“We still don’t know why.”
Three years after his murder, the family of Michael J. Fox is still searching for answers. But they haven’t given up hope that the gay South Philly resident’s killer will be brought to justice.
“An arrest would bring us a lot of closure,” said Fox’s mother, Diane. “We don’t know who. We don’t know why. We don’t know how. An arrest would give us a lot of answers.”
Fox, 30, was found dead in his apartment at Eighth and Christian streets June 22, 2012, and is believed to have been killed by blunt-force trauma to the head the night before. Investigators have said Fox knew his killer, but no suspect or person of interest has been publicly identified.
Diane said investigators have kept the family updated.
“We’re still in touch with them, and they’re still in touch with us,” she said. “We have no updates but we know they are still working the case.”
Fox was a former barback at Woody’s and an artistic roller skater who aspired to be a hair stylist.
Diane said the family spent the third anniversary Sunday visiting his grave, in Mays Landing, N.J.
“We always try to make it a nice day. We went out as a family and spent some time there and left lots of flowers. There’s so many flowers there; it becomes peaceful that way.”
Diane visits the cemetery every Friday with Starbucks coffee, continuing a tradition she had with her son.
“We would always go to Starbucks on Fridays together, so I still do it,” she said, noting that the grieving process has evolved in the last three years. “It’s definitely been a roller-coaster ride but I think anger takes over now. You want to know. You want to know the answers, and why you can’t get those answers.”
To get answers, the family has been trying to keep Fox’s case alive in the media and the public. Every year on his birthday, Oct. 1, his family canvases Philadelphia with posters urging anyone with information to come forward. Diane recently taped an update for the Citizens Crime Commission, which ran earlier this month on 6ABC, and Fox has been the spotlighted case on the commission’s billboards throughout the area.
“In working with the Citizens Crime Commission, they’ve given us stories of how cases through the years, it’s been maybe five or six years, and someone just happens to come into the city and see something about the case and goes, ‘Oh, I remember that,’ and there’s a new lead,” Diane said. “That’s why we want to keep plugging along.”
The Citizens Crime Commission is offering a $21,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Fox’s killer. Anyone with information on the case is asked to call 215-546-8477.