The personal items belonging to the estranged wife of the South Carolina pastor who fatally shot herself in a North Carolina state park were found by a local fisherman who reported hearing crying moments before the heartbreaking discovery.
Mica Miller, 30, died in Lumber River State Park on April 27 suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, after reportedly crying for several minutes before the fatal shot.
A fisherman who had been going up and down the nearby river claimed he heard crying and the fatal shot before discovering Miller’s belongings lying along the riverbank.
“She had her license, her bank card, keys in the bag, a little small Bible, her purse, all of her credit cards, and a few receipts and some things,” Johnnie Jacobs told WBTW.
“As I decided that I was going to stop fishing, I came back through, stopped where they call it a slew or a lake off of the river,” he said. “So, I pulled in there with my little boat and, maybe five minutes after, and maybe five minutes into the slew, I heard a cry. I heard it for about two or three minutes. Then I stopped, heard a gunshot. Then, the crying stopped.”
Although the fisherman didn’t see Miller’s body, Jacobs says he would’ve helped if he had.
“If it had been a person that was crying in the open, I would have checked on them all day long,” he said. “I just wish I would have gone in there and checked on her.”
Authorities also provided a timeline of when Miller left her house and went to buy a gun at a store in Horry County on her way to the state park.
Miller’s husband, pastor John-Paul Miller casually announced his wife’s death after giving a sermon to his congregation at Solid Rock Church in Myrtle Beach.
“I got a call late last night, my wife has passed away. It was self-induced and it was up in North Carolina,” Miller said the day after her death.
“Y’all pray for me and my kids and everybody. You all knew she wasn’t well mentally and she needed medicine that was hard to get to her. I’m sure there will be more details to come, but keep her family in your prayers.”
Robeson County Medical Examiner Richard Johnson ruled Miller’s death a suicide, saying she had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
“Based on the nature of the wound, that it is consistent with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. And it was not in the back of the head, as it has been speculated,” Johnson said according to ABC 15.
Miller’s death came two days after her husband was served divorce papers from her, according to court documents.
A 911 call to the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office revealed Miller questioned whether authorities could trace her phone to the wooded area where she was found dead.
Before her death, she reportedly told her sister that if she was ever found dead in the exact manner she was found in the park, her husband was responsible, according to an affidavit filed by her younger sister Sierra Francis in Horry County Probate Court.
Mica Miller also alleged to relatives and other church members that she was abused by her partner, according to her sister’s affidavit.
Attorneys for the pastor denied allegations of any grooming and
“Following the untimely death of Mica Miller, unfounded rumors and false accusations began circulating on social media and in various media outlets, suggesting Pastor Miller’s involvement in her demise,” attorney Russell B. Long, according to News13. “This created a buzz, causing local and national media outlets to be proliferating these falsehoods, on a mammoth proportion. Our client refutes any report that suggests he ever abused his wife.”
A recently surfaced Facebook video recorded by Mica Miller captured her talking to the camera speaking about her recent struggles with mental health.
“I’m going through a lot and it’s hard, and it’s my cross to bear. It is the thing that God has put in my life to deal with,” she said.
“I don’t want to bring a lot of people into it. When your world is shook up you need to take a pause, I can only pray that more people will take a pause.”
‘Thank you for all your prayers and support, know that I have to keep my circle really small just now. This is the best way I know how,” Miller added.
