Seth Rich Seth Rich 
 
 - EDITOR'S NOTE (5/17/17): We want to update you on a story you first saw on FOX 5 DC. We want to make an important clarification on claims that were made by Rod Wheeler, the private investigator hired by Seth Rich's family, whose services are being paid for by a third party. 
 
 What he told FOX 5 DC on camera Monday regarding Seth Rich's murder investigation is in clear contrast to what he has said over the last 48 hours. Rod Wheeler has since backtracked. 
 
 In an interview Monday, Wheeler told FOX 5 DC he had sources at the FBI confirming there was evidence of communication between Seth Rich and WikiLeaks. This is the verbatim of that exchange: 
 
 FOX 5 DC: “You have sources at the FBI saying that there is information...” 
 
 WHEELER: "For sure..." 
 
 FOX 5 DC: “...that could link Seth Rich to WikiLeaks?" 
 
 WHEELER: "Absolutely. Yeah. That's confirmed." 
 
 In the past 48 hours, Rod Wheeler has told other media outlets he did not get his information from FBI sources, contradicting what he told us on Monday. 
 
 Since Rod Wheeler backtracked Tuesday, FOX 5 DC attempted incessantly to communicate with him, but he didn't return calls or emails. 
 
 On Wednesday, just before our newscast, Wheeler responded to our requests via a telephone conversation, where he now backtracks his position and Wheeler characterizes his on-the-record and on-camera statements as "miscommunication." 
 
 When asked if Wheeler is still working for Seth Rich's family, Wheeler told FOX 5 DC the contract still stands-- ties have not been severed. 
 
 We reached out once again to the Rich family, and through a spokesperson the Rich family tells FOX 5 DC, "The family has relayed their deep disappointment with Rod Wheeler's conduct over the last 48 hours, and is exploring legal avenues to the family." 
 
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
 
 Original story: 
 
 It has been almost a year since Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich was murdered in the nation's capital. There have been no solid answers about why he was killed until now. 
 
 Rich was shot and killed last July in Northwest D.C and police have suggested the killing in the District's Bloomingdale neighborhood was a botched robbery. However, online conspiracy theories have tied the murder to Rich's work at the DNC. 
 
 Just two months shy of the one-year anniversary of Rich's death, FOX 5 has learned there is new information that could prove these theorists right. 
 
 Rod Wheeler, a private investigator hired by the Rich family, suggests there is tangible evidence on Rich's laptop that confirms he was communicating with WikiLeaks prior to his death. Wheeler's services were offered to the family and paid for by a third party, according to a statement issued by the Rich family Tuesday which also includes that "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." 
 
 Now, questions have been raised on why D.C. police, the lead agency on this murder investigation for the past ten months, have insisted this was a robbery gone bad when there appears to be no evidence to suggest that. 
 
 Wheeler, a former D.C. police homicide detective, is running a parallel investigation into Rich’s murder. He said he believes there is a cover-up and the police department has been told to back down from the investigation. 
 
 "The police department nor the FBI have been forthcoming,” said Wheeler. “They haven't been cooperating at all. I believe that the answer to solving his death lies on that computer, which I believe is either at the police department or either at the FBI. I have been told both.” 
 
 When we asked Wheeler if his sources have told him there is information that links Rich to Wikileaks, he said, “Absolutely. Yeah. That's confirmed." 
 
 Wheeler also told us, "I have a source inside the police department that has looked at me straight in the eye and said, ‘Rod, we were told to stand down on this case and I can’t share any information with you.’ Now, that is highly unusual for a murder investigation, especially from a police department. Again, I don’t think it comes from the chief’s office, but I do believe there is a correlation between the mayor's office and the DNC and that is the information that will come out [Tuesday]. 
 
 Wheeler told FOX 5 that he will provide us with a full report with the new details. 
 
 FOX 5's Melanie Alnwick spoke with D.C. Police on Tuesday and was told that Wheeler’s assertion that a source inside the department told him that detectives were instructed to stand down regarding the Rich case was false. 
 
 The family sent Alnwick a statement on Tuesday with the following statement: 
 
 "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." 
 
 PREVIOUS COVERAGE ON THE SETH RICH MURDER INVESTIGATION: 
 
 Family of DNC staffer Seth Rich seeking to raise money to help solve his murder 
 
 Republican lobbyist says murder of DNC staffer Seth Rich linked to Russian operatives 
 
 Mother of murdered DNC staffer Seth Rich pleads for public's help 
 
 Republican lobbyist offers $100K reward in murder of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich 
 
 WikiLeaks offers $20K reward in murder of DNC staffer Seth Rich 
 
 WikiLeaks founder addresses death of DNC staffer Seth Rich in Fox News interview 
 
 Comments by Julian Assange fuel speculation that murdered DNC staffer may have been WikiLeaks source 
 
 What happened during final hours slain DNC employee Seth Rich was alive? 
 
