A 5-year-old girl was found safe in a camper in the northern Minnesota woods early Thursday, a day after she disappeared from a fire-ravaged Bemidji home where a woman's body was located, while a man on probation for a child pornography conviction is under arrest.
Brittany Balcer of Bemidji, "was located alive," the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) said in a statement. Brittany's father, Scott Balcer, told the Star Tribune that Brittany "is safe and tired, and we are still waiting to see her."
The girl was found about 5:20 a.m. in the camper near Big Fork on property roughly 70 miles northeast of Bemidji that belongs to a relative of the suspect, BCA special agent Sue Burggraf said during a news briefing Thursday afternoon in Bemidji. Authorities declined to say any more about Brittany's physical well-being.
Burggraf also said that the death of the woman found Wednesday morning in the fire, identified by family as Melissa "Missy" Norby, is being investigated as a homicide. The official declined to say what has led authorities to that conclusion.
Jailed and awaiting charges in Brittany's disappearance is a 32-year-old man from Bemidji, whom police investigators questioned Wednesday night after determining he was a "person of interest," said Police Chief Mike Mastin. Following the voluntary interview, state investigators located the girl about 26 hours after the fire was reported in the Hillcrest Manor mobile home park.
"This continues to be a complex ongoing investigation," Mastin said. "We are now looking at learning everything we can about the timeline, the motive, and whether anyone else was involved."
Mastin added that "it doesn't appear" that any other suspects are involved in this case.
In 2013, the suspect was sentenced in Beltrami County for possessing child pornography. His conviction in that case put him on probation for five years.
