Former 142 Carlisle St homeowner Debra Fox, whose suspicious death is still under investigation, pictured next to murder suspect Desiree Linnette. Photo posted to FB in Oct. 2023
This photo shows Debra Jane Fox, 69, who went missing and was later found deceased behind a Wilkes-Barre hotel. She is seated next to murder suspect Desiree Linnette, 43.
This image was posted to Facebook on October 28, 2023. According to Fox’s daughters, Debra Fox left the Carlisle Street home in the summer of 2023. She was staying at a local hotel, possibly with the group of people she had previously lived with at Carlisle Street, including Linnette.
If that date stamp reflects the actual day the photo was taken, we are looking at the face of a woman, Linnette, who already viciously tortured and participated in the murder of a woman who was supposed to be her friend and possible love interest, Nicole Cuevas, 38. That is the face of a woman with a body in the basement.
Linnette was also involved in the false imprisonment and assault on Anthony Cook, age 38, just three months before this.
So far, there is no evidence that Debra Fox participated in the torture or murder of Cuevas. Fox’s PFA against her nephew Jason Race alleged that Fox was kept locked in her room.
The exact date of Debra Fox’s disappearance isn’t clear. In a recent press conference, the Luzerne County D.A. said Fox disappeared in January. In an interview with Fox’s daughters in March 2024, they said they last saw her in November 2023 at a hotel.
“I haven’t seen her since November,” Melissa Fox told WNEP. “I left the hotel, and she was there, and after that, nothing.”
Here is the WNEP news interview with the Fox sisters from March 13, 2024:
At a press conference at Wilkes-Barre police HQ on April 9, District Attorney Sam Sangueldolce announced that the remains found buried in the basement at 142 Carlisle Street have been identified as Nicole Cuevas-Ingram, a 38-year-old woman from Saginaw, Michigan.
She came to Pennsylvania in March 2023 with a friend who later became her murderer. Cuevas was staying at the Carisle Street residence with that friend, Desiree Linnette, age 43, and several others.
D.A. Sam Sanguedolce said he believes Cuevas was in NEPA “really just as a visit.” The Times Leader noted it was for a possible romantic relationship.
Nicole Cuevas-Ingram
The living situation turned sour, and Cuevas was unable to obtain money to return to Michigan. Linnette accused the victim of molesting a child, which seems to be a pattern with her. It is also horrifically ironic given that another suspect in this real-life horror story is a registered sexually violent predator and pedophile.
Somehow, Cuevas ended up handcuffed to a post in the basement, where she was held and beaten for several weeks, per the D.A. Updates indicate she was allowed to go into the kitchen periodically and was given bread and water.
She was beaten severely over the course of weeks. The description of what she endured is horrific:
Nearly all of her ribs were broken.
Her nasal cavity was destroyed.
An ankle was broken.
Her head was shaved.
She was also cut all over her body, with many cuts on her back.
Her hyoid bone in her neck was broken, indicating strangulation.
Her eyes were gouged with fingers.
A tooth was knocked out.
She was kicked and stomped.
The Times Leader reports Cuevas died when one of the murderers stomped on her head. The cause of death is given as asphyxiation.
Following her death, which occurred in April 2023, she was wrapped in a tarp that was tied with electrical cords and rope and buried in the dirt-floor basement.
Shortly after arriving in Wilkes-Barre in March 2023, Cuevas reached out to her family in Michigan for money to buy a bus ticket home.
Five people have been arrested for murder, conspiracy to commit murder, kidnapping, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, aggravated assault, and abuse of a corpse. Those five individuals are:
• Jason Paul Race, 43 (appears to be the nephew of Debra Fox) • Faith L. Hoover Beamer, 39 (girlfriend of Race) • Desiree Kehaun Linnette, 43 (brought Cuevas to Wilkes-Barre) • Sarai Kamalani Doyle, 24 (daughter of Linnette) • William Benjamin Wolfe, 54
The D.A. said they expect at least one more arrest related to this case.
Debra Fox confirmed deceased
Debra Fox. Authorities confirmed it was her body found behind the Host Inn.
D.A. Sanguedolce also announced that the body found behind the Host Inn hotel was missing woman Debra Fox, who was the longtime homeowner of 142 Carlisle St. He said the investigation into her death is believed to be related to the murder at 142 Carlisle Street, but more investigation is needed.
When asked by a reporter if any evidence pointed to Debra Fox being involved in the torture of Nicole Cuevas, the D.A. replied with a firm no. However, the investigation is ongoing.
