Police Investigate WA Couple Who Drove To South Dakota With Dead Girl In Back Of U-Haul

[Sugar Cookie]

Police in Mitchell, South Dakota are investigating a couple who traveled from Washington state with the body of a dead eight-year-old girl.

According to the Mitchell Police Department (MPD), 28-year-old Aleksander Kurmoyarov and 33-year-old Mandie Miller had driven a U-haul trailer with a coffin containing the body of the girl, who had been adopted by the woman arrested.

Authorities say the couple told the Davison County Coroner they were traveling from Airway Heights, just west of Spokane, to Pine Ridge.

The couple told investigators the girl died in the fall, but they gave investigators different dates. Kurmoyarov said she died a little before Halloween, Miller said she died on Sept. 10.

Kurmoyarov also told investigators the reason they did not tell anyone about the death, was that the couple wanted to spend more time with her, and were concerned they would "get in trouble".

Police investigate WA couple who drove to South Dakota with dead girl in back of U-Haul

Police in Mitchell, South Dakota are investigating a couple who traveled from Washington state with the body of a dead 8-year-old girl.

www.q13fox.com

 

[Sejanus]

 

[thuumpr]

Aren't they bookends.

 

[Turd Fergusen]

I really hope this is just a couple trying to deal with the grief of losing their daughter and nothing more sinister.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

Meelah Miller, who was Mandie Miller’s niece and adopted daughter, had reportedly been dead for at least a month and a half. Her body was found in a U-Haul trailer parked at a residence in Mitchell.

According to search warrants, Kurmoyarov told detectives that he and Miller tied Meelah up for several hours a day, and that Miller would hit her toes with a hammer when she misbehaved.

The couple was attempting to bring the body to be buried on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. Miller, who is Rosebud Sioux, adopted Meelah from her sister.

Mitchell police were notified of the suspicious circumstance by the Davis County Coroner, who was contacted by a funeral home on the Rosebud Indian Reservation.

Officers made contact with the couple at the residence of Miller’s mother in Mitchell, where they found the body in the U-Haul.

Detective Andrew Becker with the Mitchell Police Department said the body looked small and malnourished for her age.

In an interview with Mitchell police detectives, Miller stated that Meelah died on Sept. 10 in their home in Airway Heights when she choked on a milkshake. She said they did not call an ambulance because it takes a half-hour for the ambulance to get to their residence. Kurmoyarov performed CPR for an hour but was unable to revive her, she said.

They laid her body in her bed until they were able to obtain a casket and rent a U-Haul to transport her to South Dakota, she said.

Detectives initially attempted to interview Kurmoyarov, but he only talked about how he and Miller spoke with people from the tribe and were given misinformation about how to bring the body to South Dakota, documents said.

In a later interview with Lt. Dean Knippling, Kurmoyarov stated that Meelah was sick and her death was “tragic.” He never said anything about her choking.

Kurmoyarov said that she was acting out and was “a handful.” He said at nighttime they would put her in a bath robe and secure her like she was in a straitjacket. He admitted to tying her up for four to six hours a day, and zip -tied her to a car seat the day she died. He said he slapped her twice on the day she died, the documents said.

Becker said that in the autopsy, Forensic Pathologist Dr. Kenneth Snell found the manner of death to be homicide, but listed the cause as unknown due to the decomposed state of the body. Snell also found lesions around the wrist and ankles consistent with being tied up.

According to a Child Protective Services report, Meelah had not been in school since January.

Couple accused of driving 8-year-old's body to South Dakota charged with murder

A couple accused of transporting the body of an 8-year-old girl from Airway Heights to South Dakota has been charged with murder.

www.spokesman.com

 

[Turd Fergusen]

Well, I was unfortunately wrong.

 

[thuumpr]

Mitchell police were notified of the suspicious circumstance by the Davis County Coroner, who was contacted by a funeral home on the Rosebud Indian Reservation.

I'm guessing the suspicious circumstance dealt with attempting delivery of a body transported via U-Haul by someone who may or may not be responsible for the child's death. Or maybe this is common.

They laid her body in her bed until they were able to obtain a casket and rent a U-Haul to transport her to South Dakota

Might've been that the casket wasn't purchased through the funeral home. It's like bringing your own hamburgers to McDonald's for their catsup.


