January 15, 2024 • 27 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.
(00:22):
I'm your host, holly.
Thank you so much for spendingthis time with me.
I am truly grateful that youare here.
Happy New Year and I hope thatyou had a joyous holiday season.
If the holiday season is adifficult time for you, which I
know it is for many, it was forme this past holiday season.
(00:43):
I'm very sorry and I'm thinkingabout you and keeping you close
to my heart.
Like I said, it was a reallyrough time for me this year and
it was the first time for methat the holidays had been so
tough, so it was a new thing forme to go through and to deal
(01:06):
with and to get through.
So just know that if you'restill going through it, there's
hope out there and just reachout, find out where to get
there's help out.
There is what I meant to say,and there's definitely hope and
(01:26):
it's not hopeless like it feels,and you will get better.
It just takes time.
Reach out, get the help and ifyou don't know where to get the
help, just ask somebody or callthe crisis hotline in your area,
or you can even email me and Ican help you.
(01:48):
My email is holly's tell mepodcast at gmailcom.
Yes, just get help, it will getbetter.
It takes time and big, big hugsto all of you guys who are
listening.
Please follow this podcast onFacebook, instagram, youtube and
(02:10):
TikTok.
My username on all of those isat tell me a true crime story.
And this is the time where Ibug you and I ask you for
written reviews on Apple and forratings on Spotify.
Thank you for your awesomereviews on Apple and for the
five star ratings on Spotify.
If you've done that favor forme already, it is a free and
(02:34):
tremendously helpful way thatyou can support me and what I do
here.
And, yeah, so if you haven'tdone that yet and you enjoy the
podcast, please take a minuteand go do that for me.
Go go.
Thanks a ton and great big hugsto each and every one of you
that are listening.
(02:55):
This is part two, so if youhaven't listened to part one,
please go back and listen tothat one first and we can get
into this episode now.
Now let me tell you a truecrime story.
This is where we left off inpart one.
A clandestine grave site hadbeen discovered at the Buena
(03:17):
Vista iron mine.
Troy driver had been at thatmine to accept the delivery of
an excavator.
In February of 2022, a monthbefore Naomi's abduction,
naomi's naked body was recoveredfrom that grave, buried about
four to five feet deep.
There were excavator shovelmarks within the grave
(03:38):
indicating that it had been dugwith the machine.
Also at the grave site wereexcavator track marks and tire
impressions from Naomi's car andfrom the original tires that
had been on Troy drivers' Chevytruck before he'd had them
replaced.
I also told you about the DNAresults taken from biological
(03:58):
evidence collected duringNaomi's autopsy and of the
charges that were broughtagainst Troy driver.
Now let's pick up from there.
Investigators found that Troydriver was in a serious dating
relationship with a woman andthey lived together.
His girlfriend cooperated withinvestigators and provided them
with crucial information in thiscase.
(04:19):
She also provided them withvaluable insight into Troy
driver's mindset and habits.
She told investigators that hewas infatuated with serial
killers and he was constantlyreading books and listening to
podcast about them.
She said he'd recently beenquestioning her daughter about
the shuttle bus that picks upworkers at the Walmart in
(04:41):
Fernley and transports them towork at Panasonic and Tesla.
He asked her daughter thingslike how many people rode the
bus and the locations of thestops that the bus made.
Troy driver's girlfriend alsotold investigators that he'd
gone solo camping the weekend ofMarch 12th 2022.
(05:03):
She said he'd left the house onthe evening of Friday March
11th and had returned the nextnight.
She reported that he did nottake his cell phones with him on
this camping trip, which shesaid was the norm for him when
he goes solo camping.
Troy driver's girlfriend andlead core of the company he
worked for were both able toconfirm for detectives that he
(05:26):
had been operating an excavatorat the Buena Vista iron mine on
February 14th 2022, a monthbefore the kidnapping and murder
of Naomi.
His girlfriend provided apicture of the excavator at the
iron mine that he texted to herthat day.
Troy Driver had been using theexcavator to dig sample holes on
(05:49):
the southern boundary of themine, but the investigation
uncovered that, after the otheremployees that had been working
at the mine site left that day,he used the machine to dig a
grave on the north side of themine, a long distance away from
the sample holes.
Again, this was one monthbefore Naomi was abducted and
murdered.
Authorities said in a pressconference in mid-August of 2023
(06:13):
that this grave site was quotedug with absolute premeditation.
