Ida Bodreaux, 78, died in LaPlace, Louisiana, on February 12, 1980, when her home burned. The fire was later described by investigators and some accounts as an arson, and her death has been treated in many retellings as an arson killing.

Her case resurfaced after testimony in a separate investigation linked LaPlace resident John Francis Wille to multiple fires. That testimony and subsequent inquiries reportedly led authorities to confirm that Bodreaux’s 1980 death had been caused by an intentionally set fire.

What new information exists about the 1980 investigation in LaPlace, or anyone who might remember the fire or the victim, could be crucial to clarifying what happened.