Missing teen Naomi Irion's remains discovered in remote area Nevada
Remains found Tuesday were positively identified on Wednesday, the same day the man accused of kidnapping Irion appeared in court for the first time.
Lyon County Sheriff's Office
- Naomi Irion's remains were located in a remote area of Churchill County, Nevada, on Tuesday, police say.
- The 18-year-old was abducted from a Walmart parking lot on March 12.
- On Wednesday, kidnapping suspect Troy Driver, 41, made his first court appearance.
The search for missing teen Naomi Irion has ended in tragedy after police found her remains in a remote area of Churchill County, Nevada, on Tuesday.
According to a joint press release from the Churchill County Sheriff's Office and the Lyon County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday, the two agencies responded to the location after receiving a tip, and discovered the body of an adult Caucasian female.
The body was transported to the Washoe County Medical Examiners Office where it was confirmed to be Irion's remains on Wednesday.
The Wednesday night press release did not include details on how Irion died.
"No further information can be released at this time as this is still an open and active investigation," the press release stated.
"We would like to extend our sympathy and condolences to the Irion family and thank all volunteers for their hard work in trying to find Naomi and bring closure to the family," the statement added.
It was also on Wednesday that Irion's kidnapping suspect, 41-year-old Troy Driver, made his first court appearance, where a judge ordered that his bail remain at $750,000.
News 4
Driver is charged with first-degree kidnapping. News 4 and Fox 11 obtained Driver's criminal complaint which alleged that the "defendant did abduct Naomi Irion and did hold or detain her for the purpose of committing sexual assault and/or for the purpose of killing her."
Driver is being represented by attorney Mario Walther, who did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on the discovery of Naomi's remains on Thursday morning.
Driver has a criminal history including a prior conviction connected to a 1997 murder, according to reports from the Ukiah Daily Journal, which were viewed by News 4.
Lyon County Sheriff's Office
According to the report viewed by News 4, Driver was 17 years old when he was accused of helping dispose of the body of a meth dealer that his girlfriend was accused of fatally shooting.
He pleaded guilty to accessory to murder after the fact and several other charges related to robberies of gas stations and a hardware store, the Ukiah Daily Journal reported at the time, according to News 4.
Irion was last seen alive in a Walmart parking lot in Fernley, Nevada, around 5:30 a.m. on March 12, as she waiting in her car for a shuttle to her job at a Panasonic factory.
Surveillance footage showed a man in a gray hoodie approaching her vehicle, and doing or saying something to make Irion move over and let him in, before he drove off with her inside the vehicle.
In a previous interview with Insider, Irion's older brother, Casey Valley, said that he had no indication that Irion and her kidnapper knew each other.