December 15, 2023 • 26 mins
When 18-year-old Naomi Irion drove into the Walmart parking lot on the morning of March 12, 2022, it was still dark out. She parked her car, then chatted with friends on social media that were in other time zones, while she waited for the shuttle bus. It was her typical work-day routine. Naomi had no way of knowing that a determined predator lurked nearby. He’d been there since 4:22am, watching the Walmart parking lot and waiting on a young woman that he could make his prey. Troy Driver had all of the preparations in place; the kill spot was chosen and the grave had been dug. Then, at 5:09am, he spotted a young woman, alone, pull into the parking lot. The young woman was Naomi Irion.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Tell me a true crime story.
Hey there, welcome to Tell Me aTrue Crime Story podcast.
(00:23):
I'm your host, holly.
Thank you so much for spendingthis time with me and for taking
me along with you as you goabout your day.
I'm honored that you havechosen to listen to me, because
I know that you have manyquality choices to choose from.
I hope that you all are havinga joyous holiday season and, of
(00:43):
course, I hope that you and yourfamily are happy, healthy and
together forever.
Please follow this podcast onFacebook, instagram and TikTok.
My username on all three ofthose is at Tell Me a True Crime
Story.
To those of you who do follow me, you haven't seen a post from
me in a little while.
I did take a break from socialmedia for a bit.
(01:05):
I haven't posted a new episodeon the podcast for several weeks
.
It's been one thing after theother.
It was Thanksgiving and I hadfamily stay with me for a week
for the holiday.
Then I was out of town for aweek, then I was sick for a week
, and I'm still getting overbeing sick, so forgive me if my
(01:26):
voice sounds scratchy.
And this is the part where Iask you guys to leave me a 5
star review on Apple and or a 5star rating on Spotify.
Thank you for the awesomereviews on Apple to those of you
who have already done so for me, and on Spotify I received more
(01:47):
5 star ratings, so you guyshave really helped me out by
doing that.
Thanks a ton, and big, big hugsto you guys and to those of you
who haven't and you enjoy thispodcast.
I'd be so grateful if you wouldtake a few moments of your time
and do that for me.
I appreciate each and every oneof you guys.
(02:10):
Now let me tell you a true crimestory.
18 year old Naomi ChristineErion lived with her big brother
Casey Valley in Fernley, nevada, but she hadn't lived there for
very long, just about sevenmonths or so since moving there
from South Africa in August of2021.
(02:30):
Because her dad was a foreigndiplomat, naomi had lived in
many different countries aroundthe world.
Although she was well traveled.
Her brother Casey knew that shewanted to gain some
independence and get away fromher protective parents for a bit
, so he invited his littlesister to live with him in the
United States.
So after Naomi graduated fromhigh school, she did just that.
(02:54):
Our story starts out on Saturday, march 12, 2022.
A man with a sinister planpulled into a dirt parking lot
just south of a Walmart parkinglot in Fernley, nevada in the
wee hours of the morning.
He's a predator and he's hereto wait on a lone woman that he
can kidnap, rape, shoot to deathand bury in a remote grave, a
(03:17):
grave that he dug a monthearlier in preparation for this
day.
The man with a sinister planpulled into a dirt parking lot
just south of a Walmart parkinglot in Fernley Nevada.
He's a predator and he's hereto help him out.
Naomi was reported missing byher brother, casey Valley, in
the evening on March 13, 2022.
She was last seen on theprevious morning, march 12, 2022
, when she left her home inFurnley Nevada for work.
(03:38):
Naomi worked at PanasonicEnergy of North America in Reno,
nevada.
On March 15, 2022,.
The investigation into Naomi'sdisappearance was assigned to
the Lyon County Sheriff's OfficeInvestigations Division.
Investigators learned thatNaomi would always park her car
in the same spot at Walmartlocated at 1550 East Newlands
(04:01):
Drive in Furnley, nevada, andtake the shuttle bus to work.
The first step the detectivestook in the investigation was to
look at surveillance footagefrom the Walmart.
On that footage, they observedthat at 5.09 am on March 12,
naomi drove into the Walmartparking lot in her blue 1992
Mercury Sable and parked it inthe parking lot on the east side
(04:22):
of the store.
As Naomi sat in the driver'sseat of her car waiting on the
shuttle bus, she was on her cellphone talking to friends
overseas on social media.
There is a man seen on thesurveillance footage wearing a
gray hoodie, dark pants or jeansand dark tennis shoes, actively
stalking Naomi.
He eventually approached thedriver's side of her vehicle.
(04:45):
He opened her driver's sidedoor and got into the car.
Seconds later, the unknown mandrove Naomi's car out of the
Walmart parking lot.
After viewing that footage,investigators became almost
positive that Naomi was takenagainst her will.
The Lyon County Sheriff'sOffice began looking for Naomi's
car, but it wasn't found untilthree days after Naomi was
(05:07):
abducted.
