Richard William Miller Jr.

• Missing Since 11/17/1983
• Missing From Staunton, Virginia
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Male
• Race White
• Age 18 years old
• Height and Weight 5'7, 120 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A blue jacket, a red shirt, dark blue work pants and brown dress boots.
• Associated Vehicle(s) Gold 1968 Chevrolet pickup truck with the Virginia license plate number FD22849 (accounted for)
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Brown hair, brown eyes. Miller's nicknames are Pete and Petey.

Details of Disappearance

Miller was last seen on November 17, 1983. He and his father were driving on the same road in separate cars on Route 254, en route to Staunton, Virginia. Miller was on his way to work.

His father noticed Miller's truck was no longer behind him, and turned back to find him. He saw Miller parked on the roadside behind another pickup truck with a cap. The second truck's tailgate was propped up with a stick. Miller's father assumed he was assisting a stranded motorist and continued on his way. Miller has never been heard from again.

Miller was supposed to get married the weekend after his disappearance. It was his fiancee's stepfather, Charles Lindberg Almond, who reported him missing. It turned out to be his truck that Miller parked behind on the day of his disappearance. Shortly before he disappeared, Miller had accused Almond of sexually abusing his fiancee, and the two men got into an argument.

On December 14, 1983, Miller's gold 1968 Chevrolet pickup truck with the Virginia license plate number FD22849 was found abandoned in Richmond, Virginia. It had been parked there for three or four weeks and had been wiped clean.

A couple of months later, his family got an anonymous typed letter stating Miller was fine, was working and had decided to sever ties with his family. His loved ones didn't believe he would have really done that.

In May 2015, Almond was charged with Miller's murder. He lived a few miles from where Miller was last seen on Route 254. A photo of Almond is posted with this case summary.

He was 84 years old when the charges were filed and has a criminal history. Several months before he was charged with Miller's murder, he was charged with attempted murder for allegedly trying to poison a woman with antifreeze-laced iced tea. The grand jury declined to indict him in that case, however.

At Almond's trial in March 2016, eleven witnesses testified that Almond had told them he had shot Miller, dismembered his body and dissolved it in acid. Almond's son and his stepdaughter, Miller's fiancee, both testified against him. The defense presented no witnesses and asked the judge to dismiss the case for lack of evidence, calling the prosecution witnesses liars, but the judge refused. Almond was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. In 2020, he died in custody, at the age of 89.

Foul play is suspected in Miller's disappearance due to the circumstances involved.