Transcript of 1) What Happened To Mica Miller? Unraveling Evidence Of Abuse She Left Behind

I spend most of my life following paper trails, so believe me when I say that I have done the math on my closet. And the pieces that I actually wear on repeat? They are all from Quince. Quince makes elevated everyday essentials from premium materials: Mongolian cashmere, organic cotton, and washable silk. And here's the part I really respect: they work directly with ethical factories and cut out the middlemen. You're paying for quality, not markup. It's not just apparel either. They bring the same approach to hotel-quality bedding, bath, and kitchen essentials. This fall, like last fall, my go-to will be my cashmere crew neck. I've reached for it basically every cool morning since it showed up, and nobody believes what I paid for it. Find the fall pieces you'll reach for most at Quince. Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers, or go to quince.com/coj. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK too. That's quince.com/coj. Together, Campsite and Luna Shark present Pursuing Justice, launching later this year to shine a light on active and cold cases through the eyes of the world's best investigative experts. Pursuing Justice delivers expertise and real-world experience to families and advocates falling through the cracks of the justice system.

Each episode tackles a different angle of the most intriguing, most frustrating, and most heartbreaking cases submitted from you, our audience, with expert analysis from around the country and the globe. How do you interact with law enforcement during the height of tragedy to get them to care as much as you do? How do families navigate media relationships during their struggle for answers? What's the threshold necessary to cross over from mild suspicion into actionable evidence? If you know the answers or want to submit a case to us, please email info@lunasharkmedia.com. And if you want the answers and education, stay tuned. Pursuing Justice premieres in 2026 wherever you get your podcasts. On April 27th, 2024, 30-year-old Micah Miller, a Myrtle Beach woman in the process of divorcing her pastor husband, called 911. It would be the last time that the world would ever hear her voice.

Robeson County 911, what's the address of your emergency? Hi, um, are you able to trace the location of my phone? Um, let me see. You don't know where you're at? A national park. What's the phone number you're calling me from?

843-655-5242.

Um, where's the park located at? In Bear Bluff. Let's see, I have my location on, I think, on my phone. Find My Phone is on. I just did my share, my location. Okay, I'm showing, um, hold on one second. I don't think you are in Robeson County. Yeah, Lumbee, the Lumbee River State Park. Yeah, that's where I am.

Okay.

Tell me what's, um, happened. Um, I'm about to kill myself, and I just want my family to know where to find me. Okay, ma'am. Just listen to what I'm saying, okay? Let me make sure I got the exact location where you're at, okay? Just one minute.

This 911 call was released by the Robeson County, North Carolina Sheriff's Office 10 days after Micah's death. Quickly, the Robeson County Sheriff's Office ruled Micah's death a suicide. That ruling would have made most true crime journalists quit pursuing the story. But we aren't most true crime journalists. And Micah's story is anything but a typical suicide, if we will call it that. This is Coerced: The Devotion and Death of Micah Francis Miller. My name is Mandy Matney. I am an award-winning independent investigative journalist who exposed Alex Murdaugh. Together with journalist Liz Ferrell, we investigated him for 2 years before he allegedly murdered his wife and son. With my husband, David Moses, who is also our wickedly talented producer, we created the global hit, The Murdaugh Murders Podcast. Which inspired the recent hit Hulu series Murdaugh: Death in the Family, starring Patricia Arquette and Jason Clarke. With the Murdaugh Murders podcast, we didn't just tell a story about one case. We changed the way that millions of people saw the justice system. We exposed evildoers, and we did not stop when some of them went to prison. We held police officers, detectives, judges, and attorneys to account, and we forced so many of them to do their jobs, in a place where most people believed that a Murdoch would never be held accountable.

We said, but has anyone actually tried? And we did not stop exposing the truth, no matter how terrifying the path to the truth became. We also changed the way people saw podcasts and journalism, as not just a tool for entertainment and enlightenment, but as a mechanism To force transparency upon government agencies and use the power of our listeners and the microphone to force them to do what is right and what is just. Which is why we chose to report on Micah Frances Miller's story back in May 2024, even after her death was ruled a suicide. Because when Micah died, she purposely left behind a paper trail of evidence and clues For someone, somewhere, to find and expose the people and systems that led to her death. Unfortunately, Micah couldn't save herself, but she could save other women who have been abused by their husbands and dismissed by the systems that are supposed to protect them. So, our amazing team of journalists at Luna Shark investigated this story for more than 18 months, and we covered all of the twists and turns. Including over a dozen lawsuits, sexual assault allegations, another mysterious death, a dark history of medical abuse allegations, generational abuse, a place called Gloryland, and even alleged bestiality.

Very early on in our investigation, we realized that the mystery of Micah's story was about so much more than her death and whether or not she died by suicide. Her story is about everything that led up to her death, the alleged coercive control that she faced in her relationship with her pastor husband, and all of the systems that failed her when she tried so hard to report that alleged abuse and escape from him. We're going to say alleged a lot in this series, as John Paul Miller has not been convicted of any crimes involving Micah. Yet, to understand Micah's story and how we believe that her death could have been prevented, you have to understand coercive control, described by world-renowned criminal behavior analyst Laura Richards as a strategic pattern of behavior designed to exploit, control, create dependency, and dominate. The world would be a safer place for women if more lawmakers, government officials, first responders, police officers, judges, attorneys, detectives, and doctors truly understood the concept of coercive control. And Micah's story, we believe, is a testament to that. Today, in 2026, only a handful of states recognize coercive control in their laws. Hawaii is the only state that specifically criminalizes it.

