Floyd, IA—
Thursday marked the five-year anniversary of the disappearance of 5-year-old Evelyn Miller. A day her grandparents have said always brings back horrible memories. "Yeah, it's a tough day today," Linda Christie has said, "I'm positive that she was killed that first day."Evelyn Miller was reported missing from her apartment in Floyd on July 1, 2005. Her mother, Noel, told police she came home from work in the early morning hours and Evelyn was gone. Noel Miller's fiance, Casey Frederiksen, had been watching Evelyn when she disappeared and police immediately questioned him and searched the apartment. At the time, Noel Miller said she believed her daughter had been kidnapped by someone who forced their way into the apartment.
"They need to have a more open mind and look at other people that could have done this than just the parents because they were here, you know," Miller said at the time about the police investigation.
Over the next five days, police and volunteers searched tirelessly while Evelyn's family made impassioned pleas for the return of their daughter. "She's a beautiful, happy little girl with a big bright smile." Miller told reporters at a press conference, "She's a 5-year-old who giggles a lot."
"Just drop her off," Evelyn's father, Andy Christie said, "Just put her somewhere where we can find her. We want her back. She needs to be with her family. And, uh, don't hurt her."
But tragically, that didn't happen. Five days after Evelyn Miller disappeared, her body was found by a kayaker in the Cedar River about two miles from her home. The death was ruled a homicide but authorities will not release details about how Evelyn died or what condition her body was in when it was found.
Noel Miller has since moved out of state. Casey Frederiksen, her former fiance, was sent to prison in 2006 on child pornography charges. Police found more than 1,500 images of young girls on his computer while investigating him on drug charges. Some of those images date back to July of 2005, the same month Evelyn went missing. He's serving a 14-year sentence at the U.S. Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois.
But there has still not been an arrest in Evelyn's murder. Her grandparents believe there will be, someday. But until then, they say they're just grateful for the five years they got to spend with her.
"A really, really special kid," grandfather Richard Christie has said of his granddaughter, "No down days. No sad days. Just always with a smile on her face. And we sure miss that."
Floyd County Sheriff Rick Lynch tells us he expects to make an arrest in the case, but he won't say when. Lynch says he and three deputies are working on the case, and are following up on new leads. To date, no suspects have been identified and no arrests have been made. If you have any details that could help lead to an arrest, you can call the Floyd County Sheriffs Dept. at (641) 228-1821.
For information on this and other Iowa cold cases, log on to http://iowacoldcases.org
