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

[Two for the road]

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

Per the articles I could find, yes. He was eliminated as a suspect because his daughter says he could never do something like that. *Face palm*.

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

I'm not sure if it was the only one Margaret and her cousin placed but after her disappearance the police received tips from more than 50 parents that had said that their child had a similar experience. A caller approached them for a babysitter gig the next town over, parents thought it was shady and didn't let them go and then he moved on to another girl.

And English isn't my first language but isn't there an idiom for bread and butter something like "she's the bread and butter of the family" ?

In any case, I feel incredibly sad for her, reading all of these old articles about her. She was the only daughter of five kids and she wanted a babysitting job to help pay for girly things. She must have been pretty poor given she was missing two front teeth and her glasses were broken. And my heart also breaks for her parents, they agonized over letting her go in the first place, like they knew in their gut something was fishy.

 

[Mysteries1974]

Per the articles I could find, yes. He was eliminated as a suspect because his daughter says he could never do something like that. *Face palm*.



I'm not sure if it was the only one Margaret and her cousin placed but after her disappearance the police received tips from more than 50 parents that had said that their child had a similar experience. A caller approached them for a babysitter gig the next town over, parents thought it was shady and didn't let them go and then he moved on to another girl.

And English isn't my first language but isn't there an idiom for bread and butter something like "she's the bread and butter of the family" ?

In any case, I feel incredibly sad for her, reading all of these old articles about her. She was the only daughter of five kids and she wanted a babysitting job to help pay for girly things. She must have been pretty poor given she was missing two front teeth and her glasses were broken. And my heart also breaks for her parents, they agonized over letting her go in the first place, like they knew in their gut something was fishy.

I found a news article in a picture and a suspect sketch was on it

 

[Mysteries1974]

In August 1974, the FBI released a sketch of a man wanted for questioning. Described as a white male between the ages of 35 and 40, about 5 feet 10 inches tall and 200 to 230 pounds, he was said to “have very blue eyes, light blond or reddish hair worn in a crew cut, graying with very noticeable even white teeth.” He was believed to drive a red-orange Volkswagen, the same vehicle that the man who called Margaret Fox for a baby-sitting job described to her. Police said this man tried to pick up a girl in Mount Holly the month before Margaret’s disappearance.
From the Burlington County Times archives
Link: Major leads in the Margaret Fox disappearance

 

[Two for the road]

View attachment 200755
In August 1974, the FBI released a sketch of a man wanted for questioning. Described as a white male between the ages of 35 and 40, about 5 feet 10 inches tall and 200 to 230 pounds, he was said to “have very blue eyes, light blond or reddish hair worn in a crew cut, graying with very noticeable even white teeth.” He was believed to drive a red-orange Volkswagen, the same vehicle that the man who called Margaret Fox for a baby-sitting job described to her. Police said this man tried to pick up a girl in Mount Holly the month before Margaret’s disappearance.
From the Burlington County Times archives
Link: Major leads in the Margaret Fox disappearance

Great find, Mysteries!!! He looks like Vladimir Putin. I wonder, can you submit this to the LE now, in case they don't have it in their casefile? Can never be too sure what has and hasn't survived time being passed down over the decades.

 

[TDoc72]

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.

Well, that’s definitely not the bank. There is a medical type office behind the bank. I’ll try to look next time I’m down there. I actually rode past there twice last night and was telling my daughter about the case.

View attachment 200755
In August 1974, the FBI released a sketch of a man wanted for questioning. Described as a white male between the ages of 35 and 40, about 5 feet 10 inches tall and 200 to 230 pounds, he was said to “have very blue eyes, light blond or reddish hair worn in a crew cut, graying with very noticeable even white teeth.” He was believed to drive a red-orange Volkswagen, the same vehicle that the man who called Margaret Fox for a baby-sitting job described to her. Police said this man tried to pick up a girl in Mount Holly the month before Margaret’s disappearance.
From the Burlington County Times archives
Link: Major leads in the Margaret Fox disappearance

I don’t think they mentioned the sketch during the press conference about the new release of the tape. I wonder why. At this point, after 45 years, they should be throwing everything they’ve got out there.

 

[Mysteries1974]

Well, that’s definitely not the bank. There is a medical type office behind the bank. I’ll try to look next time I’m down there. I actually rode past there twice last night and was telling my daughter about the case.


I don’t think they mentioned the sketch during the press conference about the new release of the tape. I wonder why. At this point, after 45 years, they should be throwing everything they’ve got out there.

I found that it was on a news article made. This is probably not John Marshall as he was cleared in the investigation as mentioned above. I wonder who this man could be.

 

[Two for the road]

I found that it was on a news article made. This is probably not John Marshall as he was cleared in the investigation as mentioned above. I wonder who this man could be.

FWIW, I don't think Jack Marshall was cleared by today's standards as a suspect. I think they cleared him back in 1974 by the "well if his daughter says he didn't do it, he didn't do it" standard. Was he given a lie detector back then?

