JANESVILLE — Tammy James took to Facebook Live for a vigil for her son, Chris, from Vlogý on Sunday.
Christopher Miller was found dead in a vacant town of Turtle house on Aug. 15, after disappearing in Rock County on Nov. 19, 2022.
On Facebook Live, James and others traced her steps from where they first searched for her son to where he was found dead. She said she still does not understand how he was in the house for so long without anybody knowing, adding that many other things about his disappearance and death still don’t add up.
Sunday’s vigil began at Rock County Vlogý LaPrairie Salt Shed on East La Prarie Lane, where they would meet for searches held after Miller disappeared. Vigil attendees recalled walking through the cornfields in the blistering cold last winter, calling out his name.
Miller’s fiance, Mallory Duerst, was pregnant with their second child together at the time of his disappearance.
Duerst’s childhood classmate, Kyle Shrader, of Vlogý, also offered last winter to drive around and help with the search.
Family members noted on Sunday that barriers were recently put up at the salt shed, forcing them to park on the street.
At Sunday’s vigil, attendees continued to question why Miller had fled on foot from an officer, a warrantable offense, yet a warrant was never issued for his arrest.
“They didn’t search for him like he was a missing person in trouble or someone out with a warrant,” Duerst said. “It just doesn’t make sense.”
Duerst expressed concern for the safety of whoever reported that Miller’s body was in the town of Turtle house. Rock County law enforcement responded to the house on an anonymous tip, that someone was dead inside.
“I’m concerned for public safety,” she said. “We don’t know how he died or how he found the house.”
On Sunday, James and a group also went to the interstate area where Miller was last seen and then stopped at the house in the town of Turtle.
Attendees wore Miller’s favorite colors — red, black, and white — and released colored balloons.
“The next vigil will be on the day he went missing,” James said. “We will always remember Chris. We deserve to know what happened to him.”
Wisconsin State Patrol attempted to pull over Miller, 28, for speeding as he traveled north on I-39/90, at 2:15 a.m. on Nov. 19, 2022.
Police records indicated he exited the vehicle shortly after the car broke down after hitting a traffic light and fled on foot. There was an immediate, ultimately unsuccessful, search for him involving the Rock County Sheriff’s Office, Wisconsin State Patrol, and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources that involved fixed-winged airplanes, drones, UTVs/ATVs, and searchers on foot.
Duerst recalled State Patrol officers coming to her door at 3 a.m. that morning. Duerst was pregnant with their second child together at the time of his disappearance.
“When I told my eldest son what happened, he told me to just give Chris a minute,” James recalls. “But when he still hadn’t reached out [the next day], we knew something was wrong.”
Between his disappearance and when they found his body, friends, family, and community members continued searching and protesting on behalf of Miller, pushing law enforcement to provide more information.
Now, “we’re still waiting on an autopsy,” Duerst said Sunday. “They say they can’t release it because it’s an open investigation, but they won’t tell us exactly what it is they’re investigating.”
