On the morning of December 3, 2023, a house fire on Flathead Road in Crossville, Tennessee, led firefighters to a tragic discovery: 66-year-old Gale Ellen Meister was found dead inside the charred residence. Early impressions that she had died in the blaze were overturned after an autopsy determined she had been fatally shot before the fire began, shifting the inquiry into a homicide.

Investigators identified 57-year-old Frank Lackey of Nashville as a man who had been living with Meister. Both Lackey and Meister’s vehicle were missing from the scene. Law enforcement located Lackey in Rutherford County, and a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agent later spotted him driving the victim’s car. A Rutherford County deputy attempted a traffic stop, but before contact was made Lackey died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The matter is being treated as a domestic homicide and arson with the suspect deceased. If anyone knew Gale Meister or has information about who was in her life in Crossville, please come forward.