Recently burglarized home destroyed by fire

The home in the Clarkridge area law enforcement visited on Friday regarding a reported incident of residential burglary and theft of property was destroyed by fire two days later.

According to an incident report from the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office, firemen responded to the home of Lee Ann and Dale Reed along County Road 479 shortly after 4 Sunday morning to find it fully engulfed.

Sheriff’s investigator Brad Hurst says the Reeds were at home at the time of the blaze, with a daughter and grandchild.  All escaped unharmed. The report notes the homeowner awoke to find the outside back deck on fire. Hurst described the cedar sided home as having an open floor plan with a loft.He says the home was a total loss and the cause of the blaze and its origin are unknown.

Following the report of the burglary on Friday, 27-year-old Leigh Goldsworth Blackmon was arrested on Monday evening and charged in connection with the incident.

According to the probable cause affidavit in the case, the home owners were vacationing out of state when one of their employees, identified as Blackmon, called them June 24 to let them know he found the backdoor to their residence open.

Two days later, one of the victims was able to check the home security camera system. She saw Blackmon break into the house by entering a window. He then went through a kitchen cabinet where she keeps medications. A few minutes later, Blackmon notices one of the cameras in the living room, followed by the Wi-Fi being disconnected a short time later.

When the couple returned home, the discovered pain medicines from the female victim’s recent surgery were missing from the cabinet Blackmon had gone through. It appeared other things in the residence had been searched but nothing else appeared to be missing.

Blackmon is facing felony charges of residential burglary and tampering with physical evidence, a misdemeanor charge of theft of property as well as being a habitual offender.

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