Sanford police and investigators from the state Fire Marshal’s Office are looking for two men wanted in connection with a house fire earlier this month in Sanford.

After the house at 26 Montreal St. was destroyed by fire in the early morning hours of July 6, police released surveillance videos showing two men approaching the building, then running away minutes later. An investigation determined the fire was arson.

Lonnie McMahon Photo courtesy of Sanford police

On Monday, investigators said they are looking for 25-year-old Johnathon Cox and 23-year-old Lonnie McMahon. The men are from the Sanford-Springvale area, but do not have permanent addresses.

Johnathon Cox Photo courtesy of Sanford police

Sanford firefighters responded around 4:30 a.m. July 6 to a blaze that spread from the porch of a single-family home at 26 Montreal St. to a two-unit apartment building next door.

A grainy, black-and-white surveillance video from a nearby home appears to show two white, shirtless males approaching the home around 4.17 a.m. A second video, from 4:22 a.m. shows two people running away as the fire’s glow reflects on buildings across the street. Police think it is the same people in both videos.

Anyone with information about the location of Cox or McMahon is asked to call Sanford police at 324-3644 or contact the fire marshal’s office through the Public Safety Communications Center in Augusta at 624-7076.


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