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Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are conducting a search at the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina home of beleaguered pastor John-Paul Miller, multiple federal law enforcement confirmed to this media outlet.
Multiple black Suburbans with tinted windows accompanied by marked local law enforcement vehicles arrived at Miller’s home on Friday morning (November 1, 2024). According to our sources, the vehicles rolled up at some point between 10:00 and 10:30 a.m. EDT armed with warrants.
Details of the search were not immediately available, although our sources have confirmed the search of Miller’s home is tied to an ongoing criminal investigation of the embattled pastor.
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Feds bringing boxes inside the home of John-Paul Miller as they continue their search of the residence. Miller is NOT inside, we are told. #JohnPaulMiller #MicaMiller pic.twitter.com/pT5GtffVE0
— FITSNews (@fitsnews) November 1, 2024
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FBI spokesman Kevin Wheeler declined to comment on the search, except to say federal agents were engaged in “court authorized law enforcement activity.”
Miller thrust himself into the national limelight six months ago when he bizarrely announced the suspected suicide of his wife – Myrtle Beach missionary and worship leader Mica Miller. News of Mica Miller’s suspected suicide were first reported by this media outlet.
From there, the story exploded into an international sensation – one fueling all manner of suspicion, with most of that suspicion revolving around John-Paul Miller.
To recap: Mica was found with a gunshot wound to the head a stone’s throw from the Lumber River – a scenic blackwater river that flows into the Yadkin-Pee Dee watershed – on Saturday (April 27, 2024). Mica traveled to this remote location from Myrtle Beach earlier that day, and her body was discovered by police in a swampy area approximately forty meters away from where spent shell casings and her belongings were recovered.
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Her death was officially ruled a suicide by investigators and medical examiners. On April 28, 2024 – less than twelve hours after being notified of her death – Miller delivered a sermon at Solid Rock which closed with a bizarre announcement of her passing (and instructions to his congregants not to discuss it as they left the church).
Mica died less than 48 hours after serving her husband with divorce papers, and subsequent court filings detailed allegations of abuse and harassment against Miller from multiple individuals – including his first wife.
The federal investigation into John-Paul Miller has been the subject of significant speculation. Some believe it is tied to Mica Miller’s death, others believe it is linked to the purportedly shady history of his church’s finances – and the religious empire of his father, Reginald Wayne Miller.
John-Paul and his father are reportedly going to be the focus of several pending civil suits related to their “ministries.”
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As the search unfolded, sources close to the probe offered their first glimpses as to its actual focus.
“The primary investigation is into events that happened before Mica died,” a source familiar with the search stated, citing allegations of “interstate domestic violence.”
Sources declined to elaborate on this statement, but the federal statute related to this charge states, “the defendant must have crossed a State line (or entered or left Indian country) with the intent to injure, harass, or intimidate one’s spouse or intimate partner” and that “in the course of or as a result of such travel, the defendant intentionally commits a crime of violence and the defendant causes bodily injury to the spouse or intimate partner.”
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Here's a health Carolina.
— Gamecock Football (@GamecockFB) November 3, 2024
FOREVER TO THEE! pic.twitter.com/MG4f0P9kkX
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This is a developing story…
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and seven children.
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2 comments
His closet has to be connected to the Odessa Catacombs.
I hope they are successful finding what they are looking for as JP is definitely a shady dude!