LUMBERTON, N.C. — Mica Miller called 911 on April 27 and told a dispatcher she was going to die by suicide, according to a recording released by the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office.
The recording was among the information provided by the agency on May 7 detailing its findings about her death, which garnered national attention after the Myrtle Beach-area woman’s body was found in a North Carolina state park.
Miller, 30, died April 27 at the Lumber River State Park in Robeson County, N.C., from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said.
The Robeson County Sheriff’s Office reported that her death has been ruled a suicide based on surveillance footage, interviews, physical evidence and the examination of the N.C. Medical Examiner’s Office. Before releasing a statement to the public, Sheriff Burnis Wilkins met with Miller’s family.
In his statement, Wilkins offered condolences to Miller’s friends and family members. He said he wants to assure the public that “a very methodical investigation was conducted by our Criminal Investigations Team and Crime Scene Investigative Team.”
“Unfortunately, rumors and conspiracy theories were spreading quickly, and assumptions were being made,” Wilkins said. “However, in the end, we must make decisions based on the facts, and evidence that has been gathered. While I know it’s not what many people wanted to hear, the evidence is quite clear and compelling, and we are as saddened as anyone that this occurred.”
Wilkins said “many factors that we have reviewed that occurred over an extended period of time” led his department to do a thorough investigation, “but in the end, sadly, a tragic decision was made by Mica that ended her life.”
Before the sheriff’s office released its findings, many supporters publicly questioned whether foul play could have played a role in her death. In probate court records, Miller’s family accused her husband, John-Paul Miller, of abusing his wife and driving her to live in fear.
John-Paul Miller, pastor of the nondenominational church Solid Rock At Market Common, declined to comment when contacted by The Post and Courier on May 7.
Mica Miller’s family also declined to comment after meeting with the sheriff’s office.
Day of Miller’s death
On April 27 at 2:54 p.m., the Robeson County E911 Communications Center received a 911 call from a woman who asked the dispatcher if her phone could be located because “she was going to kill herself and wanted her family to be able to find her body,” according to a release from the sheriff’s office.
During the conversation, the caller hung up the phone and the dispatcher was unable to call her back. They found the location of the caller and dispatched a deputy there, to Lumber River State Park.
Mica Miller, 30, is seen on surveillance footage on April 27 before her death, which has been ruled a suicide by the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies and state park rangers searched the area, even using a Robeson County Sheriff’s Office drone.
They found a black Honda Accord with a South Carolina registration in the parking lot. The investigators confirmed the vehicle belonged to Mica Miller.
“Investigators located a Sig Sauer gun case in the passenger seat of the vehicle and a box of ammunition in the center console of the vehicle,” according to the sheriff’s office. “Investigators also found a receipt for the Sig Sauer handgun from a pawn shop and a receipt from a convenience store in the vehicle. Both receipts were dated for same day of Miller’s death.”
During the search of the park, investigators were approached by an individual who had found a bag near the water edge with identification belonging to Miller. The person said he heard someone crying and a gunshot while he was fishing.
Mica appears on Ring doorbell camera footage on April 27.
As law enforcement continued the search, E911 received a call from someone who said a body was in the water. Law enforcement responded to the location and contacted the North Carolina Medical Examiner’s Office. The victim was identified as Mica Miller.
“A Sig Sauer 9mm handgun was located in the water at the crime scene during the search of the area,” according to the sheriff’s office. “The serial number on the weapon matched the gun box that was found in Miller’s Honda Accord.”
During the investigation, deputies recovered Miller’s phone and other personal belongings. Her phone revealed that she had run a Google search for “national parks near me” and the Lumber River State Park location was provided, according to the sheriff’s office.
The investigation also found that Miller and her estranged husband, John-Paul Miller, had been separated. This information led to investigators confirming the whereabouts of John-Paul Miller and a woman he had reportedly been seeing, according to the sheriff’s office release. Investigators were able to confirm that both individuals were not in North Carolina on the night before or the day of Mica Miller’s death.
John-Paul Miller was at an athletic event in Charleston on the day of Mica Miller’s death, the release said. His vehicle was observed traveling on U.S. Highway 17 Bypass in Horry County at 2:22 p.m. on April 27. Investigators said they confirmed John-Paul Miller was accompanied while traveling to and from the event in Charleston.
