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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us January 21, 2006 Portrait of a suspect ‘India’ Savoie’s friends, family reticent to say much about woman charged in firebombing By Robert Plain Ashland Daily Tidings Suzanne “India” Savoie spent most Wednesday nights in Ashland at her mother-in-law’s house and worked three days a week in town at the Evergreen House, where she cared for adults with severe mental disabilities. “We would stay up late and talk,” Jan Wright, Savoie’s mother-in-law, said. “We would talk about family stuff.” An Applegate resident accused by the government of acting as a lookout in the 2001 arson fire of the Superior Lumber Mill in Glendale, Savoie turned herself in to federal authorities on Thursday morning. On Friday, US Marshals brought her and Jonathan Paul, a resident of the Greensprings accused of committing arson on a horse meat packing plant in Redmond, to Eugene. They will both have a pre-trial hearing there in a federal district court next week and both are being held without bail. Wright’s son, Luke, is Savoie’s life partner. He would not return phone calls made to him on Friday. Wright said they are both concerned that the media will portray Savoie in a negative light. Speaking somewhat cautiously, she told a reporter it was very difficult to answer his questions, but that she felt compelled to get some positive information out to the public about Savoie. She said she knew Savoie is from Southern California, but did not know what town. “[Luke] loves her deeply,” she said. “They’ve built a wonderful little homestead together out in the Applegate.” Savoie’s good friend and sister-in-law Anna Baumstark said Savoie is an avid gardener, who grows and cans much of her own food. She said they live “off the grid.” Savoie made most of their own furniture from cedar poles and other brush she would collect in the woods, Baumstark said. “When my child was born she made him a rattle,” she said. Baumstark said she did not know how Savoie got the nickname “India” but that she had always assumed it was because she traveled there once. “Most of her friends called her India,” she said. Wright and Baumstark said they were shocked when they heard their loved one had been implicated in these serious offenses. They said they knew her to be someone who cared for the environment, as well as someone who would never bring violence upon anyone or anything. “It’s just ridiculous,” Wright said. “She’s a gentle person. I can’t imagine her seeking to harm anyone or anything. This just does not ring true about her.” Baumstark said the experience has been surreal for the entire family. “We can’t believe this is happening to us,” she said. “You hear about people being wrongly implicated but you think it probably doesn’t happen that often. Then it happens to a family member. Baumstark said it surprised her to read in the newspapers that her sister-in-law was “at large.” “She wasn’t ‘at large.’ She was doing laundry,” Baumstark said. Both said they were confident that Savoie would be found innocent. Staff writer Robert Plain can be reached at 482-3456 x 226 or [email protected]. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Ceramic Piggy Banks Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Online Pharmacy Mailing Lists Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Student Loans Hammocks Water Filter Custom Made Computers Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams