Micah Miller was 30 years old when she died on the 27th of April 2024.

She had been married for seven years to John Paul Miller, a prominent pastor at Solid Rock Church in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

When the pastor’s wife was found dead from a single gunshot to the head, all signs pointed towards a conclusion that no one wanted to accept.

As the secrets of her past and her marriage came to light, a growing chorus of family members, friends, neighbors, and online commentators joined the speculation.

They believed only one explanation made sense.

That Micah Miller had not chosen her own fate.

She had been murdered.

The case has unraveled an intricate web of allegations, including emotional, mental, and spiritual abuse, as well as alleged affairs, corruption in the church, and potential failures of law enforcement.

It is a heartbreaking case that has captured the attention of many.

The investigation is now officially closed.

A conclusion has been reached, and the evidence has been released to the public.

However, speculation continues.

On the 27th of April 2024, 55-year-old Johnny Jacobs went fishing in the Lumber River in North Carolina.

He had been in the state park for several hours when he heard a woman’s cries from down the river.

From his position along the tall, dense tree line, he could not see the woman who was crying.

“I heard a cry, a faint cry,” he later recounted.

He heard it for maybe two or three minutes, and then the crying stopped.

A few minutes passed with only the sound of the river, the birds, and the light breeze.

Then, the distinct and unmistakable bang of a gunshot rang out.

“I said, ‘Oh my God, don’t tell me,’” Jacobs recalled thinking.

“Don’t tell me Something’s Happened.”

He was getting ready to leave when another three people came into the lake on a boat.

He plainly asked them, “Did y’all hear that gunshot.”

They confirmed that they had.

Johnny made his way towards the direction that he had heard the gunfire.

On the bank of the river, he discovered a backpack.

With the bag was a pair of glasses and a cell phone.

Inside, he found her license, her bank card, her keys, a little small Bible, all her credit cards, and a few receipts.

Within minutes, emergency responders arrived at the Lumber River State Park, called out by a 911 call.

They immediately began a search on foot and in the air.

Just before 4:30 p.m., roughly an hour and a half after Johnny had heard the shot, a kayaker reported a woman’s body in the water.

It was 30-year-old Micah Miller.

She had died of a single gunshot wound to the head.

The black Honda Accord that Micah had driven from her home in Myrtle Beach was found in the parking lot.

Robinson County detectives looked inside the car and observed a black Sig Sauer gun case in the passenger seat.

A box of ammunition was in the center console.

Later that evening, they recovered a Sig Sauer 9mm firearm from the water.

The serial number matched the case.

A receipt for the purchase of the weapon was also in the vehicle.

It showed that the gun had been acquired only hours earlier from Dick’s Pawn Shop in Myrtle Beach.

Micah Miller was listed as the buyer.

The medical examiner was called out to view the scene.

CSI teams worked at the area, gathering any potential evidence.

When the coroner’s report was released, it concluded that Micah had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

This was a conclusion that friends and family members could not accept.

It just didn’t make sense to them.

Friends noted she had a hair appointment scheduled for that week.

She had plans to attend church with them on Sunday.

“I thought it was just some kind of terrible misunderstanding,” one friend said, “because she was headed in a positive direction.”

She was “making plans and had a new purpose that she was pursuing.”

Additionally, those close to Micah believed that there were far too many reasons to suspect foul play.

Their prime suspect was Micah’s husband, John Paul Miller.

In an assigned affidavit, Micah’s sister, Sierra, quoted her sister only weeks before her death.

Micah allegedly stated, “If I end up with a bullet in my head, it was not by me.”

“It was JP.”

The only individual in Micah’s life who appeared to be unfaced by her tragic death was her own husband.

In the days after she was found, John Paul gave no indications as to the turbulent nature of his marriage.

The day following her death, the pastor decided to break the news to their church congregation.

His announcement, following his sermon, was casual and unsettling.

“We’re not going to do altar call today,” he began.

“Instead, I’m going to have you stand up and I’m going to make an announcement.”

He asked the congregation to leave quietly.

“My request to you is that you will continue to come to church and serve and give,” he continued.

“I’m taking a little bit of a break and I don’t want to have to worry about the church.”

“My break may be a few days, a few weeks, I don’t know.”

Then, he delivered the news.

“I got a call late last night, my wife has passed away.”

“Yeah, it was self-induced.”

“And it was up in North Carolina.”

“We’re going to have a funeral for her next Sunday here at 3 p.m.”

“I’m just kind of going on adrenaline right now, so y’all pray for me and my kids and everybody.”

