INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – For months, FOX59 Investigates has been shining a spotlight on the tragic house fire in Flora that killed four young sisters. Now, we’ve learned the president of the Indiana NAACP is launching her own investigation into how the case is being handled.
Barbara Bolling-Williams was in Indianapolis Thursday afternoon, meeting with Gaylin Rose, the mother of the four victims.
“We’re kind of curious as to why there doesn’t appear to have been any movement on this case,” said Bolling-Williams. “(Gaylin) asked us if we would look into this and we have agreed to start an investigation.”
The NAACP’s involvement comes after a series of setbacks in the case. In June, FOX59 discovered a mistake over where investigators found an accelerant in the house. Shortly after, a state fire investigator resigned. Through it all, no one has been arrested and Rose has complained she’s not receiving any information about the case from authorities.
“It absolutely concerns me, because it’s been a year and there should be some type of resolution. Certainly the family needs to be updated on the status of the investigation.”
Bolling-Williams is working alongside the president of the Indianapolis chapter of the NAACP. She said her job now is two-fold.
“One, to certainly empathize with her and let (Gaylin) know she’s not alone in this case. But then two, to understand what they have gone through at this point, what they have been told with respect to the investigation, what steps have they taken, what steps has the community taken to support her in trying to find the answers as to what occurred.”
As the one-year-anniversary approaches, FOX59 has requested an interview with Indiana State Police to get an update on the case. We still have not received an answer.
The NAACP is hosting its annual state conference in Indianapolis next week. We expect to hear more from that group about the Flora investigation in the coming days.
