In May 2024, the community of Columbia, Missouri, was shaken by the disappearance of 77-year-old female Marcia Hess and her 50-year-old daughter, Sara Fox. The two women were last seen on May 8, 2024, at their residence on Ridgemont Drive. Concern grew among friends and family when the pair could not be reached, prompting the Columbia Police Department to launch a missing persons investigation.
Officers were dispatched to the home to conduct welfare checks and search for clues regarding their whereabouts, initially treating the situation as a disappearance.
The investigation took a grim turn when police executed a search of the Hess residence. During the search, officers discovered the bodies of both Marcia Hess and Sara Fox hidden inside a closet within the home. Both women had sustained fatal gunshot wounds, and the case was immediately reclassified as a double homicide. The discovery sent shockwaves through the neighborhood, where Marcia was a long-time resident known for her involvement in the community.
Law enforcement quickly identified a person of interest: 51-year-old Randall Fox, the ex-husband of Sara Fox. Randall Fox was located and arrested in connection with the deaths. Prosecutors charged him with two counts of second-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence. He was held without bond in the Boone County Jail. Court documents revealed that one of the victims had been shot multiple times, and the concealment of the bodies suggested an attempt to hide the crime.
Marcia Hess was remembered by those who knew her as a dedicated educator and an ordained interfaith minister who had a passion for quilting and spirituality. She had returned to Missouri to be closer to family after a career in teaching that took her to states like California and Wyoming. Her daughter, Sara Fox, was described as a free spirit who loved her family and sons deeply. The tragedy of their deaths marked a somber chapter for the Columbia community as the legal proceedings against the accused began.
