‘Real big sister’: Atlanta relatives mourn woman killed in suspicious Kansas City fire
Dora Gamble was a “real big sister.”
She was fun, protective and one you could always count on if you had a problem, said her sisters, Annie Nelvis and Johnnie Nelvis as they sat in front of her fire damaged home in Kansas City.
“We love her. We miss her. And it hurts,” Johnnie Nelvis said.
Police on Friday identified the 66-year-old Gamble as the woman who died from injuries sustained in a suspicious house fire Wednesday evening in the 5400 block of Woodland Avenue. The 3-year-old grandson she was watching was also seriously injured and remains in critical condition at a hospital.
Police launched a “suspicious death” investigation after fire investigators determined the origin of the fire to be suspicious. The Kansas City Police Department’s bomb and arson is investigating the fire along with homicide detectives. The investigation is ongoing.
Annie Nelvis and Johnnie Nelvis, both from Atlanta, arrived in Kansas City Friday and stopped by the house to take a look for themselves at the damage the fire had done.
“She worked hard,” Johnnie Nelvis said. “She worked really hard. All she did was work and took care of her grandson.”
Annie Nelvis quickly corrected her. Gamble did much more, she said.
“She took care of us.”
Gamble was the backbone of the family since their mother died years ago, she said. “You know I got lots and lots of stories that I can tell everyone about her, about how she always came to my rescue.”
If they ever had a problem, they could always call upon her. She often had the answer — and a lot more.
“Most of the time she did have the answer and then sometimes she said, ‘Well, you’re going have to figure this one out yourself,” Annie Nelvis said.
Johnnie Nelvis added, “She wasn’t gonna give us what we wanted. She gave us what we actually needed to hear.”
When Annie Nelvis came down with COVID last year, Gamble called her every day, three times a day, for four weeks, just to check up on her. Gamble often challenged her on the facts, to make sure she wasn’t lying about her condition. She threatened to travel to Georgia just to make sure.
For 25 years, Gamble also had been taking care of an older brother who has a disability.
Gamble’s sisters didn’t know where she currently worked, but she has had jobs at a grocery store, hotel and warehouse. She even drove a school bus.
The sisters were planning a Thanksgiving vacation together this year. They booked the trip in January. Now that trip is in question because she won’t be there.
Court records show Gamble had filed for a protection order against a 55-year-old man last fall and was granted a full order of protection that was to be in effect until Nov. 3.
The man was ordered not to communicate with her or harass, stalk or threaten her, according to court documents. He was also ordered not to come within 1,000 feet of her.
Gamble’s sisters are planning to use their time in Kansas City to take pictures and gather information so they can look out for her as she had done for them.
“I know she don’t deserve this,” Johnnie Nelvis said. “And we will get justice for her.”
Anyone with information about the fire is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477) or homicide detectives at 816-234-5043.
The Star’s Bill Lukitsch and Katie Moore contributed to this report.
This story was originally published April 2, 2021 at 5:46 PM.
