Search warrants issued in Indy home explosion probe

A burned car sits in a pile of debris at the site of a home explosion, Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012, in Indianapolis. / AP Photo/Darron Cummings

INDIANAPOLIS Investigators said Tuesday they have served search warrants and questioned people in connection with an Indianapolis house explosion that killed two people and destroyed at least five homes.

Prosecutor Terry Curry told The Indianapolis Star on Tuesday that search warrants had been issued. Curry's spokeswoman Brienne Delaney told The Associated Press on Tuesday evening that no arrests had been made.

"It's still a fluid situation," she said. It isn't clear how many people have been questioned.

• Authorities: Indy home explosion investigated as homicide
• Watch: Fire officials probe explosion in Indianapolis
• Natural gas-fueled appliances investigated in Indy home explosion

The investigation into the Nov. 10 explosion is believed to be focusing on a house occupied by Monserrate Shirley and her boyfriend, Mark Leonard. The couple and Shirley's 12-year-old daughter were away at the time of the explosion, but the young couple next door died when their house was destroyed.

The Star reported Tuesday night that Police Capt. Craig Converse said no one has been taken into custody for questioning.

Attorney Randall Cable said earlier Tuesday that Shirley and Leonard had been cooperating with investigators and were "bewildered" by Curry's announcement Monday that the investigation was considered a criminal homicide.

21 Photos

Explosion destroys homes in Indiana

City arson investigators and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives concluded the blast was not an accident, Curry told the AP earlier Tuesday. The case is classified as a criminal homicide investigation because of the deaths of Jennifer and John Longworth.

Curry declined to discuss details of the investigation or the search warrants, which he said would remain sealed until — or if — any criminal charges are filed.

Officials have said they believe natural gas was involved in the explosion and that they are focusing on appliances as the cause. The explosion caused an estimated $4.4 million in damage.

Curry said investigators had considered homicide a possibility all along, but it wasn't until police and the ATF ruled out an accidental cause that it became a criminal probe.

He declined to say whether investigators had any suspects or if there was any physical evidence or possible motive that the blast had been deliberately set.

"In terms of any intent, I can't speak to that," Curry said.

Cable said in a statement that Shirley and Leonard have "cooperated fully" with investigators and that they want the cause "of this horrific and saddening tragedy to be determined."

Fire Capt. Rita Burris said Tuesday that about 15 heavily damaged homes are "on hold," meaning that residents have limited access because of the investigation.

Once the on-scene work is complete, she said inspectors will have to determine if those homes are safe enough to enter or if they must be demolished.

"That's a two-fold, two-layer thing that these homeowners are going to have to deal with," Burris said.

[margroks]

More nonsense from Tea Party Irationals. This was a crime and it was clear these people were at fault almost from the beginning. Now they have them dead to rights. So stop blaming "liberals" for everything, not that you'd know a real liberal if you saw one. Such conspiracy theories are boring and pointless.

[matt6052]

She was a school teacher and he was an electronics expert. There is no link to anything exotic like the Albanian Mafia that would explain the manner of death.

The pilot light went out because the gas leak in the line outside the house sapped all the pressure. The soil filtered out the noxious odor as the gas seeped along a seam of graded earth and entered the basement through a crack in the wall. The couple entered the basement to investigate why their heater wasn't working, saw the pilot light was out, lit a match to re-start it, and set the explosion off.

The jury of dwelling dwellers just needs to know the legal mumbo-jumbo for why they are awarding the billion dollars. The gas company can try to say the homebuilder is also at fault because the basement wasn't air-tight, but that'll just make it two billion that the jury will award.

[greennnnnn-2009]

What in the world are you babbling about? This has absolutely nothing to do with what transpired. You're delusional.

[matt6052]

There you go again with your liberal blunt instruments. Whenever they encounter truths that they cannot refute with facts and reason, liberals call the source stupid, insane, a bigot, a conspiracy theorist, or just plain uncool. These are the heavy tools of illogical totalitarianism against truth and reason.

The gas company and its negligence caused the death of the school teacher and her husband. No one else.