A late-night house fire in Foley has turned into the city’s first homicide investigation in five years after investigators determined that the death of a person found inside was no accident.
The blaze broke out at a single-story residence on Monteith Circle in the Monteith Oaks subdivision around 9:30 p.m. on a Sunday, according to fire officials. A man jogging through the neighborhood reported seeing flames, and crews arrived within minutes to find the home already heavily engulfed.
Foley Fire Chief Joey Darby said the house was almost fully involved by the time firefighters reached it. During the response, crews discovered a body inside the home. The victim was found in a bathroom, Darby said.
What began as a fire investigation shifted dramatically the following afternoon. Foley Police Chief David Wilson announced that evidence gathered at the scene, combined with autopsy findings, indicated foul play. The case was upgraded to a homicide, and Wilson requested activation of the Major Crimes Unit, a special investigations team that draws on multiple law enforcement agencies across the region.
Authorities identified the owner of the house as a 70-year-old Foley man but declined to release the name of the victim, saying identification was still pending until the family could be notified and a positive identification confirmed. The State Fire Marshal’s Office joined Foley police and firefighters in examining the cause and origin of the fire.
The designation carries added weight in Foley, a Baldwin County community where violent deaths are uncommon. The last homicide investigated by the city’s police department dated back to 2009, when a man was found dead in his home with trauma to his head and neck. An arrest in that case came only earlier in the year the fire occurred, when a former Foley resident was charged with murder.
The new case also followed another disturbing death investigated just outside Foley’s jurisdiction, in which an elderly man was killed in a case that led to a murder charge against a relative. Taken together, the incidents drew unusual attention to an area better known for its quiet neighborhoods and proximity to the Gulf beaches.
Investigators asked anyone with information about the fire or the death to contact the Foley Police Department. Officials said the Major Crimes Unit’s involvement reflected the seriousness of the case and the resources being committed to identifying who was responsible.