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:
Faith Beamer, aka Fay Beamer, age 38, is one of five suspects arrested for the torture and murder of Nicole Cuevas in Wilkes-Barre.
What she is accused of is very graphic and disturbing.
The Citizens voice reports that “Beamer dug her fingers into Cuevas-Ingram’s eyes, causing severe damage and blindness. Beamer also stabbed and slashed at Cuevas-Ingram’s back, using fishing line to stitch up one of the wounds, police said.”
Back in April 2017, Faith Beamer was asked by the Citizens Voice Street Talk column, “Do you believe in the death penalty?”
Here is what she said.
Faith Beamer said she believes in the death penalty. From “Street Talk,” (April 23, 2017) Citizens Voice, Wilkes-Barre, PA
Pennsylvania technically is a death penalty state, but no one’s been executed since 1999. The last execution was Gary Heidnik, a Philadelphia serial killer who abducted, tortured, and raped six women, killing two, in a dungeon he built in his basement.
There is currently a moratorium on executions in PA and a push to abolish the death penalty in the state.
Extra: More Beamer from news archives
28/22 News has been digging through its archives. They found this footage of Faith Beamer from June 2016. She is at the soup kitchen and appears to be crying for her murdered friend Kurt Swan. I don’t see any tears, though.
Sources:
“Street Talk,” The Citizens Voice, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Sunday, April 23, 2017, digital archives
Mugshot of Jason Race, one of the murder suspects in the Nicole Cuevas homicide.
Back in 2012, Jason Paul Race, one of five people arrested for the horrific torture and murder of Michigan woman Nicole Cuevas at 142 Carlisle Street in Wilkes-Barre, was involved in a sketchy car accident in Plymouth Township.
It’s shocking how quickly this house of people took a vicious turn against another human being. One of them they knew for many years. The other was a newcomer.
The 2012 car accident on Mizdail Road occurred when a Pontiac Aztek with Race, Cook, and a young woman in it was hit by a pickup truck that lost control making a left turn. Both vehicles stopped, but the driver of the pickup took off “when he was confronted by 31-year old Jason Rece [sic].”
The article says the young woman was driving the car, but Race admitted in a later Facebook post that he was actually the person behind the wheel.
From May 27, 2012, Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Penna.
Jason Race posted this on one of his Facebook accounts in November 2012:
“This is to all the people who think u know me why cant u just let the past die to clear things up yes i was the one driving when the azteck got smashed but i was only driving cause she asked me 2 drive.”
Reporter Andy Mehalshik interviews the sister of the man who escaped 142 Carlisle Street; shows footage of police welfare check on ‘house of horrors’.
Previous news reports revealed that a man was held captive and beaten at 142 Carlisle Street but managed to escape in July 2023. (Thank God he escaped!) According to a report by 28/22 News, that man was Anthony Cook.
Officials say Cook’s escape was crucial in advancing the investigation into Nicole Cuevas’ homicide.
Cook, like Cuevas, was reportedly held in the basement and assaulted at the same location, 142 Carlisle Street, after accusations of child molestation were made against him. Per the Citizens Voice, he was beaten by two of the murder suspects, Desiree Linnette and Jason Race, and two individuals described only as “drug dealers.”
Cook escaped through a window on the night of July 27, 2023, and made it to the Turkey Hill at 632 Carey Ave to call 911. When police arrived, they found him “beaten and bloodied,” with injuries to his face.
In an interview with 28/22 News, Patricia London, Cook’s sister, shared disturbing messages she received on her phone. She told Andy Mehalshik that murder suspect Desiree Linnette, who she’d been friends with for more than 15 years, sent her a message saying, “Your brother’s a child molester, he got what he got.” London said she also received a photo of her brother from his ex-girlfriend.
London pointed out the inconsistency in Linnette’s statements: Linnette claimed she wasn’t there [when Cook was held captive and beaten] but Linette also said she’d tried to help him.
“Well if you weren’t there, but then you also tried to help him, which story is correct?” asked London.
Police checked on the child Cook said he was accused of molesting, but Jason Race and Faith Beamer attempted to block the police from seeing the child. For that, they were charged with obstruction. Cook was never charged with any crime related to that allegation.
According to a Montour County coroner’s report, the cause of death of Amy Gregory, once next-door neighbor to 142 Carlisle Street, was determined to be drowning. The manner of death was not listed as suspicious. No details were provided in the report as to what evidence was used to determine the manner of death.
The report was signed on Feb. 11, 2023, the same date Gregory’s remains were found. Whether this tragic death merits further investigation in light of the recent murders at and connected to 142 Carlisle Street is ultimately up to Wilkes-Barre police.
My heartfelt condolences to the family of Amy Gregory.
Source for this update: Montour County, Pennsylvania, Coroner’s Report for Amy Gregory, signed Feb 11, 2023 by Scott E. Lynn II, Deputy Coroner; on file at the Montour County Prothonotary Office, Danville, Pennsylvania.
I grew up in Wilkes-Barre, and researching local history and genealogy is a hobby of mine. I learned from old newspaper articles that this section of Wilkes-Barre that includes 142 Carlisle Street was built on an old Native American burial ground. Seriously.
In the 1800s, it was the site of the E.W. Sturdevant Estate, also known as the Firwood Estate, until it was sold to developers in 1894. The Firwood Land Company began to develop the land and divide it into plots circa 1895.
As they were digging to build roads and later foundations, they unearthed several Native American burial sites, per newspaper reports of that time. See here and here. Some reports describe a vast burial ground stretching to the banks of the Susquehanna River, but I haven’t found any documentation to confirm it was that extensive.