 

[CCJD]

FWIW, I don't think Jack Marshall was cleared by today's standards as a suspect. I think they cleared him back in 1974 by the "well if his daughter says he didn't do it, he didn't do it" standard. Was he given a lie detector back then?

Yes, he was given a polygraph.
13 Aug 2017, B09 - The Philadelphia Inquirer at Newspapers.com

 

[Two for the road]

Yes, he was given a polygraph.
13 Aug 2017, B09 - The Philadelphia Inquirer at Newspapers.com

Thank you! I thought I had seen that somewhere but didn't know if I was mixing up cases.

 

[cherrymeg]

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.

I think you are onto something. It sounds contrived like the person is trying to sound younger or hipper using "bread" as a term. I don't think I've heard "butter" used like that ever. I grew up in the Philly area and that is an odd expression.

 

[Via Marple]

I think you are onto something. It sounds contrived like the person is trying to sound younger or hipper using "bread" as a term. I don't think I've heard "butter" used like that ever. I grew up in the Philly area and that is an odd expression.

Maybe it's a line from an obscure gangster movie. Who knows.

 

[cherrymeg]

Maybe it's a line from an obscure gangster movie. Who knows.

I tried googling it and it comes back to this case or gives you recipes. It seems like the more natural way to say it would be to just compare her life to butter. It still seems off. There is this one thing that you might call a topping for bread. A foreign exchange student from Amsterdam stayed with my family and he introduced us to buttered bread with sprinkle like things on it.
Eating Sprinkles the Dutch Way: Hagelslag on Bread
I don't know if you would call that a buttered topping.
Was there butter-like spreads that would have been called a topping at the time?

 

[heyjudette]

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.

I’m in the same area as well. You’re correct, that’s the location ( Former Lumberton NJ Super Fresh 460 042511 )

I agree it definitely didn’t sound like a south jersey accent to me.

So glad this thread is picking up again!

 

[cherrymeg]

I’m in the same area as well. You’re correct, that’s the location ( Former Lumberton NJ Super Fresh 460 042511 )

I agree it definitely didn’t sound like a south jersey accent to me.

So glad this thread is picking up again!

They didn't seem to have a heavy accent. People in surrounding areas don't have the same accent you would link to Philly and parts of Jersey. They could be from a neighboring town, country or state. Or the stiffness in the wording is to hide an accent and phrases that would make them sound local.

 

[cherrymeg]

I wonder how the name "John Marshall" was picked. John is pretty standard it could be like "John Smith or Doe" or his first name. Marshall would have to be something he would remember. Is John Marshall the name of someone he admired. A middle name and the street he grew up on combo? He picked a name common enough but it had to be something wouldn't forget or mess up when talking to Margaret, her dad or another potential victim. Giving the wrong name in part or in full would raise some flags.

 

[cherrymeg]

This guy went out of his way to lure Margaret into a fake babysitting gig. He even talked to her father. It sounds like he might have tried this other times with other girls. Was she is one of his first victims or had he practiced something like it before. It seems like talking to a parent could be youthful arrogance or it's confidence knowing it has worked before.
I'm curious if he kept the kids age and gender the same if he made contact with other girls. The best lies usually have some truth to them. A kids age, a work schedule, a car, if it wasn't his life maybe he was using someone else's. If he was able to talk about a 5 year old and their schedule, and what things were expected of a sitter to a 14 year old and her dad, he had to know something about children that age. If he wasn't a father maybe he stayed with people, a girlfriend, a sibling or even parents that had a kid that age. Or around that age.

 

[Two for the road]

This guy went out of his way to lure Margaret into a fake babysitting gig. He even talked to her father. It sounds like he might have tried this other times with other girls. Was she is one of his first victims or had he practiced something like it before. It seems like talking to a parent could be youthful arrogance or it's confidence knowing it has worked before.
I'm curious if he kept the kids age and gender the same if he made contact with other girls. The best lies usually have some truth to them. A kids age, a work schedule, a car, if it wasn't his life maybe he was using someone else's. If he was able to talk about a 5 year old and their schedule, and what things were expected of a sitter to a 14 year old and her dad, he had to know something about children that age. If he wasn't a father maybe he stayed with people, a girlfriend, a sibling or even parents that had a kid that age. Or around that age.

In one article I found the cousins brother was interviewed. He said the caller ("John Marshall") called to ask about the cousin babysitting. The brother told "John" how old she was and the cousin got upset because she was only 11. So it seems like he may have been looking for a certain age group. He did offer her the job but her parents didn't let her. So I don't know.

 

[cherrymeg]

In one article I found the cousins brother was interviewed. He said the caller ("John Marshall") called to ask about the cousin babysitting. The brother told "John" how old she was and the cousin got upset because she was only 11. So it seems like he may have been looking for a certain age group. He did offer her the job but her parents didn't let her. So I don't know.

Who is the cousin? Is this another girl?

 

[cherrymeg]

I'm looking through newspaper articles. Let me know if you can see them.

 

[cherrymeg]

I think this article mentions the 11 year old.