FLORA, Ind. — Kionnie Welch was 5 years old when she died. According to her obituary, she enjoyed cheerleading and cuddling in bed with her mother, Gaylin Rose. She was “momma’s baby.”
She died in the same fire that killed her sisters Kerriele McDonald (7), Keyara Phillips (9) and Keyana Davis (11) early in the morning on Monday, Nov. 21, 2016, in Flora, Indiana.
Within a few months of the fire, police had determined the fire was caused by arson. State police are offering $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest for the arsonist.
But eight years after the fire, the fire-starter hasn’t been caught.
In a statement given to 13News, the Flora Police Department said:
"It has been eight years since the fire that claimed the lives of four precious young girls in the small rural town of Flora, Indiana. Our community and first responders continue to mourn and grieve the tragic loss of Keyana Davis (11), Keyara Phillips (9), Kerriele McDonald (7), and Kionnie Welch (5).
Even though the home that once stood at 103 East Columbia Street has been torn down, and the debris removed, it is still difficult for our community and first responders to try and recover from such a tragic loss. As from the beginning, our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to the family and friends of these precious angels.
The law enforcement investigation of this incident was turned over to the Indiana State Police and the Indiana State Fire Marshal’s Office in the preliminary stages of the investigation. This was due to the lack of resources and manpower from our small law enforcement agency. The Flora Police Department has and will continue to assist in the investigation in any way possible."
Justice for Flora four angels
Flora is in Carroll County, 13 minutes southeast of Delphi. The fire that killed the four sisters came less than three months before Abigail Williams and Liberty German were murdered in Delphi.
The town had just over 2,000 people, as of the 2010 census. The town was founded in October 1827 and calls itself “the Garden Spot of Indiana.” When the founder, John Flora, died on May 11, 1875, the town was renamed in his honor.
The girls lived about a half-mile from where John Flora’s house once stood. Like his home, theirs is gone, too.
A bare lot sits at the corner of Columbia and Divison streets, where the girls used to live. The blacked and boarded-up home was torn down in October 2023.
Just down Columbia Street, at the intersection with Center Street, there is a bench of carved stone. It lists the names of the four girls, along with Abby and Libby.
A sign at the bench reads, “Justice for Flora four angels.”
But while Richard Allen will be sentenced on Dec. 20, 2024 for killing the Delphi girls, the person who started the Flora fire is still at large.
"That was just a horrid tragedy that kicked off a rough year for Carroll County in general," said sheriff Tony Liggett.
“The whole world could really see it, if they was looking at it”
Jacqueline Partlow isn’t optimistic that justice will come any time soon. The girls’ great aunt said investigators have let the family down.
“We’re just sitting here, eight years later, with no help,” Partlow said. “And when I say no help from the State Police, none.”
Indiana State Police took over the investigation shortly after the fire. In a statement on Nov. 20, the Flora Police Department explained they turned the investigation over “due to the lack of resources and manpower from our small law enforcement agency.”
But Partlow said the family has not heard from State Police Superintendent Doug Carter in a long while.
“Oh, I wish he would call me,” Partlow told 13News.
The delayed justice has been a sore spot for the family for years. In a 2021 interview, the girls' mother told 13News, “All the time, I’m disappointed. It’s just taking so long to figure out what happened, how it happened.”
Gaylin Rose moved to California to be with her family shortly after the fire.
"There was no type of beef, no retaliation against me and my family,” Rose said in 2021. “No one disliked us like that. We didn't have no beef. Everyone loved us just as well as we loved them. So once again, I'm lost. To be honest, I feel like it was more racial."
Year’s later, her aunt agrees.
“The writing is all over the wall,” Partlow said. “The whole world could really see it, if they was looking at it.”
"I don't believe in cold cases."
Indiana State Police say they have never stopped the investigation into who started the deadly fire. Carter says race is not a factor.
"To think that I or we wouldn't do everything within our power to figure out who did this, and there's a notion that we're not because they're Black and I'm white, wow," Carter said. "I'd trade spaces with them. The color of their skin doesn't matter to me."
Carter is due to retire in January. He said the case is "one of those things that I will have real regrets about. But I still believe we will be successful one day."
"I don't believe in cold cases," Carter said. "Science is changing. Technology is changing. But the information remains the same."
He also had a personal message to the arsonist:
"I don't believe they set it intentionally to kill those four little girls," Carter said. "I don't believe that's the case. I hope eventually, somebody's conscious will get the better of them."
Carter said that the girls' mother is not a suspect in the case.
"I hope that one day, I can sit down with Gaylin myself," Carter said. "I would really like to do that, actually."
Additionally, Former Carroll County Sheriff Tony Liggett said: "I have full confidence that Indiana State Police are doing everything in their power to bring that case to a resolution."
"She's afraid to go to sleep. She's afraid to wake up."
In 2018, Rose filed a federal lawsuit against her landlord and a product liability case. Before landing on arson, investigators had believed an appliance started the fire.
The product liability case was dismissed in 2020.
In August 2024, Rose settled with her landlord. The details of the settlement are under seal by order of a federal judge.
But a family friend says that the nightmare is far from over for the girls' mother.
"She would do anything in the world for them," Kathy Clendening said. "She was one of the best mothers."
Clendening also defended Rose from accusations she has been absent from the public eye since the fire.
"A lot of people say, 'Where's Gaylin? Why isn't she fighting?'" Clendening said. "Well, for Gaylin, she is fighting."
"The real thing is Gaylin, every night, she has to be talking to someone to go to sleep," Clendening said. "She's afraid to go to sleep. She's afraid to wake up."
The $5,000 reward for information on the case is still being offered by state police.