POLO, Mo. — The death of an elderly woman in one of three fires near a small northwest Missouri town is being investigated as a homicide, authorities said.
Caldwell County Sheriff Mitchell Allen said Lorene Fickess, 96, died in a fire reported about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday at a home in rural Polo.
Allen said Wednesday that Fickess' death is being investigated as a homicide.
During the next two hours, firefighters and deputies responded to two more fires along the same rural road, Allen said. No injuries were reported in those fires.
The sheriff's office said witnesses spotted the same vehicle — a dark, four-door passenger car, possibly a black Dodge Caliber — near each of the fires.