We believe if any story could motivate women around the world to get coercive control laws passed, it is Micah's. Everything about this story is complicated, starting with Micah's name in itself. Her name was technically Micah Miller when she died, but we discovered in her divorce filings that she asked the court to restore her name to her maiden name, Micah Acacia Francis, before her death. While Luna Shark has honored that wish to recognize Micah by the name that she wanted her identity to be, most of the media and Netflix did not. And we want these episodes to be discovered by anyone interested in learning the truth about what happened to Micah, and we want her story to inspire real change. That said, we decided to add Miller to the title of this Drop Feed because Micah's story You can't change the world if it is impossible to find. Now, what is a drop feed exactly? You have heard of feed drops, where one creator will put their show in the feed of another show. This is kind of like that, but a drop feed, a new phrase that we've coined, a dedicated standalone podcast feed branded under a parent network that focuses exclusively on a single case investigation or subtopic drawn from the network's broader editorial universe.

A drop feed has its own RSS, its own cover art, and its own listing on podcast platforms, but it is anchored to the parent network's identity, audience, and editorial standards. Usually in True Sunlight, we have about 5 active cases at any given time, and those stories will get updates or breaking news at the same time. Such was the case with developments of J.P. Miller's federal trial in Florence, South Carolina. That means that each episode of True Sunlight can include news and analysis about multiple cases, which can be confusing. So we are launching these drop feeds to keep information about each case straight and maybe introduce the flagship True Sunlight feed to new audiences along the way. This new drop feed titled Coerced: The Devotion and Death of Micah Frances Miller is a Luna Shark production based on True Sunlight reporting. We'll be updating from time to time as we have enough information to populate it with another episode, but all current updates will occur on True Sunlight Weekly. I also want to introduce journalist and Luna Shark producer Grace Hills, who will be our guide between episodes to help us get the story straight on when these archived episodes came from and perhaps add some updates when needed.

We will be publishing drop feeds for a number of our cases so that we can elevate the voices of the people who really matter and why we work so hard to expose the truths on True Sunlight Podcast. For Christa Bauer-Gilley, for Scott Spivey, for Charity Biallis, for Micah Miller. You'll start seeing those feeds pop up on players soon, but the current information will always go to the True Sunlight Podcast feed first. So be sure to follow from your favorite app or join Luna Shark Premium from a link in the description for early episodes, video episodes, live or virtual events, bonus episodes, and so much more. Thank you for supporting our mission. Thank you for following along from wherever you are in the world. And thank you for helping us hold public agencies accountable and amplifying victims' voices. So let's dive in to Coerced: The Devotion and Death of Micah Frances Miller. Micah's death became national news for a few reasons, chiefly because of the bizarre sermon her estranged husband gave on the Sunday after her death. Listen to this. On Sunday, April 28th, one day after Micah was found dead, at the end of his church service, John Paul Miller told his congregation that his wife died.

I want you to hear this clip.

We're not going to do an altar call today. Instead, um, instead, um, I'm going to have you stand up and I'm going to make an announcement. And, um, after the announcement, I'm going to ask that you, um, you leave church quietly and, and don't talk about the announcement here in the building. And so y'all can stand to your feet. Um, Before I make the announcement, I also want to say that, um, my request to you is that you will continue to come to church and serve and give, um, for the next, you know, a little bit. Because I don't want to have— I'm taking a little bit of a break, and I don't want to have to worry about the church. My break may be a few days, a few weeks, I don't know. Um, I got a call late last night. My wife has passed away.

Oh.

And yeah, it was, it was self-induced, and it was, uh, up in North Carolina. And, um, we're gonna have a funeral for her next Sunday here at 3 PM. And so, um, it's all I can— yeah, I'm just kind of going on, um, adrenaline right now. So y'all pray for me and my kids and everybody. And, uh, she was— she wasn't— y'all knew that she wasn't well mentally and that, uh, she needed her medicine that was hard to get to her. And so, um, I'm sure there'll be more details to come, but, um, just keep our family in your prayers. And I'm going to let Pastor Randall My bishop, he can pray. I'll get a microphone, he'll pray out, and if you have anything you want to share as well, I appreciate it.

So, it is hard to judge a person's reaction to a tragedy like this one. It is hard to say what a normal, non-abusive person would do or say in this situation. However, considering the well-documented allegations of abuse here, I want to point out What aren't just red flags, they are alarm bells ringing during this speech. First of all, there is something incredibly disturbing about a man commanding a sea of people to stand to hear that his estranged wife died and to see the congregation just doing that and complying. It shows what kind of control and power this man is used to. It is disturbing. To hear this man's immediate concerns about his church members, who are ultimately his moneymakers, leaving him because of his wife's death. But the most disturbing part is how quick he is to accept that her death was a suicide. How did he know for sure in that moment it was a suicide? And why publicly blame her mental illness before knowing all of the facts? Why did he feel like his congregation needed to know that? And since they were estranged, shouldn't her family be the ones to announce what happened to Micah?

We weren't the only ones horrified by how glib and strange this was. Over the weekend, we got flooded with so many emails and messages from our listeners asking us to look into this case, to put sunlight on it. So that is what we did. We dove into the sea of red flags left in the wake of Micah's death.

Since you're listening, you already know that we're investigative journalists, so our sunlight starts with the facts. But we also advocate for a victims-first approach in our reporting and in the justice system, meaning we are also whatever the podcast version of an opinion columnist is. We do the reporting, we do the research, we FOIA for documents, we cultivate sources, We provide the context and then connect the dots and then offer our take on it. More than anything, we believe in holding law enforcement accountable to investigations, and we do not give the good old boys in our system a pass simply because they are powerful or simply because they're just doing what's always been done, as so many other legacy media outlets seem to do. For instance, with stories like this one, legacy media reporters too often approach the details surrounding the narrative with the base assumption that our system is not broken. We've had a lot of experience there, so our brains immediately go to scanning cases for red flags. Obviously, a weird sermon does not a murderer make. And as it turns out, the evidence shows that JP wasn't near Micah when her life ended.