End quote the investigation intothe abduction, rape and murder
of Naomi Ereon did not revealany connection between Troy
Driver and Naomi.
Instead, it showed that onMarch 11 and March 12 of 2022,
(06:35):
Troy Driver prepared for andhunted a random victim to rape
and murder.
He had the location of the killsite in mind, which was the
abandoned mine and a pre-duggrave, ready to go.
Detectives believe that he lefthis home on the evening of
March 11 and drove his truck tothe Buena Vista Iron Mine to
(06:57):
ensure the mine was stillabandoned and to make final
preparations.
Because he'd recently workedthere, he knew the combination
to the locked gate which gavehim access to the site.
After making those finalpreparations as Friday night,
march 11, stretched into theearly morning hours of Saturday
March 12, troy Driver made hisway to the Fernley Walmart,
(07:20):
which was his chosen kidnappinglocation.
Detectives believe that hechose this location because it
was dark and secluded and therewas a high probability of
finding a young woman by herselfin a vehicle there.
When he parked his truck in thedirt lot near the Walmart
parking lot, it was 4.22 am.
He then waited and watched,detectives theorized.
(07:44):
He observed Naomi arrive in theWalmart parking lot and saw
that she was young and alone.
He stalked her for a fewminutes, then approached her car
on the driver's side and likelybrandished a gun.
To quickly gain control ofNaomi, he made her scoot over to
the passenger seat and he droveher out of the Walmart parking
lot.
Shortly after that, troy Driverbroke or somehow disabled her
(08:08):
cell phone, because her cellphone was never used again after
5.23 am.
He then drove Naomi in her carto the Buena Vista Iron Mine,
which was about a two-hour drivefrom Walmart, where he raped,
murdered and buried her.
Troy Driver then burned all ofthe clothes that Naomi had been
wearing, along with some of hisclothing and other physical
(08:30):
evidence.
He returned to Fernley inNaomi's car and abandoned it
just a half a mile away fromWalmart in the dirt lot between
the Lowe's and Sherwin-Williamspaint factory, before walking
back to his truck that he'd leftin the dirt parking lot by
Walmart.
On March 25, 2022, troy Driverwas arrested and booked into the
(08:53):
Lyon County Jail in Yarrington,nevada.
On March 31, 2022, a mentalhealth assessment team made
contact with him and he refusedtheir services.
Almost five months later, inAugust of 2022, troy Driver had
a fellow inmate who got released, sneak a suicide slash
confession letter out of thejail in a deck of playing cards
(09:16):
and hand-deliver it to his nowex-girlfriend.
In the letter, troy Driver toldher that nothing he did was
sexually motivated.
Some other things he said inthe letter were that there had
always been a terrible darknessinside of him.
He intended on killing himselfrather than exposing his loved
ones to what he'd done.
The guilt he felt was crushing.
(09:39):
Troy Driver's girlfriendimmediately turned the letter
over to authorities, who thenplaced him on Suicide Watch.
On August 18, 2022, troy Drivermet with the psychiatric nurse
and he adamantly denied beingsuicidal.
He admitted to writing theletter, but he said he wanted to
be housed in a normal cell inthe maximum security housing
(10:01):
unit.
The next day, he again met withthe psychiatric nurse and he
again denied being suicidal.
The nurse moved him from mentalhealth observation and
discharged him into the maximumsecurity housing unit of the
Lyon County Jail.
On August 20th 2022, troy Driverattempted suicide.
(10:23):
So this was just two days laterthat he attempted suicide.
He met with the psychiatricnurse, he denied being suicidal
and then he was moved into themaximum security housing unit,
out of the, moved from themental health observation and
(10:44):
discharged into the maximumsecurity housing unit.
So then, like the next day, heattempted suicide.
He said he was overcome withguilt due to his family having
to deal with his incarceration,and two days later, though, he
told the psychiatric nurse thathe was not suicidal.
So on August 23rd 2022, just afew days later, an outside
(11:08):
psychiatric doctor saw TroyDriver and reported that he was
stable.
Then, a couple days later, onAugust 25th 2022, troy Driver
met with the psychiatric nurse,who discontinued his suicide
watch.
However, two days later, he wasplaced in an isolation cell
under mental health observationand constant video surveillance.
(11:29):
So a few days later, onSeptember 2nd 2022, or like a
week later on September 2nd 2022, troy Driver met with nursing
staff, who labeled him as stableand reported him as doing
better and no longer needing tomeet with medical staff.