 Parents of slain DNC employee make emotional plea to help find son's killer 
 
 DNC honors murdered staffer Seth Rich with memorial bike rack outside of headquarters 
 
 Vigil held for slain DNC staffer in Bloomingdale 
 
 DNC employee fatally shot in Northwest DC ||||| The family of murdered Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich on Tuesday strongly rejected reports claiming he had been in contact with WikiLeaks. 
 
 "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," spokesperson Brad Bauman told BuzzFeed News in an emailed statement. 
 
 
 
 Fox 5 in Washington, DC, first reported last night that the "family's private investigator" had found "tangible evidence" on Rich's laptop showing he was in touch with WikiLeaks before he died last summer. Then this morning, Fox News reported that Rich "had leaked thousands of internal emails to WikiLeaks," citing a "federal investigator." 
 
 
 
 Yet Rich's family said in its statement that the private investigator was "paid for by a third party" and under his contract had been "barred from speaking to press" without explicit authorization from the family. And the investigator told CNN that he was only repeating the Fox News story — he didn't personally have evidence showing communication with WikiLeaks. 
 
 "I only got that [information] from the reporter at Fox News," Wheeler told CNN. 
 
 Rich, 27, was shot and killed early one morning in Washington in July of last year. He had been working on a DNC project trying to make it easier for people to find where to vote on Election Day. 
 
 WikiLeaks published thousands of hacked DNC emails soon after Rich's death, and conspiracy theories began to swirl after the organization offered a $20,000 reward for help solving his case. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange then raised further eyebrows when he spoke of Rich's death, saying, "Our whistleblowers go to significant efforts to get us material." 
 
 WikiLeaks backed off the claim, saying his statement "should not be taken to imply that Seth Rich was a source for WikiLeaks," nor that his death was connected to the leaked emails. 
 
 Police said in response that they believe there is no connection between his death and "his employment at the DNC." Since that time, Rich's family have also said publicly that they believe his death wasn't connected. 
 
 But the story picked up again this week with the two reports by Fox outlets. Both stories quoted Rod Wheeler, a former homicide detective at Washington's Metropolitan Police Department, saying he had learned that there were emails between Rich and WikiLeaks before his death. 
 
 Wheeler is a Fox News contributor. In April he tweeted an apparent picture of himself at the White House. A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Department said that Wheeler had been "dismissed from the agency" after working there from 1990 to 1995. 
 
 Both reports said that Rich's family had hired Wheeler as a private investigator — which Rich's family responded to in its statement by noting he had been paid by a third party, and had not been authorized to speak with the press. 
 
 The Fox 5 story from last night quoted Wheeler as saying that a local police officer in Washington had "looked me straight in the eye" and told him they had been ordered to "stand down" on Rich's case. Fox added an update this morning that local police had denied that claim. 
 
 This morning's Fox News story added a further source, an unnamed "federal investigator" who said, “I have seen and read the emails between Seth Rich and WikiLeaks.” The investigator said that the FBI is in possession of the emails. 
 
 Rich family spokesman Brad Bauman, a Democratic political consultant by trade, told BuzzFeed News that the Wikileaks story just doesn't add up. Rich's job at the DNC had nothing to do with IT or internal cybersecurity, so the hack wouldn't have been in his domain. “He wouldn’t have had access to any of those emails," Bauman said. 
 
 Bauman said that evidence tying Rich to Wikileaks has been “nothing but hearsay or the insane rantings of conspiracy theorists.” He accused people pushing the idea of a "political agenda that is wholly un-American" who had denied a grieving family "the chance to mourn." 
 
 "Frankly," Bauman said, "I believe there’s a special place in hell for the folks who are pushing the story.” 
 
 BuzzFeed News reporter Jason Leopold contributed reporting. ||||| The family of the Democratic National Committee staffer who was gunned down on July 10 on a Washington, D.C., blasted reports that he was a source of emails leaked to WikiLeaks. 
 
 Rod Wheeler, a retired Washington homicide detective and Fox News contributor investigating the case on behalf of the Rich family, made the WikiLeaks claim, which was corroborated by a federal investigator who spoke to Fox News. 
 
 “My investigation up to this point shows there was some degree of email exchange between Seth Rich and WikiLeaks.” - Rod Wheeler, former DC homicide investigator 
 
 Wheeler made his comments on the possible Rich-Wikileaks connection in a story first reported Monday night by Fox 5 DC. 
 
 In an appearance on Fox News' "Hannity" Tuesday night, Wheeler said a "federal investigator that was involved on the inside of the case" saw Rich's computer and the case file. 
 
 Wheeler told host Sean Hannity the investigator "came across [as] very credible. When you look at that, with the totality of everything else that I found in this case, it’s very consistent for a person with my experience to begin to think, 'Well, perhaps there were some email communication between Seth and Wikileaks.'" 
 
