Update: Mabel Woods and dog kennel fire

[crystaldawn]

I sent an email to the Sheriff at Francois County, Missouri and asked him the status on Mabel Woods and the arson fire case. Here is his reply:

Heather,

Mabel Woods is still alive and kickin, she is in a local nursing home and no longer runs the Kennels east of Bonne Terre. The farm she lived on has just this last year been sold to a local business man. I was working for the sheriff in St. Francois county when the kennels burned and in fact was on the show along with some other deputies. Several leads came into our office for a while but nothing ever panned out. If I can be of any further assistance, please feel free to contact me.

Sheriff Dan Bullock

[SP4CE INV4DERZ]

I'm probably going to cop an earfull for this; but what about her assistant guy? Does he check out? I'll hafta check my DVD. All I can say is living with 60 dogs barking all night that weren't mine would give me...ideas...

[dynoguy88]

Thanks for post!

I'm glad to know that Mable is still "kicking," but it's very depressing to hear that the b*stard who killed all those dogs never got punished.

[justins5256]

Originally Posted by Space Invaderz

I'm probably going to cop an earfull for this; but what about her assistant guy? Does he check out? I'll hafta check my DVD. All I can say is living with 60 dogs barking all night that weren't mine would give me...ideas...

The only problem with this is that the trouble began before she hired an assistant. Remember, two dogs were shot to death shortly before the incident with the fire.

[SP4CE INV4DERZ]

Originally Posted by justins5256

The only problem with this is that the trouble began before she hired an assistant. Remember, two dogs were shot to death shortly before the incident with the fire.

Yeh I remembered that 2 dogs where shot, just didnt remember the exact timeline of events and stuff. Im struggling to find someone else and a reason why they would have done this. She was living miles from nowhere as I understand.

[idol]

Mable Woods was another one of this top cases that always stuck in my mind, I know the update is now two years old and I hope Mable is still 'kickin'!

[Todd Mueller]

Thanks for the update, CD!

This is sort of off topic, but what the assistant said when he saw the fire on the UM re-enactment still makes me laugh. He said, "What the hell?" but with such a tone that it sounds hilarious. At least to me. Maybe you had to be there. I'll shut up now.

[sdb4884]

Sad animal stories always upset me and this was no acception. Sad to hear that the bastard was never caught but I'm glad Mabel is still Kickin'

I thought that the assistant too was the most likely one to start the fire.

[synthisislab]

Originally Posted by Todd Mueller

Thanks for the update, CD!

This is sort of off topic, but what the assistant said when he saw the fire on the UM re-enactment still makes me laugh. He said, "What the hell?" but with such a tone that it sounds hilarious. At least to me. Maybe you had to be there. I'll shut up now.

Haha, that part makes me laugh too seeing that toothless wonder saying that line.

[lilmissd]

This case has always bothered me. Why would someone go through the trouble of killing the dogs? Mabel seems like a sweet old lady, and I just can't put a finger on why someone would do this to her. She never hurt anyone; and she lived in a rural area so the dogs couldn't have disturbed neighbors with barking or anything. My best guess is it had to be someone that held some kind of grudge against Mabel personally. Someone who had something bad enough against her to do what they did. I really don't think this case will ever be solved unfortunately.

[Todd Mueller]

Originally Posted by lilmissd

This case has always bothered me. Why would someone go through the trouble of killing the dogs. Mabel seems like a sweet old lady, and I just can't put a finger on why someone would do this to her. She never hurt anyone; and she lived in a rural area so the dogs couldn't have disturbed neighbors with barking or anything. My best guess is it had to be someone that held some kind of grudge against Mabel personally. Someone who had something bad enough against her to do what they did. I really don't think this case will ever be solved unfortunately.

I agree that it will never be solved. Too much time has gone by and not enough evidence.

I, too, find it hard to understand why someone would want to do this to such a kind, compassionate woman. But with that said, there are a lot of kooks out there that don't see things the way most of us do. My best guess is that even though the area was rural, someone lived close enough to hear the dogs barking and it probably drove them nuts. Or possibly the smell of a dog kennel carried a long way in the wind (it's amazing how far scents can go sometimes). I'm certainly not implying those are valid reasons but it seems the most logical.

They had a story on the news here about a year ago where a girl living in a suburban yet rural area had a single cow in barn area on her property. The closest neighbors sued her because they said the cows "mooing" bothered them a great deal. The girl said the thing hardly ever mooed but the neighbors said it was horrible. So it could be a matter of perspective.

I bet some a-hole either didn't like the occasional barking, smell, etc. but took it to another level. You notice that the events kept escalating up to the fire. Maybe they were trying to give her a hint to move.

The only other possibility in my mind is that she did it to herself for sympathy but I find that so remote that I almost feel bad even mentioning it.

[kadrmas15]

Mabel Woods passed away on September 23rd, 2008. She was 90 years old.

[Apostapler]

She seemed like such a great lady. She really loved her animals.

[mattc]

This was one of the saddest UM segments for me, especially when Mabel starting crying and saying how bad she felt because she told her dogs she'd always be there to protect them

I was so angry after watching that story at the time. I agree that it was probably a neighbor who was sick of the dogs barking all the time. Constant barking (even if a mile away) can make someone slowly lose their cool; the problem though, is that I would think that if this theory were true, the cops would have easily determined who did it.

I thought about the assistant too, but I'm sure he was thoroughly checked out. Plus, it would be counter-productive for him to have done it: The kennel was his livelihood, both in terms of salary and housing.

Very very sad.

[ukrhyslop]

Originally Posted by mattc

This was one of the saddest UM segments for me, especially when Mabel starting crying and saying how bad she felt because she told her dogs she'd always be there to protect them

I was so angry after watching that story at the time. I agree that it was probably a neighbor who was sick of the dogs barking all the time. Constant barking (even if a mile away) can make someone slowly lose their cool; the problem though, is that I would think that if this theory were true, the cops would have easily determined who did it.

I thought about the assistant too, but I'm sure he was thoroughly checked out. Plus, it would be counter-productive for him to have done it: The kennel was his livelihood, both in terms of salary and housing.

Very very sad.

To bad someone didnt help her before she was moved into a home and was left her farm to continue what she was doing. I would of for her... that farm was big enough to house enough people to protect the rescue animals and offer more help to other species. Sad, I see a local biz man bought it. Wonder if he had anything to do with the stuff that was going on to push her off the land to get it faster... Just a thought...