Family speaks about missing Sedona woman Yolan Miller

SEDONA, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) - The family of Yolan Miller spoke on camera for the first time about her mysterious disappearance. Yolan Miller is a 38-year-old woman from Sedona with autism who went missing under suspicious circumstances in June of last year.

Her family shared new details and told us why they believe she is no longer alive. It’s a heartbreaking mental resolution to move forward. “We all would like to say that we think she’s alive, but we don’t think she’s alive,” said Yolan’s aunt Kathryn Royball.

Since June of last year, their whole family has tirelessly tried to figure out what happened to Miller on that summer day. According to the police report, on June 19, 2022, Miller told her roommate in Sedona she was going to Jerome for a meeting and left the house in a rush. The roommate told police she left in a nice outfit, including white pearls, and believed she was possibly meeting someone for a date. “We don’t know if she drove somewhere in Sedona, had dinner with someone, and then they drove out there,” said Royball.

But Miller never made it to Jerome. When she didn’t show up for work at Safeway three days later, her boss reported her missing. Two days after that, on June 24, her Ford Escape was found on a forest service road near the Honanki Heritage Site.

Royball said Miller paid for car insurance by the mile. Jerome was 26 miles away. But her insurance company determined her car didn’t even cover half of that distance. “They confirmed that she drove 12.5 miles. And if you do a map search from her home to the Loy Canyon Trailhead where her car was found - 12.5 miles,” said Royball.

What they don’t know is if she picked somebody up or someone else drove her car. When it was found, both her car keys and phone were gone. “She did not have a computer. Everything that she used is on her phone, which is missing,” said Royball.

Her aunt said investigators were able to see her cell phone ping at 9:20 pm on the Sunday she went missing, but there was a problem. “It pinged at the Mingus Mountain cell tower. But because she didn’t ping on any other cell towers, they couldn’t triangulate her location,” Royball said.

They could never figure out where it was, and it never pinged again. Royball said they had a memorial for Miller out where her car was found. They’re holding onto memories of her, but fear they may not get the chance to make any more. “We got all of our family together and said a prayer and told stories, and it was very sweet,” Royball said with tears in her eyes.

Her aunt said they are working with two different companies on organizing cadaver dog searches because they believe her remains may not be far. She said Miller hardly ever drove far away and said she would take a shuttle just to see her family in Tucson, so they do not believe she drove anywhere else unless she was taken somewhere.

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