 Related Image Expand / Collapse 
 
 But a spokesman for Rich's family on Tuesday said Wheeler was not authorized to speak for the family and called assertions Seth Rich sent emails to WikiLeaks "unsubstantiated." Brad Bauman said even if purported emails were to surface, it would not necessarily mean Rich had helped WikiLeaks. 
 
 "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," Bauman said. "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." 
 
 Related Image Expand / Collapse 
 
 Although Bauman said Wheeler was paid by a third party, the family is named as clients of Wheeler's Capitol Investigations on a contract signed by Rich's father, Joel Rich. 
 
 The family has been sensitive to speculation that Rich could have leaked emails damaging to the DNC since he was murdered during the height of the presidential campaign in a case that remains unsolved. Wheeler and the federal investigator insist that there is evidence to back their claims. 
 
 An FBI forensic report of Rich's computer -- generated within 96 hours after Rich's murder -- showed he made contact with WikiLeaks through Gavin MacFadyen, a now-deceased American investigative reporter, documentary filmmaker, and director of WikiLeaks who was living in London at the time, the federal source told Fox News. 
 
 “I have seen and read the emails between Seth Rich and WikiLeaks,” the federal investigator told Fox News, confirming the MacFadyen connection. He said the emails are in possession of the FBI, while the stalled case is in the hands of the Washington Police Department. 
 
 The revelation is consistent with the findings of Wheeler, whose private investigation firm was hired by a third party on behalf of Rich’s family to probe the case. 
 
 “My investigation up to this point shows there was some degree of email exchange between Seth Rich and WikiLeaks,” Wheeler said. “I do believe that the answers to who murdered Seth Rich sits on his computer on a shelf at the DC police or FBI headquarters.” 
 
 The federal investigator, who requested anonymity, said 44,053 emails and 17,761 attachments between Democratic National Committee leaders, spanning from January 2015 through late May 2016, were transferred from Rich to MacFadyen before May 21. 
 
 On July 22, just 12 days after Rich was killed, WikiLeaks published internal DNC emails that appeared to show top party officials conspired to stop Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont from becoming the party’s presidential nominee. That controversy resulted in Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigning as DNC chairperson. 
 
 WikiLeaks leader Julian Assange has stopped short of identifying Rich as the source of the emails, but has taken a keen interest in the case, and has not denied working with Rich. 
 
 “WikiLeaks has decided to issue a US$20k reward for information leading to conviction for the murder of DNC staffer Seth Rich,” the organization announced. 
 
 Assange has not returned a series of recent emails from Fox News about Rich. MacFadyen, who was considered a mentor by Assange, died of lung cancer on Oct. 22 at age 76. 
 
 Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department has no suspects and no substantial leads as to who the killer or killers may be, sources close to the investigation said. Metropolitan Police, including the police chief, have refused to discuss the case, despite requests from Fox News dating back 10 months. 
 
 The department released a statement on the case saying it remains an active investigation and that detectives are working with Rich's family. 
 
 "If there are any individuals who feel they have information, we urge them to call us at (202) 727-9099 or text us at 50411," read the statement. "The department 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." 
 
 The FBI’s national office declined to comment, but sources said the bureau provided cyber expertise to examine Rich’s computer. 
 
 D.C. police have announced a $25,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of Rich’s killer. Republican lobbyist Jack Burkman has offered a separate $130,000 reward. 
 
 Malia Zimmerman is an award-winning investigative reporter focusing on crime, homeland security, illegal immigration crime, terrorism and political corruption. Follow her on twitter at @MaliaMZimmerman
– The family of a murdered DNC staffer is fighting back against a private investigator's claims he was in contact with WikiLeaks prior to his death and may have been murdered in connection to his work at the DNC. Seth Rich, 27, was shot and killed last July during what police say appears to have been an attempted robbery. After Rich's death, WikiLeaks offered a $20,000 reward for help in solving his murder, and Julian Assange appeared to imply Rich had been passing material on to them, BuzzFeed reports. Now, according to FOX 5, a PI named Rod Wheeler says there's evidence on Rich's laptop that shows he was in contact with WikiLeaks. Wheeler says the police were "told to stand down on this case" in a cover-up he believes stems from the DNC and DC mayor's office. But Rich's family—who FOX 5 states hired Wheeler—says the PI, a Fox News contributor, is not authorized to speak for them, Fox News reports. A family spokesperson says Wheeler was hired by a "third party." Fox News states an unnamed federal investigator has backed up Wheeler's claims, adding he's read the emails between Rich and WikiLeaks and Rich forwarded more than 44,000 DNC emails to WikiLeaks. The family spokesperson says there's "no facts" and "no evidence" to support these "unsubstantiated" claims. The family says any reports to the contrary are baseless conspiracy theories. Rich's murder remains unsolved.