Where is Inez Miller?

"Poughkeepsie Journal," July 21, 2002, via Newspapers.com

Once you reach the venerable age of nearly a century, you are entitled to assume that The Weird has permanently passed you by.  You expect to be one of those fortunate souls who end their days in a peaceful, natural, and completely non-mysterious fashion.

As the following story will show, that assumption is not always correct.

Inez McKenzie was born on September 24, 1904.  In 1920, she married Washington Miller, and they eventually settled on a small farm in rural Lynchburg, South Carolina, where she was to spend the rest of her long life.  The Millers eventually had 13 children, six of whom survived her.  The Millers had little money, and had to work hard--Inez often had to work as a maid or cleaning woman to make ends meet--but she was sustained by what one of her grandsons, Greg Wright, described as “quiet grace and strong faith in God.”  After Washington died in 1965, Inez continued her modest rural existence, keeping frequent touch with her many descendants (she eventually had more than 50 grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren.)  The petite (4’9”) widow was described as feisty and independent, with a good sense of humor.

In 2000, Inez was approaching her 96th birthday.  She was in good physical health for her years, and showed no sign of losing her usual mental lucidity.  However, her 65-year-old son Burrell lived with her, simply because her family worried about someone of her age living alone.

At about 3:30 p.m. on the rainy, cold afternoon of March 10, 2000, neighbors noticed Inez walking to her mailbox to pick up her afternoon newspaper.  Accompanying her were her German Shepherd and the dog’s two puppies.  When Burrell returned home over an hour later after spending the day working on a nearby farm, he was startled to find that his mother was not at home.  After a search of the home and the property around it failed to find any trace of Inez, the Sheriff’s Department was summoned.

Inez has never been seen again, alive or dead.  Some time after she was last seen, two of the dogs returned to her home, but the third permanently disappeared, as well.  (Note: It doesn't seem to be recorded anywhere if the vanished dog was the adult, or one of the puppies.)

When I first came across this case, I assumed that Inez was the victim of some unfortunate accident.  Perhaps the elderly woman had a slight stroke that caused her to wander off until she succumbed to the elements.  Or maybe some wild animal killed her and the missing dog.  However, when I read more about the mystery, I was a bit surprised to note that her relatives--and, more importantly, law enforcement--were instantly convinced she had been kidnapped.  In the words of her son Albert, “Someone came and snatched our mother real quick.”  Neighbors saw a blue four-door car parked in front of the Miller home at about 4 p.m.  Unfortunately, no one saw the driver, and the car was never identified.

Miller’s house was in perfect order.  Her purse was still there, with a small amount of money inside.  Also found in the home were her dentures, eyeglasses and walking stick.  Obviously, when she left to get the newspaper, she wasn’t planning any longer excursions.

The search for Inez went on for days.  The area was scoured using dogs, a helicopter, and an infrared device that detected heart activity.  Nothing.  Police thought there might eventually be a ransom demand, but none ever came.

"The State," March 25, 2001

It did indeed look as if someone had “snatched” Inez “real quick.”  But who?  And why?  What could anyone gain by kidnapping a thoroughly harmless near-centenarian?  Inez had very little money, and no life insurance.  She owned some acres of land, most of which had been in the family for generations, but it’s unclear if the property was of any real value.  In any case, even if any of her relatives could profit by her death, surely they realized that in the normal course of events, they would not have to wait very long.

Adding to the sadness of this case is the fact that Inez’s disappearance caused an estrangement among her six children.  Some of them pointed fingers at each other as possible suspects in the crime.  However, police investigated all Inez’s many relatives, and eventually cleared every one of them.  And they were unable to come up with any possible motive for the disappearance.

Inez’s mysterious fate had a shattering effect on her loved ones.  Two years after she vanished, Greg Wright wrote that “it was as if the soul of my family disappeared with her.”  The disappearance “cast an eerie pall of suspicion and paranoia over my mother’s family.”  Unfortunately, more than 20 years later, the case remains as baffling as ever.