Fatal Anderson fire ruled arson

The fire that killed an Anderson woman earlier this month has been determined to be an arson.

Police said Randy Mitchell spent his days working as a debt collector and his wife, 56-year-old Margaret, was an elusive woman who never left the house. That is, until Nov. 19 when an explosion burnt down their Brown Street home, covering Margaret's body in third-degree burns.

"It was kind of scary," one neighbor said.

Margaret died at Wishard Hospital the following day, but neighbors said had it not been for the fire, they wouldn't have known anyone lived there.

"I rarely saw any vehicles over there," admits another neighbor.

In fact, after the fire was ruled an arson, detectives have had a hard time identifying a suspect.

"[They were] good neighbors who kept to themselves. Nothing that leaps out or jumps out at you that creates a suspect or we would have one," said Anderson Police Detective Mitch Carroll.

Also unusual police said is the fact that the fire was set around 5 p.m.

"More often than not arsons happen overnight. Criminals like the shadows they like to lurk in the dark they like to be clandestine," Carroll continues.

That said, Police are not ruling out the possibility of an inside job and are still awaiting Mitchell's autopsy reports to help in their investigation.

"Maybe it will give us a little more direction in terms of the investigation," saids Carroll.

Anyone with information related to the fire is asked to call Anderson Crime Stoppers at (765) 649-8310.