In fact, the evidence released by police seems to absolve JP from pulling the trigger. But we'll get there because there is more than one way to end a life. When we took on the Murdaugh murders in 2021, we were quickly and suddenly immersed in the true crime world, something neither of us were at all familiar with, having backgrounds in journalism. Beyond documentaries and news shows, we really didn't know that social media has a true crime ecosystem that comes alive during these big true crime events. That ecosystem drives a host of media organizations to cover different angles of the story. From what we've learned, there are, let's say, 5 major pieces to this ecosystem. First, you have the victims' families who are simply trying to get answers and attention for their loved ones' cases. Second, you have the journalists who gather facts and tell the story according to a code of ethics that includes official sourcing, documentation, and attribution. Third, you have the uber true crime fans who stake out their territory on social media to be the first page moderators or create content related to their own reporting and research, which unfortunately oftentimes turns out to be not entirely reliable, and to share their opinions about what happened.

Fourth, you have the people digesting this news and this content who express their support of the victims and their families, who use their own platforms to put pressure on the system to do the right thing. And lastly, you have the devil's advocate. For every person who knee-jerks into automatically believing a person is guilty of something, there's a person who knee-jerks into automatically believing that a person isn't guilty of something. So all of this, the good, bad, and ugly of the true crime ecosystem, came alive over the weekend, and the internet all but indicted Micah's husband, and information started emerging about him, his history, and his church.

On Monday, the board of the church that he started, quote unquote, released JP from, quote, All ministerial functions for a time of healing, counsel, and guidance pursuant to our governing instrument. What does that even mean? I'm not sure. The church took down its website after the news of Micah's death went viral. Considering that he started the church, chances are highly unlikely that he is going to face any repercussions from that institution. Now again, the evidence provided by the Robeson County Sheriff's Office Appears to show that JP did not pull the trigger that ended Micah's life. But before that evidence was released Tuesday, there was a surplus of fact and fiction being circulated that seemed to make him look like an immediate person of interest. Why? Because of the red flags that we are telling you about today. And frankly, those red flags are still telling us something, and that is that Micah's death will not be in vain. The red flags feel like Micah is speaking to us from the grave to expose the evil that ultimately ended her. Again, evidence appears to show that he did not kill her, but even so, Micah was pointing all of us in this direction for a reason.

Like she knew what she was doing in leaving a powerful man was a dangerous and deadly road to walk, so she left pieces of her life for the world to see in case something happened. Starting with her Facebook page. Underneath Micah Miller's profile picture, where she is flashing a confident, subtle smile like a woman on a mission, a tagline reads the words, Seek justice. Love mercy. Walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8. On April 19th, 8 days before her death, Micah posted a selfie with the caption, When terrible, terrible things happen to you. Y'all know what I'm talking about. RPF. Rest in peace face. #StillBlessed. #GodIsGood. Religion played a central role in Micah's life, and she posted about navigating her religion while also leaving an abusive relationship. I want to be clear here, Micah never said her husband's name in those posts. On March 22nd, just a month before her death, Micah posted the following caption: Please share this with anyone struggling with a dangerous situation because they think God will be mad at them. #AbuseAwareness #GodLovesYou. With that, she posted a video of herself in a baseball cap and a braid.

So today my heart's a little heavy. Um, I've had a lot of women that have reached out to me about, um, situations of abuse. And I just want to tell you what a lot of people have told me, uh, lately and reminded me, because I think I forgot. I knew, but I for— I pushed it in the back of my head, um, just because of my situation. Um, but you are the bride of Christ before anybody else's bride. Male or female, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what, what gender you are. Abuse is abuse. And you are the bride of Christ. And my Bible says that he took all the abuse you could think of for you so that you didn't have to live that life of slavery and bondage. and pain. Jesus took it all for you so you don't have to stay in an abusive relationship, whether that's, um, sexual, whether that's, uh, somebody forcing you to take illegal drugs, or alcohol abuse, or physical abuse, uh, psychological abuse, making you think that this is all your fault, or you're a bad mom, or you're a bad wife or you're a bad husband or you're, um, you're not giving it your all when you know you are.

God hates divorce. But why? According to everybody I've asked and the scriptures that I've found, it's because it hurts people. But does abuse hurt people? How do you think God feels about that? So I want to remind you, like a bunch of people have been reminding me lately, that I'm God's bride first. And even an earthly spouse who's a good spouse, when they know that their bride is being hurt— just imagine what an earthly spouse does. What do you think your heavenly Spouse does? When you're the bride of Christ and he sees his bride going through abuse and hurt, what do you think he thinks about that? So encouragement in all this is you are the bride of Christ first before anybody else's, and he's got you, and he sees you, and he loves you.

This video tells us a lot about Micah. She did not want to go quietly. She wanted to use her suffering to help other women who were experiencing abuse, especially those who were taught harmful religious beliefs that trapped them in abusive marriages. This was her way of saying it is okay to put yourself above your marriage because God truly loves you. And God doesn't want you to suffer in an abusive relationship. It is important to note her estranged husband, JP Miller, filed a police report about this Facebook post, which we will talk about in a minute. But that gives you an idea of the kind of coercive control JP had over Micah Miller's life. More on that after a quick commercial break.

We'll be right back.

