Adding Fuel To The Fire

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Joey was a loving and trusting person who police believe may have met with foul play.

Joey Lynn Offutt's family members describe her as a loving and trusting person. She doesn't believe that there are bad people in the world, and she is willing to give anyone the benefit of the doubt.

But now it appears that Joey's trusting personality might have gotten her into trouble. In the early morning hours of July 12, 2007, fire fighters and state police responded to a house fire in Sykesville, Penn. But after the flames were finally extinguished, police say they found a lot more than smoke and fire damage.

Police say that once they were able to inspect the inside of the damaged home, they found the burned remains of an infant. What they didn't find was any sign of Joey Offutt, the owner of the house. When police investigated further, they found that not only was Joey missing from her home after the fire, but that nobody had seen or heard from her for several days before the fire took place.

Putting The Pieces Together

Police believe that the fire that destroyed most of Joey's home was the work of an arsonist. After determining that nobody had seen Joey for several days before the fire took place, police say there is reason to believe Joey met with foul play. The circumstances surrounding her disappearance are considered suspicious.

Although her ID and her purse were recovered from within the rubble of the house after the fire, Joey's car was missing. Detectives thought they might have found a good clue when Joey's car was discovered four days later.

Joey's red 1994 Saturn coupe was found in State College, Penn., parked on the street outside an apartment complex where Joey had recently lived. Unfortunately, nobody that lived at the apartment complex had seen Joey recently, and therefore couldn't provide police with any additional information.

A Trusting Individual

Joey's sister describes her as very smart, loving person. She told AMW that Joey loved her two children very much and never would have left them. But, Joey is also a very trusting person, and it is possible that she fell in with the wrong group of people.

Joey enjoyed attending church, and believed that God was always the answer. Her sister does not think it is possible Joey was using drugs or involved in anything illegal, but that maybe she had become too trusting of someone she had recently met.