A Hay River man is offering a $1,000 reward, plus an additional $4,000 from members of the community, for any information regarding an arson that destroyed his friend’s home back in October.
On October 29, police in Hay River located a stolen vehicle in a residential driveway after another car belonging to the homeowner was set on fire.
RELATED: One car stolen, another set on fire in Hay River Saturday night
After five months, the person responsible has still not been brought to justice.
Duane Mackie is hoping his reward will change that.
“If I put up money, maybe somebody will come forward and rat on whomever did it because money talks,” Mackie told Moose FM.
Mackie has been a friend of the family for over 30 years.
In January he made a Facebook post, offering $1,000 in cash of his own money to anyone who could lead to the conviction of the person or persons responsible.
“By going public, if nothing else it hopefully keeps [the story] alive and keeps people talking about it,” he said.
His post quickly gained traction, with members of the community beginning to chip in. As of today, the reward sits at $5,000.
But Mackie says that even with the incentive, no one has come forward.
“It’s frightening because it’s arson, so typically [with] arson they don’t stop at one, and it could’ve been a lot worse and can still be,” he explained.
“Until this person or persons is locked up, I don’t know what to think. It’s definitely frustrating. Lots of crimes go unsolved; I’m just doing my little bit to try and keep the awareness and stopping it from fading off into forgetfulness.”
The family still hasn’t been able to return to their home because of smoke damage. Mackie says the fire caused at least half a million dollars in damages to the home.
“It’s not just a little petty crime where some kids were just playing with matches,” he said.
“It’s serious and this person needs to be caught and put in jail for it.”