On March 15, 2022,.
Her car was located in Furnley,nevada, in a dirt parking lot
on the east side of Duffy Roadbetween a Lowe's Home
Improvement and aSherwin-Williams paint factory.
This location was only a half amile away from the Walmart she
had been kidnapped from.
Naomi's car was seized asevidence and was taken to the
(05:28):
Forensic Science Division of theWashoe County Sheriff's Office
to be processed by forensictechnicians.
Meanwhile, detectives were alsoconducting emergency location
pings of Naomi's cell phone.
Sadly, there was no locationdata available for Naomi's phone
.
Detectives determined that herphone had been turned off on the
morning of March 12, themorning of her abduction.
(05:51):
There was also no furtheractivity on her social media
accounts or her financialaccounts.
The video surveillance footagefrom Walmart was studied and
analyzed in order to get moreinformation on the suspect that
had gotten into Naomi's car andtaken her away.
It was determined throughtriangulation using reference
points, that the suspect wasbetween six foot and six foot
(06:14):
three inches tall.
In addition to the invaluablefootage from Walmart, detectives
were able to get additionalvideo surveillance from
businesses in the area.
Thankfully, they were able toget their hands on video footage
that showed Naomi's MercurySable being driven southbound on
Duffy Road.
On the afternoon she waskidnapped.
At 3.31 pm someone parked hercar in the dirt lot between
(06:37):
Lowe's and the Sherwin-WilliamsPaint Factory.
An unknown man can be seen onthe video walking away from her
car.
He walked southbound on DuffyRoad.
Not even 45 minutes later, at4.12pm, a grayish-blue Chevy
pickup truck could be seen onvideo driving on Duffy Road.
The truck parked near Naomi'scar and the driver of the truck
(07:00):
got out, walked to Naomi's car,got in it and moved her car to a
different dirt parking lot.
He then got out of her vehicleand left in the Chevy truck.
Detectives took screenshots ofthe truck from that surveillance
footage so that they couldattempt to identify the truck
and its driver.
Since they now stronglybelieved that the driver of the
(07:21):
truck was involved in thedisappearance of Naomi Ereon,
the screenshots of the truckwere released to the public.
Detectives also had thosescreenshots analyzed by several
Chevrolet dealerships in thearea.
Each Chevy dealership analyzedthe photos independently.
They found that the truck andthe screenshots taken from the
(07:41):
video surveillance had someunique and distinct features.
It was determined that thetruck had four doors with chrome
door handles, partiallychrome-wrapped rear view mirrors
, roof-mounted fog lights,chrome running boards, chrome
rims, a gold-colored Chevroletemblem on the front bumper, a
rear center sliding window andcolor-matched front and rear
(08:04):
bumpers.
Several of the dealerships thatanalyzed the photos of the
truck identified it as ametallic blue or metallic gray,
2020-2022 Chevy High Country 25or 3500.
Now that detectives had thiscrucial information, they were
able to go to the NevadaDepartment of Motor Vehicles and
(08:24):
obtain a list of the trucksthat match that description in
western Nevada.
Their inquiry returned severalhundred possible matches.
Detectives were then assistedby the Nevada Threat Analysis
Center, ntac.
The NTAC is an entity withinthe Nevada Department of Public
Safety Investigation Divisionthat provides criminal and
(08:46):
administrative investigatoryresponse to law enforcement in
Nevada.
The NTAC helped detectivesnarrow down the suspect truck
list by eliminating vehiclesfrom the list based on color.
The list was further narroweddown by eliminating trucks that
had modifications, differentchrome packages or different
rims, etc.
(09:06):
Detectives discovered a truckregistered to an address in
Silver Springs, nevada, that wasregistered to a Troy Edward
Driver.
A check of his driver's licenseindicated that Troy Driver was
a 41-year-old white man who was6'3" tall and weighed 215 pounds
.
A criminal background check ofTroy Driver revealed an
(09:27):
extensive criminal history.
Just the year prior, in 2021,he was the suspect in a sexual
assault case in Elko, nevada.
However, his criminal careerstarted with animal cruelty
charges when he was just ateenager.
Not long after that, he served12 years in a California prison
for his role in the murder of ateenager.
(09:48):
Let's go back for a moment twoand a half decades ago, to the
year 1997.
On April 21, 1997, reputed methdealer, 19-year-old Paul
Rodriguez, went missing fromWillets, a city in Mendocino
County in Northern California.
A couple of weeks later, hisbody was found in a wooded area.
(10:08):
The investigation into hispremeditated murder determined
that Paul Rodriguez was lured byhis 17-year-old girlfriend,
alyssa Moore, to 17-year-oldTroy Driver's home where he
lived with his parents.
The driver home was located offof a rural road in a remote
area.
It was there that Alyssa Mooreshot her boyfriend Paul
(10:29):
Rodriguez in the head with ashotgun.
