This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

South Carolina pastor John Paul Miller has been charged in federal court with allegedly cyberstalking his estranged wife, 30-year-old Mica Miller, for more than a year before her death, authorities said.

She was found dead on April 27, 2024, at Lumber River State Park in Robeson County, North Carolina. Her death was ruled a suicide.

A federal grand jury in Columbia indicted John-Paul Miller, 46, of Myrtle Beach, on one count of cyberstalking and one count of making false statements to federal investigators, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina on Dec. 18.

SC PASTOR’S WIFE MICA MILLER TOLD POLICE SHE WAS BEING TRACKED BEFORE HER SUICIDE: DOCS

The indictment alleges that beginning in November 2022 and continuing until Mica’s death, Miller engaged in a pattern of harassment that included sending repeated unwanted communications, contacting her more than 50 times in a single day, interfering with her finances and daily activities, and damaging her car tires.

Prosecutors say Miller also placed tracking devices on her car and posted a nude photograph of her online without her consent.

Miller’s alleged cyberstalking put his wife in “reasonable fear of death and serious bodily injury,” according to the federal indictment, which added that his conduct “would be reasonably expected to cause [Mica Miller] substantial emotional distress.”

READ THE INDICTMENT — APP USERS, CLICK HERE

MICA MILLER 911 CALL REVEALS FINAL MOMENTS BEFORE HER DEATH AS NC AUTHORITIES CHALLENGE ‘CONSPIRACY THEORIES’

Federal authorities say that Miller also lied to investigators when he was questioned about damaging Mica’s tires. Investigators later found that Miller purchased a tire-deflation device online and sent messages to others referencing her vehicle, according to the indictment.

Miller could face a maximum sentence of five years in prison on the cyberstalking charge and two years for making false statements, along with fines of up to $250,000. He is scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 12, 2026, in federal court in Florence, South Carolina. Court records did not immediately list an attorney for Miller.

SOUTH CAROLINA WOMAN MICA MILLER’S HUSBAND SAYS HE TRIED TO ‘RAISE HER FROM THE DEAD’ DURING EULOGY

In a statement released Thursday, Robeson County Sheriff Burnis Wilkins said his office initiated the request for federal involvement shortly after Mica’s death, after investigators uncovered information that, while not directly related to the cause of death, warranted further review.

Deputies responded to Lumber River State Park on April 27, 2024, after Mica called 911 expressing concern that she might harm herself, Wilkins said.

She was found dead in the water with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, and the gun was located nearby. The North Carolina Medical Examiner’s Office later ruled the death a suicide.

Wilkins said his office contacted the U.S. Attorney’s Office in South Carolina on May 6, 2024, requesting a federal investigation into alleged conduct that occurred outside North Carolina’s jurisdiction. Detectives shared all evidence with the FBI and met with Miller’s family the following day to explain the findings and the referral.

“Unfortunately, during the course of this investigation, rumors, speculation, and conspiracy theories spread rapidly,” Wilkins said in a statement posted on his office’s Facebook page, along with photos of both John-Paul and Mica Miller. “The Robeson County Sheriff’s Office made decisions based solely on facts, evidence, and verified information obtained through a very detailed and thorough investigation.”

The sheriff said that while the federal charges do not alter the official determination of Mica’s death, they bring attention to the seriousness of domestic abuse, including nonphysical forms of abuse.

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“This case underscores the seriousness of domestic violence abuse and related offenses and serves as a reminder that such behavior has no place in our society,” Wilkins said.

Miller was a pastor at Solid Rock Church in Myrtle Beach at the time of his wife’s death. The pair had separated, and Mica filed for divorce two days before she died, according to FOX 8 Greensboro.

Two attorneys have vanished off the coast of Florida during a routine fishing trip, prompting one wife to share that she is “heartbroken” following her husband and his uncle’s disappearance in Fort Myers, Florida.

Randall Spivey, 57, and his 33-year-old nephew Brandon Billmaier left before dawn on Friday, Dec. 19, heading out from Fort Myers aboard a 42-foot Freeman fishing boat. Family members say the men were familiar with the waters and planned to be back the same day.

When evening came and there was no word from either man, concern quickly escalated, prompting Billmaier’s wife, Deborah, to contact the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG). By late Friday night, the USCG launched an emergency response, sending aircraft to search the Gulf.

“I am heartbroken posting this. My husband, Brandon, went out fishing yesterday with his uncle off the coast of Fort Myers,” Deborah wrote in an Instagram post. “They left early in the morning on Friday, Dec. 19 and were meant to come back that afternoon.”

DESPERATE SEARCH FOR 2 MEN UNDERWAY AFTER FISHING BOAT FOUND EMPTY 70 MILES OFF FLORIDA COAST

In the early morning hours of Sunday, Dec. 20, the boat was found drifting roughly 70 miles off the coast.

“The helicopter has continued searching throughout the night. As the sun rises, we are looking for additional help in the search efforts. If you or someone you know can help, please reach out to us,” she wrote. “If you cannot, please keep them in your prayers as we continue to have faith that we will find them.”

5 FISHERMEN RESCUED AFTER 55 DAYS ADRIFT AT SEA

A spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard Southeast District said that the boat was still running when it was found, but both men were nowhere to be found. 

“The boat was in gear,” Riley Perkofski said. “We deployed a swimmer, and then the swimmer deployed the vessel’s anchor so that it wouldn’t keep moving.”

The Coast Guard said that they found that the boat’s transmitter, known as an emergency position-indicating radio beacon, was still on the vessel. 

