FBI helps investigate car fire in Cape

The FBI was among the agencies that responded to a car fire Friday evening in a field off South Sprigg Street east of Old Highway 61 in Cape Girardeau.

FBI agents, Cape Girardeau Police and the Cape Girardeau Fire Departments all responded to the scene.

In a text message Saturday, Darin Hickey, public information officer for the Cape Girardeau Police Department, would not confirm whether the fire was related to a bank robbery that occurred Thursday in Charleston, Mo., but he said police were looking into that possibility.

On Thursday, the Charleston Department of Public Safety reported it had received a call about 11:20 a.m. concerning bomb threats at three local schools. While officers were investigating the threats -- all of which proved to be unfounded -- police received a report that two men had entered Citizens Bank, 207 E. Commercial St., where they displayed handguns, demanded money and fled on foot with an undetermined amount of cash.

Police suspect the bomb threat was a diversionary tactic to distract officers during the robbery, which the FBI is investigating, according to a news release from the Charleston Department of Public Safety.

It was not immediately clear how the burning car might have been connected to the robbery.

Pertinent address:

South Sprigg Street and Old Highway 61, Cape Girardeau, MO