INDIANAPOLIS —
Authorities launched a homicide investigation Monday into the house explosion that killed two people and left numerous homes uninhabitable in an Indianapolis neighborhood.
Indianapolis Homeland Security Director Gary Coons made the announcement after meeting with residents affected by the Nov. 10 blast and just hours after a funeral for the husband and wife who were killed. The couple lived next door to the house where investigators believe the explosion occurred.
“We are turning this into a criminal homicide investigation,” Coons said, marking the first time investigators have acknowledged a possible criminal element to the case.
Search warrants have been executed and officials are now looking for a white van that was seen in the subdivision the day of the blast, Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry said. Federal authorities are offering a $10,000 reward for information in the case.
Curry said the investigation is aimed at “determining if there are individuals who may be responsible for this explosion and fire,” but neither he nor Coons took questions or indicated if investigators had any suspects.
Officials have said they believe natural gas was involved in the explosion, which destroyed five homes and left dozens damaged, some heavily. Investigators have been focusing on appliances as they search for a cause of the explosion, which caused an estimated $4.4 million in damage.
“We thought something like this was not just an accident,” said Doug Aldridge, who heads the neighborhood Crime Watch.
Aldridge said he and other residents frequently saw a white van parked outside the home, though he didn’t know who owned it. He said residents were angry and upset, but he expects most of them to stay in the neighborhood.
“It’s surprising that it finally came to that. Everyone had their suspicions,” Chris Sutton, who lives a street away from the blast site, said after learning about the homicide investigation.
“It’s kind of scary that someone might set off a gas explosion,” he added. “It’s really scary.”
Hundreds of people attended the funerals earlier Monday for the couple killed in the explosion, 34-year-old John Dion Longworth and 36-year-old Jennifer Longworth.
She was a teacher remembered for knitting gifts for her students, while her husband, an electronics expert, was known as a gardener and nature lover.
Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard, who spoke at the news conference, said he went to the Longworths’ funeral and had a hard time coming to peace with what had happened.
“There is a search for truth and there is a search for justice,” Ballard said.
The couple lived next door to the house where investigators are focusing. The co-owner of that house, John Shirley, told The Associated Press he had recently received a text message from his daughter saying the furnace in the home, which she shares with her mother and her mother’s boyfriend, had gone out.
Shirley’s ex-wife, Monserrate Shirley, said her boyfriend, Mark Leonard, had replaced the thermostat recently and the furnace had resumed working.
She and her boyfriend were away at a casino at the time of the blast. The daughter was staying with a friend, and the family’s cat was being boarded.
Monserrate Shirley’s attorney, Randall Cable, declined comment Monday night.
Associated Press writer Ken Kusmer contributed to this report from Indianapolis.
Top Story
Related Photos
-
AP Photo/The Indianapolis Star, Matt Kryger, This aerial file photo from Nov. 11, 2012, shows the two homes that were leveled and the numerous neighboring homes that were damaged from a massive explosion that sparked a huge fire and killed two people in Indianapolis. Authorities launched a homicide investigation Monday, Nov. 19, 2012 into the house explosion that killed a young couple and left numerous homes uninhabitable in an Indianapolis neighborhood.
Discussion
Indy home explosion now homicide case
Investigators seek white van seen parked in area
- Top Story
-
-
VIDEO: Orlando shootout tied to Boston bomb suspect
The FBI says it was involved in a fatal shooting near Universal Studios in Orlando, Fla. CBS News senior correspondent John Miller reports that the victim was a friend of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older brother suspected in the Boston Marathon bombing.
-
UK PM: Brutal London attack appears to be terror
LONDON — A brutal attack in broad daylight near a military barracks in London left one man dead and two suspects hospitalized Wednesday after a shootout with police. British Prime Minister David Cameron said the attack appeared to be terror related.
