Kansas City man arrested in string of fires, including one that left grandmother dead
A Kansas City man has been charged with several crimes in connection with a string of arson fires last month, including one that killed a grandmother in Caldwell County, Missouri, the local sheriff announced Monday.
The Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office, along with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, arrested 27-year-old Harold Edwards Jr. about 6:30 p.m. Friday, said Caldwell County Sheriff Mitchell Allen in a news release.
Edwards has been charged in Caldwell County Circuit Court with three counts each of second-degree arson, second-degree burglary and first-degree property damage in connection with three arson fires on May 10 in the county, Allen said.
The investigation into the fires continues and additional charges could be filed, Allen said.
Details of what connected Edwards to the crimes were not immediately available. He was being held in Caldwell County jail without a bond.
In one of the fires, 96-year-old Loren Fickess was killed just days after she celebrated Mother’s Day with her children.
Firefighters responded to a fire about 8:30 a.m. May 10th 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 her, but the door was too hot and he couldn’t get in. By the time firefighters arrived, the house was engulfed in flames. After the blaze was extinguished, firefighters found her body inside the home.
A second fire was reported about 9:40 a.m. at an abandoned house near State Route D and Southwest Mirabile Drive. A third fire was reported about an hour later at an abandoned house about a mile north on Southwest State Route D and State Route HH.
Evidence of arson was found inside all three houses, authorities had said.
In the days following the fires, the sheriff’s office had posted photos of a black SUV with tinted windows that had been seen near each of the houses at the time of the fires. The sheriff’s office asked for help finding the SUv and its driver.
This story was originally published June 13, 2022 at 12:57 PM.
