VA VA - Richard 'Pete' Miller, 20, Augusta County, 17 Nov 1983

[georgiagirl]

Richard Miller, Jr.
Missing since November 17, 1983 from Augusta County, Virginia
Classification: Endangered Missing




Vital Statistics

• Age at Time of Disappearance: 20 years old
• Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance:
• Distinguishing Characteristics: White male. Brown hair.
• AKA: Pete

Circumstances of Disappearance
Miller was last seen by his father during the early-morning hours of November 17, 1983 along Va. 254 as the two drove toward Staunton in separate vehicles. Miller was headed to The News Leader, where he worked as an inserter placing supplemental ads in the newspaper.
He was last seen pulled over on the westbound side of the road near Eidison Creek Hill behind another pickup with a cap.

Miller was going to be married the next weekend. The father of Pete's fiancé filed a missing person's report within a couple of days. The pickup that was parked in front of Pete Miller's truck on the last day he was seen belonged to Pete's future father-in-law.

On December 14, 1983, Pete's abandoned pickup was found in Richmond. Police said it'd been in the same parking spot for three to four weeks. The truck was wiped clean.

A couple months after Pete's disappearance, the Miller family received an anonymous letter informing them their son was OK and working, but he had decided to sever all ties with his family.

Over the years, based on tips that didn't pan out, several sites in Augusta County have been excavated. In 1999, at a vacant home at the intersection of Frog Pond Road and Va. 254, two cisterns and a septic tank were pumped to no avail in the search for Miller's body.
Foul play is suspected.



http://www.doenetwork.org/

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/3365dmva.html

 

[Danaya]

Do you have a link for Pete? Like his direct doe or charley project page?

 

[Julessleuther]

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/3365dmva.html

 

[Julessleuther]

LOL I was looking for one while you asked!

Do you have a link for Pete? Like his direct doe or charley project page?

 

[georgiagirl]

Sorry guys!! I did not realize I had not posted the direct link!

 

[georgiagirl]

It seems like his father in law is guilty of something!

 

[Danaya]

It looks like the poor guy might have been killed by his future father in law... Maybe he didn't want him marrying his daughter and took matters into his own hands. Sounds like police have a suspect since they did excavate a home so whoever owned or lived in that home at the time Pete went missing might very well be a prime suspect.

 

[Danaya]

Wow-we're all reading each other's minds tonight, aren't we!

 

[georgiagirl]

Missing person case still cold after 27 years

Swoope resident disppeared in 1983
By Brad Zinn/staff • bzinn@newsleader.com • May 23, 2010

It's been almost 27 years since Richard Miller Sr. last saw his son along Va. 254 as the two drove toward Staunton in separate vehicles during the early-morning hours of Nov. 17, 1983.

It was the week before Thanksgiving and the younger Miller, Richard "Pete" Miller Jr., 20, was headed to The News Leader, where he worked as an inserter placing supplemental ads in the newspaper. His father was off to the Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center in Fishersville.
As the two men jockeyed for position along the road — Richard Miller Sr. occasionally swerving back and forth to tweak his son and not allow him to pass — they came around a bend east of the Abbington Hills subdivision. Richard Miller looked into his rearview mirror and noticed his son's 1968 Chevrolet pickup was no longer behind him.

http://unsolveditn.blogspot.com/2010/05/missing-person-case-still-cold-after-27.html

 

[georgiagirl]

It's been more than a quarter of a century, but Richard Miller is on a mission to find out what happened to his son.
He says, "At this spot right here is the last time I saw my son. He was stopped here, I presumed to help someone that was having car problems. And that's the last time that we've seen him."
Richard Miller Jr., also known as Pete, has been gone for more than 27 years. To this day, it's an unsolved case that haunts Augusta County.
Miller Sr. says, "We've probably heard 15 to 20 different scenarios."
Sheriff Randall Fisher is one of only a handful of law enforcement officials left who originally came into contact with the case.
He says, "I can't say that Pete Miller is dead, but after 27 years, Pete Miller is not the kind of guy that was going to go off and start another life."
Several days after he went missing, Pete's car turned up in Richmond, but there was not a stitch of evidence on the car.
Now, his family just wants closure no matter what they may find.
Miller says, "I'm not going to quit. A lot of people tell me, 'You need to put this behind you and go on.' No, I'm not going to quit. That's just all there is to it. I'm not going to quit."
Fisher says Pete Miller's case is still active.


http://www.whsv.com/home/headlines/...r_Son_Disappears_for_27_Years__110337659.html

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

Missing person case still cold after 27 years

Swoope resident disppeared in 1983
By Brad Zinn/staff • bzinn@newsleader.com • May 23, 2010

It's been almost 27 years since Richard Miller Sr. last saw his son along Va. 254 as the two drove toward Staunton in separate vehicles during the early-morning hours of Nov. 17, 1983.