The Coast Guard and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) continue coordinated air and sea searches across the Gulf of Mexico. Authorities are asking anyone who may know the whereabouts of Spivey and Billmaier to contact the LCSO at 239-477-1000, or 911. They can also contact SWFL Crime Stoppers at 1-800-780-TIPS to remain anonymous.

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Spivey was last seen wearing khaki pants and a dark-colored shirt. He has brown hair and brown eyes and is 6’1″, weighing 245 pounds. Billmaier is 6’2″ and weighs 250 pounds. He has strawberry blonde hair and brown eyes.

Fox News Digital’s Rachel Wolf and Sophia Compton contributed to this report.

MAGA champion Rep. Bryon Donalds, a top ally of President Donald Trump in the House, is on a roll as he runs to succeed term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis as Florida’s next governor.

With over ten months to go until next year’s election, the three-term Republican representative from a red-leaning district in southwest Florida is sitting on a massive fundraising war chest and is far ahead of his GOP primary rivals in the latest public opinion polling.

But Donalds takes “nothing for granted.”

“I’ve been all over the state, crisscrossing and nonstop. We have a very strong campaign. The people of Florida have been very receptive to my message and the ideas we’re bringing to this campaign,” Donalds highlighted in an interview last week with Fox News Digital at his congressional office in the nation’s capital.

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Donalds was endorsed by Trump in February, before he even formally launched his campaign for governor.

While giving Donalds a big boost, the president’s backing hasn’t prevented other Republicans from entering the GOP primary race.

Former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner launched his bid in September, and late last month investor James Fishback, who had generated some buzz in MAGA world earlier this year before clashing with top Trump advisers, also jumped into the race.

And Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, a former Green Beret and army veteran, has been mulling a run.

But Donalds remains the overwhelming frontrunner.

“People want to run. They want to run. That’s fine, but we’re focused on our race, and that’s contacting voters. I’ve been in 41 counties doing political events. I’ve been in 50 counties, when you consider fundraising and political events,” Donalds highlighted.

Donalds said he is “very honored to have President Trump’s endorsement. Now I have to go county by county, city by city to get the endorsement and the support from the people of our state.”

DeSantis remains mum on the race to succeed him, not backing Donalds or any of the other contenders, which earlier this year also for a time included his wife, first lady Casey DeSantis.

Donalds was once a close ally of the governor, but their relationship soured when Donalds endorsed Trump for president over DeSantis in the 2024 Republican presidential nomination race.

“It’s been better,” Donalds said when asked by Fox News Digital about his relationship with the governor. “But at the end of the day, it’s about the trajectory of our state. Would love to earn Gov. DeSantis support in this campaign, but at the end of the day, we are going to take all of the hard work that he’s done for our state, and it’s been tremendous, we’re going to take that work and we’re going to build upon it, and that’s what matters.”

DESANTIS WARNS GOP FACES ‘ISSUE’ KEEPING TRUMP VOTERS ENGAGED IN FUTURE ELECTIONS

Democrats are likely to have a competitive primary between Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and former Rep. David Jolly, a Republican-turned-Democrat. But in battleground-turned-red-state Florida, most of the attention is focused on the Republicans.

Dan Eberhart, a Florida-based oil drilling chief executive officer and a prominent Republican donor who’s raised big bucks for Trump and DeSantis this decade and who is also in Donalds’ political orbit, told Fox News Digital, “Donald’s MAGA credentials and fundraising prowess put him in the driver’s seat” in the GOP primary.

Eberhart noted “Donalds having a primary will make him a better general election candidate,” and emphasized that the congressman “is doing all of the right things to win both the primary and the general election.”

Trump and Republicans spotlighted rising prices as they swept to major victories in 2024, retaking the White House and Senate and holding their majority in the House.

But with inflation remaining persistent, Democrats have been laser focused this year on the issue of affordability, which fueled their decisive victories in last month’s 2025 elections and their overperformances this year in a slew of special elections.

And those contests saw a drop-off in turnout by MAGA voters, with Trump not on the ballot.

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“Are the Democrats motivated? Fine,” Donalds said when asked about the Democrats’ energy. “We are going to make sure that we get Republican voters out to the polls, because at the end of the day, the people of Florida love the trajectory set by Governor DeSantis. We’re going to maintain that trajectory, and we’re going to build it and take Florida to a whole new level.”

And pointing specifically to affordability, Donalds predicted, “over the next year, you’re going to see a lot of these economic changes, decisions made by the President of the United States, have real impacts in the lives of the American people. Positive impacts.”

But the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) argued, “Whether in DC or Tallahassee, Byron Donalds has spent his political career helping to make Florida the least affordable state in the country.”

“From supporting cost-raising tariffs to voting to spike the cost of everything from health care to housing, Byron Donalds is one of the architects of the affordability crisis devastating Florida families,” DGA spokesperson Kevin Donohoe charged in a statement to Fox News Digital.

And pointing to this month’s Miami mayoral election, where the Democrats won for the first time in a quarter-century, Donohoe said “the Miami mayoral race showed that Florida voters are looking for change — but Byron Donalds would just offer more of the same.”

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Asked about the results in Miami, Donalds said, “I do acknowledge what happened in the city of Miami, but that’s not going to happen in the state of Florida.”

“Florida is going to continue to be a red state, because the people of Florida know what conservative policies are they want that to continue. It’s been the best state going in the entire country, and we’re not going to stop here,” he added.