A man identified as a person of interest in the death of a woman and abduction of her two daughters from suburban Austin is facing charges of kidnapping after being arrested by Colorado authorities.
Terry Allen Miles, 44, was arrested in southern Colorado after a sheriff's deputy spotted his vehicle in a remote area near the Sangre de Cristo Mountains Wednesday evening. The girls, ages 14 and 7, were recovered safely and taken to a hospital to be checked for injuries.
Miles has been wanted for questioning in the death of 44-year-old Tonya Bates and the abduction of her daughters since police did a welfare check Saturday and found the woman dead from blunt force trauma and the girls missing.
Miles was scheduled to appear in court Thursday afternoon in Colorado.
An affidavit in the kidnapping charge says Miles texted his mother to say he found the woman dead.
The FBI special agent affidavit unsealed Thursday says he texted his mother using one of the daughter's cellphones to say he had "came home to something bad" and he had left with the kids. His text blamed Bates' boyfriend.
Investigators say Miles was the roommate of Tonya Bates.
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KPLC-TV in Lake Charles, Louisiana, reports that Miles was well-known to Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's officials for domestic violence and drug complaints. Sheriff Tony Mancuso says Miles is still a person of interest in an open 2014 homicide investigation.
Louisiana authorities said Miles is on probation on a 2015 domestic violence conviction and on a 2014 conviction for possession of stolen goods.
Mancuso said Sulphur, Louisiana, police had charged Miles with attempted second-degree murder after they say he tried to strangle a woman and stage her suicide. Those charges were dropped after the witness was unable to testify.
