CORVALLIS — In 2020, an arson fire killed three people in Corvallis. The unsolved case has haunted the community ever since. Sunday, the Ravalli County Sheriff’s Office renewed calls to the public to help find answers, releasing pictures connected to the case and asking for information.
“What we're really trying to do is really just get this case back out in the public in front of people and get people thinking about it. It’s been five and a half years,” said Ravalli County Sheriff Steve Holton. “Really, what we're just asking for, for anybody that was here or even if they weren't here and have just heard about this fire, to think back.”
Early on July 6th, 2020, a fire at a Corvallis four-plex killed three residents, David and Shandell Dewey and William Gay. Investigators determined the fire was set intentionally.
“We've been working on that case since the morning the fire started and we're making progress on it. We have a number of new leads,” Holton said. “The detectives’ time has been spent just chasing leads down and disqualifying them, which is time consuming, but it has to be done if nothing else to focus on those more promising leads as they come in.”
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Holton said they have been analyzing DNA evidence collected at the scene and tracking down leads.
Investigators also believe the fire is connection to several other arson fires set that same week, one days earlier in the same building and two at a location in Hamilton.
“It's too coincidental. Those cases have to be connected somehow and we're just really trying to connect those cases and follow forward on the leads that we get and then gather the evidence to prosecute whoever did this,” Holton said.
Sunday, the Sheriff’s Office released pictures from surveillance video in the case. They are specifically looking for any information on the vehicles in the images, but are also asking the public to think beyond that.
Holton said people should report anything unusual they remember from around the time of the fires, from observations to conversations to suspicious feelings, no matter how irrelevant it might seem.
“It's our investigator's job to sort through that and, again, it's really up to them to determine what's relevant,” he said. “And it might be just something simple that nobody would think was a big deal, but it's the key that puts everything else into place.”
Tips can be sent to Detective Hachenberger at the Ravalli County Sheriff’s Office by phone at (406) 363-3033 or email at sheriff@rc.mt.gov. Tips can also be submitted anonymously via CrimeStoppers or the Ravalli County Sheriff’s Office app.
“What we can't lose sight is three people died. They're victims. Their tragic deaths. These are family members of local community members and the sheriff's office is going to keep working this,” Holton said. “Now, it's going to get solved. We will solve this case and we're going to apply all the resources necessary until we get it done.”
