KENLY - A fire last week burned 15 acres of land where sheriff's deputies earlier seized more than $200,000 in stolen goods. Meanwhile, deputies continue to search for the landowner, David Neal Phillips, 35.

The suspicious fire began at multiple points, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Office said.

A week earlier, the Sheriff's Office seized stolen tractors, trailers, generators, plastic piping, other heavy equipment and $10,000 worth of NASCAR collectibles from the land outside of Kenly. Investigators have linked some of the seized property to thefts from around the region.

On the day they seized the property, deputies arrested Jerri Nicole Lee, 28, at the scene and charged her with felony drug posession. Phillips's girlfriend, Crystal Dawn Green, was arrested also and charged with felony drug trafficking.

The raid, carried out by more than a dozen detectives and deputies, was the conclusion of a months-long undercover operation by the Johnston County Sheriff's Office.

"It started with narcotics," said sheriff's spokeswoman Tammy Amaon. Agents made undercover drugs buys that eventually led them to Phillips, and they got wind of the stolen property along the way, she said. "It's all linked together," Amaon said.

Law enforcement is still looking for Phillips, who is a self-employed white male. Anyone with information about the case can contact the Sheriff's Office at 919-989-5000.