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On November 16, 2022 at 10:20 p.m. EST, Sierra Francis dialed 9-1-1 in Cherokee County, South Carolina. Upon being connected, she informed dispatchers her sister’s husband was headed to her house “armed and ready” – scheduled to arrive at 12:55 a.m. that morning.
Her sister? Mica Miller.
Her sister’s husband? Pastor John-Paul Miller of the Solid Rock at Market Common church in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
The incident was one of many tumultuous chapters in the couple’s seven-year marriage – which ended suspiciously in a remote location nearly seventy miles north of their home in Myrtle Beach.
The body of Mica Miller was found at 4:23 p.m. EST on April 27, 2024 at North Carolina’s Lumber River State Park – a sprawling 14,000-acre wilderness straddling this scenic blackwater river. Mica had traveled to this remote location from Myrtle Beach earlier that day. Her body was discovered by police in a swampy area located approximately forty meters away from where shell casings and her belongings were recovered.
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Mica Miller died less than two weeks after filing for divorce from her husband – and less than 48 hours after he was served with divorce papers.
Mica’s death was officially ruled a suicide following investigators’ assessment of the scene – and based on a 9-1-1 call she placed prior to allegedly shooting herself in the head with a gun she purchased only hours earlier.
Subsequent reports from medical examiners buttressed that theory.
On Mica’s 9-1-1 call, she calmly informed a police dispatcher of her plans – and inquired as to whether her phone could be tracked so that family members might be able to locate her body. But after the bizarre manner in which John-Paul announced her passing to their congregation – and subsequent allegations of abuse raised by Mica’s family and friends – suspicions of foul play have run rampant.
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THE PREVIOUS 9-1-1 CALL …
According to Sierra Francis, her sister and her husband had been “having issues” for years leading up to Mica’s suicide. During one incident, Mica came to her sister’s house for a break – telling John-Paul she would return home to Myrtle Beach a few days later. Her husband immediately expressed opposition to the plan via a threatening text message – which is what initiated Sierra’s call to 9-1-1.
(Click to view)
Just over two hours later – at 12:28 a.m. EST on November 17, 2022 – a second 9-1-1 call was made. In this call, both Mica and Sierra sounded a little more panicked than they did on the previous call. Placed shortly before John-Paul Miller’s estimated arrival time, Sierra asked the dispatcher if a police officer could drive by the house to see if anyone was parked outside.
In both calls, the sisters mentioned John-Paul Miller had recently purchased six firearms within the past couple of days. These statements were contained in a Cherokee County dispatch log – indicated Miller was in the area driving a burgundy Dodge truck.
“The husband’s location says that he hasn’t left Myrtle Beach but he is saying he is down the road,” the dispatch log noted.
It added that Miller told his wife “to drive down the street or there will be hell to pay.”
Following a pardon granted by the S.C. Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services (SCDPPPS) to Miller on May 31, 2022 for a previous assault and battery charge – those purchases were completely legal. Prior to being pardoned for his 1998 conviction of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, it was illegal for Miller to purchase a firearm in the State of South Carolina.
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RELATED | RECORDS PROVIDE DETAILS OF PASTOR’S ASSAULT CONVICTION
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Francis told the 9-1-1 dispatcher her sister had been planning to meet John-Paul Miller in Asheville for a hot air balloon ride over the weekend, but that plans changed after they got into a disagreement.
Upon learning this, Sierra said “now he’s changing the locks on the house and all kinds of stuff.”
“He said that he’s gonna throw all her stuff in the yard,” she added.
When he learned Mica wasn’t planning to come home, “he said that he was going to come here and he didn’t care if he called the cops, he was going to be ready,” Sierra Francis said.
After providing authorities with copies of the text messages, officers arrived to check the outside of the home. It’s unknown what – if anything – was found, but no charges were filed in relation to this incident.
Count on our media outlet to keep our audience up to speed on the very latest developments related to this case.
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THE REPORT…
(Cherokee County)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Jenn Wood is FITSNews’ incomparable research director. She’s also the producer of the FITSFiles and Cheer Incorporated podcasts and leading expert on all things Murdaugh/ South Carolina justice. A former private investigator with a criminal justice degree, evildoers beware, Jenn Wood is far from your average journalist! A deep dive researcher with a passion for truth and a heart for victims, this mom of two is pretty much a superhero in FITSNews country. Did we mention she’s married to a rocket scientist? (Lucky guy!) Got a story idea or a tip for Jenn? Email her at jenn@fitsnews.com.
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1 comment
It’s now well established that Miller is the DiQ (Douchebag in Question) in this story. It’s equally well established that Mica had issues and needed help:
she married a man whose marriage she helped break up, who she knew had an illegitimate child from a previous relationship
she allowed him to repeatedly do things that warranted a divorce from day one while claiming to be a “man of (g)od”,
she married the DiQ against the wishes of her family and friends AFTER divorcing her own husband who she was set up with by the DiQ apparently,
She allegedly knew of financial misdealings within the “church”
And it goes on and on.
Does any of that warrant a “death” sentence? No, but it clearly points to a person with substantial issues. The family and friends are all being very vocal now, but why in Hell didn’t they take effective action at any point after say, a married man began to pay attention to a 14 or 15 year old girl?