Fearful final months
Mica Miller’s sister, Sierra Francis of Gaffney, has asked the court to appoint her the special administrator of her sister’s estate.
“Mica and I spoke every few days, texting daily, so much as to even create playlists together,” she wrote in an affidavit filed May 3 in probate court. “Mica would drive to visit me and my family in Gaffney, SC, at least once a month. 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. Mica told me that there were people following her, keeping track of where she went. She thought that Mr. Miller hired people to follow her.”
In an affidavit, Francis wrote that her sister had told her John-Paul Miller was moving assets that had been in his name, including transferring his interest in a Myrtle Beach piano bar to his son.
In February, John-Paul Miller removed Mica Miller’s personal items from the home they shared while she was admitted to a mental health facility, according to the affidavit.
“My sister was not aware that her personal possessions had been removed from her residence until she was released from the hospital,” Francis wrote.
Before she was admitted to a mental health facility, Mica Miller was gathering evidence to file for divorce, showing her husband’s “abuse, character, his paramours, and associates he ‘paid off’ or blackmailed,” according to the affidavit.
However, once she was admitted into the mental health facility, those files were removed from her phone, laptop, vehicle and purse and never found, the probate court records stated. Mica Miller also wasn’t able to access her iCloud account, email or Facebook profile.
“Mica talked about what she wanted her life to be like following her divorce from Mr. Miller. … Mica was intending to participate in additional missions, even to live part-time in Kenya. Mica recently shipped some of her personal items to Kenya in preparation of her staying there. My sister was hopeful for her future after filing for divorce from John-Paul,” Francis wrote.
Francis noted that her sister was worried something would happen to her.
“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,” she wrote. “It is my belief based on conversations with my sister that she told multiple people, including other family members.”
“Mica stated to me on many occasions, ‘If I end up with a bullet in my head, it was not by me. It was JP.’ ”
Police records also indicate Mica Miller had concerns about someone following her.
On March 11, Horry County police met with Miller after she reported a razor blade had been placed in her tire near Springmaid Pier. Miller told police this was the second time a razor had been used to deflate her tire.
The name of the suspect in that case was redacted from the incident report, but Miller told police the suspect had a history of doing similar things and she had noticed “strange activity and what she believes as people following or watching her,” according to the report. Police said there wasn’t enough evidence to prove the suspect had placed a razor in Miller’s tire.
That same day, Miller again contacted police to tell them that she went to a gas station after an officer helped her change her damaged tire. While there, the suspect in the tire slashing pulled up to the pump next to hers and tried to talk to her, according to a separate county police report.
Miller told the suspect to go away, and when she pulled out her phone to record him, he sped off, according to her account in the report.
Miller then went to East Coast Honda to get her tire repaired, and the suspect showed up again. The officer noted in the report that when he was with Miller, she received a call from a number without an ID, and it ended up being from the suspect.
“The suspect was advised that the victim does not want any further contact, and if he proceeds then warrants may possibly be written up,” the report stated. “The suspect acknowledged the advisory by saying ok. … The victim advised me she was afraid for her life. She also advised she blocks his numbers and still gets calls and texts from him on other numbers.”
After clearing the call, the officer later received a text from Miller saying the mechanics had found a tracking device on her vehicle, according to the police report. About an hour later, Miller told the officer she was at a magistrate’s office getting a restraining order. The officer then met with Miller outside that office.
The officer then spotted a white Honda creeping down Scipio Lane. Miller told the officer that was the suspect. The vehicle suddenly sped away. The report indicates the suspect wasn’t arrested.
In a separate affidavit filed in probate court, Miller’s brother Nathaniel Francis mentioned his sister’s concerns about slashing tires and tracking devices on her car.
“Mica told me on numerous occasions that she feared (John-Paul) and just wanted to escape him,” Francis wrote. He also noted that she forwarded him an email from her husband where he apologized for slashing her tires.
“He was angry when Mica confided or ‘put her family before’ him and that made him want to hurt her,” the affidavit said. “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 try to cause pain.’
John-Paul Miller was served with divorce papers on April 25, according to the affidavit.
Memorial, march for Mica Miller
Mica Miller’s family grieves by the ocean in North Myrtle Beach during a memorial service on May 5, 2024.
