The Family of West Lubbock fire victim, Andrew Stover, shared with EverythingLubbock.com more details about the arson investigation where Stover was found dead.

Stover’s family said they want the local community who may have seen or heard anything suspicious leading up to last Monday’s fire to come forward to law enforcement.

“Anything that anyone knows about what was going on in Andrew’s life in the last few months, any information about anyone that may have had a problem with him we want them to provide to law enforcement,” said family member Dionne Stover.

Andrew, 44, and his two dogs were found dead inside a two-story home on the 8800 block of 9th street Jan. 25. Fire officials determined the cause of the fire as arson and said the home was secure at the time of the blaze with no signs of forced entry.

Andrew had reported to Lubbock Police the day before the fire that an unknown suspect vandalized his car at the same address where the fire happened.

Police say Andrew was involved in a child indecency investigation. Dionne said these charges were made against him in retaliation, and that Andrew was in the process of petitioning the court to hear the matter and to issue a restraining order for his protection.

“We hope that anyone who knows anything even if they think it’s already been reported will take the time to contact the Lubbock Police Department so that they can investigate and they can charge the people responsible,” said Dionne.

Dionne said her family will miss Andrew who was highly skilled in technology, an avid athlete and a dog lover.

The medical examiner’s office has not yet released the autopsy information for the cause or manner of Andrew’s death.

The Stover family has also shared this biography of Andrew:

ANDREW STOVER
His Brilliant Mind and Work Life
 
After graduating from high school in 1989, Andrew moved from Hobbs NM to Lubbock TX to study architectural engineering at Texas Tech. He worked at a country club as a lifeguard then manager, and during that time he independently studied computers. Eventually, that studying paid off when he got a job maintaining computers and networks, we believe with Ross Perot’s company. He learned quickly and after a few years started his own company, Plexus Support Systems, providing computers and building and maintaining networks for a variety of businesses, including law firms, accounting firms, school districts, and various retail businesses.

Andrew would order in computer components and build computers himself, and he shared his knowledge, often teaching novices how to build them. His wife recalls, “He was very generous with his skills. He was always bringing home people’s personal computers that weren’t working, fixing and improving them for free. He just wanted people to have what they needed. He saved used computer components and he would build computers and gift them to people who otherwise couldn’t afford one.”

One of his stepsons, who helped build the computers and labs and is now studying computer programming, recalls, “Andy had a gift. He could literally talk to computers. Others of us could spend an hour working on one, without success, and he would walk in and within a minute or two have it working perfectly. He was amazing with them.”

An administrator from a business he worked for recalls, “Andy Stover was the network administrator for our ISD for the past several years. He was very good at his job and I believe most of what he knew was self-taught. Andy was always available for me to call with questions and he would give me direction to resolve problems myself whenever possible. I was always amazed at his intelligence and the way his thought process worked. Andy was a bright, energetic person that loved life, and he was also my friend.”

Andy was a prolific researcher. He would get interested in a subject, whether modifying a car, or translating ancient hieroglyphs in archeological ruins, and literally read every bit of available information. He did everything to the fullest. His wife remembers, “His thirst for knowledge was insatiable and his review of the available literature rivaled the best PhD level researchers. Plus, he had a rare gift with computers and could find things that the average person wouldn’t. He had a brilliant mind.”