Troy Driver told the medicalstaff that he wanted out of
isolation.
A week after that, on September9th 2022, the psychiatric nurse
(11:53):
met with Troy Driver, who saidhe was experiencing sleep
deprivation due to deputiesconstantly checking up on him
and his cell.
At that time, he refused totake any psychiatric medications
On October 5th.
So the next month.
Troy Driver October 5th 2022,troy Driver was still in an
(12:17):
isolation cell and he deniedbeing suicidal.
He stated he wanted to returnto the maximum security housing
unit and the next day he wasreturned there.
Ten days later, troy Driver wasseen by a psychiatric doctor
for a mental health appointment.
After that, he had multiplemeetings with medical staff
until his next suicide attemptabout five months later, on
(12:38):
March 7th of 2023.
He was treated for lacerationson his wrist.
He had appointments on March9th and March 10th with medical
staff.
On March 11th 2023, he met withthe psychiatric nurse.
At that time, he stated that hehadn't attempted to commit
suicide.
He'd just fallen on a shampoobottle.
He was placed on a mentalhealth watch again and returned
(13:01):
to an isolation cell.
The next month, on April 9th2023, troy Driver requested to
see the psychiatric nurse.
He told her that he was notsuicidal and she reported that
his mood was stable.
However, he remained inisolation.
On April 20th 2023, troy Driverexpressed frustration with
(13:22):
being in isolation and he deniedbeing suicidal.
He again made the claim that hewas sleep, deprived from being
checked on so often by deputies.
During that month, april of2023, troy Driver was seen by
medical staff on seven otheroccasions, with nothing
remarkable to report.
On May 4th and May 6th, troyDriver was seen by medical staff
(13:44):
.
He was reported as beinghealthy and working out daily.
On June 1st 2023, troy Drivermet with medical staff and there
was nothing remarkable toreport.
On June 3rd 2023, troy Drivermet with the psychiatric nurse
and was discharged from hisisolation cell.
The next day he was returned tothe Maximum Security Housing
(14:07):
Unit.
Between June 4th and August 6th, he showed no signs of being in
a depressed state, havingsuicidal intentions or that he
was experiencing a mental healthcrisis.
On August 6th 2023 at 522 pm,lion County Detention Deputies
completed a check of the MaximumSecurity Cell Block where Troy
(14:29):
Driver was housed.
At that time, troy Driver wasin his cell drinking water At
6.17 pm, so nearly an hour later, lion County Detention Deputies
began cell checks again in theMaximum Security Housing Unit
and discovered Troy Driverhanging in his cell.
Detention staff cut him downand performed CPR on him until
(14:52):
medical personnel arrived fromthe Mason Valley Fire Department
at approximately 6.33 pm andtook over life-saving measures.
Troy Driver could not berevived and he was pronounced
dead.
At 6.49 pm that evening,district attorney Steve Ryan
spoke to Naomi's older brother,casey Valley, to inform him that
(15:14):
Troy Driver had killed himself.
Just as Troy Driver hadcarefully planned the murder of
a random young woman, he'dcarefully planned his suicide.
Authorities said in a pressconference that he demonstrated
careful planning of his suicidebecause they discovered that he
kept meticulous notes on theday-to-day activities within the
(15:35):
jail so that he would be ableto complete the act within the
narrow window of time that hewas not observed by jail staff.
In putting together the factsof this case, I relied heavily
on the detailed synopsis andtimeline of Naomi's murder
investigation that was providedby authorities in a press
(15:56):
conference in August of 2023, aweek or so after Troy Driver's
suicide.
Authorities stated that Naomi'sbody was recovered from a
location that Troy Driver hadaccess to and, after reviewing
the totality of the evidence,they are confident that Troy
Driver acted alone and that heis the person responsible for
(16:17):
the rape and murder of NaomiEreon.
Sheriff Brad Pope described theevidence against Troy Driver as
insurmountable.
Authorities stated in thatpress conference that his
suicide was not the closure thatNaomi's family deserved or what
law enforcement wanted, andthey didn't want the truth of
his guilt to die with hissuicide.
(16:39):
They created the detailedsynopsis and visual presentation
to present at the pressconference in an effort to
convey transparency with regardto the investigation and to
bring a sense of closure toNaomi's family, so that the
family could begin to heal anddeal with their tremendous loss.
Naomi Christine Ereon was bornin Houston, texas, on July 25th
(17:02):
2003.
