A fire of unknown but suspicious origin destroyed the Maitland Opera House Saturday morning. A search for the building’s owner continues.
In an interview, Holt County Sheriff Scott Wedlock said the owner, Kenneth Rainwater, was recently freed on bond as he awaited trial on three counts of possession of child pornography. He said it’s possible Mr Rainwater has fled the area.
The mostly-brick building at 218 South 2nd Street was erected in the late 19th century.
It has served as an opera house, and more recently, it was operated as a tavern by Mr Rainwater. He also lived in part of the building known as the Opera House Hotel.
The blaze was first reported at about seven a.m. Saturday. Fire crews from Maitland, Graham, Skidmore, Mound City, and Maryville took part in the fire-suppression, which took about four hours. As many as 70 firefighters in ten fire trucks were there to lend a hand, along with deputies from the Holt, Nodaway and Andrew County Sheriff’s Departments, troopers from the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and officials from the State Fire Marshall’s Office and A.T.F.
Sheriff Wedlock says it took another four hours to knock down the remaining brick walls. Crews continued to pour water on the remaining hot spots well into Sunday afternoon. There were no injuries. The Missouri State Fire Marshall’s Office has taken over the investigation into the cause of the fire.
Sheriff Wedlock acknowledged that a note was found that has authorities worried.
“There’s been several pieces of evidence that we’ve collected,” Wedlock said. “There was one note that kind of alluded to a dangerous situation here at the building.”
Beyond that, he says the evidence in the case is fairly commonplace. “I don’t think there ever really was any more than what would normally would be found at any fire of this nature,” he said.
Wedlock urged you to contact his office if you have any information about Mr Rainwater’s whereabouts.
“It’s possible he has fled. We’d certainly encourage anyone that has any information about Mr. Rainwater to contact us or contact their local agency.”
You can reach the Holt County Sheriff’s Office at (660)446-3300.