After plaguing Bay County by setting parked vehicles on fire this spring and summer - nearly killing one elderly woman as his flames spread to her house - a serial arsonist has been quiet for the past two months.
"We've not had any more activity out of it," said Bay County Sheriff Troy R. Cunningham on Thursday, Sept. 20, two months and two days since the arsonist's last reported fire.
Cunningham said police continue their search for the culprit. "We're still actively investigating the cases," he said. "We're still following up on leads and we're still awaiting results from the Michigan State Police Crime Lab."
The sheriff declined to speculate on why there haven't been new fires.
The arsonist's 10 known fires spanned April 7 to July 20. Four occurred in Hampton Township and six in Portsmouth Township.
Each incident involved a vehicle parked near a residence being set aflame in the late night or early morning hours. The first few didn't see much damage, apart from some scorching. Subsequent incidents saw the vehicles engulfed in flames.