Given this history, there’s a small chance the bones found in the basement on Carlisle Street, which was built on the former Sturdevant Estate, might be from an old burial ground. I write “small” chance because you’d think any burial sites would have been unearthed back when the foundation was dug.
But as the meme goes, the entire United States was built on an old Indian burial ground.
1904 Sanborn Map showing the E.W. Sturdevant Estate/Carlisle Street in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
A body was found behind the Host Inn in Wilkes-Barre, PA. Photo credit: NEPATrueCrime.com
After a day of much speculation on social media, the coroner, police chief, and DA have confirmed that the body found in the wooded area behind TGI Fridays/the Host Inn is connected to the 142 Carlisle Street investigation. That’s the house where a body was found buried in the basement. It’s also the former home of missing woman Debra Jane Fox.
Investigators are still working to obtain a positive investigation of both sets of remains, “each of which was found to have some degree of decomposition,” says the press release.
No further information is being released at this time due to the sensitive nature of the investigation.
Anyone with information related to this incident is urged to contact the Wilkes-Barre City Detective Division c/o Lt. Matthew Stash 570-208-0911 or Detective James Conmy 570-208-6775.
UPDATE Apr. 11, 2024: According to a Montour County coroner’s report, the cause of death of Amy Gregory, once next-door neighbor to 142 Carlisle Street, was determined to be drowning. The manner of death was not listed as suspicious. No details were provided in the report as to what evidence was used to determine the manner of death.
The report was signed on Feb. 11, 2023, the same date Gregory’s remains were found. Whether this tragic death merits further investigation in light of the recent murders at and connected to 142 Carlisle Street is ultimately up to Wilkes-Barre police.
My heartfelt condolences to the family of Amy Gregory.
Amy Gregory, 38, one-time next-door neighbor of missing Wilkes-Barre woman Debra Jane Fox, vanished in December 2022 and was found dead near or in a river in Feb 2023.
Although the cases might be completely unconnected, the coincidence is significant enough to mention here.
Gregory had lived at 140 Carlisle St, part of the same row of houses and immediately next door to 142 Carlisle St, where human remains were discovered buried in the basement on Feb. 27, 2024. News reports from the time of her disappearance describe Gregory as living in nearby Kingston, PA, but 140 Carlisle appears to have been her family home.
Screenshot from PeopleFinders.com, showing Amy Gregory’s association with the 140 Carlisle Street address.
Amy Gregory was last seen at about 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 21, 2022, leaving home on foot to see her children’s father [he has not been named publicly]. Her family reported her missing the following day, Dec. 22. She was six months pregnant.
Tragically, her remains were discovered on Feb. 11, 2023, by individuals walking near the Susquehanna River in Montour County. The discovery was made near Sharp Ridge and Susquehanna roads in Mayberry Township, about 50 miles southwest of Wilkes-Barre. An unofficial source states her body was found floating in the river.
Amy Gregory was found in the area near Sharp Ridge and Susquehanna roads in Mayberry Township
The local fire department assisted at the scene to recover the body from the difficult terrain, per a news report. State police from Stonington, Milton, Montoursville, and Wilkes-Barre City Police also assisted.
The last update I can find about this case is from Feb 21, 2023, when Montour County Coroner Scott Lynn told Eyewitness News that the cause and manner of Gregory’s death are pending further investigation and testing results.
This is such a terrible case. Not only did she disappear just a few days before Christmas, but she was six months pregnant. She was also the mother of two children.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Detective Andres at 570-208-4128 or the Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers at 1-800-4PA-TIPS.
This is a screenshot from a GoFundMe for funeral costs, with a comment from Danielle Fox, daughter of missing woman Debra Fox, that says “A good neighbor and friend will be missed.”
On March 12, 2024, authorities retrieved a body from the Susquehanna River near the Kirby Park side of the Market Street Bridge. Since then, there have been no updates regarding the identity of the individual or the circumstances surrounding their death.
The body was found floating face-down in the swiftly flowing river, which was experiencing higher-than-normal water levels of 13 feet at the time. This water level is considered elevated for this section of the Susquehanna.
The above is literally the only information I can find about this case, so I’ve created this blog post to keep tabs on it.
Update March 28, 2024: Officials announced the body found in the woods behind TGI Fridays/hotels is linked to the 142 Carlisle St. death investigation, at the former home of missing Wilkes-Barre woman Debra Fox.
March 27, 2024
What is up with the recent spate of unidentified remains in Wilkes-Barre? We still haven’t had an update about the body found in the Susquehanna River near Kirby Park on March 12. And the investigation into the remains found in a basement at 142 Carlisle Street in Wilkes-Barre is ongoing.
Yesterday, authorities found a body in the area behind the TGI Fridays on Kidder Street in Wilkes-Barre. This location is part of a complex that includes three 2-star hotels: the Host Inn All Suites, Wilkes-Barre Inn & Suites, and Fairfield Inn.
The Times Leader reported that a significant police presence, including Wilkes-Barre police and state troopers, arrived at the scene shortly before noon on Tuesday, March 26, 2024. The body was discovered at the bottom of a steep embankment in a wooded area behind the Host Inn All Suites Hotel.
The terrain was so dense that the Public Works Department had to clear access using chainsaws and pole saws. Wooden planks were also used to create makeshift steps on the steep slope. Luzerne County Coroner Jill Matthews removed the body shortly before 3 p.m.
PaHomePage spoke with a Wilkes-Barre man who said told them he’s observed police searching the woods behind the hotel for months. “I’ve seen them coming in and out; detectives have been digging every day,” he said.
Really?
Police Chief Joseph Coffay told the Times Leader more information will be released later.
