A $50,000 reward has been posted for information leading to the arrest and conviction of suspects responsible for burglarizing and torching the home of a Marshall County family last week.
Jessica Brown, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation public information officer, disclosed the reward posted by the family. Meanwhile, OSBI agents and the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office are continuing an investigation to determine who broke into the elegant home while the family was on vacation. Officials have also learned a large steel safe was taken.
Authorities received a fire alarm call at 1:45 a.m. Thursday to the home just off Old Willis Road, north of Highway 32. The entire, two-story structure was engulfed by fire and the second story had collapsed when the first of six responding county fire departments arrived.
Madill Fire Chief Keith Pruitt said the response by Kingston, Texoma, Lebanon, Hauani Creek and Enos was in compliance to a mutual aid agreement. Firemen battled the flames four hours and remained on the scene for salvage and to assist the state fire marshal investigator. Officials called the fire “suspicious” almost from the outset.
Forty-five minutes later, deputies discovered a white 2006 GMC pickup truck that had been parked at the home was missing, as well as a large, custom-made safe. Brown said the safe is four feet tall, four feet wide, four feet deep and weighs approximately 1,000 pounds.
At about 3:30 a.m., Cooke County, Texas, deputies recovered the missing truck in a lake northwest of Gainesville. The safe has not been located. OSBI crime scene investigators have processed the truck and home for evidence.
The multi-million dollar home belonged to the Jim Williams family. Williams is the owner of J&I Manufacturing, a major local industry.
Authorities believe the house was set on fire after the burglary.
The State Fire Marshall’s Office is investigating the blaze. The state office said no preliminary report has been submitted.
Anyone with information about the burglary, please call either the OSBI at (800) 635-TIPS (8477) or the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office, (580) 795-2221.
