Mrs. Fox responded, “Who is this?” but the call was dropped immediately afterward.
Thankfully, though, investigators from the FBI were able to record the call– which has since been made public.
But, the very next day, the Fox family received a ransom letter with the same statement from the phone call written inside.
And two days later, they received another letter with a similar phrase. This time, though, investigators noticed a slight difference.
“Ten thousand dollars was a lot of bread, and your daughter’s life was the buttered topping,” the second letter read. The change from “is” to “was” led investigators to believe that the ransom deal was no longer on the table.
Sadly, though, not many gains were made in Margaret’s case over the following months. By August of 1974, authorities finally released a police sketch of a man they wanted to question.
The sketch depicted a male between thirty-five and forty years old. Police also added that he had very blue eyes, graying light blonde or reddish hair, a crew cut, and very straight white teeth.
The man was also believed to have driven a red-orange Volkswagen and reportedly had a history of trying to pick up young girls in the Mount Holly area before Margaret’s disappearance.
Nonetheless, this lead never led to an arrest or conviction. Instead, on November 23, 1975, a fifty-three-year-old Philadelphia prison inmate made a confession.
The man admitted to the kidnapping and murder of Margaret. Then, he also confessed to throwing her body over a cliff in the Catskill Mountains.
This unexpected confession launched a newfound investigation. But, within a couple of months, the man recanted and claimed his confession was just a “giant hoax.” Authorities were also eventually able to clear him as a suspect in Margaret’s disappearance.