'A good man died a needless, pointless death'
Two months after blast, search continues for those responsible
By Travis Coleman, Journal Staff Writer
October 28, 2007
ONAWA, Iowa -- Not a week goes by that Doug Thelander doesn't want to tell
his dad, Earl, about something. Recently, he watched a movie on the
raising of the American flag at Iwo Jima during World War II, something
he thought the U.S. Coast Guard veteran would have enjoyed.
"I wanted to tell him how good it was," Doug said.
Two months ago today, on Aug. 28, Earl was injured by an explosion
in the basement of one of his rental properties, which had been burglarized
by copper thieves hours earlier. Four days later, the 80-year-old
who family members said was as fit as a man 10 years younger died
at an Omaha burn unit. His injuries were a result of a sliced propane
line that ignited while he was cleaning.
No arrests have been made in the case, and Earl's family and the Monona County
Sheriff's Office are still searching for those responsible for his
death.
"No one is going to let this go away," Doug Thelander said.
Rising scrap metal prices -- about $3 a pound -- drive the theft of
copper from homes, businesses and construction sites. Although not
completely absent from Northwest Iowa, Monona County Sheriff Jeff
Pratt said the problem exists mostly in southern Iowa and cities such
as Omaha. Since Earl's death, there have not been any reported copper
thefts in Monona County, Pratt said.
"I think people to the south are still having problems," he said.
A deadly crime
At times, thieves steal miles of copper wire, leaving thousands of
dollars’ worth of damage to buildings and, in the case of Earl Thelander,
a family without its patriarch.
Sometime between 4 p.m. Monday, Aug. 27, and 8 a.m. the next day,
the thief or thieves broke into the unoccupied home at 20877 Gum Ave.
in Onawa.
They stole about 20 feet of copper tubing from the basement and, in
a search for more, cut what they may have believed was a water line,
Pratt said. In fact, it was a propane line connected to a furnace.
They then left with about $20 worth of copper.
Sheriff's deputies went to the home that Tuesday morning to investigate
after they got a call about the burglary. All the while, gas continued
to seep out of the severed tubing.
Earl, who owned the home but didn't live there, stopped by to clean
up the mess left from the burglary. Around 12:30 p.m., he plugged
in a fan to vent the gas fumes and believed the gas had dissipated
when the home exploded.
"He said it was the brightest flash he'd ever seen," said Byron Thelander, another of Earl's 11 children.
"Unfortunately, it was one of the last ones."
With what were later determined to be third-degree burns over 40 percent
of his body, Earl crawled from the basement to his vehicle and drove
more than three miles to his home, waving at people as he passed,
said Vicki Gray, his daughter.
Earl was taken by ambulance to Burgess Health Center in Onawa. Initially,
Gray said, her father didn't look too bad -- his face a little red
-- and he had been joking with family members after being admitted
to the Onawa hospital.
"He was blaming himself," Byron said. "We try to keep everything light."
More than 30 people gathered at the Onawa hospital, the largest gathering
of a family at that hospital, Byron said nurses told him. But almost
immediately, doctors told the family Earl’s chances for recovery were
slim. While Earl was in a medically induced coma, they said their
goodbyes.
"I just told him how proud I was of him," Doug said.
Earl was airlifted to the burn unit at Clarkson Hospital in Omaha,
where he died.
‘A constant reminder’
In the days following his death, family members received more than 1,000 cards,
Gray said.
The investigation remains open, in hopes that someone who knows who
broke into the home will talk. It's unknown if the culprit was simply
passing through the area, but Pratt has been in contact with salvage
yards in Onawa, Sioux City and Omaha. The sheriff's office has interviewed
20 people so far, Pratt said. He's also notified all sheriff's offices
in Iowa about the investigation.
Doug talks to Pratt every Thursday to check for any new developments.
"The case file has been left on my desk ... it's a constant reminder," Pratt said.
Looking for leads
Doug believes someone in the community knows more about the burglary,
and he is calling on decent people to take their community back.
"A good man died a needless, pointless death," Doug said. "(Whoever) did this ... knows someone, sooner or later, is going to talk."
Last Wednesday, Doug, Byron and Vicki gathered outside the house where
Earl was hurt but didn't want to go inside. The walls were still held
up by poles.
It was then that Gray spoke about losing her 19-year-old son, Bobby,
in 1998. Years ago, Bobby wrote about how he'd like to be reincarnated
as an eagle so he could see everybody from the sky. It's not often
one spots an eagle in Onawa, and Gray said Bobby is often symbolized
by a hawk.
Recently, Gray spotted two hawks perched on two telephone poles, a
sign, she believes, of Bobby and his grandpa, Earl. One hawk flew
off, soon followed by the second.
"I knew it was Bobby trying to get his grandpa to fly," Gray said. "It was a sign to me that he was OK."
Reward being offered
Officials are offering a Crimestoppers reward for information leading
to an arrest in the case involving the theft of copper tubing from
Earl Thelander’s property and his subsequent death.
Anyone with information about the crime is urged to call the Monona
County Sheriff's Office at (712) 423-2525.
© Copyright 2007, Sioux City Journal