Boy, this is a brain twister! I can't fathom why this was a problem. The only thing they didn't do was dig the grave themselves but the ground it frozen so the casket (and body) would've sat around until spring.

Golly! I just can't figure this one out. It'll probably come to me tomorrow.

 

[crystelb]

When my grandpa died last year, the funeral home picked up his body from the nursing home here in Tucson and took him to the funeral home (also in Tucson) to prepare him for burial. They said they could deliver his body (in the casket) to the hospital in sells, Az ( my tribes reservation ) after that we were on our own as far as transporting him to the cemetery and and taking care of the burial. All I was given was a permit to transport a body, and measurements for the burial box. We dug the grave ourselves and buried him after the graveside service. I can’t speak for all tribes, but I’m guessing they have something similar going on. But his death was definitely recorded with paperwork, death certificate and coroners report. Our tribe pays for the casket and embalming or cremation, the family does the rest.
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Mitchell police were notified of the suspicious circumstance by the Davis County Coroner, who was contacted by a funeral home on the Rosebud Indian Reservation.

I'm guessing the suspicious circumstance dealt with attempting delivery of a body transported via U-Haul by someone who may or may not be responsible for the child's death. Or maybe this is common.

They laid her body in her bed until they were able to obtain a casket and rent a U-Haul to transport her to South Dakota

Might've been that the casket wasn't purchased through the funeral home. It's like bringing your own hamburgers to McDonald's for their catsup.


Boy, this is a brain twister! I can't fathom why this was a problem. The only thing they didn't do was dig the grave themselves but the ground it frozen so the casket (and body) would've sat around until spring.

Golly! I just can't figure this one out. It'll probably come to me tomorrow.

When my grandpa died last year, the funeral home picked up his body from the nursing home here in Tucson and took him to the funeral home (also in Tucson) to prepare him for burial. They said they could deliver his body (in the casket) to the hospital in sells, Az ( my tribes reservation ) after that we were on our own as far as transporting him to the cemetery and and taking care of the burial. All I was given was a permit to transport a body, and measurements for the burial box. We dug the grave ourselves and buried him after the graveside service. I can’t speak for all tribes, but I’m guessing they have something similar going on. But his death was definitely recorded with paperwork, death certificate and coroners report. Our tribe pays for the casket and embalming or cremation, the family does the rest.

 

[thuumpr]

When my grandpa died last year, the funeral home picked up his body from the nursing home here in Tucson and took him to the funeral home (also in Tucson) to prepare him for burial. They said they could deliver his body (in the casket) to the hospital in sells, Az ( my tribes reservation ) after that we were on our own as far as transporting him to the cemetery and and taking care of the burial. All I was given was a permit to transport a body, and measurements for the burial box. We dug the grave ourselves and buried him after the graveside service. I can’t speak for all tribes, but I’m guessing they have something similar going on. But his death was definitely recorded with paperwork, death certificate and coroners report. Our tribe pays for the casket and embalming or cremation, the family does the rest.
[automerge]1671429859[/automerge]

When my grandpa died last year, the funeral home picked up his body from the nursing home here in Tucson and took him to the funeral home (also in Tucson) to prepare him for burial. They said they could deliver his body (in the casket) to the hospital in sells, Az ( my tribes reservation ) after that we were on our own as far as transporting him to the cemetery and and taking care of the burial. All I was given was a permit to transport a body, and measurements for the burial box. We dug the grave ourselves and buried him after the graveside service. I can’t speak for all tribes, but I’m guessing they have something similar going on. But his death was definitely recorded with paperwork, death certificate and coroners report. Our tribe pays for the casket and embalming or cremation, the family does the rest.

My apologies. Did not have a clue that there was a practice yet alone anywhere in the U.S. that came even close to this.

The order appears odd. Lack of hospital mentioned along with lying in a bed a month and a half.

