Police ask for help in OSU fire

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Police have asked the public for help in locating the culprit behind an arson that killed five college students at a house near Ohio State University.\nWith detectives lacking suspects and a motive, police set up a phone line to gather anonymous tips, interviewed those in nearby houses and passed out flyers advertising a reward for information.\nThey asked the public to turn over videotapes or still photographs of the fire or a 21st birthday party that had ended about an hour before the blaze broke out.\n"This could be somebody who had absolutely nothing to do with the party," said Sherry Mercurio, police spokeswoman. "It could be somebody who is a pyromaniac who likes to start fires. It also could be somebody that those who live in the house know. It could be anybody."\nThe fire started just after 4 a.m. Sunday in a three-story yellow brick house in a popular neighborhood for OSU student housing. Two Ohio State students and three students visiting from Ohio University died.\nTwo other students remained hospitalized Wednesday after firefighters saved them -- and another woman who was treated and released -- from the burning house.\nDetectives won't talk specifically about what evidence they found that led them to declare an arson. The state's fire marshal, which was analyzing the evidence, declined comment.\nThree days after the fire, plywood covered the first- and second-floor doors and windows of the house. A red, white and blue sign declaring the scene an arson was posted out front. Yellow "Caution. Do Not Enter" police tape and red "Danger" tape were wrapped around the charred front porch.\nA police-fire squad was investigating the deaths of the five -- including the man who had turned 21 -- as homicides. Possible charges included manslaughter and murder, according to the Franklin County prosecutor's office.\nA reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction had grown to $20,000, with contributions from the Ohio Blue Ribbon Arson Fund, Central Ohio Crime Stoppers, Ohio State and Northsteppe Realty, the property manager for the house.\n"The tips are starting to trickle in, and all will be checked into," Mercurio said, declining to talk about the substance of the information received.\nBrad Fisler, 22, an Ohio State senior from Cleveland who lives across the street, said he and his house mates couldn't give police much help. They didn't know the students who lived at the burned house and did not attend the party.\n"They asked the same questions every one is asking. Did you see anything out of the ordinary? Did you hear anything? Where were you when the fire started?" Fisler said.\nAcross town in the suburb of Hilliard on Wednesday, hundreds of mourners filed into St. Brendan Catholic Church to celebrate the life of Christine Marie Wilson, 19, an Ohio University sophomore from Dublin. Hers was the first of the five funerals planned around the state.\nThe funeral for Kyle Raulin, 20, an OSU sophomore from West Chester, was scheduled for Thursday