-
10 Things to Know for Wednesday
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:
-
10 Things to Know for Tuesday
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:
-
Casey, Illinois aims for another world record
The town of Casey, Ill., may soon weave its way into the record books as the small town with the most world records. After setting records for the world’s largest wind chimes and the world’s largest golf tee, Casey is now looking to become home to the world’s largest knitting needles and crochet hook.
-
Afternoon Update: Fire chief says search almost complete in Oklahoma
The storm killed at least 24 people, including at least nine children.
-
2 children reported dead from Indianapolis fire
INDIANAPOLIS — Authorities say some autistic children lived in the Indianapolis condominium unit where a fire has killed two children.
-
Update: Oklahoma, other tornado-hit states brace for more
SHAWNEE, Okla. — When Lindsay Carter heard on the radio that a violent storm was approaching her rural Oklahoma neighborhood, she gathered her belongings and fled. When she returned, there was little left.
-
Taylor Swift wins 8 trophies at Billboard Awards
LAS VEGAS — Another day, another domination for Taylor Swift: She was the red hot winner at the Billboard Music Awards.
-
10 Things to Know for Monday
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Monday, May 20:
-
$590M-plus Powerball: 1 winning ticket sold in Florida
DES MOINES, Iowa — It's all about the odds, and one lone ticket in Florida has beaten them all by matching each of the numbers drawn for the highest Powerball jackpot in history at an estimated $590.5 million, lottery officials said Sunday.
-
Powerball jackpot closing in on another record
DES MOINES, Iowa — Less than 10 months after three tickets split a world-record lottery prize, the jackpot for Saturday's Powerball drawing was nearing historic territory once again.
-
N.Y. Giants honor Weatherford as ‘Man of the Year’
Dan Tanoos, superintendent of Vigo County schools, remembers the first time he saw Steve Weatherford as a freshman at Terre Haute North Vigo High School.
-
UPDATE: Fire damages buildings in downtown Greencastle
GREENCASTLE, Ind. — Fire badly damaged several buildings today near the courthouse square in Greencastle, with flames shooting through the roofs as firefighters from several communities were called in to the central Indiana city to help.
-
10 tornadoes whip through North Texas; 6 dead
Ten tornadoes touched down in several small communities in North Texas overnight, leaving at least six people dead, dozens injured and hundreds homeless. Emergency responders were still searching for missing people Thursday afternoon.
-
MARK BENNETT: Local summer music series idea remains a good one
One-of-a-kind ideas happen rarely.
As the biblical adage goes, there is nothing new under the sun. We humans succeed occasionally, inventing electricity, automobiles, telephones and the Internet. Invariably, though, someone else insists, “Hey, my grandpa thought of that years before Edison.” -
Jolie: 'I do not feel any less of a woman'
Angelina Jolie says that she has had a preventive double mastectomy after learning she carried a gene that made it extremely likely she would get breast cancer.
-
10 Things to Know for Tuesday
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:
-
Abortion doctor guilty in 3 babies' deaths
An abortion doctor was convicted Monday of first-degree murder and could face execution in the deaths of three babies who were born alive and then killed with scissors at his grimy, "house of horrors" clinic.
-
IHS announces lineup for Concerts on the Canal, reprise of 'Museum Nights on the Canal'
INDIANAPOLIS —There are plenty of ways to enjoy downtown Indianapolis in the summer, and the Indiana Historical Society is offering two — both time-honored favorite Concerts on the Canal and its Museum Nights on the Canal program.
-
Small tornado causes minor damage in southern Vigo County
Riley firefighters had just heard on the emergency scanner Thursday night that a tornado was nearby when they looked west of their firehouse on Indiana 159 and saw one traveling northwest across a field.
-
Update: Cleveland man arraigned on rape, kidnap charges
A Cleveland man was arraigned Thursday on charges of rape and kidnapping after three women missing for about a decade and one of their young daughters were found alive at his home earlier in the week.
-
Arias says in interview that she wants death
The jury has rendered its verdict — Jodi Arias is guilty of first-degree murder — but the trial is far from finished.
