In Pinson, Alabama, there is a family who lives in fear.

"Uncle David."

In Pinson, Alabama, there is an extended family who lives in fear. On Sunday their home was firebombed by an out-of-control male (I will not not use the word "man" to describe him, for such a cowardly bully is in no sense a real man) who is their son-in-law, their brother-in-law, their uncle, their father. Yes, you got that right, this piece of work firebombed the home where his own children were staying. It was only an act of God (or the perpetrator's own incompetence) that no one was killed or the house burned to the ground. The perp had been on a downward spiral for some time, having been charged with violent threats and assaults of family members and acquaintances. After the firebombing, he swore to a deputy in a cell phone call that he wouldn't be taken alive. The cops took that as a threat to them, which perhaps it was. However, he is, at this moment, still at large and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department seems to be largely unconcerned, or perhaps incompetent, to do anything about it.

No one in the home sleeps more than a few hours at a time, and that but lightly, startling at every night noise, every dog bark, every revved engine in the darkness. The family is so frightened that they refuse to talk to the media, lest it provoke more violence on the part of this maniac or his friends. He threw the firebomb, eluded the Sheriff's Deputy who was right on his car's bumper when he committed the deed, and hasn't been seen since Sunday evening, yet his brooding, violent presence looms over the home every instant.

I was there yesterday morning and afternoon, standing guard over the house and the kids inside while the adults worked or went out to pay bills. One of the young nieces of this POS, upon hearing my voice, screamed out in terror, "I hear Uncle David!" She had to be reassured, for the umpteenth time, that "Uncle David" wasn't there and wasn't coming back, although all of us knew that could well be a lie.

No one knows where David Galbreath, wife-beater and arsonist who targeted the dwelling where his own children were staying, is at the moment -- least of all, it seems, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department. The only thing that might motivate them is the prospect of more publicity that shines a light on their failures to use all their resources on the case. Because of the family's terror-induced silence, that is something that is least likely to happen at the moment. To those of us desperate to help, it the most frustrating thing imaginable.

So, in Pinson, Alabama, there is a family who lives in fear. Keep them in your prayers. It is all they have at the moment between them and "Uncle David."