ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Friday, June 21, 1996                  TAG: 9606210064
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: B-3  EDITION: METRO 

IN VIRGINIA

Man at scene questioned in church fire

GATE CITY - Police and arson investigators questioned a man about a fire that destroyed a church in Duffield early Thursday, Scott County Sheriff Jerry Broadwater said.

Fire had engulfed Peterson's Chapel and its roof was collapsing as firefighters arrived about 4 a.m. Broadwater said investigators did not expect to know until next week whether the fire was set.

Broadwater said authorities were questioning a man who was seen near the church at the time of the blaze. The man was charged with public intoxication and was questioned Thursday afternoon about the fire, but authorities had not charged him in the case.

The church's congregation is predominantly white. The man who was questioned is also white, Broadwater said.

Federal officials have been investigating suspicious fires at 37 predominantly black churches over the past several months, primarily in the South.

- Associated Press

Boys find pile of 15 burnt dog carcasses

STAFFORD - Two boys found the carcasses of about 15 dogs that had been shot, piled up and set on fire in a secluded area of Stafford County, police said.

The boys found the pile Monday while they were metal detecting, and their father notified the Sheriff's Office, said Capt. Charles Jett.

Police said Thursday they weren't sure who owned the dogs, what the dogs were doing there or even whose property they were on.

``We're looking for some answers,'' Capt. Danny Hatch said. ``It is certainly unusual to find that many dead dogs in one place.''

The dogs, mostly Rottweilers, were not burned beyond recognition and had been shot before they were set on fire, Hatch said. They apparently had not been dead long. Numerous dog houses and chains were also found, along with an abandoned vehicle that police later learned had been stolen in Prince George's County, Md.

``It's clear that someone was caring for these dogs before they were killed,'' Hatch said.

- Associated Press

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