Naomi was one of seven kidsborn to her mom, diana Ereon.
Diana describes Naomi as hermiracle baby.
She said she'd helped to healtheir family by bringing back
their joy and laughter.
You see, her mom had lost ababy the year before Naomi was
born.
Diana said Naomi was also theglue that joined their blended
(17:26):
family together.
Diana, naomi's mom, also saidthat Naomi cared deeply about
others and the underprivileged.
She wanted to make the world abetter place.
She helped those that wereweaker than her.
She spoke out against injustice.
She was a bright light to allaround her.
Naomi loved rainbows.
(17:47):
She enjoyed rock-hounding.
She liked hanging out with herfriends and scrolling on some of
her favorite apps, such asTikTok and Instagram.
In the previous episode, partone, of this story, I told you
about a GoFundMe that had beenset up in this case.
Initially, it had beenestablished to help Naomi's
(18:07):
family members pay for travel toNevada from where they lived in
South Africa and Texas.
Well, the GoFundMe received 600donations totaling over $48,000
.
When it turned out that Naomiwas no longer with us, the funds
went to cover the cost of hermemorial.
(18:28):
The year before her murder,naomi had attended her senior
gala along with her classmatesin order to celebrate their
graduation.
Well before the importantoccasion, she had to find a
dress to wear to the formalevent Because of her size.
A store clerk said Naomi's onlyoption was to have one custom
made.
So Naomi chose a silky, darkblue floor length dress with
(18:54):
sequins and spaghetti straps.
When the dress was ready, naomiand her mom went to pick it up.
It was sparkly and stunning.
Naomi tried it on and looked inthe mirror.
She covered her face with herhands as her shoulders shook.
When her mom asked her what waswrong, naomi let her hands down
and said quote I feel beautifulfor the first time in my life.
(19:15):
End, quote On April 12th 2022,naomi Christine Erion was buried
in that dress.
Diana, naomi's mom, has aYouTube channel called the
Wandering Sewist.
There she has a beautifultribute video to her daughter,
naomi.
I'm going to read you a Facebookpost that was made by KC Valley
(19:37):
, naomi's older brother that shelived with in Nevada.
This post was made on April 1stof 2022, a few days after
Naomi's body had been discovered.
Quote the reason we wanted topush the trust the family
hashtag is because I called inNaomi as a missing person Sunday
313 at approximately 9.30 pm.
(19:59):
The deputy never came.
He only called me at 11.23 pm.
He filed no missing personsreport until 3.14 at around 9 pm
.
After I went and found thatfootage myself, I wasn't alone
doing that.
My girlfriend was with me andurged me to go.
Naomi's car wasn't found until36 hours after I made the
(20:23):
initial call and it was under ahalf a mile away in clear view
of the interstate.
I cannot stress enough howimportant the handling of this
case was in the beginning for mysister's life.
If this deputy had followed theLyon County Sheriff's Office
procedure as he is sworn to do,a bollo be on the lookout and a
(20:44):
missing persons report wouldhave been filed as soon as I had
called on that Sunday.
But he didn't because he didn'thashtag trust the family.
The footage he's referring to inthat Facebook post is the
surveillance footage that becamecritical in this case, the
video that shows Naomi'sabduction from the Walmart
(21:05):
parking lot.
When Naomi didn't come home,casey Valley went to Walmart and
spoke with their security there.
They viewed the Walmartsecurity footage and, sadly, he
had to witness Troy Driverentering his little sister's car
and taking her away About thatvideo.
Casey said quote it ruined me.
I mean, I couldn't believe whatI was looking at.
(21:27):
You know, I didn't want tobelieve it.
End quote.
He said it was sickening.
His heart leaped out of hischest and his blood ran cold.
Everyone in the true crimecommunity, and especially law
enforcement, knows that a timelyresponse is critical in a
missing persons investigation,particularly when the missing
(21:48):
person is a young woman and theprimary motive is most likely
sexual assault.
The initial hours are crucialbecause statistics tell us that
most young victims kidnapped bya stranger are murdered within
three hours and within 24 hoursalmost 90% have been murdered.
So the family is promoting thehashtag trust the family to
(22:12):
emphasize how important it isfor authorities to listen to the
family members of a missingperson.
They know what is normal andwhat is out of the norm for
their family member.
Many of us sit in parking lotsin our parked cars and eat or
put on makeup or do something onour phones, whether it's
playing a game or textingsomeone or reading something
(22:34):
online.
