Camp burglarized, burned
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, March 9, 2010
WOODVILLE — Jay Himmel wants to know who burned down his camp.
Thursday evening, somebody broke into the camp at Piney Road and Old Highway 61 in Woodville, cleaned out the brand new single-wide trailer that was installed in September and then lit it on fire.
The thieves also stole tools from a barn on the property, Himmel said.
“The place is six months old, and it is burned to the ground,” he said. “We have nothing left.”
“It was a brand new trailer with front and back porches, and it was completely burned down — there was nothing left but the axle of the trailer.”
Items Himmel said were stolen before the arson included a Samsung 52-inch LCD television, three 32-inch Sony LCD television, a .444 camouflage rifle with a Zeiss scope, a .306 rifle with a Leupold scope, a pair of Swarovski binoculars, a pair of Zeiss binoculars, a Honda Rubicon Foreman Camouflage 4-wheeler and a 16 kilowatt generator.
An official with Chief Deputy Fire Marshal Ricky Davis’ office said that the state fire marshal’s office has a program that offers cash rewards for anyone who provides information that can lead to the arrest and conviction of someone in connection with an arson.
Anyone who provides such information can receive an award of as much as $1,000, and officials said Himmel’s case qualifies for the program.
And Himmel said he is willing to match any reward from the fire marshal’s office.
“We are willing to pay a lot in cash to somebody if they have any information connected to this,” he said. “We just want to see this person convicted.
Anyone with information about the arson can contact the State Fire Marshal’s Office at 601-359-1061 or 1-888-648-0877.