After that, alyssa Moore, troyDriver and another teenager
who'd been present for themurder, 19-year-old Carl
Dulinsky, dragged PaulRodriguez's body to his car.
They drove his body 55 milesaway and disposed of it in a
heavily wooded area.
The teens then took thevictim's car to another area and
(10:50):
torched it.
Troy Driver's 19-year-old sisterwas also present during the
planning of the murder andpleaded guilty to be an
accessory to the murder.
Prior to murdering PaulRodriguez, the teens had also
gone on an armed robbery spree ashort time before the murder,
stealing cash and cigarettesfrom different stores.
Troy Driver pleaded guilty torobbery charges, firearms
(11:12):
charges, burglary and accessoryto murder.
After the fact, he was tried asan adult for his part in the
murder and was sentenced to 15years in prison.
In 2012, he was paroled from aCalifornia state prison and his
parole was soon transferred toNevada.
Three years later, in 2015, hisparole was completed and he was
(11:33):
no longer under supervisionfrom the state of Nevada.
Since Troy Driver's physicaldescription on his driver's
license matched the suspect onthe Walmart surveillance footage
and based on his criminalhistory, investigators made it a
priority to locate TroyDriver's truck to compare it to
the suspect vehicle.
They learned that he was livingin Fallon, nevada, about 30
(11:54):
minutes southeast of the WalmartNaomi was taken from.
He worked as a projectsuperintendent for Leadcore, a
mining company in Nevada.
Troy Driver's truck was locatedat his residence in
Photographed, his four-doormetallic gray 2020 Chevy High
Country 3500 pickup truckmatched the suspect truck point
(12:14):
for point.
This included the chrome doorhandles, partially wrapped
chrome-wrapped rear view mirrors, chrome running boards, chrome
rims, a gold-colored Chevyemblem on the front bumper, a
rear sliding window,roof-mounted running lights and
color-matched front and rearbumpers.
Detectives learned that TroyDriver had two cell phones a
(12:36):
personal cell phone and a workcell phone.
They sought a search warrantfor both of those phone's
records.
They wanted to use thoserecords to determine his
location.
On the morning of Naomi'sabduction, march 12, 2022.
Well, when detectives receivedthose cell phone records, the
records indicated that both ofTroy Driver's cell phones had
been located at his home inFallon, nevada on March 12.
(13:00):
Furthermore, those recordsshowed there was zero activity
on either phone on thatparticular date, which was not
at all consistent with TroyDriver's normal cell phone usage
.
The cell phone records showedthat March 12 was the only day
in March that Troy Driver didnot use his cell phones.
He'd used his cell phones daily, every other day in March of
(13:20):
2022.
While detectives had beeninvestigating and analyzing the
suspect vehicle, otherdetectives reviewed hours of
surveillance footage frombusinesses located in the area
of Walmart on Newlands Drive inFallon, nevada.
They eventually located footageof the suspect truck on video
arriving in the area of theWalmart on the morning of March
(13:42):
12.
At 4.22 am, the pickup truckparks in a dirt lot typically
used by semi-trucks and RVs onthe south side of the Walmart
parking lot located betweenWells Fargo Bank and the Greater
Nevada Credit Union.
Other footage shows Naomi's carentering the Walmart parking
lot from Newlands Drive at 5.09am and, of course, the Chevy
(14:05):
truck is already in the dirt lotat this point After Naomi parks
her car.
The suspect can be seen onvideo walking across the Walmart
parking lot from the dirt lotwhere the Chevy truck had been
parked.
The suspect then stalks Naomias she sits in her car for
several more minutes beforeentering her car from the
driver's side and driving awaywith her.
(14:28):
As you already know,surveillance footage was pieced
together from differentbusinesses in the area that
showed the suspect leavingNaomi's car in that dirt lot on
the afternoon of March 12th.
The same day she'd beenabducted from the Walmart
parking lot and, as I said, thefootage revealed a man getting
out of her car and walking awayfrom it in a southerly direction
(14:48):
.
Then the man turned and walkedwest across Stanley Drive near
Greater Nevada Credit Union,where his face was clearly
caught on camera.
The man was Troy Driver.
He continued to walk to theChevrolet truck that was parked
in the dirt lot south of theWalmart.
He got into his truck wherehe'd left it that morning and
(15:09):
drove out of the dirt lot.
Surveillance footage provedthat his truck had been there
the whole time.
It had not moved since he'dinitially parked it there after
four in the morning.
After leaving the dirt lot nearWalmart in his truck, troy
Driver actually returned toNaomi's car, got out of his
truck and repositioned her carin the dirt lot where he'd
(15:29):
abandoned it near the Lowe's andthe paint factory.
Then he got back in his truckand left the area.
Detectives now believed they hadprobable cause to arrest Troy
Driver for the abduction ofNaomi Eryon.
13 days after Naomi disappeared, on March 25th 2022, troy
Driver was arrested and bookedinto the Lyon County Jail.