Maybe we're waiting on a storeto open, maybe we're finishing
up an important phone call,maybe your kid is out of sports
practice and you're waiting onthem to get done.
We all do it for differentreasons, but we all do it.
We sit in our cars and inparking lots and we do stuff and
we're not paying attention andwe're wrapped up in what we're
(22:58):
doing.
As I've said many times before,there's something to be learned
from every true crime story.
So I urge you, when you'resitting in your car, stay
vigilant of your surroundings.
Keep all of your doors lockedand do not open them for anyone
you do not know for any reason,even if they brandish a gun.
It's better to take yourchances and take the time to
(23:21):
shift your car into driving, hitthe gas then to open the door
and allow them access to you oryour vehicle and most likely
they will not fire their gun atyou because they don't want to
draw attention to themselves.
Naomi's mom said that she wasthe type to freeze up in the
face of danger, and there aremany people out there, I'm sure,
that react the same way whenthey get scared, they can't
(23:42):
think or move.
They're like paralyzed, andthat's okay.
It's normal.
Anytime any of us are facingdanger or a potentially
life-threatening situation, yourmind has to have time to decide
how to react to the situation,whether it be fight or flight.
If this happens to you, don'tpanic.
Take a deep breath.
You won't stay paralyzed orstuck for long.
(24:03):
Decide on a course of actionand make your move.
Preparing yourself fordifferent scenarios ahead of
time might give you an edge,especially if you are the type
that freezes up.
So every time you hear a truecrime story, put yourself in the
victim's shoes In your mind.
Put yourself in that situationand think of what you would do
to escape and or survive.
(24:25):
If you've already decided whatyou would do in a certain
situation, then you findyourself in a similar situation.
You might be able to react morequickly.
I noticed something during myresearch that I wanted to
mention.
In a mugshot of Troy Driverfrom years ago, his ears were
normal, like unremarkable, butin mugshots from 2022, he's
(24:48):
missing half of his left ear.
I wonder if it happened in aworkplace accident or something
more sinister.
It crossed my mind that maybesomeone bit his ear off in
self-defense, like did he attacksomeone and that victim bit his
ear?
I looked and looked online andcould not find anything about
how he lost a big chunk of hisleft ear.
If you guys happen to find outwhat happened to it, please let
(25:11):
me know.
Another thing that gave mepause, remember this earlier in
the story I said that TroyDriver's girlfriend told police
that he'd left on Friday night,march 11th, the night before
Naomi was taken.
She said he'd told her that hewas going solo camping and that
he'd left his cell phones behind.
She said that that was normalbehavior for him not to take his
(25:33):
cell phones with him when hewent camping.
That gave me chills and made methink are there other victims
out there?
I mean you would think that ifyou go camping by yourself, you
would take your cell phone withyou just in case something
happened and you needed tosummon help.
If you want to be likeconnected to nature and while
(25:54):
camping and disconnect from yourcell phone, like I totally get
that, that's plausible, but itseems like you would still take
it with you just in the case ofan emergency.
What if your car broke down orsomething?
I mean you could just leave itoff and keep it in your vehicle
or in your bag, just in case.
So he went quote unquote solocamping before in the past and
(26:14):
left his cell phones behind.
That's really creepy.
Like what do you guys think?
Thank you so much, you guys, forlistening to this episode of
Tell Me a True Crime Story.
Please follow this podcast onsocial media at Tell Me a True
Crime Story on Facebook,instagram, youtube and TikTok.
And I have a couple of ways youcan support the podcast.
(26:38):
You can buy me a coffee bygoing to buymeacoffeecom slash
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Buy me a coffee, but I don'teven drink coffee.
It's just a way to show yourappreciation and send a tip.
And the other way you cansupport the podcast is totally
free.
You can submit a review onApple Podcast or Spotify.
(27:02):
You can write a short but sweetfive star review on Apple or
give it a five star rating onSpotify.
Thank you again for being here.
I love you guys lots.
I hope that you and your familyare happy, healthy and together
forever.
Please join me in the nextepisode when I'll tell you
another True Crime Story.
(27:24):
Big, big hugs to each and everyone of you.
Bye-bye, two, three.
Tell me a true crime story.
Hey there, welcome to Tell Me aTrue Crime Story podcast.
(00:22):
I'm your host, holly.
Thank you so much for spendingthis time with me.
I am truly grateful that youare here.
