Buddies Suspected In Church Arsons
No Motive Known For String Of Church Fires In Rural South
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Play CBS Video Video Church Fire Arsonists Sought In Alabama, the search is on for those responsible for setting nine church fires this past week. Police are saying the arsonists seem to be on nothing more than a thrill ride. Jim Acosta reports.
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Video Alabama Church Arson Probe Hannah Storm and Alabama Attorney General Troy King discuss the investigation into nine church fires, which now appeared to be linked. Federal agents still have no clear suspects or motives.
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Video Church Fires Investigation Federal investigators looking into a series of church fires in Alabama have told CBS News that they have several hot leads. Jim Acosta has more.
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Pastor Dwight Bailey surveys the damaged left by a fire at the Beaverton Freewill Baptist Church in Beaverton, Ala., Sunday, Feb. 12, 2006. (AP)
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A firefighter looks over the remains of Beaverton Freewill Baptist Church in Beaverton, Ala., in rural Lamar County on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2006. (AP)
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Sumter County Sheriff Johnny Hatter, left, and Alabama Governor Bob Riley examine the charred remains of the Galilee Baptist Church Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2006 in Panola, Ala. (AP)
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An agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms investigates the remains of the Morning Star Baptist church Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2006, near Boligee, Ala., after a fire destroyed the structure earlier that morning. (AP)
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A firefighter from the West Greene Fire Department sprays water on the smoldering remains of the Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church near Boligee, Ala., in Greene County, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2006. (AP)
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Interactive FIRE! A look at major fires and their victims, arson facts, and those who fight the flames.
The latest fire severely damaged Beaverton Freewill Baptist Church in northwest Alabama, near the Mississippi state line.
The white, wood-frame church sat about 150 yards off a two-lane county road and had an alarm system that alerted officials to the blaze.
"It's definitely arson," state fire marshal spokesman Ragan Ingram said Sunday.
Fire marshals are investigating whether the Saturday afternoon blaze was linked to the other nine, all of which were set in the pre-dawn hours this month. Gov. Bob Riley said last week that the nine earlier church fires appear linked.
A federal investigator said witness reports and behavioral profilers led authorities to believe that two white men were responsible for the fires.
Witnesses said they saw two men in a sport utility vehicle near a number of the fires.
"They're not youths or teens. It's probably someone in their 20s or 30s. We believe they're pretty much inseparable. They're something like bosom buddies," said Eric Kehn, a spokesman for the federal Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agency. The ATF is the government agency with authority in cases of arson.
Evidence from one of the earlier fires indicates the perpetrators may have been briefly trapped inside the building and may have been hurt, said Jim Cavanaugh, ATF regional director.
Investigators have said they don't know of a motive, but there is no racial pattern. Five of the churches had white congregations and five black.
All were Baptist, the dominant faith in the region, and were mostly in isolated country settings.
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Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
