Fox’s Bill Melugin called his father ‘the strongest man I knew’ — and then he was gone in minutes. No goodbye, no final word, just a silence louder than any breaking news he’s ever covered. Now, as Bill speaks publicly for the first time, one question is gripping hearts everywhere: What was he about to say… before fate pulled the plug on a conversation that never got to end?

“I meant to call him that morning…” — Bill Melugin opens up about the heartbreaking regret he’ll carry forever

He’s the calm, composed face reporting from America’s most chaotic frontlines — a familiar figure on Fox News, often seen standing amidst dust, danger, and breaking headlines. But recently, Bill Melugin let the world see a very different side of him: a grieving son, still trying to process the sudden and devastating loss of his father to a pulmonary embolism.

“He was gone within minutes,” Bill revealed, his voice catching during a recent interview. “I had planned to call him that morning… but I thought, ‘I’ll do it later, I’m too busy today.’ And then — there was no ‘later.’”

Bill’s father, who proudly watched every broadcast, telling friends “that’s my boy up there,” died without warning. No drawn-out illness. No goodbye. Just an ordinary morning — and then, silence.

What haunts Bill the most isn’t what he said — it’s what he didn’t. The call he postponed. The hug he never gave. The simple “I love you” that will now forever live unspoken.

“I’ve reported on so much loss, so many broken families,” he said. “But I never truly understood the pain until it became my own.”

Now, every time he steps in front of a camera, he carries with him the memory of the man who cheered for him the loudest — now watching from a quieter place. And if there’s one thing Bill hopes his story reminds people, it’s this:
“Call the person you love. Don’t wait. Because sometimes… you don’t get a second chance.”