Happy New Year and I hope thatyou had a joyous holiday season.
If the holiday season is adifficult time for you, which I
know it is for many, it was forme this past holiday season.
(00:43):
I'm very sorry and I'm thinkingabout you and keeping you close
to my heart.
Like I said, it was a reallyrough time for me this year and
it was the first time for methat the holidays had been so
tough, so it was a new thing forme to go through and to deal
(01:06):
with and to get through.
So just know that if you'restill going through it, there's
hope out there and just reachout, find out where to get
there's help out.
There is what I meant to say,and there's definitely hope and
(01:26):
it's not hopeless like it feels,and you will get better.
It just takes time.
Reach out, get the help and ifyou don't know where to get the
help, just ask somebody or callthe crisis hotline in your area,
or you can even email me and Ican help you.
(01:48):
My email is holly's tell mepodcast at gmailcom.
Yes, just get help, it will getbetter.
It takes time and big, big hugsto all of you guys who are
listening.
Please follow this podcast onFacebook, instagram, youtube and
(02:10):
TikTok.
My username on all of those isat tell me a true crime story.
And this is the time where Ibug you and I ask you for
written reviews on Apple and forratings on Spotify.
Thank you for your awesomereviews on Apple and for the
five star ratings on Spotify.
If you've done that favor forme already, it is a free and
(02:34):
tremendously helpful way thatyou can support me and what I do
here.
And, yeah, so if you haven'tdone that yet and you enjoy the
podcast, please take a minuteand go do that for me.
Go go.
Thanks a ton and great big hugsto each and every one of you
that are listening.
(02:55):
This is part two, so if youhaven't listened to part one,
please go back and listen tothat one first and we can get
into this episode now.
Now let me tell you a truecrime story.
This is where we left off inpart one.
A clandestine grave site hadbeen discovered at the Buena
(03:17):
Vista iron mine.
Troy driver had been at thatmine to accept the delivery of
an excavator.
In February of 2022, a monthbefore Naomi's abduction,
naomi's naked body was recoveredfrom that grave, buried about
four to five feet deep.
There were excavator shovelmarks within the grave
(03:38):
indicating that it had been dugwith the machine.
Also at the grave site wereexcavator track marks and tire
impressions from Naomi's car andfrom the original tires that
had been on Troy drivers' Chevytruck before he'd had them
replaced.
I also told you about the DNAresults taken from biological
(03:58):
evidence collected duringNaomi's autopsy and of the
charges that were broughtagainst Troy driver.
Now let's pick up from there.
Investigators found that Troydriver was in a serious dating
relationship with a woman andthey lived together.
His girlfriend cooperated withinvestigators and provided them
with crucial information in thiscase.
(04:19):
She also provided them withvaluable insight into Troy
driver's mindset and habits.
She told investigators that hewas infatuated with serial
killers and he was constantlyreading books and listening to
podcast about them.
She said he'd recently beenquestioning her daughter about
the shuttle bus that picks upworkers at the Walmart in
(04:41):
Fernley and transports them towork at Panasonic and Tesla.
He asked her daughter thingslike how many people rode the
bus and the locations of thestops that the bus made.
Troy driver's girlfriend alsotold investigators that he'd
gone solo camping the weekend ofMarch 12th 2022.
(05:03):
She said he'd left the house onthe evening of Friday March
11th and had returned the nextnight.
She reported that he did nottake his cell phones with him on
this camping trip, which shesaid was the norm for him when
he goes solo camping.
Troy driver's girlfriend andlead core of the company he
worked for were both able toconfirm for detectives that he
(05:26):
had been operating an excavatorat the Buena Vista iron mine on
February 14th 2022, a monthbefore the kidnapping and murder
of Naomi.
His girlfriend provided apicture of the excavator at the
iron mine that he texted to herthat day.
Troy Driver had been using theexcavator to dig sample holes on
(05:49):
the southern boundary of themine, but the investigation
uncovered that, after the otheremployees that had been working
at the mine site left that day,he used the machine to dig a
grave on the north side of themine, a long distance away from
the sample holes.
Again, this was one monthbefore Naomi was abducted and
murdered.
Authorities said in a pressconference in mid-August of 2023
(06:13):
that this grave site was quotedug with absolute premeditation.
End quote the investigation intothe abduction, rape and murder
of Naomi Ereon did not revealany connection between Troy
Driver and Naomi.
