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New details about the suspect accused of burning down a Palmyra church.
As WGEM first reported Thursday night, a teenage boy was arrested in connection with the fire at Mission Hill Baptist Church.
WGEM News received information that this fire was no accident; it led us to a website where the suspect bragged about burning a church down, then posted visual proof of what he claimed to have done.
We obtained copies of the posted messages and pictures, and contacted local authorities with that information. Among the most startling pictures is one the suspect apparently took of himself inside the church.
This is how it's believed to have all started--on a website, gamefaqs.com.
A site where video gamers go to get clues, and to chat with other gamers about a variety of topics--and they do that on the site's "Current Events" message board.
On Wednesday night, a poster using the name "Jediknight12345" asked other posters on the Current Events page if he should burn down a church and school.
The question was treated as a joke, and was erased by the website's administrators.
Thursday morning on the website: posters asked what had happened at the church. Jediknight said he had gone through with it.
Some praised him, others didn't believe him, and when they asked for proof, Jediknight posted camera phone pictures and writes:
"Oh...and the best part...the whole school caught up on fire from 3 simple little fires. One was a bunch of computers, another a bunch of bibles, and the last was towels in an oven."
One picture referenced "FOR CE", believed to be the Current Events message board on the Gamefaqs website.
Jediknight also directed posters to wgem.com to show them what he had done--even making light of the tragedy at Mission Hill Baptist Church.
Posters from Florida and Wisconsin who had seen the comments and pictures on the Current Events page contacted WGEM News, and forwarded the information to us.
Meantime, investigators knew the fire at Mission Hill was suspicious.
"There was evidence--a trail from the location to a different location," said Captain James Shinn, with the Marion County Sheriff's Office.
We took the information sent to us, and passed it along to the Missouri State Fire Marshal's Office, Marion County officers, and ATF agents investigating the blaze.
"We did have evidence that was leading toward this individual," said Shinn. "But then, with the assistance of WGEM, forwarding the photos, and so forth that you all had, then that just helped us establish probable cause for the arrest."
A message on the World Wide Web results in the devastation of a church, a disturbing Internet post, and a teenage boy in custody, facing felony charges--all in Palmyra, Missouri.
"You know, it's really scary," said Shinn. "You don't think that this is going to happen here in this hometown--but it does. It happens here, too--these types of crimes that we deal with.
"And luckily, all of our resources came together, and worked very well together, including you all, and we were able to put this thing together, and we're confident that, you know, we got the right guy who caused this."
Community members tell us the boy attended the school at Mission Hill Baptist Church; one person said he seemed like an average teenager.
Arson is a felony, and additional federal felony charges could eventually be filed.
The suspect is also accused of burglary at the church. He has been transferred to the custody of juvenile authorities.
A check of the CE message board on Friday night showed many expressing shock, wishing they had known it was not a joke, and that they could have stopped it. Some have also expressed an interest in donating money to the church.
WGEM was contacted by Gamefaqs and CNet, its parent company. They issued the following statement:
"Our thoughts go out to those affected by the Mission Hill Baptist Church fire. GameSpot and GameFAQs message boards are for people to discuss gaming topics. We moderate the posts and pull down inappropriate messages. We are working with the proper authorities to assist in their investigation of this matter.