I spend most of my life following paper trails, so believe me when I say that I have done the math on my closet. And the pieces that I actually wear on repeat, they are all from Quince. Quince makes elevated everyday essentials from premium materials: Mongolian cashmere, organic cotton, and washable silk. And here's the part I really respect: they work directly with ethical factories and cut out the middlemen. You're paying for quality, not markup. It's not just apparel either. They bring the same approach to hotel-quality bedding, bath, and kitchen essentials. This fall, like last fall, my go-to will be my cashmere crewneck. I've reached for it basically every cool morning since it showed up, and nobody believes what I paid for it. Find the fall pieces you'll reach for most at Quince. Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers, or go to quince.com/coj. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK too. That's quince.com/coj. My job is stressful and super taxing, so brain function is not optional for me. That's why in my daily routine, Aqua Omega and their revolutionary omega-3s are the one thing that never gets missed.

Aqua Omega was built because most fish oils either cut corners on quality or charge luxury prices. And they believe you shouldn't have to choose. Every Aqua Omega batch is tested for purity, potency, and freshness. And this is my favorite part. Every bottle sold removes £1 of plastic and debris from our ocean and coastlines. It's been super easy to add to my mornings, and it's one of the few things in my routine that I never have to think twice about. For your daily dose of omega-3s, go to myaquomega.com/mandy. and use code MANDY for 20% off. That's myaquaomega.com/MANDY and use code MANDY for 20% off. Also available on Amazon. Thanks to Aqua Omega for sponsoring this episode. According to court records, Micah had been in the process of divorcing JP since at least October 2023, but because we live in South Carolina where women are still second-class citizens, and our laws are designed to make divorce difficult and dangerous. Micah's divorce filing was dismissed by the court in February. She filed for divorce again in April, and just 2 days before she was found dead, JP was served with divorce papers, which is another giant glaring red flag in this case.

Micah was taking control. She was leaving her husband. She was entering the most dangerous period in an abusive relationship for women. But even in her death, JP still managed to take control of the narrative. Or at least he tried, and it backfired deeply. Which brings us to the next red flag: Micah's obituary, which sources have said was written by JP, and it certainly appears to be written by him. Micah Miller's obituary was written as if her husband was stomping all over her grave and continuing to taunt and torture her after her death. Despite Micah's well-documented desire to leave her husband and start a new life, her obituary, presumably written by her estranged husband, whose photo is oddly featured in a selfie at the top of the page, covers none of that. Instead, true to what we believe shows John Paul Miller's narcissistic, manipulative, and abusive personality, JP Miller took the opportunity to craft a narrative about Micah's life that was far from reality. Starting with the 3rd sentence of the obituary, where he lists himself first among those who are survived by her. He complimented her in some places, as abusers do. and stabbed her in the heart in others.

Here is a sentence to give you an example.

Micah was energetic, affirming, adventurous, faithful, loving, giving, forgiving, talented, joyous, creative, assertive, bold, determined, authoritative, passionate, hardworking, a risk-taker, And so much more.

Sounds nice, right? But he couldn't help himself. He is mentioned in the next sentence as if her relationship to him was her most important quality.

She and JP have been friends since 2009, married in 2017, and spent most every single day Whoa, red flag.

Because first of all, Micah was around 15 in 2009 and JP was around 30 and he was married to another woman. Why would he mention a detail like that in which most of society would think was really weird? And of course, that isn't even the full truth of it. In a police report filed just 2 months before Micah's death, she told police that she was groomed by JP when she was a child. The National Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Children defines grooming as when someone builds a relationship, trust, and emotional connection with a child or a young person so they can manipulate, exploit, and abuse them. The fact that Micah used this term in February to describe her relationship shows how far removed she was from her own marriage at that point. It shows to me that she sought some sort of professional support to process her relationship for what it was. The obituary went on to say that she loved her dog, outdoor activities, running, and was known to take on challenges. Then of course it goes again back to JP and it gets exceedingly weird.

Micah was a great stepmother and an amazing wife and helpmate. She helped Pastor JP with the church in every way. Micah was the worship leader, graphics designer, youth leader, women's ministry leader, and pastor's assistant. And she did all of this with the utmost integrity and faithfulness. Micah made the greatest of efforts to always be the best wife she could be. She truly served Jesus— and her husband— with all of her heart. She would praise her husband after every church service, telling him he was the best preacher in the world— even if it wasn't true. She also told him he was the funniest preacher in the world— even though that wasn't true either.

Y'all, that is 7 sentences in a row used in her obituary to talk about her estranged husband. Every time I read this, I get more angry for her. Even after her death, the man who allegedly groomed Micah was still controlling her life story. It goes on, and it gets weirder when it talks about her relationships with her family in a way that feels taunting.

Micah loved her family so much. She looked forward to every text from her father or brother. She sought every opportunity to pour into her sisters. There were thousands of nights that she would pray out loud for God to always bless and take care of her family. Micah was a good girl. They were constantly on her mind. Micah wanted more than anything for each member of her family to serve Jesus continually. Micah loved her ice bath, nice car, sauna, house, etc. But more than anything on earth was her desire to see people come to Jesus.

We want you to keep this obit in mind as we go through these next 2 parts. Okay, so the world was hearing about Micah's strange death and JP's strange sermon afterward over this past weekend. They were hearing about Micah's marriage. Former girlfriends of JP's were speaking up on Facebook, and former church members were secretly speaking out about concerns they had about what they perceived as JP's increasingly questionable conduct at church. Specifically, the tone of his sermons, which they say included slights against Micah and demands for more tithing. On May 2nd, less than a week after Micah's death, her siblings stepped in. They hired attorney Jarrett Bouchette, whose name you might remember from the Murdaugh case. Jarrett was one of Cousin Eddie's attorneys from the start. Jarrett helped Micah's sister, Sierra, file paperwork to be appointed special administrator of Micah's estate. In other words, Micah's family fought back to keep the man whom they hold at least somewhat responsible for Micah's death accountable. And they won. The court ruled in their favor. Here's why. In the affidavit, Sierra said that she and her family, with a total of 6 siblings, moved to Myrtle Beach in 2007.

