NC Fire Department Faces Probe for Lost Benefit Funds

HENDERSON, NC—The Vance County Fire Department is under investigation after proceeds from a fundraiser earlier this year have gone missing.

The State Bureau of Investigations is looking into the disappearance of money raised during a fundraiser to benefit the family of a 10-year-old girl who’d recently been diagnosed with cancer, according to SBI Public Information Director Anjanette Grube. The fundraising efforts were for Raegan Owen, better known as Rae Rae, who had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a type of cancer that forms in the bone marrow, in November 2018.

Vance County Manager Jordan McMillen confirmed the investigation, saying “there has been a complaint that has been brought to our attention and it is under investigation, but that’s really all I can comment.”

The Vance County Sheriff’s Office received the complaint and referred it to the SBI.

McMillen could not provide information on who filed the complaint, but Vance County Fire Chief Chris Wright said he could not comment on the matter since it was a personnel issue.

It is not readily clear which fundraisers the SBI is investigating and if the probe is limited to the Vance County Fire Department.

Randy Owen, Rae Rae’s father, declined to comment for this story. He is the current fire rescue director for Vance-Granville Community College, according to his Facebook profile, and a former firefighter with the Henderson Fire Department.

According to Dispatch reports from November 2018, as of that time, he held a part-time role with the department.

Within his role at VGCC, Randy collaborates with 58 fire departments in the Vance, Warren, Granville and Franklin county areas. After Rae Rae’s diagnosis, they joined together to begin fundraising efforts and to plan a fundraiser event to benefit the Owen family.

During that event on Feb. 22, fire departments from across four local counties sold chicken plates, with a goal to sell 8,000 plates.

In addition, the Vance County Fire Department began other fundraising efforts, selling shirts printed with the theme “Rise Above for Rae Rae,” that could be purchased at the county department, according to the November Dispatch article.

This investigation is ongoing, Grube said.

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