Naomi Irion’s brother criticizes handling of missing sister: ‘This is about the police needing more resources’

Naomi Irion was kidnapped from a Walmart parking zone in Fernley, Nevada, on March 12. On Wednesday — lower than a month after she disappeared — authorities recovered her stays from a grave website within the space of Coal Canyon Street inside Churchill County.

The Lyon County Sheriff’s Workplace, which dealt with the seek for Irion, on Thursday charged her kidnapping suspect, Troy Driver, with homicide, theft, housebreaking and destruction of proof. He’s at present in custody.

Now that the seek for the 18-year-old is over, her brother, Casey Valley, is voicing concern about native authorities’ preliminary dealing with of her case.

“If a be-on-the-lookout [BOLO] alert had been despatched out on [March 13], and if a lacking individuals report had been filed, just like the Lyon County Sheriff’s Workplace is procedurally obligated to do, then it would not have taken so lengthy to … get began on this case,” Valley advised Fox Information Digital. “I do not know what the time of demise for my sister is, however there’s an opportunity that legislation enforcement may have discovered her alive.”

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Valley says that when Irion didn’t return house after March 12, he known as her in as a lacking individual on March 13 round 9:30 p.m. A deputy known as him about two hours later that evening however didn’t file a lacking individuals report till the following day round 9 p.m. Valley then filed a criticism with the company on March 16 — a day after authorities found her car.

Valley added that “so much of” Lyon County deputies personally apologized to him afterward, and mentioned his criticism was “well-received.” 

Naomi Irion (Credit score: Irion household)

“I haven’t got something in opposition to Lyon County. I am so grateful for them answering my texts at 3 o’clock within the morning and calling me when there’s an necessary replace and bringing me into the command middle of the searches and the whole lot that they did to make our household be assured how exhausting they have been working — and they’re nonetheless working. And I do not need any ‘defund the police’ speak to be hooked up to this. That is concerning the police needing extra assets. Interval,” Valley mentioned. 

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Irion lived with Valley in his Nevada house. She moved in along with her brother in August 2021, when she moved to america from South Africa, the place her American dad and mom and her three adoptive brothers are at present stationed as a part of her father’s State Division job within the overseas service.

Valley additionally mentioned he obtained safety digicam footage from the Walmart parking zone the place his sister was final seen himself. Irion repeatedly parked her automotive at Walmart earlier than catching an worker bus to her job at a Panasonic manufacturing facility, the place she manufactured batteries, within the early morning. 

Naomi Irion (Lyon County Sheriff)

“I knew that one thing was mistaken, and I knew that Naomi was lacking. I knew one thing wasn’t proper. I knew it did not match her character. I knew one thing dangerous had occurred — I simply did not know what but — till I went myself … to the Walmart and labored with the safety individuals to attempt to confirm whether or not or not she obtained there, after which when she did, to attempt to determine why she left,” Valley mentioned.

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The surveillance footage launched by the Lyon County Sheriff’s Workplace exhibits a suspect strolling from a close-by homeless camp to the Walmart parking zone on March 12 and stepping into the motive force’s seat of Irion’s automotive, then driving away in an “unknown course with Naomi within the passenger seat.” 

“My blood ran chilly,” Valley mentioned of seeing the safety digicam footage for the primary time. “My coronary heart leaped out of my chest. It was sickening.”

Naomi Irion kidnapping suspect Troy Driver
(Lyon County Sheriff’s Workplace)

Lyon County Decide Lori Matheus set his Driver’s bail at $750,000 throughout a listening to on Wednesday earlier than officers introduced extra costs. Driver was beforehand sentenced to fifteen years in jail in 1997 for his position in masking up a homicide and a string of robberies, in response to native information obtained by Information 4 and FOX 11 Reno.

It’s unclear if the individual on the surveillance footage from Walmart is Driver. 

The Lyon County Sheriff’s Workplace didn’t instantly reply to an inquiry from Fox Information Digital.

Irion’s household has since began utilizing the hashtag #TrustTheFamily on social media to spotlight households’ right instincts in lacking individuals circumstances.

Tony Driver seems in courtroom by way of Zoom 
(FOX 11 Reno/ Lyon County Sheriff’s Workplace)

“Within the final two weeks, I’ve come throughout lots of people who’ve had lacking individuals circumstances of their households. The widespread theme that I hear from these different involved households is that the best examples are sometimes handled with the identical stage of concern with cops as benign examples to start with, which is comparatively comprehensible given the restricted assets that police departments and sheriff’s workplaces have out there,” Valley mentioned.

“Nonetheless, each police division on this nation has procedures they should observe. In actual fact … they’re sworn to observe these procedures. Within the case of my sister … the primary 36 hours after I known as it in as a lacking individual … this case was not dealt with in a approach that was not thought-about procedurally criticism.”

Native authorities are investigating the 18-year-old’s mysterious demise as a murder, although no additional details about her demise has been launched as of Friday night.

Anybody with details about the circumstances resulting in Irion’s demise can name their native FBI area workplace or the Lyon Sheriff’s workplace at 775-463-6620.