(15:51):
He refused to speak todetectives.
At the same time he wasarrested, a search warrant was
executed on Troy Driver'sresidence in Fallon, nevada.
His Chevy truck was seized asevidence and sent for forensic
processing at the Washoo CountySheriff's Office.
Laboratory Detectives noticedthat Troy Driver's truck had
brand new tires.
(16:12):
Their investigation soondetermined that he'd had his
tires replaced on March 19th,one week after Naomi disappeared
.
Rather suspiciously, he'd hadhis tires replaced at a less
Schwab tire center two hoursnorth of where he lived in a
town called Winamucca, eventhough the less Schwab tire
center in his own town had thesame tires in stock.
(16:34):
Investigators believe that themedia attention surrounding this
case led Troy Driver to believethat it would be a safer bet to
get out of the immediate areato get them replaced.
Luckily, troy Driver's originaltires were still at the less
Schwab in Winamucca and wereretrieved as evidence.
Four days after Troy driver wasarrested, on March 29,
(16:58):
authorities received a tip thatled them to an inactive mine in
a remote area, the Buena Vistairon mine.
The mine is located about twohours northeast of the Walmart
that Naomi was taken from.
Troy driver was familiar withthe Buena Vista iron mine and
knew the security go to thepadlocked gate at the site
because the company he workedfor at the time of Naomi's
(17:20):
abduction, lead core, had takensamples from the site.
A tipster reported to thePershing County Sheriff's Office
that in February of 2022, amonth before Naomi's abduction,
a semi truck hauling anexcavator had been trying to
deliver the excavator to Troydriver at the Relief Canyon Mine
.
The Relief Canyon Mine islocated in Pershing County just
(17:42):
outside of Love Lock, nevada.
A mine employee who had spokento the semi truck driver
personally knew Troy driver andknew that he was not working at
the Relief Canyon Mine.
The mine employee called Troydriver, who asked that the
excavator be delivered to theBuena Vista iron mine, which is
located in Churchill Countyabout 17 miles south of the
(18:03):
Relief Canyon Mine.
Detectives learned that thecompany Troy driver worked for
lead core, had been hired to digsamples at the Buena Vista mine
.
That's why a month earlier inFebruary of 2022, troy driver
had been there waiting for thedelivery of the excavator.
After receiving the tip aboutthe excavator being delivered to
Troy driver at the Buena Vistairon mine, a Pershing County
(18:27):
Sheriff's Office Sergeant wentto the abandoned mine site and
observed professionally turnedover dirt on the north side of
the mine that did not seemconsistent with mining.
The Sergeant contacteddetectives with Churchill and
Lyon County Sheriff's offices.
With this information,investigators went to the mine
site and discovered aclandestine grave there,
(18:48):
evidenced by what appeared to befreshly dug dirt in the shape
of a grave.
The dirt had rock scattered ontop of it in a futile attempt to
make it appear natural.
A little bit of diggingdetermined that it was indeed a
grave.
Forensic technicians respondedto the scene and processed the
grave site.
They exhumed a naked femalebody from the earth.
(19:09):
She had been buried about fourto five feet deep.
Seventeen days after she hadbeen kidnapped, 18-year-old
Naomi Christine Eryon had beenfound.
Authorities discoveredexcavator track marks at the
area of the grave site and toolmarks left by the excavator
shovel located at every depth ofthe grave, which, of course,
(19:30):
were indicative of the gravehaving been dug by an excavator
Tire impressions from Naomi'scar and from the discarded tires
from the Winamucka Les Schwabtire center that had been on
Troy driver Chevy truck on theday Naomi was taken were located
at the grave site as well.
And that's where I'm going toleave off for part one of this
(19:51):
case.
Part two is nearly finished, soyou won't have to wait too long
to listen to it.
In part two I'll tell you aboutwhat happened to sweet Naomi
and the evidence against Troydriver and more.
Thank you, guys, so much forlistening to this episode of
Tell Me a True Crime Story.
Please follow the podcast onsocial media at Tell Me a True
(20:13):
Crime Story on Facebook,instagram and TikTok.
And I have several ways you cansupport the podcast.
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And the other ways to show yoursupport are totally free.
(20:34):
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And, lastly, you can support mea ton by telling everyone that
you know that loves true crimeabout this podcast and have them
(20:55):
take a listen.
Thank you guys so much and thankyou again for being here.
I love you guys lots.
I've missed you guys.
I'm sorry that I was absent fora while.
Life just got in the way andthere was a lot of things going
on, and I thank you guys forbeing understanding about that.
I'm glad that you're here.
(21:15):
I wish you all and your familygood health and happiness.
I hope you enjoy the holidayseason with your family and your
friends.
I know that the holidays can bea very rough time for some
people for lots of differentreasons, and I'm thinking about
you guys too that are struggling, and I'm keeping you guys close
(21:36):
to my heart.