Instead, it showed that onMarch 11 and March 12 of 2022,
(06:35):
Troy Driver prepared for andhunted a random victim to rape
and murder.
He had the location of the killsite in mind, which was the
abandoned mine and a pre-duggrave, ready to go.
Detectives believe that he lefthis home on the evening of
March 11 and drove his truck tothe Buena Vista Iron Mine to
(06:57):
ensure the mine was stillabandoned and to make final
preparations.
Because he'd recently workedthere, he knew the combination
to the locked gate which gavehim access to the site.
After making those finalpreparations as Friday night,
march 11, stretched into theearly morning hours of Saturday
March 12, troy Driver made hisway to the Fernley Walmart,
(07:20):
which was his chosen kidnappinglocation.
Detectives believe that hechose this location because it
was dark and secluded and therewas a high probability of
finding a young woman by herselfin a vehicle there.
When he parked his truck in thedirt lot near the Walmart
parking lot, it was 4.22 am.
He then waited and watched,detectives theorized.
(07:44):
He observed Naomi arrive in theWalmart parking lot and saw
that she was young and alone.
He stalked her for a fewminutes, then approached her car
on the driver's side and likelybrandished a gun.
To quickly gain control ofNaomi, he made her scoot over to
the passenger seat and he droveher out of the Walmart parking
lot.
Shortly after that, troy Driverbroke or somehow disabled her
(08:08):
cell phone, because her cellphone was never used again after
5.23 am.
He then drove Naomi in her carto the Buena Vista Iron Mine,
which was about a two-hour drivefrom Walmart, where he raped,
murdered and buried her.
Troy Driver then burned all ofthe clothes that Naomi had been
wearing, along with some of hisclothing and other physical
(08:30):
evidence.
He returned to Fernley inNaomi's car and abandoned it
just a half a mile away fromWalmart in the dirt lot between
the Lowe's and Sherwin-Williamspaint factory, before walking
back to his truck that he'd leftin the dirt parking lot by
Walmart.
On March 25, 2022, troy Driverwas arrested and booked into the
(08:53):
Lyon County Jail in Yarrington,nevada.
On March 31, 2022, a mentalhealth assessment team made
contact with him and he refusedtheir services.
Almost five months later, inAugust of 2022, troy Driver had
a fellow inmate who got released, sneak a suicide slash
confession letter out of thejail in a deck of playing cards
(09:16):
and hand-deliver it to his nowex-girlfriend.
In the letter, troy Driver toldher that nothing he did was
sexually motivated.
Some other things he said inthe letter were that there had
always been a terrible darknessinside of him.
He intended on killing himselfrather than exposing his loved
ones to what he'd done.
The guilt he felt was crushing.
(09:39):
Troy Driver's girlfriendimmediately turned the letter
over to authorities, who thenplaced him on Suicide Watch.
On August 18, 2022, troy Drivermet with the psychiatric nurse
and he adamantly denied beingsuicidal.
He admitted to writing theletter, but he said he wanted to
be housed in a normal cell inthe maximum security housing
(10:01):
unit.
The next day, he again met withthe psychiatric nurse and he
again denied being suicidal.
The nurse moved him from mentalhealth observation and
discharged him into the maximumsecurity housing unit of the
Lyon County Jail.
On August 20th 2022, troy Driverattempted suicide.
(10:23):
So this was just two days laterthat he attempted suicide.
He met with the psychiatricnurse, he denied being suicidal
and then he was moved into themaximum security housing unit,
out of the, moved from themental health observation and
(10:44):
discharged into the maximumsecurity housing unit.
So then, like the next day, heattempted suicide.
He said he was overcome withguilt due to his family having
to deal with his incarceration,and two days later, though, he
told the psychiatric nurse thathe was not suicidal.
So on August 23rd 2022, just afew days later, an outside
(11:08):
psychiatric doctor saw TroyDriver and reported that he was
stable.
Then, a couple days later, onAugust 25th 2022, troy Driver
met with the psychiatric nurse,who discontinued his suicide
watch.
However, two days later, he wasplaced in an isolation cell
under mental health observationand constant video surveillance.
(11:29):
So a few days later, onSeptember 2nd 2022, or like a
week later on September 2nd 2022, troy Driver met with nursing
staff, who labeled him as stableand reported him as doing
better and no longer needing tomeet with medical staff.
Troy Driver told the medicalstaff that he wanted out of
isolation.
