Disappearance of Margaret Ellen Fox

Margaret Ellen "Maggie" Fox, born February 4, 1960, was a 14-year-old girl who disappeared in Burlington, New Jersey, in 1974. Fox had placed an advertisement offering babysitting services and was contacted by a man identifying himself as "John Marshall." Marshall postponed several planned meetings with her before finally telling her he would pick her up in a red Volkswagen. On June 24, 1974, Fox took a bus to Mount Holly, New Jersey, to meet him; her younger brother accompanied her to the bus stop and watched her board. Witnesses later reported seeing her near Mill and High streets in Mount Holly. She has not been seen since.

In the hours following her disappearance, authorities began recording calls to and from the Fox family residence. One call came from a man who demanded a $10,000 ransom (equivalent to roughly $65,000 in 2025) for her safe return, telling Margaret's mother, "10,000 might be a lot of bread, but your daughter's life is the buttered topping."

The investigation determined that "John Marshall" had given Fox a phone number before her disappearance, which was traced to a phone booth at a supermarket in Lumberton, New Jersey. Authorities considered the circumstances suspicious and believed Fox had been abducted. Other parents in the area reported similar attempts by men using fake job offers to lure their daughters. In 1976, a suspect confessed to involvement in Fox's disappearance, but the confession was determined to be false. The man known as "John Marshall" has never been identified.

As of 2019, the Burlington City Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation had reevaluated efforts to locate Fox and identify her abductor. The audio recording of the ransom call was uploaded to the FBI's website in hopes that someone might recognize the caller's voice. In 2017, a retired police officer partnered with the Burlington Police Department to review the case further. A $25,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest of Fox's abductor or abductors. No arrests have been made in connection with the case.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) has ruled out certain unidentified remains as belonging to Fox, though specific case exclusions were not detailed in the retrieved text. This case remains unsolved, with Fox's whereabouts and the identity of "John Marshall" still unknown.