The federal grand jury indictment charges Miles with two
counts of kidnapping. According to court
records, on or about December 30, 2017, Round Rock (TX) Police (RRPD) officers
conducted a welfare check at the residence of Tonya Ellen Bates because she had
not shown up for work that day as expected.
The officers subsequently discovered Bates’s body inside the
residence. Bates appeared to have
suffered from blunt force trauma. Bates
was the only individual at the residence at the time of the welfare check and
Bates’s 2017 Hyundai Accent was missing.
Further investigation revealed Bates had two minor daughters and a
roommate named Terry Allen Miles who lived with Bates.
At approximately 1:00 a.m. on December 30, 2017, Miles’s
mother received a text message from a phone that belonged to one of the
daughters. RRPD officers obtained cell
phone information on the children’s two phones.
One of the phones was located in a heavily wooded area adjacent to a
Wal-Mart store located in Round Rock.
Surveillance video from the Wal-Mart showed what appeared to be Miles
purchasing numerous camping-related items and then leaving the store in a
vehicle appearing to match Bates’s vehicle.
The vehicle and a cell phone belonging to one of the minors were
subsequently traced heading to Colorado.
On January 3, 2018, deputies with the Las Animas County
Sheriff’s Office arrested Miles during a traffic stop near La Vera,
Colorado. The two minors, ages 7 and
14, were found safe in the vehicle Miles was driving.
Miles, who remains in federal custody, faces between 20
years and life in federal prison upon conviction. His arraignment has yet to be scheduled.
An indictment is merely a charge and should not be
considered as evidence of guilt. The
defendant is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Marshals
Service – Lone Star Fugitive Task Force, and the Round Rock Police Department
are conducting this investigation. The
Texas Rangers; Central Texas Violent Crimes Task Force; Williamson County (TX)
District Attorney’s Office; United States Attorney’s Office – District of
Colorado; New Mexico State Police Department; Las Animas County (CO) Sheriff’s
Office; Southern Colorado Safe Streets Task Force; Colorado State Patrol;
Trinidad (CO) Police Department; Colorado Bureau of Investigations; Huerfano
County (CO) Sheriff’s Office; Archuletta County (CO) Sheriff’s Office; Pagosa
Springs (CO) Police Department; Rio Grande County (CO) Sheriff’s Office;
Federal Bureau of Investigation in Colorado; Durango (CO) Police Department; La
Plata County (CO) Sheriff’s Office; Child Protective Services in Texas and
Colorado; and, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children are
assisting in this investigation.
Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Devlin is prosecuting this case
on behalf of the Government.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment