Black SUV with tinted windows possibly tied to string of arson fires in Missouri
A black SUV with tinted windows is possibly tied to a string of arson fires, including a fatal one that killed a 96-year-old grandmother, in Caldwell County, Missouri.
The Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office posted photos of the SUV, which was driven by a man, to its Facebook page.
The sheriff is asking anyone who knows the whereabouts of the SUV or the man who was driving it to contact the department at 816-586-2681.
The SUV was seen near each of the houses at the time of the fires. In one of the fires, 96-year-old Lorene Fickess was killed just days after she celebrated Mother’s Day with her children.
Firefighters responded about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday to the fire at her home near Southwest State Route D and Southwest Colt Drive, in rural Polo, Missouri, about 50 miles northeast of Kansas City.
A neighbor had tried to save Fickess, but the door was too hot and he couldn’t get in.
By the time firefighters arrived, the house was engulfed in flames, which prevented them from getting inside. Fickess was found dead inside the house after the blaze was extinguished. Her body was transported to Jackson County for an autopsy report.
The second fire was reported about 9:40 a.m. at an abandoned house near State Route D and Southwest Mirabile Drive. About an hour later, a third fire was reported at an abandoned house about a mile north on Southwest State Route D and State Route HH.
Members of the fire marshal found evidence of arson inside all three houses, authorities said.