She said she was close with Micah and spoke to her and visited her often. Then Micah's sister documented her knowledge of the abusive relationship. that Micah had with JP. She put this in a legal document, which gives reporters like us a trail of breadcrumbs to follow, which is what we did. We'll have David read this part.

I know my sister to have expressed the abuse and violence against her by her husband to others, including family members and members of the church congregation. Micah told me that there were people following her, keeping track of where she went. She thought that Mr. Miller hired people to follow her. Mr. Miller later confirmed this during a sermon I watched. Micah confided in me that Mr. Miller was moving assets that were in his name, such as his vehicle, changing the deed to their house, to the church. Transferring interest in Crocodile Rocks to one of his sons.

It should be noted that we are still combing through Miller's finances, but it appears that he was part owner of Crocodile Rocks Piano Bar in Myrtle Beach, which is an odd side gig for a preacher, but whatever. And like a lot of the men who we investigate on this podcast, JP's financial history appears to be plentiful and complicated. In the affidavit, Sierra testified to several abusive incidents in her sisters' relationship that are also documented by police reports that we will discuss in a minute. Sierra said that JP Miller allegedly took control of at least one of her social media accounts and allegedly took the evidence that Micah was planning to use against him in the divorce proceeding while Micah was hospitalized at a mental health facility in February. Sierra said that Micah had big plans for her life after her divorce. She wanted to move to Kenya and even shipped some of her items over there in preparation for that. The affidavit just screams, I don't believe my sister killed herself and here is why. And Sierra's affidavit is backed up with convincing evidence. But perhaps most concerning is this part of the affidavit I will have David read.

My sister also expressed to me that she was fearful that she would not make it to the divorce and that her life would be taken from her. Micah stated to me on many occasions, if I end up with a bullet in my head, it was not by me. It was JP. Micah forwarded a family group text message notifying us that Mr. Miller Was served the divorce papers on April 25th, 2024. On April 27th, 2024, my sister, Micah A. Miller, was found dead as a result of a gunshot wound.

There's a lot contained in that affidavit, but I want to repeat this part: If I end up with a bullet in my head, it was not by me, It was JP. Micah's sister knows that Micah can no longer speak for herself, so she stepped up and bravely put all of this in a legal document. And so did Micah's brother. Micah's brother Nathaniel also filed an affidavit in support of Sierra's appointment as special administrator for Micah's estate. In his affidavit, he talks about how he was a member of JP's church but left the congregation because of behaviors He observed. Nathaniel said that Micah had confided in him that JP moved her belongings to another woman's residence so that he could, quote, keep an eye on her. He said that JP told him he didn't know of any reason there should be a divorce. And he talked about an April email from JP to Micah in which JP said he was angry, quote, when Micah confided or, quote, put her family before him, and that made him want to hurt her. In his words, when someone hurts me, I try to hurt them back rather than forgive.

And instead of me forgiving you, I just attack and cause pain. Nathaniel said that Micah had told him on numerous occasions that she was scared of JP and just wanted to escape him. He also mentions several police reports that were made over the previous few weeks. Now, before Robeson County Sheriff's Office released its evidence showing why they believed Micah did in fact kill herself, this is what the world had: a bizarre sermon, a video from Micah talking about abuse, affidavits showing her family was intervening with her estate because Micah feared for her life at the time of her death, an obituary that reads like Regina George from Mean Girls wrote it, the knowledge that JP's criminal history includes violence against women, And his application for a pardon, which, though it doesn't say it explicitly, seems like the sole reason listed is to obtain a firearm. Plus, there were bits and pieces from his sermons being circulated where he spoke poorly of Micah and of women in general using violent imagery. In one sermon, he told his flock that women talking about their marital problems with friends is the demon in them. He said that he looked in Micah's phone and saw that 18 people had reached out to her to say if she ever needed to talk about her husband, They would keep it confidential.

He talked about wanting to shoot someone with a bazooka, using the example of, did you intentionally wear those shoes with that dress? And he talked about praying to God for money and to get a, quote, hot wife who loves Jesus. In the meantime, a woman purporting to be a former girlfriend of JP's who said she was 14 at the time and he was 19— put a pin in that one for a second— Posted online that JP was a philanderer and very into state and national parks. So again, there was a circus occurring with people on Facebook and TikTok believing that there was a path that was going to take the police straight to JP. And as disturbing as social media circuses are, I think you can see what they were seeing.

Mandy and Liz will dive into the police reports shortly. We'll be right back. My job is stressful and super taxing, so brain function is not optional for me. That's why in my daily routine, Aqua Omega and their revolutionary omega-3s are the one thing that never gets missed. Aqua Omega was built because most fish oils either cut corners on quality or charge luxury prices, and they believe you shouldn't have to choose. Every Aqua Omega batch is tested for purity, potency, and freshness. And this is my favorite part: every bottle sold removes £1 of plastic and debris from our ocean and coastlines. It's been super easy to add to my mornings, and it's one of the few things in my routine That I never have to think twice about. For your daily dose of omega-3s, go to myaquomega.com/MANDY and use code MANDY for 20% off. That's myaquomega.com/MANDY and use code MANDY for 20% off. Also available on Amazon. Thanks to Aqua Omega for sponsoring this episode. We expose the truth wherever it leads, give voice to victims, and get the story straight. My name is Mandy Matney. Together with journalist Liz Farrell, we continue this mission with our newest evolution, True Sunlight.

Luna Shark's True Sunlight podcast values accuracy over access journalism.

We're out. Hey, hey, welding back up.

