“Flora Fire: A Chase for Answers“ is a four-part series that aired on WISH-TV covering the 2016 deaths of four young girls in an intentionally set fire in Flora, Indiana.

The Chase For Answers | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

More than seven years after a devastating fire took the lives of four young girls in Flora, Indiana, I-Team 8 is looking into where the case stands. Investigators have ruled the fire to be intentionally set, meaning someone is responsible for the deaths of Keyana Davis, 11, Keyara Phillips, 9, Kerriele McDonald, 7 and Kionnie Welch, 5.

Gaylin Rose survived that fire that engulfed their two-story duplex on November 21, 2016, but tells us she has little to be thankful for.

In an exclusive interview with I-Team 8’s Dakarai Turner, Rose spoke emotionally from her heart, and shared the anguish she has endured since that tragic night in 2016.

She says she’s tried to stay hopeful as she waits for the answers that never come.

“My family was wiped away in front of my eyes for no reason,” Rose said. “They were here and then they’re gone, and I just have no understanding of it.”

Rose’s biggest questions cut to the core probing into potential oversights and conflicts of interest.

In the years since that tragic night, resignations among those involved in the investigation, conflicting reports and suspicions of fraud have clouded the entire investigation.

Rose tells I-Team 8 she wonders if her daughters could have been saved if the smoke detector had been operational. She also wonders if small-town politics have hindered their search for justice. But most importantly, she just wants to know the truth about what happened to her girls.

“I just want my babies,” she said.

During our conversation with Rose, she brought up a previously unreported twist in the case. A letter, dated July 19, 2019, addressed to her and her attorneys from Indiana State Police. The letter expresses their desire to discuss the fire, offering Rose immunity related to her “alleged illegal drug activity.”

It’s unclear what the alleged drug use has to do with the investigation, although Rose did admit to “occasionally” using marijuana.

Still, the letter says Indiana State Police Investigators wanted to speak with her to get more information “related to whom she commonly associates with.”

Although the letter was dated nearly five years ago, Rose says she has not met with the investigators. She maintains her innocence. “I’m not hiding anything,” she said.

“I will talk to them … but (there hasn’t been any) communication. But don’t ask me some intrusive questions that do not have anything to do with the fire,” she said.

When I-Team 8 contacted Indiana State Police Investigators to inquire whether they still wanted to speak to Rose, a spokesman for the agency would only state they are “willing to speak to anyone who may have information…”

We also tried to clarify the offer for immunity with the Carroll Count Prosecutor’s Office, although they have not yet returned our request for a comment.

State police remain tight-lipped, declining our invitation to speak in an on-camera interview about immunity and the investigation, highlighting issues some say pervade the investigation.

Rose’s friend, Kathy Clendening, believes there’s a cloak of secrecy surrounding the case, even all these years later.

“This case is just a secret. Try to get some information. I dare you,” she said.

Secrecy and Changing Leadership

Conflicting reports on the fire’s cause have led to speculations and rumors.

Shortly after the fire, in November 2016, the Indiana State Fire Marshall’s Office initially reported that the cause of the fire was undetermined.

However, in January of 2017, investigators with Indiana’s Department of Homeland Security released a report stating they believed the fire had been intentionally set.

Changes in key personnel have also made gathering any new information difficult, at best.

Adam Randle was chief of the Flora Fire Department when the fire happened. He is also the son of the key fire investigator with the Indiana State Fire Marshall’s Office, Dennis Randle.

Adam Randle’s boss at that time was Josh Ayres.

Ayres, who was president of the Flora Town Council, owned and rented the home Rose had rented where her four girls lost their lives.

In June of 2017 Dennis Randle resigned his position amid questions about his handling of the case.

Within that same year following the fire, Adam Randle resigned his position with the fire department, Carroll County Prosecutor Robert Ives had retired, and a new state police detective had taken over the police investigation.

Before his resignation from the fire department, Adam Randle’s boss had been Josh Ayres.

Ayres was president of the Flora Town Council and owner and landlord of the home in which Rose had been living when her daughters were killed.

Those close to Rose and her family said the resignations and retirements further clouded the investigation’s integrity, leaving them with suspicion and doubt.

Private fire investigators were hired by Rose and her landlord’s attorneys as part of a federal lawsuit filed by Rose alleging wrongful death.

Their investigators offered conflicting assessments on whether there was enough time to escape the fire had there been working smoke detectors inside the home.

Rose’s investigator concluded there had been enough time for Rose to escape the home after rescuing her children; a defense fire investigator concluded the opposite.

Amid the shuffle of pages in a separate lawsuit, documents revealed an insurance policy had been taken out on the home two months before the fire.

I-Team 8 spoke to Indiana University Professor of Finance Joe Fitter about the policy. Fitter is not associated with the case but offered his opinions about the “unusual” timing of the insurance policy and home appraisal that were part of the investigation.

According to documents submitted as part of the investigation, a policy was written on August 31, 2016, for the home Rose and her children were living in. The policy had liability coverage for the “dwelling” in the amount of $392,882 and went into effect on September 15. A home appraisal was also included in those documents, dated September 10, showing the home appraised for a value of just $45,000.

Although, Fitter concluded that the policy was written before the appraisal was conducted.

“A lot of times when policies are initially written, they’re written based on a verbal conversation with the property owner,” Fitter said.

“It’s only subsequently that maybe an insurance adjuster or writer would go to the property and physically look at the property,” he said.

Although that timing checks, Fitter said the timing in regard to the policies and fire did raise some red flags.

“When an insurance policy starts to look like a lottery ticket, suspicion can be raised of insurance fraud,” he said.

I-Team 8 has requested the dashcam video showing the response to the fire, which has been released elsewhere but Indiana State Police have denied that request, along with our request for an on-camera interview, citing an open investigation.

Carroll County’s current sheriff has also declined to speak with I-Team 8.

The Chase For Answers | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4