevaluated the case and the leads that were developed during the original investigation in an effort to find Margaret.

“The FBI has a long memory,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Joseph Denahan. “The community we serve has our solemn promise that we will pursue all viable options in the interest of delivering justice. We realize that in missing persons cases, especially those involving children, there is a loved one or family at the other end enduring heartache every day because there is no conclusion. We hope this renewed effort will produce results that might give Margaret Fox’s family some sense of closure.”

“The disappearance of Margaret Fox has haunted this community for decades,” said Burlington City Police Chief John Fine. “As many local residents and police officers would tell you, they would hear the message every week at the end of church services to pray for a safe return of Margaret Fox. As chief of Police, I want to bring closure to this case and bring home an answer to the Fox family and community."

“Margaret Fox was loved dearly by her family and friends,” said Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina. “To this day, her disappearance continues to cause great sorrow. If someone out there possesses information that could assist the investigators working to solve this mystery, I urge you to come forward.”

Margaret Fox has brown hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing a light blue, long-sleeved, floral-patterned blouse that was squared at the top and flared at the waist; a black and white or blue and white checkered waist-length jacket; maroon flared jeans with a yellow patch on one knee; brown sandals with a heel strap; a gold necklace with flowers and a blue stone on it; and a gold charm bracelet with a round blue stone. She was carrying a brown bag and an eyeglass case with the Huckleberry Hound design.

Anyone with information as to her whereabouts after June 24, 1974, is asked to call the FBI Newark Field Office at (973) 792-3000 or Burlington City Police Department at (609) 386-0262, extension 211.

 

[ChuckMaureen]

Thinking about this case... I originally was thinking the caller could be as mid-twenty's / early thirties, but for the FBI to release a recording of the supposed abductor 45 years after-the-fact leads me to conclude the FBI believes the individual who placed the call and sent the letter(s) was young/er, perhaps late teens/early twenty's.

 

[Richard]

What happened to Margaret Fox when she stepped off that bus in Mount Holly?
BURLINGTON CITY — Margaret Fox got on a bus at High and Broad streets, excited by the prospects of her first baby-sitting job.

Within hours the 14-year-old would be gone, leaving little trace and fewer clues in a mystery that has haunted authorities, her family, and the community that has never forgotten the little girl who boarded that bus on June 24, 1974, never to return home.

Margaret’s disappearance 43 years ago has weighed heavily on the minds of those who spent years investigating it, chasing down dead-end leads and possible suspects.

Despite the decades that have passed, law enforcement is again looking into her case, hoping that another review of the evidence and a fresh set of eyes will provide answers that have eluded them for so long: What happened to Margaret Fox when she stepped off that bus in Mount Holly?

“The terminology that’s used is ‘cold,’ ” said Michael Dalesio, a retired Willingboro Police Department detective who is volunteering his expertise to review Margaret’s case in partnership with the Burlington City police. “It’s never actually cold; it’s just awaiting new leads.”
... More at link below...

LINK:

The mysterious disappearance of Margaret Fox

 

[Mysteries1974]

Margaret Ellen Fox

• 
• 
• 

Margaret, circa 1974; Age-progression to age 56 (circa 2016)

• Missing Since: 06/24/1974
• Missing From: Burlington, New Jersey
• Classification: Non-Family Abduction
• Date of Birth: 02/04/1960 (59)
• Age: 14 years old
• Height and Weight: 5'2 - 5'3, 105 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description: A light blue long-sleeved floral-patterned blouse which was squared at the top and flared at the waist, a black and white or blue and white checkered waist-length jacket, a size 34B brassiere, maroon flared jeans with a yellow patch on one knee, brown sandals with a heel strap, a gold necklace with flowers and a blue stone on it, and a gold charm bracelet with a round blue stone. Carrying a brown bag and an eyeglass case with the Huckleberry Hound design.
• Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Brown hair, blue eyes. Margaret has freckles. At the time of her disappearance, two of her top front right teeth were missing. She wears eyeglasses with hexagonal lenses, gold wire frames and broken-off temple and nose pieces.

Details of Disappearance
Margaret was last seen in Burlington, New Jersey on June 24, 1974. She was planning to go to High and west Broad Streets in Mount Holly, New Jersey to have an interview with a man who called himself John Marshall.

Margaret's younger sister accompanied her to the bus stop and saw her get on. Witnesses reported seeing her near Mill and High Streets after she got off the bus in Mount Holly, but she has never been heard from again.

Margaret had advertised for a babysitting job, and "Marshall" responded to the ad on June 19. He told her he needed a babysitter for the following weekend, but he postponed meeting her several times. Finally he said he would meet her in a red Volkswagen. He gave Margaret a telephone number to reach him; the number was traced to a public phone booth at a supermarket in Lumberton, New Jersey.