-
UPDATE: Mistrial declared in second Boswell murder trial
A second mistrial was declared this morning for a Riley man accused of the 1979 slaying of 20-year-old Kathy Jo Baker. Richard L. Boswell Jr., 55, was released today from the Vigo County Jail, where he had been held since his October 2010 arrest on charges of murder and attempted murder.
-
Deming Elementary second-grader receives new heart
The long wait for Katelyn Newell has finally ended. Wednesday evening, she successfully underwent heart transplant surgery at Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health.
-
Levee fails, Wabash River floodwaters inundate Prairieton farmland
A Vigo County official says a levee has failed near the flooded Wabash River, allowing floodwaters to inundate farmland near the town of Prairieton and isolating about two dozen homes.
-
Boston bombings probe turns to wider terrorist ties
Authorities said they will examine every scrap of evidence, including text messages and cell phone calls, to determine if an organized terrorist group encouraged two brothers from Russia to plant bombs at the Boston Marathon, then engage police in two bloody shootouts before one was killed and the other captured Friday.
-
UPDATE: Boston police: Bombing suspect is in custody
A 19-year-old college student wanted in the Boston Marathon bombings was taken into custody Friday evening after a manhunt that left the city virtually paralyzed and his older brother and accomplice dead.
-
1 of 2 Boston bomb suspects dead; manhunt continues
WATERTOWN, Mass. — With the city virtually paralyzed, thousands of officers with rifles and armored vehicles continue to swarm the streets in and around Boston today, hunting for a 19-year-old college student wanted in the Boston Marathon bombing after his older brother and alleged accomplice was killed in a furious getaway attempt overnight.
-
VIDEO: Massive explosion at fertilizer plant rocks Texas town
An explosion at a fertilizer plant in the town of West, Texas, on Wednesday night has flattened buildings and injured dozens, according to local officials.
- More Top Story Headlines
-
Jodi Arias: Death Penalty Would Cause More Pain
Looking for Love? Take the Prague Metro
Raw: Costa Rica Volcano Roars to Life
First Person: Baby Falcons on a New York Bridge
Today in History May 22
Raw: Japan's WWII Atrocities Under Fire in Seoul
Raw: Students Clash With Police in Chile
Oklahoma: Images of Devastation, Reunion
Crews Race to Find Survivors of Okla. Twister
Police Ram House to End Hostage Standoff
Reunited Dad, Son: 'We Just Praise God'
Tim Cook Defends Apple's Tax Accounting
Slow Pokes: Acupuncture Helps Sick Turtles
Raw: Aussie Zoo Shows Off White Rhino Calf
Moore, Okla. City of Reunions, Tears After Storm
Protests Outside Cincinnati IRS Office
Raw: New Video of Deadly Oklahoma Tornado
Lawyer: Feds Investigating Susan Powell Case
Families Begin Returning to Their Homes in Moore
Raw: Aerial View of Moore Tornado Damage
Shakira's Shocking Talent
Morgan Freeman falls asleep on air
GRAPHIC: Blood-Soaked Machete Killer Caught on Tape
Camera Captures Climber As He Loses Grip And Falls
Helen Mirren Meets with Dying Boy in Queen Elizabeth's Place
Crowd Chants '¡Si, Se Puede!' After Passage of Immigration Bill
DWTS Crowns a Winner
Demi Moore a Rocks Bikini at Harry Morton's Family House
Anthony Weiner: I'm running for New York City mayor
Kate Middleton's Dress Flies Up
VIRAL: Baby makes epic soccer goal
The Hangover Baby All Grown Up
Olivia Munn Flaunts Her Bikini Bod
Britney Spears Under Fire Once Again For Being A Bad Mom
Arias Tells Jury What She'd Do if She Gets Life
The all-new Xbox One
RAW: Massive tornado strikes Oklahoma
Nidal Hasan paid $278K while awaiting trial