 

[Turd Fergusen]

When my grandpa died last year, the funeral home picked up his body from the nursing home here in Tucson and took him to the funeral home (also in Tucson) to prepare him for burial. They said they could deliver his body (in the casket) to the hospital in sells, Az ( my tribes reservation ) after that we were on our own as far as transporting him to the cemetery and and taking care of the burial. All I was given was a permit to transport a body, and measurements for the burial box. We dug the grave ourselves and buried him after the graveside service. I can’t speak for all tribes, but I’m guessing they have something similar going on. But his death was definitely recorded with paperwork, death certificate and coroners report. Our tribe pays for the casket and embalming or cremation, the family does the rest.
[automerge]1671429859[/automerge]

Sorry for your loss. Thanks for adding some perspective to this case. I had no idea.

 

[runninfawn]

everything about misinformation aside still leaves lots of questions... didn't call abulance but laid child in a bed .. ok so did they report her death? who signed death certivicate? why wait over a month to make burial arrangement especial if the decease is in your home that whole time?? well maybe that one is explained here "Becker said that in the autopsy, Forensic Pathologist Dr. Kenneth Snell found the manner of death to be homicide, but listed the cause as unknown due to the decomposed state of the body''..heck they could not even tell the cops the same way that child died... and if as he said she was sick so sick that she died the day he slapped her twice (his admission to the cops) makes you wonder what that poor child went through when she was healthy... and wonder how to choke to death on a milkshake?? sure you can swollow the wrong way.. takes your breath away for a few and make you cough and hurts but what is there in milkshake to block airways that can't be dislodge??? if anyone has answers to that please let me know as i have never heard of that before.. thanks

 

[Sugar Cookie]

While a Washington state couple charged with killing their 8-year-old adoptive daughter remain in custody in the Davison County Jail in Mitchell, court documents filed in Washington show the extent of their abuse.

Mandie Miller (Miller) and Aleksandr Kurmoyarov (Kurmoyarov), both of Airway Heights, Washington, are charged with unlawful imprisonment, first degree criminal mistreatment and second degree murder in the death of Meela Miller (the child), their daughter who was adopted by the couple from Mandie’s sister.

The documents, filed in Superior Court in Spokane County, detail multiple forms of abuse inflicted upon the child, as well as efforts by Miller and Kurmoyarov to mislead acquaintances and investigators.

According to the documents, Miller and Kurmoyarov were attempting to have the child buried on the Rosebud Indian Reservation without any sort of paperwork documenting her death. This led the director of a funeral home on the Rosebud Reservation to contact the Davison County Coroner, who then contacted police in Mitchell.

Miller has relatives in South Dakota, according to court documents, which also indicate that suspicions about the couple started at least as far back as August.

On Aug. 9, Miller and Kurmoyarov’s landlord in Airway Heights contacted Child Protective Services who requested a welfare check on the child, as the landlord had not seen the child since the couple moved in back in May, according to court documents. Officers made contact with Miller who told them they lived on a night-shift schedule and that the child was sleeping. The officers observed the child in bed and noting that she was breathing, left without speaking to her.

In October a victim’s advocate attempted to visit the residence, but they were chased away by Kurmoyarov, who smashed the advocate’s window as they drove away.

Statements made by the couple recently in Mitchell indicate the child may have already been dead in October.

According to court documents, the couple told police in Mitchell that the child had died on Sept. 10, that they had not reported her death, and that they had transported her body to South Dakota in a casket inside a U-Haul trailer.

Beyond, a victim’s advocate and Child Services, another adult apparently shared concern about the child.

A former boyfriend of Miller contacted police in Washington on Dec. 16, telling them that Miller had called him on Nov. 16 to tell him that the child had died, to which he recounted responding “What did you guys do to her?” Miller denied doing anything to the child, telling the ex-boyfriend that she had died on Nov. 5, and that her tribe had paid to fly her back to South Dakota for burial.

Miller reportedly told the former boyfriend that the child had suffered chest pains and that they had taken her to the Indian Health Service hospital, who sent them home. She reportedly then said that the child vomited pink vomit and passed out and was deceased by the time an ambulance arrived.

An ambulance was never called. Documents also said that Miller told investigators that the child had died after choking on a strawberry milkshake, and that they did not call 9-1-1 because it would take an ambulance half an hour to arrive. It is noted by investigators that Miller’s claim did not make sense, and that she appeared to be deceptive about the cause of the child’s death.

After the couple had talked to Davison County officials, investigators in Washington searched the residence in Airway Heights on a warrant on Dec. 15. Investigators reported finding multiple differently sized zip ties, both intact and cut, as well as multiple varieties of air freshening products and sage placed on a shell on the floor of the child’s bedroom.