It was the week before Thanksgiving and the younger Miller, Richard "Pete" Miller Jr., 20, was headed to The News Leader, where he worked as an inserter placing supplemental ads in the newspaper. His father was off to the Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center in Fishersville.
As the two men jockeyed for position along the road — Richard Miller Sr. occasionally swerving back and forth to tweak his son and not allow him to pass — they came around a bend east of the Abbington Hills subdivision. Richard Miller looked into his rearview mirror and noticed his son's 1968 Chevrolet pickup was no longer behind him.

http://unsolveditn.blogspot.com/2010/05/missing-person-case-still-cold-after-27.html

...

Unfortunately, the link to part 2 of the article is not working.

Perhaps they will have it fixed soon, and we can read the whole article.
​

 

[Cubby]

Richards Charley Project page:

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/miller_richard.html

 

[CallMeTres]

He's in Namus now.

https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/26765/0

 

[OkieGranny]

Oh, wow, this case just took an interesting turn:

http://www.newsleader.com/story/new...erge-county-poisoning-investigation/21114237/

An 84-year-old suspect in an Augusta County attempted murder investigation reportedly knew that his roommate and another woman were cooperating with authorities in an unsolved homicide where the octogenarian is the suspect, according to a search warrant.

Charles L. Almond, of Staunton, remains in jail on a charge of poisoning with intent to kill. The Augusta County Sheriff's Office charged Almond nearly two weeks ago on Dec. 20 after a woman became ill when she reportedly ingested iced tea that was spiked with antifreeze...

The warrant does not go into details about the unsolved murder investigation, but Augusta County Sheriff Randy Fisher has noted publicly that Almond was the last person seen with 20-year-old Richard "Pete" Miller Jr., of Swoope, now missing for 31 years. Miller, who was set to marry Almond's daughter, went missing in November of 1983 after he pulled his 1969 Chevrolet pickup off to the side of Va. 254 near Staunton.

 

[poppygirl]

wow!!! I hope if the roomie knows something- he/she rats him out! It would be nice if he served some time for his crime.

 

[Hope&Faith]

Here is the link for the latest article dated Jan. 26, 2015 in The Staunton News Leader: http://www.newsleader.com/story/new...ng-suspect-cleared-attempted-murder/22365269/.

 

[Hope&Faith]

It seems the father-in-law to be is being accused of trying to poison persons who are cooperating with police, but the charges were dropped due to lack of credibility.

 

[Tulessa]

Wow!
http://www.whsv.com/home/headlines/Arrest-Made-In-30-Year-Old-Murder-Case-304155571.html

VERONA, Va. (WHSV) -- Authorities have arrested a man in connection with a decades-old murder case in Augusta County.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

I wonder if Pete's fiancé at the time suspected that her father was responsible for the disappearance. He's turning 85 next week.

http://www.newsleader.com/story/news/local/2015/05/18/murder-almond-staunton-augusta-county-pete-miller/27546337/

According to a 2010 News Leader article, shortly after Miller's disappearance, his family received a telephone call from the Augusta County Sheriff's Office informing them that Almond, an ex-con and the father of Pete's fiancé, had filed a missing person's report on their son.

I guess that makes him look less suspicious if he filed the missing persons report but after reading the information that has been released and the comments posted for this thread, he was really the primary suspect.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

"Trial set in 32-year-old Aug. Co. homicide case"

http://www.newsleader.com/story/news/local/2015/09/30/almond-murder-miller/73079100/

An elderly Staunton man facing a first-degree murder charge in a 32-year-old homicide case will head to trial in March.

Charles L. Almond, 85, is charged in the death of his stepdaughter's fiancé, Richard "Pete" Miller, who went missing the morning of Nov. 17, 1983, and was never heard from or seen again.

Almond has long been a suspect in Miller's disappearance, but wasn't charged until May. Chief Prosecutor Phil Figura of the Office of the Attorney General is handling the state's case.