ANDERSON, Ind. —
Anderson police are trying to crack the case of the burning safe.
Early Friday morning a passerby reported seeing a large metal object engulfed in flames in the 6300 block of County Road 50 West. When Madison County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the fire, they discovered the item was a large safe — about 24 inches by 24 inches. And they don’t think the safe was intentionally set on fire, Anderson police spokesman Sgt. Mitch Carroll said.
The investigation has revealed that the fire was started by a spark from metal tools used to try to pry the safe open, he said. Deputies began to investigate the contents when they got word that a safe had been reported stolen in a burglary less than 30 minutes after the safe’s discovery.
Anderson police received a call of a burglary at 7:30 a.m. from a home in the 4900 block of Atlanta Street.
The homeowners are out of town, but their adult children — a 19-year-old son and a 23-year-old daughter — were in the home at the time of the reported burglary. The two told police they slept through the whole thing, which they say happened sometime between 2 and 7 a.m.
Taken from the home was the safe, a 50-inch flat screen television and a 32-inch flat screen television. When the safe was discovered, officers found burnt paper work but nothing else. The homeowner by phone told police she kept prescription medication in the safe — it hasn’t been found, Carroll said.
The safe and the larger TV were taken from the room where the 19-year-old was sleeping. The teen’s mother, when reached by phone, told police he is a deep sleeper, Carroll said. The second TV was taken from the room where the daughter was sleeping.
The reported burglars got into the home through an unlocked sliding door, those home at the time of the burglary told police.
One thing that has detectives still scratching their heads is the location of the safe. It was found in the middle of a dewy front yard with no signs of arson or signs of anyone around it at all, Carroll said. No footprints or evidence was found around the safe either.
The incident remains under investigation.
Contact Abbey Doyle, 640-4805, abbey.doyle@heraldbulletin.com.
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