Camp Swamp Road, and somebody just unloaded, shot through his windshield, and shot this guy. True sunlight is shed with empathy, not exploitation.

I don't really trust the media too much because they're just looking for a story, and instead of helping with Stephen's story, they're actually hurting it.

True Sunlight is the intersection of journalism, true crime, and systemic corruption.

I was in the shadows last night.

I weren't there, but I was in the shadows. We continue to shed light on Stephen Smith's case and Alex Murdaugh's co-conspirators, but also We like to take deep dives into other cases around the country.

Robeson County 911.

And she actually said the FBI was looking into it.

And he said, call the cops, I don't care. I'm armed and ready.

True Sunlight empowers listeners to understand their legal and judicial systems with our unique brand of pesky journalism. Listen to True Sunlight wherever you get your podcasts, or visit truesunlight.com to learn more, or join Luna Shark Premium for early episodes. video episodes, live or virtual events, bonus episodes, and so much more. Okay, back to the police reports. The first one we want to talk about is perplexing. Even though we submitted our FOIA request for reports to Myrtle Beach Police, it appears the same reports we received were also released to other media. In our FOIA request, we asked for calls to service and reports involving JP's church. of which only a few were included, but all of those seemed to involve either him by name or by reference to the pastor with his name redacted. They certainly don't appear to be the sum total of what we might expect when asking for calls to service to a church of that size. When Beth Braden asked Myrtle Beach Police a question that we had, she was told, I sent you all the incident and CAD reports that we have for the two of them. You can read them and see if any say anything about that.

That made us realize that the FOIA that we got back appears to only be for reports that mention Micah and JP by name in some capacity and not for calls to service to the church itself. I note this because I don't know why this report was included. It is not clear how it is connected to JP or Micah directly in the way that Myrtle Beach seems to think the FOIA release is. Because so much of that report is either redacted or not included. Here's what it says. In August 2022, police wrote a report in reference to something that allegedly happened at JP's church. The victim's information is redacted, and so is the person of interest information. The report states that a caller from New Jersey said that she had received lewd text messages and photos from the offender. and that she received a video call from the offender while he was performing an obscene act. The officer spoke to this unknown offender who stated he was in Myrtle Beach during the time of the video call, and that was it. The investigation is still listed as active. Another report that is merely interesting: in April 2023, JP was cited for driving through a grass median Changing lanes multiple times without signaling and going 70 miles per hour in a 55 mile per hour speed limit.

Not sure what was going on there, but that seems extra. A year later, 3 days after Micah's body was found, the Myrtle Beach Police Department was called to Micah's apartment by JP. According to the report, he, quote, stated that his wife passed away and that he was trying to get her belongings out of the apartment. But that leasing manager wouldn't let him do it due to her not liking him. The report notes that a redacted person's name was given an indefinite warning for the entire complex and that, quote, the male moved along with no issues. This is a good time to tell you how absolutely inconsistent South Carolina law enforcement agencies can be when it comes to what they choose to redact. In this stack of reports we got from Myrtle Beach PD, it is sometimes hard to tell who the victim is and who the complainant is because of the strange redaction. Police are allowed to redact personal information such as birth dates and Social Security numbers and the names of minors and information related to active investigations that can compromise the investigation if released. Information that is generally pertinent to the report Such as the name of the person who was warned against returning to Micah's apartment complex after her death would most likely not be redacted.

But alas. All right, as they relate to Micah, let's talk about a report that she made on February 21st of this year. I also want to note that when we say Micah was 30, she had just turned 30 before her death in February. She was still 29 years old. Micah called police to tell them that her car had been stolen. She had been separated from her husband since January 2023. Quick note that I want to mention, the timeline of Micah's divorce and separation seems to start in October 2023 according to court documents. But like with any failing relationship, particularly one with significant age difference and power differential, The timeline has some hiccups in terms of their back and forth. Remember, Micah was dealing with abuse and a pastor husband who had members of his flock backing him up. Plus, he was a devout Christian and highly concerned about all that entails. Anyway, on February 21st, Micah told police that she was involuntarily hospitalized earlier in the month, on February 8th. She was released 2 days later. Now, it is not clear why she was hospitalized. It is not clear how that hospitalization came to pass, who brought her to the hospital.

But we do know this: it happened in a Walmart parking lot and the police were not involved. Beth called over to the Myrtle Beach Police Department and they have no record of anything other than a traffic-related incident happening in that location. Additionally, as we told you earlier, Micah's sister said that when Micah came back from the hospital, she found all of her evidence of JP's alleged abuse and bad behavior had been destroyed. According to Micah's sister, JP was using Micah's accounts to message others as Micah those few days. According to the police report, when Micah was taken to the mental hospital involuntarily, again, By who, we don't know. Her 2019 silver Honda Accord was left in the parking lot of Walmart. You might notice that a silver Honda Accord is different from the black Civic that she was driving on the day of her death. And you might also recall that strange line from her obit that referred to her nice car. We have seen a few unconfirmed reports that claim Solid Rock Church owns several cars. We plan on combing through all of the church's assets in a later episode. According to the police report, hospital staff told Micah when she was discharged that her husband had come to get her purse and her car keys when she was hospitalized.

She said that she returned to the parking lot and discovered the vehicle was gone. She told police that she believed that JP had fraudulently initiated Her involuntary hospitalization and stole her car while she was in the hospital. Now, this next part is going to be difficult to hear, but at the core of everything, quote, complainant stated that she has known her husband since she was 10 years old and that he, quote, groomed her while she worked for him at Solid Rock Church. Now, That police officer might have misheard Micah's age in that report, or she might have misreported her age. She was actually 13 when she met JP Miller, which is just as bad. That is the police report I was mentioning earlier. She knew enough to get that word on an official document. According to the police report, an officer called JP, and JP Told them that he and Micah were not legally separated and that Micah suffers from, quote, mental health disorders. JP told police that Micah experiences, quote, episodes on an annual basis around Christmas time. Does that sound familiar? He said that this is when she, quote, becomes reckless and spends large amounts of money, and she stops taking her prescribed medication.

