FLORA, Ind. -- Indiana State Police now say they are comfortable saying they have "persons of interest" in a fatal fire in Flora, Indiana, that claimed the lives of four young sisters.
Sgt. Kim Riley told RTV6 there are no suspects in the case, but that ISP is actively talking to people who may have information about the fire.
"We have not got a suspect," Riley said. "Like any other case, we've got people we've got to trace down and see if they're telling us the truth or not."
Riley initially told RTV6 he would not say ISP had "persons of interest" in the case. State police later got back to RTV6 saying they were, in fact, comfortable calling the people they are looking at "persons of interest."
First Sgt. Rich Myers, further explained the situation, stressing that ISP wants to make clear there are no suspect currently in the case.
"Don't read more into it than there is, but there are certain people we want to talk to about where they were, what they were doing. And that may develop more persons of interest," Myers said. "There could be a lot of reasons why a person is a person of interest. They may just have info we want to talk to them about. It's a very wide range of possibilities."
The fire, which broke out in the Columbia Street home in Flora in late November, claimed the lives of sisters Keyana, 11, Keyara, 8, Kerrielle, 7, and Kionne, 5. Their mother, Gaylin Rose, sustained non-life-threatening injuries in the fire and was airlifted from the scene.
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Riley said he wanted to stress to the community that the case remains an active investigation for ISP.
"We're still working with Homeland Security and the fire marshal's office to try to get a suspect, Riley said.
The Flora Police Department declined to answer questions about the case, deferring all inquiries to the Indiana State Police.
Anyone with information in the case is asked to contact the Indiana State Arson Hotline at 1-800-382-4628 or Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 1-317-262-TIPS.
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