He then added, “She wasn’t… y’all knew that she wasn’t well mentally.”

“And that she needed her medicine that was hard to get to her.”

Micah Miller had been found in the water less than 24 hours earlier.

The coroner had not made a determination as to the nature or cause of her death when JP made this announcement.

Robinson County police were still treating the incident as a suspicious death.

Nonetheless, the pastor pointed immediately to his wife’s alleged mental state.

In her obituary, described by Micah’s friends as a “narcissist’s ramblings,” he wrote of Micah.

“She and JP have been friends since 2009, married in 2017, and spent almost every single day and night together.”

“Micah made the greatest of efforts to always be the best wife she could be.”

“She would praise her husband after every church service, telling him he was the best preacher in the world, even if it wasn’t true.”

During her funeral, which her family did not attend, he played a video of her singing.

“Imagine being married to that,” he told the congregation.

“It was like that in our house all the time.”

The marriage had, in fact, been tumultuous.

Micah had tried to leave him on multiple occasions but had been somehow repeatedly pulled back in.

That is, until just days before she was found in the river.

She had grown resolute in her decision to leave him.

“I know she had been struggling,” a friend said.

“She’s had three different numbers in the last three months, trying to make sure that he… could not get in contact with her.”

One friend recalled a message from Micah.

“Thank you for your gentle warnings over the years about JP.”

“I know that you knew I wasn’t ready to get out yet.”

“I’ve replayed our convos over and over… and wished there was a way I could get out.”

“And now I have, with a big smiley face.”

Only two days before Micah’s death, JP had been served with divorce papers.

She had sought to leave JP the year before, in January 2023.

She moved to Kansas to be with family members and to start a new life.

In Kansas, she joined a new church and built new friendships.

But after only a few months, Micah abruptly left the state.

She left behind a brief and uncharacteristic note stating that she was heading back to South Carolina to be with her husband.

Family members recalled text messages that “didn’t make any sense.”

“Hey, good news,” she wrote.

“I’ve been reconciled, my husband’s allowing me to come back home, praise God.”

Back in Myrtle Beach, the marriage continued to deteriorate.

In cryptic social media posts, Micah spoke out against domestic abuse of all kinds.

“You are the bride of Christ before anybody else’s bride,” she said in one video.

“God hates divorce, but why.”

“According to everybody I’ve asked… it’s because it hurts people.”

“But does abuse hurt people.”

“How do you think God feels about that.”

Micah filed for divorce later that year, in October 2023.

But in February of the next year, she withdrew the papers.

That same month, Micah was admitted to a hospital for mental health treatment against her will.

She claimed that her husband had committed her.

She also alleged he had taken her wallet, her keys, and her car.

When she was released, Micah reported her vehicle stolen to police.

The report states that John Paul told police that his wife had mental health issues.

He said that she had episodes annually around the holidays, during which time she would recklessly spend large sums of money.

He justified taking her car by explaining that he was preventing her from selling it.

There was little that Myrtle Beach police could do.

The couple was still married, which meant that Micah’s vehicle was marital property.

Legally, her husband could not have stolen it.

After filing for divorce in the autumn, Micah grew concerned that she was being stalked by her estranged husband.

Twice, she found that a sharp metal object had slashed the tires to her vehicle.

When this happened the first time, a mechanic from the Honda dealership fixing the vehicle found a GPS tracking device attached to the car.

As if to confirm what Micah had already intuitively known, John Paul turned up at the dealership to confront her.

Another complaint to police about the GPS tracker led to the same result.

JP made claims that his wife was mentally unstable.

He claimed that shortly after their wedding in 2017, she was diagnosed with bipolar 2, schizophrenia, and dependent personality disorder.

He then claimed the GPS tracker was on the car for her own safety.

As long as she took her medication, the pastor said, his wife would be fine.

The responding officer took no action.

The vehicle remained marital property.

On April 8th, Micah spoke to police yet again.

This time, she told them that her husband had posted an indecent photograph of her on Facebook.

Micah told police she sent her husband the photograph about six months before.

Before being posted, parts of the photo had been blurred, so it did not meet South Carolina’s code of law for nudity.

Officers told Micah that as the photo had been posted online anonymously, there was no way to prove her husband was behind its publication.

Legally, once she had sent it to him, it would have been his.

Yet again, there were no actions taken against the pastor.

Micah told police that she feared for her safety, explaining that she had come to understand that her husband had groomed her since 2010.

Micah’s last Facebook post was from April 9th.