He told the officer that he had Micah's car and that he had to prevent her from selling it during that episode. He pointed out to the officer that the car was joint marital property and that he was not going to give it back to Micah for a month because of how long those reckless episodes last. The officer ends his report by saying that his hands were tied because the car belonged to both JP I cannot imagine how diffused and devastated Micah felt in that moment. At every turn, he reminded her how hard her life would be if she chose to go through with the divorce.

Now let's talk about a report that was made on March 14th. A GPS tracker was found under the chassis of a blue Volkswagen Jetta owned by, according to the redacted report, An 80-year-old woman. It doesn't give a name. Before officers arrived at Micah's apartment complex, Micah and/or her brother had removed the tracker, apparently leaving handprints in the area where they removed it, which the officer noted. According to the report, Micah and her brother were the only drivers of the car. So it appears that Micah might have been using a neighbor's car or maybe another family member's car, and it ended up with a tracker on it. No mention was made in the report of who Micah or the victim believed to have placed the tracker. The report does note that no one knew when the tracker was placed, and there's no note indicating whether police took the tracker into evidence. Then on March 26th, just 12 days later and just over a month before Micah's death, Micah called police to her apartment and told them she found a GPS tracker on her black Honda Civic, and she believed it to be her, quote, soon-to-be ex-husband who put it there.

The tracking device was collected as evidence, according to the report. The next day, JP called police to tell them that Micah and her family were harassing him by text and on social media, but he was unable to offer the officer any evidence of this alleged harassment, according to the report. The report notes that JP had no texts or any example of getting harassed on social media. What JP claimed to be harassment was actually the video of Micah in which she spoke about abuse, in which his name was not even mentioned. We're pleasantly surprised to read that police sent JP packing and didn't try to mess with Micah over this, at least not what it seems like from the report. On April 8th, less than 20 days before Micah's death, she called police to report that JP had posted a nude photo of her on a Facebook page called Big boobs and nice curves, and tagged her old Facebook account that he had access to. According to the report, Micah told police that she had taken the photo of herself for her husband 6 months earlier and that her husband was the only person she ever sent photos like that to.

Because her nipple was blurred out in the photo, police said that the photo did not meet South Carolina's code of law for nudity. And that because the photo was posted anonymously, there was nothing they could do. The report ended with the officer's note that he advised Micah that once a photo is sent, the person who the photo was sent to is now the owner of the photo. I am not sure that would withstand the test of copyright law, but the bottom line was that they told her that there was nothing they could do about it. It is so hard to read that because When we do, our minds start racing. Is there a resource out there for women that could have helped in this case? Because this had to have been humiliating and devastating for Micah. And obviously, we know she's not the only one who experiences things like this. Could someone have subpoenaed Facebook for an IP address of whoever posted the photo? Could someone have helped her retrieve her old Facebook account so that he couldn't have access to it anymore? If you're an IT person and you're looking for a volunteer opportunity, maybe consider offering your services for free to women who need help regaining their digital footprint from their alleged abuser.

On April 15th, the police are again called to Micah's apartment. Another tracker was found on Micah's black Honda Civic, and she wanted police to take it as evidence. This time, police did not take it as evidence, according to the report, because The 2 are still legally married. So these police reports, they were made available to us on Wednesday, and they give us a brief look at what Micah's life was looking like leading up to her death. On Tuesday, before the sheriff's office released its evidence in the case, all the public had to go on was most of what we just told you, plus an uncountable number of tidbits about JP, his father, and their churches, as well as stories purporting to be about JP's former relationships. And that makes sense. When there's an information vacuum, people tend to fill it. And information was spilling in. We're only sharing facts that we can substantiate here, but we heard all sorts of things from private planes being used, accusations of embezzlement, stories about sexual abuse, strange real estate transactions. Additionally, a man came forward on Facebook to say he was fishing near where Micah killed herself at the time of her death.

And heard the gunshot. Turns out he was real, according to the report published by Robeson County Sheriff's Office, which we're very used to seeing half-assed police work. And we have to commend the sheriff's office for their well-written and thorough press release, along with their helpful PowerPoint presentation. According to deputies, Micah was seen via Ring camera leaving her apartment at 10:13 AM on the day she died. And returning at 11:00. She was wearing a black hat, sunglasses, a gray sweatshirt, a backpack, and holding a water bottle. When she returned, she was carrying a white paper bag and seemed to also be holding a Frappuccino-type drink. Her hair is in a loose ponytail. At 11:38, Micah leaves her apartment again. This time, her hair is in a single braid. She's wearing sunglasses and a backpack and is dressed in all black. She left her apartment and then drove to a place called Dick's Pawn Shop, which she apparently searched on her phone before going. She's shown entering the store at 12:12 PM. At 12:13 PM, she's at the cash register purchasing a 9mm Sig Sauer and ammo. The total purchase cost $571.16. It's not entirely clear, but the receipt deputies provided that they found in her car Seems to show that Micah paid for the gun in cash, or the gun was already paid for when she got there.

