INTERLACHEN, Fla. --
A Putnam County Corrections officer's house was destroyed by a fire. Now, investigators are saying it is the work of an arsonist.
Firefighters were called to the officer's house in Interlachen on Saturday morning. No one was home at the time of the fire.
Investigators are trying to determine if the fire was set in retaliation.
The corrections officer shot and killed an inmate as he tried to escape from jail last month.
"We believe we have some positive samples of accelerants that were used," said Lt. Robby Stephens, of the State Fire Marshal's Office.
Investigators with the State Fire Marshal's Office said the home belongs to a Putnam County Corrections officer, and Channel 4 has learned it is the officer who shot and killed Michael Campbell last month.
Video: Investigators: Fire Likely Arson
Campbell is the jail inmate who was trying to escape the Putnam County jail, and the sheriff said he never heeded the guard's warnings to stop.
Now the question investigators have to wrestle with is whether this intentionally set fire was retaliation.
"Obviously motive is a concern for us," Stephens said. "It is a deputy sheriff who owns the property in Interlachen that burned late Friday, early Saturday morning."
Whoever did it had to know where they were going. The home is very isolated miles down a dirt road with no visible neighbors.
Now arson investigators are trying to find anything they can on the property that might lead to an arrest. But because the place is so remote, that task isn't easy.
"Witnesses are very important, especially in a case like this," Stephens said. "We're asking the public if they have any information to please contact us."
Anyone with information can call the arson hotline at 877-NO-ARSON.
There's a $2,500 reward for any information.
