More investigators added to blast site

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Investigators are bringing in more resources to try to figure out exactly what caused Saturday night’s south side explosion.

The extra resources include excavators, machinery and additional people.

Earlier this week there was talk that the investigation could wrap up by Friday. That will not happen. Officials say investigators will be working at least through the weekend.

“There's a lot of things we have to look at and a lot of times when you get into these investigations you find additional items that you want to look at and process so I just don't want to put a timeframe today,” said Public Safety Director Troy Riggs.

He receives constant updates on the investigation and says progress is being made every day.

Investigators have recovered items that may help determine the cause of the explosion.

“I think the citizens of Indianapolis deserve to know what happened and certainly the individuals deserve.  So we are taking it seriously. We are going to make sure that all the “T's” are crossed, “I's” are dotted to make sure we get this right,” said Riggs.

What is still unclear right now is just how long it will take investigators to wrap up their work in the neighborhood.

“We want to make sure we do our due diligence and really get to the root cause of the explosion,” said Riggs.

While investigators focus on the blast site, city and local agencies continue to focus their efforts on the dozens of families trying to recover from the explosion.

Those recovery efforts will be measured in weeks and months rather than days.

“The long term affects is what we are concerned about too.  How is it going to affect the residents long term? Some people might never want to move out here again and some will bounce back,” said Deputy Mayor Olgen Williams.

Dion and Jennifer Longworth were killed in the blast. On Friday, their family members released a statement to thank people for their support.

"The family of Dion and Jennifer Longworth would like to thank the firefighters, police and other officials; Dr. Edds, Principal Guilfoy and the Greenwood schools family; Indy Audio Labs; our church communities; friends, neighbors and the community for all the support and love for our families during this difficult time.