Authorities in Baxter County are searching for an elderly couple after responding to a house fire Saturday, then finding the couple's burned car Sunday morning at a separate location.
Both fires are being investigated as arson, Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery said in a news release.
The names of the couple were not released as of late Sunday, but the release said the couple was known to live at the home, 447 Baxter County Road 508.
According to county tax records, the home belongs to 75-year-old Donald Rice and 71-year-old Ladonna Rice.
At 7:34 p.m. Saturday, an Arkansas State Police trooper was flagged down by a motorist who reported that a house was on fire on Baxter County Road 508.
By the time the Midway Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched, the house was engulfed in flames. One of the couple's vehicles was missing, Montgomery said in the news release.
About 8:30 a.m. Monday, a Baxter County sheriff's deputy found a full-size pickup -- believed to be the couple's missing vehicle -- in a field in a remote area on Baxter County Road 1, near the Bear Creek area. The truck had been destroyed by fire.
The home and the vehicle are being processed as crime scenes.
"Due to the intense residual heat from the fire, investigators have not been able to search through the debris, although plans are underway to do so just as soon as conditions will allow for it," Montgomery said, speaking of the home.
Authorities have been in contact with relatives of the couple and a full investigation is underway, Montgomery said in the release.
Metro on 11/09/2015