Please join me in the nextepisode when I'll tell you
another true crime story.
Big, big hugs to each and everyone of you.
Bye, bye.
Tell me a true crime story.
Hey there, welcome to Tell Me aTrue Crime Story podcast.
(00:23):
I'm your host, holly.
Thank you so much for spendingthis time with me and for taking
me along with you as you goabout your day.
I'm honored that you havechosen to listen to me, because
I know that you have manyquality choices to choose from.
I hope that you all are havinga joyous holiday season and, of
(00:43):
course, I hope that you and yourfamily are happy, healthy and
together forever.
Please follow this podcast onFacebook, instagram and TikTok.
My username on all three ofthose is at Tell Me a True Crime
Story.
To those of you who do follow me, you haven't seen a post from
me in a little while.
I did take a break from socialmedia for a bit.
(01:05):
I haven't posted a new episodeon the podcast for several weeks
.
It's been one thing after theother.
It was Thanksgiving and I hadfamily stay with me for a week
for the holiday.
Then I was out of town for aweek, then I was sick for a week
, and I'm still getting overbeing sick, so forgive me if my
(01:26):
voice sounds scratchy.
And this is the part where Iask you guys to leave me a 5
star review on Apple and or a 5star rating on Spotify.
Thank you for the awesomereviews on Apple to those of you
who have already done so for me, and on Spotify I received more
(01:47):
5 star ratings, so you guyshave really helped me out by
doing that.
Thanks a ton, and big, big hugsto you guys and to those of you
who haven't and you enjoy thispodcast.
I'd be so grateful if you wouldtake a few moments of your time
and do that for me.
I appreciate each and every oneof you guys.
(02:10):
Now let me tell you a true crimestory.
18 year old Naomi ChristineErion lived with her big brother
Casey Valley in Fernley, nevada, but she hadn't lived there for
very long, just about sevenmonths or so since moving there
from South Africa in August of2021.
(02:30):
Because her dad was a foreigndiplomat, naomi had lived in
many different countries aroundthe world.
Although she was well traveled.
Her brother Casey knew that shewanted to gain some
independence and get away fromher protective parents for a bit
, so he invited his littlesister to live with him in the
United States.
So after Naomi graduated fromhigh school, she did just that.
(02:54):
Our story starts out on Saturday, march 12, 2022.
A man with a sinister planpulled into a dirt parking lot
just south of a Walmart parkinglot in Fernley, nevada in the
wee hours of the morning.
He's a predator and he's hereto wait on a lone woman that he
can kidnap, rape, shoot to deathand bury in a remote grave, a
(03:17):
grave that he dug a monthearlier in preparation for this
day.
The man with a sinister planpulled into a dirt parking lot
just south of a Walmart parkinglot in Fernley Nevada.
He's a predator and he's hereto help him out.
Naomi was reported missing byher brother, casey Valley, in
the evening on March 13, 2022.
She was last seen on theprevious morning, march 12, 2022
, when she left her home inFurnley Nevada for work.
(03:38):
Naomi worked at PanasonicEnergy of North America in Reno,
nevada.
On March 15, 2022,.
The investigation into Naomi'sdisappearance was assigned to
the Lyon County Sheriff's OfficeInvestigations Division.
Investigators learned thatNaomi would always park her car
in the same spot at Walmartlocated at 1550 East Newlands
(04:01):
Drive in Furnley, nevada, andtake the shuttle bus to work.
The first step the detectivestook in the investigation was to
look at surveillance footagefrom the Walmart.
On that footage, they observedthat at 5.09 am on March 12,
naomi drove into the Walmartparking lot in her blue 1992
Mercury Sable and parked it inthe parking lot on the east side
(04:22):
of the store.
As Naomi sat in the driver'sseat of her car waiting on the
shuttle bus, she was on her cellphone talking to friends
overseas on social media.
There is a man seen on thesurveillance footage wearing a
gray hoodie, dark pants or jeansand dark tennis shoes, actively
stalking Naomi.
He eventually approached thedriver's side of her vehicle.
(04:45):
He opened her driver's sidedoor and got into the car.
Seconds later, the unknown mandrove Naomi's car out of the
Walmart parking lot.
After viewing that footage,investigators became almost
positive that Naomi was takenagainst her will.
The Lyon County Sheriff'sOffice began looking for Naomi's
car, but it wasn't found untilthree days after Naomi was
(05:07):
abducted.
On March 15, 2022,.
Her car was located in Furnley,nevada, in a dirt parking lot
on the east side of Duffy Roadbetween a Lowe's Home
Improvement and aSherwin-Williams paint factory.
This location was only a half amile away from the Walmart she
had been kidnapped from.
Naomi's car was seized asevidence and was taken to the
(05:28):
Forensic Science Division of theWashoe County Sheriff's Office
to be processed by forensictechnicians.
