Associated Press
FERGUS FALLS, Minn. -- A note containing racial slurs was found on a truck near a burning home Tuesday near the town of Elizabeth, Otter Tail County Sheriff Brian Schlueter said.
The home's owner, Ray Williams, who was out of town at the time, is black, Schlueter said.
"Left on a pickup truck parked at the residence was a note that had some racial slurs on it, which again causes concern and makes it highly suspicious that it could possibly be an arson," the sheriff said.
No one was injured in the fire, though there was a tense hour or so when a 14-year-old boy, who lived at the home, couldn't be found. He was later discovered sleeping in a van parked in the yard at his grandmother's home in Fergus Falls, and hadn't told his parents where he would be.
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Schlueter said there were no immediate suspects, and the state fire marshal's office was helping in the investigation.
The home, which was five miles west of Elizabeth, was a total loss.
Elizabeth is about seven miles northwest of Fergus Falls in northwestern Minnesota.
