Suspected arson destroys teen’s dream of buying house to take care of her grandma

MANITOWOC, Wis. (WBAY/Gray News) – A fire destroyed a 16-year-old’s dream of owning the home her grandmother grew up in so she could take care of her.

“I wanted to save this house, I wanted to fix it up and I wanted to have a family here, like my grandma did,” Makayla Green told WBAY. “This was her way out of a drug-infested house, she was going to move in here once I got it fixed up.”

Green was supposed to sign the final paperwork to own the house Tuesday, but a fire burned Green’s plans to the ground Monday night.

Manitowoc Police believe it started inside a detached building on the property of a vacant home and then spread to the vacant home, in addition to other occupied residences in the area.

Police are investigating the case as suspected arson.

“For weeks, she’s been working on the house, so it’s just really disheartening to know that someone had done this intentionally,” said neighbor Jill Scharenbroch.

Although the house has technically been empty for a few years, Green says it has always been full of memories.

“It’s not an abandoned house, it means something to somebody, and a lot of somebodies,” Green said. “We used to play back here all the time, and my grandma would play with us.”

With all the damage done, Green is left heartbroken.

“If you were mad at me getting the house, we could have talked it out, we could have worked something out. Why would you do something like this?” Green asked. “Just to fix it, it would take about as much as the house is worth.”

Police say they are offering a reward of up to $1,000, including $500 from Green, for any information leading to the arrest of the person, or persons, responsible for the incident.

No one has been arrested for the incident as of this time.

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