Meanwhile, detectives were alsoconducting emergency location
pings of Naomi's cell phone.
Sadly, there was no locationdata available for Naomi's phone
.
Detectives determined that herphone had been turned off on the
morning of March 12, themorning of her abduction.
(05:51):
There was also no furtheractivity on her social media
accounts or her financialaccounts.
The video surveillance footagefrom Walmart was studied and
analyzed in order to get moreinformation on the suspect that
had gotten into Naomi's car andtaken her away.
It was determined throughtriangulation using reference
points, that the suspect wasbetween six foot and six foot
(06:14):
three inches tall.
In addition to the invaluablefootage from Walmart, detectives
were able to get additionalvideo surveillance from
businesses in the area.
Thankfully, they were able toget their hands on video footage
that showed Naomi's MercurySable being driven southbound on
Duffy Road.
On the afternoon she waskidnapped.
At 3.31 pm someone parked hercar in the dirt lot between
(06:37):
Lowe's and the Sherwin-WilliamsPaint Factory.
An unknown man can be seen onthe video walking away from her
car.
He walked southbound on DuffyRoad.
Not even 45 minutes later, at4.12pm, a grayish-blue Chevy
pickup truck could be seen onvideo driving on Duffy Road.
The truck parked near Naomi'scar and the driver of the truck
(07:00):
got out, walked to Naomi's car,got in it and moved her car to a
different dirt parking lot.
He then got out of her vehicleand left in the Chevy truck.
Detectives took screenshots ofthe truck from that surveillance
footage so that they couldattempt to identify the truck
and its driver.
Since they now stronglybelieved that the driver of the
(07:21):
truck was involved in thedisappearance of Naomi Ereon,
the screenshots of the truckwere released to the public.
Detectives also had thosescreenshots analyzed by several
Chevrolet dealerships in thearea.
Each Chevy dealership analyzedthe photos independently.
They found that the truck andthe screenshots taken from the
(07:41):
video surveillance had someunique and distinct features.
It was determined that thetruck had four doors with chrome
door handles, partiallychrome-wrapped rear view mirrors
, roof-mounted fog lights,chrome running boards, chrome
rims, a gold-colored Chevroletemblem on the front bumper, a
rear center sliding window andcolor-matched front and rear
(08:04):
bumpers.
Several of the dealerships thatanalyzed the photos of the
truck identified it as ametallic blue or metallic gray,
2020-2022 Chevy High Country 25or 3500.
Now that detectives had thiscrucial information, they were
able to go to the NevadaDepartment of Motor Vehicles and
(08:24):
obtain a list of the trucksthat match that description in
western Nevada.
Their inquiry returned severalhundred possible matches.
Detectives were then assistedby the Nevada Threat Analysis
Center, ntac.
The NTAC is an entity withinthe Nevada Department of Public
Safety Investigation Divisionthat provides criminal and
(08:46):
administrative investigatoryresponse to law enforcement in
Nevada.
The NTAC helped detectivesnarrow down the suspect truck
list by eliminating vehiclesfrom the list based on color.
The list was further narroweddown by eliminating trucks that
had modifications, differentchrome packages or different
rims, etc.
(09:06):
Detectives discovered a truckregistered to an address in
Silver Springs, nevada, that wasregistered to a Troy Edward
Driver.
A check of his driver's licenseindicated that Troy Driver was
a 41-year-old white man who was6'3" tall and weighed 215 pounds
.
A criminal background check ofTroy Driver revealed an
(09:27):
extensive criminal history.
Just the year prior, in 2021,he was the suspect in a sexual
assault case in Elko, nevada.
However, his criminal careerstarted with animal cruelty
charges when he was just ateenager.
Not long after that, he served12 years in a California prison
for his role in the murder of ateenager.
(09:48):
Let's go back for a moment twoand a half decades ago, to the
year 1997.
On April 21, 1997, reputed methdealer, 19-year-old Paul
Rodriguez, went missing fromWillets, a city in Mendocino
County in Northern California.
A couple of weeks later, hisbody was found in a wooded area.
(10:08):
The investigation into hispremeditated murder determined
that Paul Rodriguez was lured byhis 17-year-old girlfriend,
alyssa Moore, to 17-year-oldTroy Driver's home where he
lived with his parents.
The driver home was located offof a rural road in a remote
area.
It was there that Alyssa Mooreshot her boyfriend Paul
(10:29):
Rodriguez in the head with ashotgun.
After that, alyssa Moore, troyDriver and another teenager
who'd been present for themurder, 19-year-old Carl
Dulinsky, dragged PaulRodriguez's body to his car.
They drove his body 55 milesaway and disposed of it in a
heavily wooded area.
The teens then took thevictim's car to another area and
(10:50):
torched it.
Troy Driver's 19-year-old sisterwas also present during the
planning of the murder andpleaded guilty to be an
accessory to the murder.