In the hours after Margaret was reported missing, police started recording all phone calls placed to her residence. Once was from a man who demanded $10,000 for Margaret's safe return. He stated, "$10,000 might be a lot of bread, but your daughter's life is the buttered topping." This caller has never been identified. You can listen the call here on the FBI website.

Margaret has never been heard from again and "John Marshall" has never been identified. Several other parents in the area complained that someone had attempted to lure their daughters with fake job offers. A suspect's 1976 confession to involvement in her disappearance was widely publicized, but turned out to be a hoax.

Margaret took piano lessons in 1974 and she liked to ride horses. She graduated from St. Paul's Grammar School in Burlington two weeks before she vanished. Her parents are now deceased, but her siblings are still alive, and some still live in the Burlington area. Her case remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency

• Burlington City Police Department 609-386-3300

Source Information

• The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
• Newspaper Archive
• NewsLibrary
• The Burlington County Times
• NamUs
• The Philadelphia Inquirer
• The Asbury Park Press
• Federal Bureau of Investigation

Updated 9 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated June 25, 2019; details of disappearance updated.

 

[Two for the road]

The Jack Marshall that worked at the same store that "John Marshall" gave as his phone number also knew Margaret through a personal connection. He was interviewed by LE but that was it. He wasn't given a lie detector or anything else...it's seems the reason they cleared him was that his daughter and Margaret's sis in law says "he couldn't have done it". How many murderers and pedophiles do we hear that about?

 

[Via Marple]

The Jack Marshall that worked at the same store that "John Marshall" gave as his phone number also knew Margaret through a personal connection. He was interviewed by LE but that was it. He wasn't given a lie detector or anything else...it's seems the reason they cleared him was that his daughter and Margaret's sis in law says "he couldn't have done it". How many murderers and pedophiles do we hear that about?

I have been suspicious of the name coincidence, but apparently John Marshall the store manager had an alibi, and had passed a lie detector test. Of course, now we know that doesn't really prove much.

From the link,
The phone number that was noted on Fox's notes with John Marshall's name was traced to a phone booth at a former supermarket in Mount Holly where the manager was named Jack Marshall. But he had an alibi and a polygraph determined he was truthful.

So John/Jack Marshall was actually the manager of that supermarket, where that phone booth was located??

That is too much of a coincidence to me. If it was not him, it could be an employee there. Someone who didn't like manager John Marshall. Perhaps the guy working at the bakery (if there was one)..?

I hope they have thoroughly investigated the supermarket. It could be the link.

 

[SAMS]

So there were a John & Jack Marshall? Were they related, perhaps? MOO

 

[SAMS]

The Jack Marshall that worked at the same store that "John Marshall" gave as his phone number also knew Margaret through a personal connection. He was interviewed by LE but that was it. He wasn't given a lie detector or anything else...it's seems the reason they cleared him was that his daughter and Margaret's sis in law says "he couldn't have done it". How many murderers and pedophiles do we hear that about?

Exactly, or my other favorite... “They have an alibi-their wife/mother says they were at home with them.” MOO

 

[Richard]

I find it hard to believe that someone determined to harm a child would use his own real name. However, it could be that he knew someone named John or Jack Marshall and wanted them to be implicated in the crime.

 

[Two for the road]

I find it hard to believe that someone determined to harm a child would use his own real name. However, it could be that he knew someone named John or Jack Marshall and wanted them to be implicated in the crime.

Ted Bundy used his own name when he abducted Janice Ott and Denise Naslund from Lake Sammamish. That was instrumental in connecting the dots for his friend and police.

Point is, sometimes we just don't know when the bad guys are telling the truth and when they make stuff up.

But I agree with above poster, Jack could have been a child of John, the article did say he had grown children. My suspicion of him was in the way he responded to police when they questioned about the payphone. His reply was cheeky "I didn't even know anyone used it" it was 1974. Everyone used payphones.

 

[Alleykins]

I've been thinking about this. Maybe it's just me, but when I think of bread and butter used together in a sentence, I don't think of, and wouldn't refer to, butter as a topping. I personally wouldn't call butter on bread as a buttered topping. I think the term buttered topping being used in this instance as odd. If I'm the rarity here, let me know.
What I would refer to as buttered topping would be melted butter poured over popcorn, like at a cinema.

 

[Richard]

quote: "Ted Bundy used his own name when he abducted Janice Ott and Denise Naslund from Lake Sammamish. That was instrumental in connecting the dots for his friend and police." unquote.

Ted Bundy did say his name was "Ted" on that one occasion at Lake Sammamish, but he did not use his last name, and did not use the Ted part (as far as anyone living knew) later. He used a number of other false identities.

LE developed a sketch from Lake Sammamish eyewitnesses who spoke with him, but refused to go with him. LE referred to their unidentified suspect only as "Ted".

