The local sheriff’s office has asked the FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office to assist in investigating the death of Mica Miller, the 30-year-old pastor’s wife who was found dead at a state park and whose cause of death has been the source of controversy. Miller’s death was ruled a suicide by law enforcement. Her family, though, isn’t convinced she died of self-harm. She died on April 27th. The Robeson County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Tuesday it has asked the FBI and the local U.S. attorney to help in the investigation, although it did not provide further details.
Miller’s husband, John Paul Miller, was pastor of Solid Rock Church in Market Common, S.C., but has since been relieved of his duties. The church said in a statement he was relieved “for a time of healing, counsel, and guidance, pursuant to our governing instrument,” according to WPDE-15. Her family points to a series of incidences in Mica Miller’s final days and months as one reason they doubt she committed suicide.
Several days before she died, she told a police officer she was “scared for her life” after she found a GPS tracker hidden in her car and a razor blade in her tire, WTVD-11 reported. Shortly before her death, she phoned 911 and asked the dispatcher, “Are you able to trace the location of my phone?” Her body was found at Lumber River State Park in Robeson County.
Miller and her husband were separating. She bought a gun the day she died. In her final days, she posted a message on social media stating, “Please share this with anyone struggling with leaving a dangerous situation.”
“God hates divorce because it hurts people. But does abuse hurt people? How do you think God feels about that?” she said in a social media video.
WTVD reported that her final Facebook post said, “When terrible terrible TERRIBLE things happen to you... (yall know what I'm talking about;) RPF: resting peace face.”
Last November, Mica’s sister called 911 after the sister received threatening messages from John Paul Miller, WBTX-13 reported. At the time, Mica was staying with her sister. John Paul Miller spoke at Mica’s eulogy, saying he traveled to the morgue multiple times following her death.
“Each time it still didn’t hit me, I thought she was going to wake up -- I even tried to raise her from the dead one time this week,” he said.
He added, “If I had 10 hours, it wouldn’t be enough to tell you all the great things about her.”
Photo credit: Solid Rock Ministries cover photo/ https://www.facebook.com/SolidRockMinistriesMB
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.