Prior to murdering PaulRodriguez, the teens had also
gone on an armed robbery spree ashort time before the murder,
stealing cash and cigarettesfrom different stores.
Troy Driver pleaded guilty torobbery charges, firearms
(11:12):
charges, burglary and accessoryto murder.
After the fact, he was tried asan adult for his part in the
murder and was sentenced to 15years in prison.
In 2012, he was paroled from aCalifornia state prison and his
parole was soon transferred toNevada.
Three years later, in 2015, hisparole was completed and he was
(11:33):
no longer under supervisionfrom the state of Nevada.
Since Troy Driver's physicaldescription on his driver's
license matched the suspect onthe Walmart surveillance footage
and based on his criminalhistory, investigators made it a
priority to locate TroyDriver's truck to compare it to
the suspect vehicle.
They learned that he was livingin Fallon, nevada, about 30
(11:54):
minutes southeast of the WalmartNaomi was taken from.
He worked as a projectsuperintendent for Leadcore, a
mining company in Nevada.
Troy Driver's truck was locatedat his residence in
Photographed, his four-doormetallic gray 2020 Chevy High
Country 3500 pickup truckmatched the suspect truck point
(12:14):
for point.
This included the chrome doorhandles, partially wrapped
chrome-wrapped rear view mirrors, chrome running boards, chrome
rims, a gold-colored Chevyemblem on the front bumper, a
rear sliding window,roof-mounted running lights and
color-matched front and rearbumpers.
Detectives learned that TroyDriver had two cell phones a
(12:36):
personal cell phone and a workcell phone.
They sought a search warrantfor both of those phone's
records.
They wanted to use thoserecords to determine his
location.
On the morning of Naomi'sabduction, march 12, 2022.
Well, when detectives receivedthose cell phone records, the
records indicated that both ofTroy Driver's cell phones had
been located at his home inFallon, nevada on March 12.
(13:00):
Furthermore, those recordsshowed there was zero activity
on either phone on thatparticular date, which was not
at all consistent with TroyDriver's normal cell phone usage
.
The cell phone records showedthat March 12 was the only day
in March that Troy Driver didnot use his cell phones.
He'd used his cell phones daily, every other day in March of
(13:20):
2022.
While detectives had beeninvestigating and analyzing the
suspect vehicle, otherdetectives reviewed hours of
surveillance footage frombusinesses located in the area
of Walmart on Newlands Drive inFallon, nevada.
They eventually located footageof the suspect truck on video
arriving in the area of theWalmart on the morning of March
(13:42):
12.
At 4.22 am, the pickup truckparks in a dirt lot typically
used by semi-trucks and RVs onthe south side of the Walmart
parking lot located betweenWells Fargo Bank and the Greater
Nevada Credit Union.
Other footage shows Naomi's carentering the Walmart parking
lot from Newlands Drive at 5.09am and, of course, the Chevy
(14:05):
truck is already in the dirt lotat this point After Naomi parks
her car.
The suspect can be seen onvideo walking across the Walmart
parking lot from the dirt lotwhere the Chevy truck had been
parked.
The suspect then stalks Naomias she sits in her car for
several more minutes beforeentering her car from the
driver's side and driving awaywith her.
(14:28):
As you already know,surveillance footage was pieced
together from differentbusinesses in the area that
showed the suspect leavingNaomi's car in that dirt lot on
the afternoon of March 12th.
The same day she'd beenabducted from the Walmart
parking lot and, as I said, thefootage revealed a man getting
out of her car and walking awayfrom it in a southerly direction
(14:48):
.
Then the man turned and walkedwest across Stanley Drive near
Greater Nevada Credit Union,where his face was clearly
caught on camera.
The man was Troy Driver.
He continued to walk to theChevrolet truck that was parked
in the dirt lot south of theWalmart.
He got into his truck wherehe'd left it that morning and
(15:09):
drove out of the dirt lot.
Surveillance footage provedthat his truck had been there
the whole time.
It had not moved since he'dinitially parked it there after
four in the morning.
After leaving the dirt lot nearWalmart in his truck, troy
Driver actually returned toNaomi's car, got out of his
truck and repositioned her carin the dirt lot where he'd
(15:29):
abandoned it near the Lowe's andthe paint factory.
Then he got back in his truckand left the area.
Detectives now believed they hadprobable cause to arrest Troy
Driver for the abduction ofNaomi Eryon.
13 days after Naomi disappeared, on March 25th 2022, troy
Driver was arrested and bookedinto the Lyon County Jail.
(15:51):
He refused to speak todetectives.
At the same time he wasarrested, a search warrant was
executed on Troy Driver'sresidence in Fallon, nevada.
His Chevy truck was seized asevidence and sent for forensic
processing at the Washoo CountySheriff's Office.
Laboratory Detectives noticedthat Troy Driver's truck had
brand new tires.
(16:12):
Their investigation soondetermined that he'd had his
tires replaced on March 19th,one week after Naomi disappeared
.
