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Search For Arsonist In Palm Bay Generating Numerous Leads
POSTED: 4:42 pm EDT May 13,
2008
UPDATED: 5:37 pm EDT May 13,
2008
PALM BAY, Fla. -- Dozens of people have lost their homes and everything they owned went up in flames. They want to know who did it.
VIDEO REPORT: Numerous Leads Reported As Investigators Search For Arsonist
The arsonist responsible for the Palm Bay wildfires may have left clues, but fire investigators said it won't be as easy as finding a used match somewhere. Instead, they're looking at burn patterns on trees and branches to figure out where it started and who's responsible.The search for clues in nine different arson fires took investigators down back roads in Palm Bay and into some areas that don't have roads at all."If you look at the ground, it's been pushed, pushed that way," said Detective Ernie Diebel, Palm Bay Police Department.Local and state investigators are interested in the area of Beach and Madden (see map), because the fire started late on Sunday, five hours after the other fires, and they think it could be an individual "start" apart from the other fires.Ernie Diebel, Palm Bay's lead detective, says finding where each fire started could get him closer to the person who started them."It can be a thrill seeker, revenge or somebody who wants to be a fireman, likes to see fire trucks," he said.But investigators know the odds are against them. Some put the success rate for solving arsons as low as two-percent."Are you any closer now than you were on Sunday to figuring out who did this?" WFTV reporter Eric Rasmussen asked Diebel on Tuesday."About the same. We've got several leads we're following," he said.In fact, investigators said they've received at least 20 tips in the last two days. While more than half of all arson arrests are juveniles, at least one investigator told Eyewitness News he thinks their suspect might be older and more mobile because it appears the fires were set in several different places.Police only have one lead to find an arsonist. An eyewitness saw a man driving a dark-colored Honda or Hyundai sedan. They said he is a white man with a thin build, dark brown hair and "big sunglasses." If you know who he is, there is a $10,000 reward. Call Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS.
VIDEO REPORT: Numerous Leads Reported As Investigators Search For ArsonistThe arsonist responsible for the Palm Bay wildfires may have left clues, but fire investigators said it won't be as easy as finding a used match somewhere. Instead, they're looking at burn patterns on trees and branches to figure out where it started and who's responsible.The search for clues in nine different arson fires took investigators down back roads in Palm Bay and into some areas that don't have roads at all."If you look at the ground, it's been pushed, pushed that way," said Detective Ernie Diebel, Palm Bay Police Department.Local and state investigators are interested in the area of Beach and Madden (see map), because the fire started late on Sunday, five hours after the other fires, and they think it could be an individual "start" apart from the other fires.Ernie Diebel, Palm Bay's lead detective, says finding where each fire started could get him closer to the person who started them."It can be a thrill seeker, revenge or somebody who wants to be a fireman, likes to see fire trucks," he said.But investigators know the odds are against them. Some put the success rate for solving arsons as low as two-percent."Are you any closer now than you were on Sunday to figuring out who did this?" WFTV reporter Eric Rasmussen asked Diebel on Tuesday."About the same. We've got several leads we're following," he said.In fact, investigators said they've received at least 20 tips in the last two days. While more than half of all arson arrests are juveniles, at least one investigator told Eyewitness News he thinks their suspect might be older and more mobile because it appears the fires were set in several different places.Police only have one lead to find an arsonist. An eyewitness saw a man driving a dark-colored Honda or Hyundai sedan. They said he is a white man with a thin build, dark brown hair and "big sunglasses." If you know who he is, there is a $10,000 reward. Call Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS.
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