Dec. 3 marks three years since two electrical substations in Moore County were shot at, plunging more than 40,000 people into darkness during a cold snap, some for as many as five days.
One woman died after her oxygen machine went out in 2022. Still, authorities have not arrested anyone in the case.
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WRAL Investigates asked the Moore County Sheriff's Office several questions, including:
- Does the case remain a priority?
- What are investigators doing to try to find the person or people responsible?
- Is the sheriff’s office still getting tips?
- Is there any new information to share with the public that could help them solve the case?
Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields did not answer those questions, but did reply: "We are working with the FBI to maybe holding a joint press conference. We will let you know if and when."
Barbara Vitarelli is the daughter of Karin Zoanelli, who died after her oxygen machine stopped. Vitarelli spoke last year to ABC affiliate WSOC in Charlotte.
"It was murder," she said of her mom's death. "But for that power outage, she might still be here."
The FBI is helping the Moore County Sheriff's Office in its investigation.
Investigators previously released a photo of a minivan they were seeking information about, related to the attack.
As WRAL Investigates previously reported, a search warrant showed investigators identified a person of interest within two days.
WRAL Investigates asked Duke Energy spokesperson Jeff Brooks what changes the utility has made since the 2022 attacks.
Brooks said some changes focus on physical security of the substations, and others focus on overall grid resiliency so that one substation outage doesn't impact as many households. He noted that Duke Energy is constructing a new substation in the area for that reason.
"For security reasons, we don’t provide the specifics of all the changes we make," he said. "In Moore County, because the geography of the grid was the way it was, we didn’t have all the options to do all of the switching we might do in another location.
"So some of that focus has been on increasing resiliency. You still have physical improvements that we make, which could be anything like a physical barrier or other types of monitoring capabilities. I often say there are a lot of measures you can physically see when you drive by a substation. There are many more you can’t see."
Duke Energy, the governor's office, Moore County and the FBI are offering a combined reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to an arrest in the case.
Anyone with information is asked to call the FBI at 1-800-225-5324, the Moore County Sheriff’s Office tip line at 910-947-4444, or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.