The doctor who finally performed an autopsy on the child on Dec.15 reported that she had an injury to her tibia, lesions on her right wrist and ankles consistent with being tied up, and that she was extremely malnourished, weighing just 26 lbs.

Documents show the doctor determined the child’s cause of death to be homicide.

Other forms of abuse are also described, with investigators reporting that Kurmoyarov told them that an autopsy on the child would reveal broken toes. Kurmoyarov said this was because Miller would hit the child’s toes with a hammer when she was “acting out.” He also stated that the child was tied up for 4-6 hours on the day she died.

Further admissions of the use of restraints are outlined in the documents, with Kurmoyarov also admitted that he and Miller would tie her up for 4-6 hours a day at their residence.

Court documents detail abuse by WA couple that lead to death of child

While a Washington state couple charged with killing their 8-year-old adoptive daughter remain in custody in the Davison County Jail in Mitchell, S.D., court documents filed in Washington show the …

www.keloland.com

 

[Crazy Cat Lady]

When my grandpa died last year, the funeral home picked up his body from the nursing home here in Tucson and took him to the funeral home (also in Tucson) to prepare him for burial. They said they could deliver his body (in the casket) to the hospital in sells, Az ( my tribes reservation ) after that we were on our own as far as transporting him to the cemetery and and taking care of the burial. All I was given was a permit to transport a body, and measurements for the burial box. We dug the grave ourselves and buried him after the graveside service. I can’t speak for all tribes, but I’m guessing they have something similar going on. But his death was definitely recorded with paperwork, death certificate and coroners report. Our tribe pays for the casket and embalming or cremation, the family does the rest.
[automerge]1671429859[/automerge]

When my grandpa died last year, the funeral home picked up his body from the nursing home here in Tucson and took him to the funeral home (also in Tucson) to prepare him for burial. They said they could deliver his body (in the casket) to the hospital in sells, Az ( my tribes reservation ) after that we were on our own as far as transporting him to the cemetery and and taking care of the burial. All I was given was a permit to transport a body, and measurements for the burial box. We dug the grave ourselves and buried him after the graveside service. I can’t speak for all tribes, but I’m guessing they have something similar going on. But his death was definitely recorded with paperwork, death certificate and coroners report. Our tribe pays for the casket and embalming or cremation, the family does the rest.

So very sorry for your loss, @crystelb.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

Meela

 

[Sugar Cookie]

Prosecutors brought new charges earlier this month against the 34-year-old woman accused of abusing her daughter for more than a year, leading to her death in 2022.

The new charges, including homicide by abuse and assault, against Mandie R. Miller come months after her boyfriend, Aleksander Kurmoyarov, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, among other charges, and agreed to testify against Miller.

The couple is accused of killing 8-year-old Meela Miller in 2022.

They were arrested in South Dakota late in 2022 after the couple transported the girl's body from Airway Heights to the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation, where they intended to bury her, according to court documents.

Court documents filed on Jan. 11 contain information from Kurmoyarov detailing how the couple treated the girl.

Kurmoyarov said he immigrated when he was 13. He met Miller while playing World of Warcraft online and moved to Washington state to be with her in June 2021.

The couple moved into a house on Redding Drive in Airway Heights with the 8-year-old in July 2022.

He said Miller became increasingly controlling. Kurmoyarov said Miller was in charge of punishing Meela, and he only punished her at Miller's direction.

The couple would restrain the child for long periods of time, Kurmoyarov said. In February 2021,

Miller pulled the girl out of school, at which point the "discipline" of the girl progressed.

They would restrain the girl in a car chair for longer and longer periods of time, eventually only releasing her to bathe her and change her clothes, Kurmoyarov said.

Neighbors, social workers and school counselors contacted police repeatedly during this time over their concerns about the girl's living situation.

Miller would hit the girl with a hammer and rubber mallet, he said. She also would spray chemicals in the girl's eyes and gouge at them, he said.

Miller restricted Meela's food, eventually only giving her water, he said.

The girl lost weight and became weaker until she died in early September 2022.

They left the girl's body in her bedroom for about a week until she started to decompose, then put her body in a plastic storage tote, which they used to transport her body to South Dakota.

