Manhunt Expands For Triple Homicide Suspect In Remote Northern California Forest
A manhunt expands in the search for triple murder suspect, 45-year-old Shane Franklin Miller, who is considered armed and dangerous by northern California police authorities.
Miller is wanted in connection with last week’s shooting slaying of his 34-year-old wife Sandy, along with the killing of his two daughters, age eight and four. According to Good Morning America, at least one victim was able to place a 911 call while the gruesome murders were in process. All three were gunned down in their home in Shingletown, CA, which is over 200 miles to the northeast of San Francisco.
Shasta County Sheriff’s Office investigators discovered multiple weapons and ammunition in the home, as well as the dead bodies of Miller’s family.
The suspect apparently took advantage of the remote location and rugged, foggy terrain to make his escape in a 2010 Dodge Mega Cab pickup in a camper shell. The abandoned vehicle has since been located in Humboldt County near Petrolia.
At least a dozen state and federal law enforcement agencies joined in the expanded manhunt on Friday. Lt. Dave Kent of the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office said that they had a strategic plan for moving through the forest.
Miller has multiple felony arrests and convictions for crimes related to marijuana growing and distribution, weapons possession, and money laundering. He has served 46 months in federal prison on the felon in possession of a firearms charge.
Miller’s mother told a local NBC news station that she doesn’t have any idea of why her son may have committed the crime.
There was a previous call to the Shingletown residence for a domestic dispute in April, according to a local newspaper, The Record Searchlight. However, when police came to check it out, no one was home.
About three or four weeks before the triple murder, the Millers pulled their daughters out of Black Butte Elementary School.
If indeed Shane Franklin Miller is the killer, the timing raises the questions of whether he was planning the gruesome triple shooting for weeks in advance.
But those questions can’t be answered until the expanded manhunt nets the suspect.
UPDATE: #Shingletown triple homicide suspect is Shane Franklin Miller: 45 years, 5’10”, 200 lbs, red hair, blue eyes twitter.com/KRCR7/status/3…
— KRCR News Channel 7 (@KRCR7) May 8, 2013
[Humboldt County’s Patrick Point State Park photo by Lee Edwin Coursey via Flickr and Wikimedia Commons]
