PERDIDO, Ala. — Dana and Michael Ledkins had nearly finished building a tiny home on their Perdido property when, in a matter of minutes, it was reduced to ashes — and their own security cameras caught the person responsible in the act.
The couple had been building the small structure themselves, piece by piece, as a long-term investment. It was almost complete and already fully furnished when, according to footage from their home security system, a man walked up to the back of the building, lit a torch and set it on fire.
“This man walked up to the backside of our tiny home and took that torch and lit it on fire,” Dana Ledkins said, describing what she saw when she reviewed the recording.
‘This Was Going to Be Our Backup Plan’
For the Ledkins, the tiny home was more than a side project. Dana Ledkins said the couple, who are not getting any younger, saw it as a financial safety net — something that could help cover the mortgage on their main house or serve as a fallback if anything happened to either of them.
“This was going to be our backup plan, if something happened to me or my husband; we’re not getting any younger, something to invest in, something to help pay the mortgage for the real house,” she said.
Now, she said, there’s little left but ashes and the memory of what the home was becoming.
“You feel grief for the things that you lost, maybe even a little bit of shame because maybe you could have done something better, and that’s not fair, and then you feel anger,” Ledkins said.
She was direct about the person responsible. “This person is not a good person,” she said. “There is no good reason to do what they did. We never did anything to them. We don’t know them.”
$3,000 Reward Offered for Information
With no clear motive and no known connection to the person seen on camera, the Ledkins are turning to the community for help. The family is offering a $3,000 reward for information leading to the identification of the person responsible, hoping the incentive will bring forward a tip before whoever is responsible strikes again.
Sheriff’s Office Releases Suspect Description
The Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office has opened an arson investigation into the fire and is asking the public for help identifying the man seen in the Ledkins’ security footage. Investigators describe the suspect as possibly White or Hispanic. At the time of the fire, he was wearing a plain white sleeveless shirt, shorts, athletic shoes and a balaclava covering his face. Investigators also noted a visible tattoo on his right arm.
Anyone who recognizes the suspect from that description, or who has any information that could help investigators identify him, is asked to contact the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office. Tips can help close the gap between the family’s reward offer and an arrest, investigators say, even seemingly minor details can matter in cases like this one.
No arrests had been announced as of this report. The investigation remains open.