“When terrible, terrible, terrible things happen to you… you don’t have to stay in an abusive relationship.”

Less than a week after the last police report, Micah found a GPS tracker on her vehicle for a second time.

She filed for divorce the next day.

It would take about a week before those papers were served to JP.

Only two days after that, Micah was dead.

John Paul or “JP” Miller and his future wife Micah met when she was 14 years old.

Her family had just started attending worship services at Solid Rock Church in Myrtle Beach.

JP was a youth pastor at the time, growing into a more significant role at the church.

When Micah was 18 years old, John Paul officiated her wedding to his good friend, a man named Jeremy Da.

Both Micah and Jeremy were involved in the church.

Eventually, Micah took on the role as John Paul’s secretary and babysitter for his growing family.

In 2015, JP’s wife, Allison, discovered her husband and their babysitter in a compromising position.

Shortly after, JP and Micah’s affair became public knowledge.

In 2016, both of their marriages ended in divorce.

Jeremy and Allison each eventually left the Solid Rock Church.

Only one year later, JP and Micah were married.

At the age of 23, Micah became the stepmother to 44-year-old John Paul’s five children.

Micah also took on a greater role within the church as the pastor’s wife.

She was a worship leader, did graphic design, and oversaw the women’s and youth ministries.

This history is what Micah referenced to police when she alleged JP had groomed her since she was a teen.

JP, who was 14 years older than Micah, adamantly denies this depiction of their relationship.

He claims that since they met when she was 14, not 10, her grooming accusation must be false.

He suggests the police report likely transcribed her statements inaccurately.

What we do know is that Micah had been keeping track of her husband’s transgressions.

She kept detailed diaries that likely recorded contemporaneous reflections of the abuse she allegedly suffered.

She knew about the other women.

There is also reason to believe that he was stealing donations intended for the church and its charitable activities.

In mid-March, John Paul was reported to police by another church member for transferring almost $2,000 from the dare-to-care mission in Kenya to his own personal account.

Although her name does not appear in the police report, Micah is thought to have also been implicated in this donation scheme alongside JP, listed as the anonymously named “involved other.”

Her family believes that making her complicit in JP’s schemes was another way that he sought to control her.

Another police report was filed after Micah’s death.

John Paul arrived at the apartment building where Micah had been living to collect her belongings.

Her family believes that his intentions that day were to collect the diaries and other documents that could incriminate him.

It was Micah’s sister, Sierra, who came into possession of her documents.

“The mounds of paperwork that I have is incredible,” Sierra said.

“I have boxes of journals, which by the way, he’s made a hundred phone calls looking for.”

“He is constantly trying to stay in front of this.”

The pastor’s troubles began at an early age.

As a teenager, he earned a criminal record for incidents of delinquency, driving under the influence, and assault.

The most concerning incident occurred when he was 19 years old.

It was February 1998.

Families in the Bride Creek subdivision of Myrtle Beach were sandbagging homes in response to extreme flooding.

Defying the “road closed” sign, JP entered the neighborhood in a silver S10 pickup truck with black tape covering the license plate.

According to court records, JP accelerated his truck into a 19-year-old woman who had asked him to slow his vehicle.

He then continued to drive for about 100 yards with her clinging onto the hood before he slowed and she was able to safely roll off.

The court ordered that he receive a suspended sentence of four years, three years of probation, and 500 hours of community service.

On May 31st, 2022, John Paul applied for and received a pardon for this conviction.

This history stayed hidden for years, but changed when he came under scrutiny in the wake of his wife’s death.

A video posted on Facebook by one of JP’s neighbors, dated in 2015, shows John Paul experiencing what some are calling a drug-induced psychosis.

In the video, he explains that his medication had been changed.

He complains that he feels ants crawling all over him, but in the video, there are no ants.

He is seen rolling on the grass, saying, “I’m going to see Jesus.”

The man who posted the video wrote, “You have used and abused for way too long, only to get up on that pulpit and consistently discredit your victims.”

“Now we have the death of your wife that you claim only took her life because of mental illness.”

“Fact is, nobody was ever mental until they met you.”

Social media and some news outlets have become rampant with other accusations.

It emerged that the pastor was having an affair with a woman in the Solid Rock congregation named Susie Skinner.

Susie was seen out for margaritas and shots with JP just four days after Micah’s death.

She has formally denied that she is dating the pastor.

Former church members and friends said the relationship was public and had been going on for some time.

What was not openly discussed was the suspicious death of Susie’s husband, Christopher.

