WZTV FOX 17 - Top Stories
October 1, 2012
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has set up a command post as they focus on the search for two children in Bedford County.
Investigators say there are still many unanswered questions.
They don't know if nine year old Chloie Pope and seven year old Gage Daniel are alive or dead.
They know their grandparents died in a fire one week ago, but there is no trace of the children in the ashes.
Two crosses at the end of driveway. There are flowers, wreaths and ribbons.
It has been a week since a fire claimed the lives of Leon and Molly McClaran. Their two grandchildren, once believed to be dead, are still missing.
"There is a simple lack of evidence of any remains of the children in the fire, so we are just taking all available precautions," says TBI Special Agent-in-Charge Jason Locke.
The grieving continues in the Rover community of Bedford County, and so does the mystery.
The family has now posted private property signs to keep the gawkers away.
"We don't mind people wanting to see and everything, we'd just rather a family member be back there with them, so we're hanging up signs," says the victim's son Leon McClaran, Jr.
Leon McClaran. Jr. has watched investigators search the ashes three times. Others have walked the property.
He has no idea about what might have happened to the children.
"If the kids are out in the world we need to find them. We need to find out what happened and get these people responsible behind bars you know," says McClaran.
The TBI has now set up a command post at a nearby church. Agents are running down leads.
Special Agent-in-Charge Jason Locke says there's still no evidence of foul play.
An amber alert issued Friday was another way of getting the kids' pictures to the public.
"We are just taking an abundance of caution to go through every available means to make a determination as to whether the kids were actually there or missing," says Locke.
Investigators say they will stay in Bedford County until they get answers.
The McClaran family also wants them too.
"The family members, we'd just like for it all to be over," says Leon McClaran, Jr.
The TBI tells FOX 17 News there were a number of small propane tanks in the basement of the McClaran home, but it's not clear if they contributed to the fire.
Agents are also waiting for the final autopsy results on Leon and Molly McClaran.
For news updates follow John Dunn on twitter @WZTVJohnDunn
Monday, October 1 2012, 08:24 PM CDT
Tennessee News
Houston brother will be his own attorney in court
June 18, 2013 13:02 GMT
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- A Roane County man will face federal gun violation charges next month without an attorney.
The Knoxville News Sentinel (http://bit.ly/17VlXpM ) reported Rocky Joe Houston will represent himself on a charge of possession of a gun by a felon.
The charge came after Houston earlier represented himself in state court on charges stemming from a police chase. He was convicted of evading arrest and reckless endangerment.
Houston and his brother, Leon Houston, were tried, but not convicted, in the 2006 shooting deaths of a Roane County deputy and his ride-along companion.
In federal court, Rocky Joe Houston is claiming the officer who charged him with the felony had no legal authority.
Information from: Knoxville News Sentinel, http://www.knoxnews.com
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