St. Louis Bartender Charged With Setting Fires at Two Cahokia Heights Massage Parlors; Body Found in Debris
An ATF affidavit says Quentin Hanks admitted lighting couches at One Spa and Fuji Super Spa on Oct. 19, 2026. A body was found at Fuji Spa the next day.
A 36-year-old St. Louis man is charged with federal arson after two massage parlors in Cahokia Heights, Illinois, burned before dawn on Oct. 19, 2026. Investigators later pulled a body from the debris of one of them.
Quentin Hanks is charged by criminal complaint with one count of arson in connection with the fires at Fuji Super Spa, 240 S. 88th St., and One Spa, 220 S. 88th St., the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Illinois said on Oct. 21, 2026. The fire was reported in a 911 call at about 3 a.m. The office said an autopsy was pending. The allegations have not been proven in court.
“We will carefully examine all the facts and conduct a full grand jury investigation before seeking an indictment,” U.S. Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft said.
What the ATF agent wrote
The sworn affidavit from ATF Special Agent Jeremy Johnson, filed with the complaint in case No. 3:26-mj-07186, describes how investigators identified Hanks.
When agents arrived around 6 a.m., Fuji Spa’s roof had collapsed and walls had fallen in. A second fire had burned inside the customer entrance at One Spa, about 250 yards to the north. In One Spa’s waiting room, agents found burn damage on the right side of a couch and, underneath it, a pool of hydrocarbons, residue left when synthetic foam and fabric burn. They concluded the fire was intentionally set with a small open flame such as a lighter, the affidavit says.
The building owner told the agent he was informed at the scene that a Fuji Spa employee was missing and presumed dead inside. An employee at One Spa said a man who had tried to steal from the spa a couple of weeks earlier came back drunk the night before the fire, and she let him sleep in a back room. She described him as a bartender who was missing a finger and gave investigators his phone number.
An ATF analyst matched that number to Hanks, according to the affidavit. His Facebook account showed two missing fingers and a post about the amputation, and records showed he worked as a bartender at Dave & Buster’s. License plate readers recorded his Subaru Forester in St. Louis at about 3:30 a.m. on Oct. 19, 2026, and surveillance video showed him making a purchase at the Flying J Travel Center in Alorton at 2:48 a.m.
A confession, the affidavit says
After agents found and detained him in St. Louis, Hanks admitted setting fire to couches at both spas with his lighter, the agent wrote. He said he was angry after paying for sexual services at One Spa and then drove to Fuji Spa because the same masseuse also worked there, according to the affidavit. He said he did not warn anyone and assumed people could be inside both buildings. Agents found a lighter in his car, and Hanks said it was the one he used, the affidavit says.
On Oct. 20, 2026, investigators found a deceased person in the debris at Fuji Spa. The affidavit does not name the person.
What the charge carries
The federal arson law, 18 U.S.C. § 844(i), carries 5 to 20 years in prison. If death results, the punishment can rise to any term of years or life, or death.
On Oct. 23, 2026, Magistrate Judge Mark A. Beatty ordered Hanks detained pending trial after he waived a detention hearing, according to the docket. Prosecutors have said they will take the case to a grand jury before seeking an indictment.
