One of the billboards soliciting information about Seth Rich’s murder. (Photo by Rachel Kurzius)

The death of Seth Rich last July was a tragedy. Fatally shot in Bloomingdale, his murder is one of 65 unsolved D.C. homicides in 2016.

His family wants to remember the Democratic National Committee staffer as a caring person who tried to make sure everyone had their voice heard.

But to Fox 5, the 27 year old’s untimely passing has been an opportunity to publish context-free stories that give a platform to conspiracy theories, without anything but hearsay to back them up. Their latest relies on a former D.C. detective and on-air Fox contributor (without citing him as such) who claims, without any proof, that Rich communicated with Wikileaks before he died.

Rich’s job at the DNC and the fact that his watch, wallet, and credit cards were still at the scene of the crime when police found him has led to the emergence of conspiracy theories, mainly involving the DNC emails released by Wikileaks over the summer.

Wikileaks itself fanned the flames by offering $20,000 for information about his death. Founder Julian Assange implied in an interview that Rich could have been the source of the emails.

The organization later said the reward “should not be taken to imply that Seth Rich was a source to WikiLeaks or that his murder is connected to our publications.” U.S. intelligence agencies allege that Russia is behind the leaks, and the published emails are part of the larger investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

But Fox 5 is peddling a different theory. In its latest hearsay-filled story, reporter Marina Marraco interviews Rod Wheeler, a former D.C. homicide detective investigating Rich’s murder. Wheeler claims that he was hired by the Rich family and says there is “tangible evidence” that Rich was in communication with Wikileaks.

Where is that evidence? On Rich’s computer, Wheeler says, though he’s not sure where it is. Wheeler also says that he believes D.C. Police is helping with a cover up, a claim that MPD emphatically denies.

“The Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Branch is actively investigating Mr. Rich’s murder and we continue to work with the family to bring closure to this case as we do with all homicide investigations,” the department says in a statement.

The Fox 5 story was then picked by Fox News and made it to the top of Drudge Report, exposing it to potentially millions of eyes. Already, it’s been aggregated by Breitbart, The Washington Examiner, and more, treating the claims as definitive. The Fox story also includes an anonymous federal investigator, who said Rich contacted a (conveniently dead) documentarian and provided him with more than 40,000 DNC emails.

Here’s some key context missing from the story: Wheeler is a Fox News contributor who has apologized for on-air misstatements, like saying a “national underground network” of lesbian gangs were terrorizing U.S. cities. He’s also a Donald Trump supporter who visited the White House last month for a meeting. “Doing my part to Make America Great Again!” the caption on LinkedIn reads over a picture of a grinning Wheeler.

MPD spokesperson Margarita Mikhaylova confirmed that Wheeler was employed by the department from 1990-1995, and says police are still pulling his file to determine whether he was a detective, or more specifically a homicide detective. “It takes a while [to become a detective], even if you work your butt off,” Mikhaylova says.

Mikhaylova adds that Wheeler was fired from D.C. Police in 1995.

It also doesn’t explain how Rich, a low-level staffer working on data and analysis for voter protection programs, had access to everyone’s emails to begin with.

Only later did the story include a statement from the Rich family disavowing several elements of the story, which DCist also received.

“As we’ve seen through the past year of unsubstantiated claims, we see no facts, we have seen no evidence, we have been approached with no emails and only learned about this when contacted by the press,” the statement says in part.

Fox 5 isn’t backing down. “We stand by our story,” a Fox 5 spokesperson says in an emailed statement. “We didn’t have any unnamed sources. And by the way, maybe you should call the Washington Post—they usually have 30 unnamed sources in their stories.” Our request for comment did not mention unnamed sources, and the spokesperson did not address questions about why Wheeler was not identified as a Fox contributor.

The Rich family says that a third party, not them, hired Wheeler. “The services of the private investigator who spoke to press was offered to the Rich family and paid for by a third party, and contractually was barred from speaking to press or anyone outside of law enforcement or the family unless explicitly authorized by the family,” the statement says.

Family spokesperson Brad Bauman did not respond when asked about the identity of the third party. However, NBC News reports that the third party is Ed Butowsky, another Fox News contributor, according to Bauman. He told NBC he was prompted to share the information after he saw Butowsky denying his role in the investigation, which Butowsky continues to deny.

This wouldn’t be the first time the grieving family was offered help from outsiders. Jack Burkman, a GOP lobbyist with more press releases than accounts to his name, announced last fall that he was increasing the D.C. Police reward for information that would lead to Rich’s murderer by $100,000. Burkman and the Rich family held a joint press conference in late November to announce a billboard and poster campaign to drum up new information.

But then Burkman too began spreading theories without substantiation about Rich’s death. His notion is that the Russians killed Rich for discovering the hacking. It’s based on a source who claims he’s a former intelligence officer, who Burkman met for an hour and a half.

Where did he go to peddle his conspiracies? No place other than Fox 5’s morning show. Rather than asking simple questions of Burkman and his theory (which, as this reporter found out, Burkman cannot answer), the anchors instead seemed to buy his story whole cloth, asking him questions like “Are you fearful at all? If this is true, why shouldn’t you be a target?”

One family member told DCist that seeing Burkman’s theory was like “having a semi come up and t-bone you in the intersection when you think you’re doing fine. It catches you so off guard that you don’t just pause, you step backwards.”

Shortly after that, the Rich family launched their own crowdfunding campaign to get to the bottom of Seth’s murder. “The family certainly thanks Jack for the spotlight that he has brought to this case,” Bauman, the family spokesperson, told DCist at the time. “But the truth is that the family needs to have the independence to ensure that this is being investigated in a responsible way and without any particular political or conspiratorial agenda.”

Last we heard of Burkman, he was announcing an “investigative war room” for Rich’s murder in Arlington.

Look, we’re not opposed to reporting on the latest updates regarding the Rich murder, but publishing unsubstantiated statements without providing context doesn’t clear the bar.

Here is the Rich family statement, in full:

As we’ve seen through the past year of unsubstantiated claims, we see no facts, we have seen no evidence, we have been approached with no emails and only learned about this when contacted by the press. Even if tomorrow, an email was found, it is not a high enough bar of evidence to prove any interactions as emails can be altered and we’ve seen that those interested in pushing conspiracies will stop at nothing to do so. We are a family who is committed to facts, not fake evidence that surfaces every few months to fill the void and distract law enforcement and the general public from finding Seth’s murderers. The services of the private investigator who spoke to press was offered to the Rich family and paid for by a third party, and contractually was barred from speaking to press or anyone outside of law enforcement or the family unless explicitly authorized by the family.

Police want people with information about Rich’s murder to call 202-727-9099 or text 50411. MPD is offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information on this case that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible.

This story has been updated with comment from Fox 5, MPD, and news about the third-party funder of the investigation.