 

[TDoc72]

Just heard about this! I really hope that they get some new info and/or find her so her family can lay her to rest. There was a pic of her parent’s graves in the Daily Mail article. It was very weathered and made me sad. She deserves to be with them.

I live near Mt Holly and was wondering if the A&P was the same building as the old Superfresh/current Aldi in the Lumberton Plaza. I found one thing that said it was at the corner of Rt 38 & Eayerstown Rd but moved when the Lumberton Plaza was built in 1975. So it must have stood where the current Beneficial Bank (soon to be WSFS bank) is.

I didn’t think the tape sounded like a South Jersey/Philly accent but can’t decide what it did sound like.

 

[Betty P]

I've been thinking about this. Maybe it's just me, but when I think of bread and butter used together in a sentence, I don't think of, and wouldn't refer to, butter as a topping. I personally wouldn't call butter on bread as a buttered topping. I think the term buttered topping being used in this instance as odd. If I'm the rarity here, let me know.
What I would refer to as buttered topping would be melted butter poured over popcorn, like at a cinema.

Back in the 50's through the 80's, it was common to have buttered bread with a meal. It's similar to having a buttered roll with dinner. (Remember not so long ago when you went to a restaurant, the waitress brought out a basket of bread or rolls with butter that you ate while you waited for your dinner) With different dietary habits, you don't see it as much today, but back then it was common. Most families, when they sat down to dinner, had a plate with a stack of bread and a tub or dish of margarine or butter. This may be what the killer is referring to, though use of the word "topping" is probably some kind of local terminology.

 

[Alleykins]

Back in the 50's through the 80's, it was common to have buttered bread with a meal. It's similar to having a buttered roll with dinner. (Remember not so long ago when you went to a restaurant, the waitress brought out a basket of bread or rolls with butter that you ate while you waited for your dinner) With different dietary habits, you don't see it as much today, but back then it was common. Most families, when they sat down to dinner, had a plate with a stack of bread and a tub or dish of margarine or butter. This may be what the killer is referring to, though use of the word "topping" is probably some kind of local terminology.

Bread & butter with a meal was common at my house growing up, so I'm familiar with what you wrote about it. That really wasn't the gist of my post. The terminology "buttered topping" was, and how it was used to describe butter being on bread, and it being referred to as a topping. I'm leaning more toward your last sentence as it possibly being a local way of describing bread and butter, like some places call carbonated drinks soda, while other places call it pop. If that's the case, what areas would call butter on bread "buttered topping"? Here, we just call it bread and butter, as in I'd like some bread and butter, not, I would like bread with a buttered topping.

 

[CCJD]

Back in the 50's through the 80's, it was common to have buttered bread with a meal. It's similar to having a buttered roll with dinner. (Remember not so long ago when you went to a restaurant, the waitress brought out a basket of bread or rolls with butter that you ate while you waited for your dinner) With different dietary habits, you don't see it as much today, but back then it was common. Most families, when they sat down to dinner, had a plate with a stack of bread and a tub or dish of margarine or butter. This may be what the killer is referring to, though use of the word "topping" is probably some kind of local terminology.

Watch reruns of That 70s Show. When the Formans are having supper, there's always a stack of bread and a butter dish on the table.

There's a very old expression, i.e. "he knows which side of his bread is buttered on". Basically means, the side with the butter is the favorable side. Heard that enough as a kid to remember it all these years later. The caller's use of "butter topping" could be a skewed version of that old expression.
Know which side your bread is buttered on Idiom Definition – Grammarist

And, slightly veering OT (but now it's stuck in my head), there is the old nursery rhyme that we'd sing-song while jumping rope:

"Andy Spandy sugardy-candy, French almond rock,
bread and butter for your supper's all your mother's got."
The Book That Taught My Daughter To #Resist

 

[Mysteries1974]

Well if John Marshall was questioned does that mean he’s not a suspect in her abduction?

 

[Richard]

...
I live near Mt Holly and was wondering if the A&P was the same building as the old Superfresh/current Aldi in the Lumberton Plaza. I found one thing that said it was at the corner of Rt 38 & Eayerstown Rd but moved when the Lumberton Plaza was built in 1975. So it must have stood where the current Beneficial Bank (soon to be WSFS bank) is....
.

I do not live in New Jersey, but am familiar with the A&P Stores. That nationwide chain came up with a sort of building style that set it apart from other buildings. The stores were made of brick and featured a decorative "barn ventilator" on the top center of their storefront roof. I Include a photo of one such store below.

When the A&P sold out many of their stores to other chains, the new businesses often left that characteristic "Barn Ventilator" intact. So... If there is another business occupying the old A&P store building today, it might still retain that architectural feature.

A&P's new stores from 1955 to 1970 tended to be smaller than competitors. This unit, in Pluckemin, New Jersey, remained unchanged (except for A&P's "sunrise" logo) until it closed.

 

[Alleykins]

Just curious, was this babysitting job the only one she received after placing the ad?