A woman’s golf cart crash into an Ohio lake, alongside her three teenage children, led authorities to discover the bodies of her husband and 4-year-old son.
Marcus J. Miller, 45, and Vincen Miller, 4, were found dead over the weekend in Atwood Lake. Tuscarawas County Sheriff Orvis Campbell stated that Marcus Miller likely drowned accidentally while trying to swim to a sandbar.
The child’s mother allegedly told authorities that she had thrown Vincen into the water “to give that child to God,” according to Campbell during a Monday news conference.
Campbell mentioned that “spiritual delusion” played a role in the deaths.
“We were aware of some issues, especially with the mother, and also the father. But there were never any discussions about harming anyone. They had certain religious beliefs. What we recognize is this: she was clearly in a mental crisis,” he said. “It simply manifested itself in what we call a spiritual delusion.”
As of Monday night, the mother remained hospitalized for a mental health evaluation. Authorities plan to charge her with aggravated murder in connection with the 4-year-old’s death.
The mother’s identity has not been released since she has not yet been formally charged.
The bodies were discovered after deputies received a 911 call on Saturday about a woman who crashed a golf cart near Atwood Marina West, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.
Campbell said that witnesses were chasing the golf cart through the grass and yelling for the woman to hit the brakes because they thought “it was careening out of control.”
The golf cart then flipped over the edge of a stone wall and landed in the lake, he said. Three teenage children—a 15-year-old girl and twin 18-year-old boys—were riding in the golf cart with the woman. The children were able to get out of the water safely, according to the sheriff.
Witnesses helped the woman get out of the lake, Campbell said.
“The first witness to arrive offered to help her, and she suggested he pray for her instead,” the sheriff said. “That was the first sign that this was more than just an accident at the lake.”
Responding rangers also heard concerning statements from the woman, who told them that “she had given her son to the Lord,” according to Campbell. He said the woman “was not rational” and tried to flee and hide from rangers.
The sheriff’s office said it became clear that the golf cart crash was intentional. Investigators also learned that the woman’s husband and 4-year-old son were missing.
The woman allegedly told deputies that she jumped into the lake with her husband early Saturday morning “because God was speaking to them and telling them to do things to prove their worthiness to God.”
The woman said she and her husband got out of the water and returned to the family’s RV. According to the sheriff, the woman told investigators that her husband was “disappointed in himself because he didn’t do well in his task,” so he went back to the lake to swim to a sandbar.
The father never returned to the RV, the sheriff said.
Just after 8 a.m. Saturday, witnesses saw the mother putting the 4-year-old in the golf cart, “and taking off very erratically,” the sheriff said. When she returned to the RV, she was alone.
Campbell said the mother told deputies that she “went to the dock and that she threw the 4-year-old in because that’s what she needed to do as an offering to God.”
“She believed that she and her husband had to pass these tests to show their faith, and when they didn’t, then Vincen became the price to pay for that,” he said.
The tasks the mother said she was directed to do included walking on water and swimming challenges, the sheriff said.
Vincen Miller was found Saturday night near a boat dock in the lake, and Marcus Miller was found Sunday morning in the same area.
The sheriff said the mother made her teenage children perform tasks in the water and told them to pray for Marcus and Vincen Miller because they “had gone to Heaven.”
Witnesses told deputies that before the golf cart crash, they saw the woman and teenage children huddled together and praying next to the water, Campbell told reporters.
“It actually scared some witnesses,” he said. “They thought they were crying and seemed emotional, unsure of what was happening.”
According to the sheriff, the mother said that the teenage children had passed their tests, but she heard a voice telling her to put them all in the golf cart and drive into the lake.
The teenage children are now in the care of their families.
Authorities said the Miller family, who are Amish and live in Holmes County, were at the lake for a weekend trip. They are members of the Old Order Amish Church.
Relatives could not be reached for comment on Tuesday. The family and church stated, through NBC affiliate WKYC of Cleveland, that “the events of this past weekend do not reflect our teachings or beliefs but are instead a result of mental illness.”
