Dennis Wade, 47, was sleeping on the porch of an abandoned house on West High Street in Springfield, Ohio, when someone poured a flammable liquid on him and set him on fire at about 4 a.m. on August 13, 2002. He suffered third-degree burns over 80 percent of his body and was flown to Miami Valley Hospital, where he died on August 21, 2002, after eight days of care.

Wade was homeless and had taken refuge on the porch because he had nowhere else to go. The Springfield Police Chief at the time, David Walters, said the incident was being treated as a homicide and investigators checked for connections to another suspicious fire in the area earlier that month. No suspects have been identified. The family struggled with his suffering, medical decisions, and arranging a burial amid financial hardship.

Anyone with information about this unsolved homicide is asked to contact the Springfield Police Department.