In the security video at the pawn shop, Micah has her glasses on top of her head and looks serious in one still shot but then appears to be smiling in another. She has almost a Lara Croft look, akin to the kind of outfit one might wear if going to a lesson on how to shoot a gun. It's hard to tell if she looks resigned or resolute. Perhaps she was both. Was she simply going through the motions of her plan, or was it something else altogether? According to deputies, Micah left the store at 12:34 PM. It took her 22 minutes to obtain the tool she would use to end her life. From here, the timeline goes very quickly. Micah seemed to be moving fast. A lot of listeners have wondered about why Micah's stint in the mental hospital wouldn't have flagged her in a background check at the pawn shop. We don't have an answer for that. We don't know if Micah initiated the purchase on that day or was simply picking up the gun on that day, and we don't know how she answered questions on her background check form. After Micah left the pawn shop, she stopped at 41 Grocery and Grill in Mullins, South Carolina.

Mullins is on the way to I-95 from Myrtle Beach. It was about a 54-minute drive for Micah, according to deputies. Micah arrived at the gas station at 1:27 PM. According to Deputy, she got gas and a drink. Photos show that there was still an open can of an energy drink in the console of her car when police arrived. According to a receipt found in the car, Micah charged $25 at the gas station at 1:33 PM. Whether that was $25 in gas or $25 in gas and the drink is not clear, but And we know it's really hard to analyze the actions of people who take their lives in the lead-up to taking their own lives. The question has to be asked, why get that much in gas? That's potentially over 7 gallons of gas, or more than half the capacity of the gas tank on her Civic. Orem, where Micah died, was only 30 miles from the gas station. Deputies say that Micah searched her phone to find national parks near me. As you know, she was found in a state park. Again, it's not clear why she chose the spot, if it held any meaning for her.

According to deputies, Micah got to the park and walked a mile to the spot where her body was found. At 2:54, she made her call to 911. As part of their investigation, deputies looked into JP's movements. According to their report and automated license plate reader showing a pickup truck with heavily tinted windows, As well as an unnamed eyewitness statement, JP was in Charleston on the night before Micah died and did not return to Myrtle Beach until 2:22 PM the day she died. According to the report, JP was also traveling with unnamed individuals.

So, yes, the evidence presented by police so far seems to solidly point to Micah ending her own life. But at the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist, it is also fair to say that it is not entirely impossible for Micah to have been killed by someone else based on the evidence shared by the Robeson County Sheriff's Office. We are not saying that she was murdered. We are saying there are still unanswered questions here. Was there a note? Why call 911 when she also appears to have dropped a location pin, according to the report? Why did she get what seems like to be a half tank of gas? Why did she smile like that at the pawn shop? Why go through the trouble of divorce filings and shipping items to Kenya? Has the 911 call been analyzed to be certain that it was not produced by AI software that allows for deepfakes? Have her calls and messages been looked at to see if she was corresponding with anyone that day and the days leading up to the day that she died? What about the other cell phone evidence? The kind that usually takes months to get from cell phone companies?

The kind that can show deleted phone calls, texts, etc.? And what about her social media accounts? What about JP's phone data and accounts? We know where JP's truck was on the day of the murders, but what about him? Are there any witnesses who were not church members confirming that he was far away from Micah that entire day? Is it possible that she had plans on meeting someone at a secluded park to learn how to shoot a gun? Could she have forgotten the name of the park, which is why she Googled it? Was her phone unlocked when police got a hold of it? Did someone unlock it? I know how we sound when we ask these questions. It feels necessary to ask them considering the amount of circumstantial evidence pointing away from suicide, at least for now, because we are still dealing with a system where abused women are at a heavy disadvantage. We didn't know Micah. But we feel like we owe it to her to look at this from all angles. We have FOIA'd for the investigation and we will continue to FOIA for more documents and talk to sources so we can get a better picture of what went down.

Please reach out to us if you have information on this story. We are still pulling at a lot of strings. Micah's story is a heartbreaking one. Did she take her own life to escape the hell that she felt awaited her? Did she believe her estranged husband would never let her go, or was something else happening? Micah's story is one that has really captured people's attention because it details how painfully hard it is for women in this country to leave their abusers and how little accountability abusers face in our current justice system. Micah's story could be a watershed moment for survivors of abuse to change the justice system. Now that they have ruled her death a suicide, are we going to choose to pack up and move on to the next hot story in the true crime world? Or are we going to choose to do something about it? We aren't turning away, Micah. We see you. We hear you. Stay tuned, stay pesky, and stay in the sunlight. Coerced: The Devotion and Death of Micah Frances Miller is a Luna Shark production with reporting from journalists Manny Matney, Liz Farrell, and Beth Braden. Made possible by producers Kate Thomas, Grace Hills, and David Moses.

Learn more about our mission and membership at lunasharkmedia.com. We expose the truth wherever it leads, give voice to victims, and get the story straight. My name is Mandy Matney. Together with journalist Liz Farrell, we continue this mission with our newest evolution, True Sunlight. Luna Shark's true identity. True sunlight podcast values accuracy over access journalism.

We're out.

Hey, back up.

Welding, back up.

Camp Swamp Road and somebody just unloaded, shot through his windshield and shot this guy. True sunlight is shed with empathy, not exploitation.

I don't really trust the media too much because they're just looking for a story and instead of helping with Stephen's story, They're actually hurting it.

True Sunlight is the intersection of journalism, true crime, and systemic corruption.

I was in the shadows last night.

I weren't there, but I was in the shadows. We continue to shed light on Stephen Smith's case and Alex Murdaugh's co-conspirators, but also we like to take deep dives into other cases around the country.

Robeson County 911.

And she actually said the FBI was looking into it.

And he said, call the cops, I don't care. I'm— I'm, um, armed and ready.

True Sunlight empowers listeners to understand their legal and judicial systems with our unique brand of pesky journalism. Listen to True Sunlight wherever you get your podcasts, or visit truesunlight.com to learn more, or join Luna Shark Premium for early episodes, video episodes, live or virtual events, bonus episodes, and so much more.