Rather suspiciously, he'd hadhis tires replaced at a less
Schwab tire center two hoursnorth of where he lived in a
town called Winamucca, eventhough the less Schwab tire
center in his own town had thesame tires in stock.
(16:34):
Investigators believe that themedia attention surrounding this
case led Troy Driver to believethat it would be a safer bet to
get out of the immediate areato get them replaced.
Luckily, troy Driver's originaltires were still at the less
Schwab in Winamucca and wereretrieved as evidence.
Four days after Troy driver wasarrested, on March 29,
(16:58):
authorities received a tip thatled them to an inactive mine in
a remote area, the Buena Vistairon mine.
The mine is located about twohours northeast of the Walmart
that Naomi was taken from.
Troy driver was familiar withthe Buena Vista iron mine and
knew the security go to thepadlocked gate at the site
because the company he workedfor at the time of Naomi's
(17:20):
abduction, lead core, had takensamples from the site.
A tipster reported to thePershing County Sheriff's Office
that in February of 2022, amonth before Naomi's abduction,
a semi truck hauling anexcavator had been trying to
deliver the excavator to Troydriver at the Relief Canyon Mine
.
The Relief Canyon Mine islocated in Pershing County just
(17:42):
outside of Love Lock, nevada.
A mine employee who had spokento the semi truck driver
personally knew Troy driver andknew that he was not working at
the Relief Canyon Mine.
The mine employee called Troydriver, who asked that the
excavator be delivered to theBuena Vista iron mine, which is
located in Churchill Countyabout 17 miles south of the
(18:03):
Relief Canyon Mine.
Detectives learned that thecompany Troy driver worked for
lead core, had been hired to digsamples at the Buena Vista mine
.
That's why a month earlier inFebruary of 2022, troy driver
had been there waiting for thedelivery of the excavator.
After receiving the tip aboutthe excavator being delivered to
Troy driver at the Buena Vistairon mine, a Pershing County
(18:27):
Sheriff's Office Sergeant wentto the abandoned mine site and
observed professionally turnedover dirt on the north side of
the mine that did not seemconsistent with mining.
The Sergeant contacteddetectives with Churchill and
Lyon County Sheriff's offices.
With this information,investigators went to the mine
site and discovered aclandestine grave there,
(18:48):
evidenced by what appeared to befreshly dug dirt in the shape
of a grave.
The dirt had rock scattered ontop of it in a futile attempt to
make it appear natural.
A little bit of diggingdetermined that it was indeed a
grave.
Forensic technicians respondedto the scene and processed the
grave site.
They exhumed a naked femalebody from the earth.
(19:09):
She had been buried about fourto five feet deep.
Seventeen days after she hadbeen kidnapped, 18-year-old
Naomi Christine Eryon had beenfound.
Authorities discoveredexcavator track marks at the
area of the grave site and toolmarks left by the excavator
shovel located at every depth ofthe grave, which, of course,
(19:30):
were indicative of the gravehaving been dug by an excavator
Tire impressions from Naomi'scar and from the discarded tires
from the Winamucka Les Schwabtire center that had been on
Troy driver Chevy truck on theday Naomi was taken were located
at the grave site as well.
And that's where I'm going toleave off for part one of this
(19:51):
case.
Part two is nearly finished, soyou won't have to wait too long
to listen to it.
In part two I'll tell you aboutwhat happened to sweet Naomi
and the evidence against Troydriver and more.
Thank you, guys, so much forlistening to this episode of
Tell Me a True Crime Story.
Please follow the podcast onsocial media at Tell Me a True
(20:13):
Crime Story on Facebook,instagram and TikTok.
And I have several ways you cansupport the podcast.
You can buy me a coffee bygoing to buymeacoffeecom slash
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They call it buy me a coffee,but it's really just a way to
show your appreciation and sendme a tip.
And the other ways to show yoursupport are totally free.
(20:34):
You can submit a review of thepodcast on Apple Podcast and
Spotify.
You can write a short but sweetfive star review for the
podcast on Apple Podcast or giveit a five star rating on
Spotify.
And, lastly, you can support mea ton by telling everyone that
you know that loves true crimeabout this podcast and have them
(20:55):
take a listen.
Thank you guys so much and thankyou again for being here.
I love you guys lots.
I've missed you guys.
I'm sorry that I was absent fora while.
Life just got in the way andthere was a lot of things going
on, and I thank you guys forbeing understanding about that.
I'm glad that you're here.
(21:15):
I wish you all and your familygood health and happiness.
I hope you enjoy the holidayseason with your family and your
friends.
I know that the holidays can bea very rough time for some
people for lots of differentreasons, and I'm thinking about
you guys too that are struggling, and I'm keeping you guys close
(21:36):
to my heart.
Please join me in the nextepisode when I'll tell you
another true crime story.
Big, big hugs to each and everyone of you.
Bye, bye.
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