Christopher had been wheelchair-bound following a drunk driving accident.

On September 6th, 2021, Christopher drowned at a community pool in Myrtle Beach when his wheelchair tipped into the pool and he became trapped underneath it.

He was 41 years old.

An investigation into Christopher’s death found no signs of foul play.

Security camera footage of the community center showed that he had been there alone.

This did not explain why his chair abruptly accelerated forward into the pool.

His death has been ruled an accident.

JP’s ex-wife, Allison, has accused her ex-husband of having a sexual addiction and behaving inappropriately with the teenagers at his church.

One of these teens, now a grown woman, took to Facebook to tell her story, alleging that John Paul once forced himself on her.

John Paul Miller has been removed from his position as pastor at the Solid Rock Church, though he is still technically employed there.

None of the pastor’s history makes him guilty of his wife’s murder.

The investigation into Micah’s death continued after the coroner offered their conclusion.

The Robinson County Police released a report, timeline, video surveillance, and other evidence.

Their conclusions were not well received.

The Ring camera outside of the apartment where Micah was living captured her leaving the home at 10:13 a.m. on Saturday, April 27th.

She returned at 11:00 a.m.

Micah was alone.

She left again a few minutes later and drove to Dick’s Pawn Shop in Myrtle Beach.

A camera caught her exiting her car and entering the superstore.

In the store, at just past noon, Micah is shown independently purchasing the Sig Sauer handgun.

She passed a criminal background check and was able to leave the store with the gun immediately.

Her phone search history showed that she searched for a national park, returning the directions for Lumber River State Park.

On the way to the park, she stopped at a gas station, where she purchased a drink.

Security camera footage in the store showed her once again shopping alone.

Micah carried on to the state park.

Once there, Micah placed a call to 911.

“Hi,” she said to the operator.

“Are you able to trace the location of my phone.”

The operator asked, “You don’t know where you’re at.”

Micah responded, “A national park.”

“I have my location on, I think, on my phone.”

The operator confirmed her location at the Lumber River State Park.

“Tell me what’s happened,” the operator asked.

Micah replied, “I just want my family to know where to find me.”

This final statement, her intention to have her family locate her, pointed police toward their conclusion.

Despite this, there are those online who have claimed to hear a man’s voice in the background.

Still, others have suggested that the voice on the call is not Micah at all, but produced by AI as part of a plan to get away with murder.

These theories all aim to point the finger at JP as the killer, even though he seems to have a rock-solid alibi.

The night before Micah was shot, JP drove to a sporting event in Charleston, a roughly three-hour drive south of Lumber River Park.

The investigation located multiple eyewitnesses who confirmed that the pastor was at this event all weekend.

License plate readers tracked his truck on route to and from Charleston to further corroborate the witnesses.

He simply could not have been with Micah when she died.

The report released by Robinson County Sheriff Burnis Wilkins concluded that “rumors and conspiracy theories were spreading quickly.”

“However, in the end, we must make decisions based on the facts and evidence.”

“While I know it’s not what many people wanted to hear, the evidence is quite clear and compelling.”

The report did not end the speculation.

Independent media is questioning why a small cross tattoo on Micah’s hand is not visible from the camera angle at the pawn shop.

Many do not wish to accept the 911 call happened at all.

Solid Rock Church leaders have reported receiving harassing phone calls.

The coroner who performed the medical exam has received threats.

So has Johnny Jacobs, the fisherman from the state park.

“I want this to stop,” Jacobs said, “I’m still thinking about Micah.”

John Paul has hired a lawyer, issuing letters calling for an end to the accusations of murder.

The pastor has denied ever hurting his wife in any way.

Micah’s family believes the official narrative is a fabrication.

Micah was cremated before a second, independent autopsy could be performed.

Family reported that JP pushed for cremation immediately, refusing them access to view Micah until after they agreed.

Her family is not giving up.

“I believe that it was all staged,” her sister Sierra stated.

“I believe that the whole thing was premeditated.”

“I believe that the narrative was established by Junior.”

“The day we were notified, he was already saying ‘she did it, she did it.’”

“Why would you do that if you don’t have all the information yet.”

“He has not shown any remorse, no grief.”

“He shows nervousness, he shows guilt, he shows that he is hiding something.”

Revelations from John Paul Miller’s past continue to accumulate, and the outcry for action is only growing.

It has been reported that the FBI’s assistance has been requested by law enforcement in North Carolina.

But with the death investigation now declared closed, it is unclear what aspects of the case the FBI agents have been asked to look into.