Detectives have videos and images from surveillance cameras in the couple's home that show the girl bound and restrained.

Miller was initially charged with unlawful imprisonment, first-degree criminal mistreatment and second-degree murder.

She is now charged with homicide by abuse, second-degree murder, two counts of assault of a child and six counts of unlawful imprisonment. All of the charges contain aggravating circumstances of deliberate cruelty, abuse of trust and domestic violence, according to court documents.

New charges against the woman accused of killing her 8-year-old daughter include homicide by abuse, assault

Jan. 24—Prosecutors brought new charges earlier this month against the 34-year-old woman accused of abusing her daughter for more than a year, leading to her death in 2022. The new charges, including ...

news.yahoo.com

 

[Sugar Cookie]

Mandie Miller will serve 32 years in prison for the 2022 homicide of her niece and adopted daughter, 8-year-old Meela Miller.

"[The] defendant neglected, abused and starved an eight year old little girl," Spokane County deputy prosecutor Emily Sullivan said. "By the time officers in South Dakota found a corpse in a coffin in a U haul weighed only 26 pounds."

Miller and her boyfriend, Aleksandr Kurmoyarov, were arrested in South Dakota in December 2022, after driving the girl's body around in a U-Haul trailer.

Court documents say they arrived at a funeral home with a coffin containing the girl's remains. Documents state the couple did not have the proper documentation for a burial, so the funeral home called the police.

"She restrained her for hours upon hours, day after day. Unbeknownst to them, their home camera system recorded them assaulting Meela, and unbeknownst to them, their home camera system recorded them tying her to a car seat was zip ties to restrain her," Sullivan said. "The facts before this court are undisputed. They did assault her, they did starve her, they did restrain her, they did torture her, and they did kill her."

Miller, 36, will also serve three years of community custody once her prison term is completed.

Airway Heights woman sentenced to 32 years for abuse, killing of adopted daughter

Prosecutors say Meela Miller, 8, was abused and eventually killed by her adoptive parent, Mandie Miller. Miller was sentenced to 32 years Friday.

www.krem.com

 

[Danaf]

View attachment 87872

Police investigate WA couple who drove to South Dakota with dead girl in back of U-Haul

Police in Mitchell, South Dakota are investigating a couple who traveled from Washington state with the body of a dead 8-year-old girl.

www.q13fox.com

DAH YA think

Couple accused of driving 8-year-old's body to South Dakota charged with murder

A couple accused of transporting the body of an 8-year-old girl from Airway Heights to South Dakota has been charged with murder.

www.spokesman.com

What she we do with these two abominations!!!

 

[runninfawn]

DAH YA think

What she we do with these two abominations!!!

i would like to start with starving them but that would be a long process as they can live off their body fat for a longggggg time but it is a good start, then when they are good and really starving i would go with zip tying them to a strong heavy chair and at a short distence from them setting up a table with a feast on it and sitting down and enjoying every mouthful even inserting comments like "ohh soooooooooo good" etc while eating then disposing of the left overs just out of their reach .... repeat as needed..... omg people like them brings the worse out of me but with people that abuse helpless living beings i can't help it i want to make them experience what they dished out ...

 

[Sugar Cookie]

Aleksandr Kurmoyarov, 31, received a 275-month prison sentence (22 years) for his role in the murder and unlawful imprisonment of his girlfriend Mandie Miller’s 8-year-old adopted daughter.

Court documents revealed that Kurmoyarov pleaded guilty in September 2023 to charges of murder, assault and three counts of unlawful imprisonment. He also agreed to testify against Miller.

During Tuesday's sentencing in Spokane County Superior Court, the State pushed for a high-end sentence for Kurmoyarov due to the severity of the charges. Despite his cooperation, the court imposed the maximum sentence.

Judge Michelle Szambelan noted during the hearing, "no amount of time she could impose would ease the pain of the child’s family."

Aleksandr Kurmoyarov sentenced to over 22 years for murder of child in Airway Heights

SPOKANE, Wash. – Aleksandr Kurmoyarov, 31, received a 275-month prison sentence for his role in the murder and unlawful imprisonment of his girlfriend Mandie Miller’s 8-year-old adopted daughter.

www.khq.com