A week after that, on September9th 2022, the psychiatric nurse
(11:53):
met with Troy Driver, who saidhe was experiencing sleep
deprivation due to deputiesconstantly checking up on him
and his cell.
At that time, he refused totake any psychiatric medications
On October 5th.
So the next month.
Troy Driver October 5th 2022,troy Driver was still in an
(12:17):
isolation cell and he deniedbeing suicidal.
He stated he wanted to returnto the maximum security housing
unit and the next day he wasreturned there.
Ten days later, troy Driver wasseen by a psychiatric doctor
for a mental health appointment.
After that, he had multiplemeetings with medical staff
until his next suicide attemptabout five months later, on
(12:38):
March 7th of 2023.
He was treated for lacerationson his wrist.
He had appointments on March9th and March 10th with medical
staff.
On March 11th 2023, he met withthe psychiatric nurse.
At that time, he stated that hehadn't attempted to commit
suicide.
He'd just fallen on a shampoobottle.
He was placed on a mentalhealth watch again and returned
(13:01):
to an isolation cell.
The next month, on April 9th2023, troy Driver requested to
see the psychiatric nurse.
He told her that he was notsuicidal and she reported that
his mood was stable.
However, he remained inisolation.
On April 20th 2023, troy Driverexpressed frustration with
(13:22):
being in isolation and he deniedbeing suicidal.
He again made the claim that hewas sleep, deprived from being
checked on so often by deputies.
During that month, april of2023, troy Driver was seen by
medical staff on seven otheroccasions, with nothing
remarkable to report.
On May 4th and May 6th, troyDriver was seen by medical staff
(13:44):
.
He was reported as beinghealthy and working out daily.
On June 1st 2023, troy Drivermet with medical staff and there
was nothing remarkable toreport.
On June 3rd 2023, troy Drivermet with the psychiatric nurse
and was discharged from hisisolation cell.
The next day he was returned tothe Maximum Security Housing
(14:07):
Unit.
Between June 4th and August 6th, he showed no signs of being in
a depressed state, havingsuicidal intentions or that he
was experiencing a mental healthcrisis.
On August 6th 2023 at 522 pm,lion County Detention Deputies
completed a check of the MaximumSecurity Cell Block where Troy
(14:29):
Driver was housed.
At that time, troy Driver wasin his cell drinking water At
6.17 pm, so nearly an hour later, lion County Detention Deputies
began cell checks again in theMaximum Security Housing Unit
and discovered Troy Driverhanging in his cell.
Detention staff cut him downand performed CPR on him until
(14:52):
medical personnel arrived fromthe Mason Valley Fire Department
at approximately 6.33 pm andtook over life-saving measures.
Troy Driver could not berevived and he was pronounced
dead.
At 6.49 pm that evening,district attorney Steve Ryan
spoke to Naomi's older brother,casey Valley, to inform him that
(15:14):
Troy Driver had killed himself.
Just as Troy Driver hadcarefully planned the murder of
a random young woman, he'dcarefully planned his suicide.
Authorities said in a pressconference that he demonstrated
careful planning of his suicidebecause they discovered that he
kept meticulous notes on theday-to-day activities within the
(15:35):
jail so that he would be ableto complete the act within the
narrow window of time that hewas not observed by jail staff.
In putting together the factsof this case, I relied heavily
on the detailed synopsis andtimeline of Naomi's murder
investigation that was providedby authorities in a press
(15:56):
conference in August of 2023, aweek or so after Troy Driver's
suicide.
Authorities stated that Naomi'sbody was recovered from a
location that Troy Driver hadaccess to and, after reviewing
the totality of the evidence,they are confident that Troy
Driver acted alone and that heis the person responsible for
(16:17):
the rape and murder of NaomiEreon.
Sheriff Brad Pope described theevidence against Troy Driver as
insurmountable.
Authorities stated in thatpress conference that his
suicide was not the closure thatNaomi's family deserved or what
law enforcement wanted, andthey didn't want the truth of
his guilt to die with hissuicide.
(16:39):
They created the detailedsynopsis and visual presentation
to present at the pressconference in an effort to
convey transparency with regardto the investigation and to
bring a sense of closure toNaomi's family, so that the
family could begin to heal anddeal with their tremendous loss.
Naomi Christine Ereon was bornin Houston, texas, on July 25th
(17:02):
2003.
Naomi was one of seven kidsborn to her mom, diana Ereon.
Diana describes Naomi as hermiracle baby.
She said she'd helped to healtheir family by bringing back
their joy and laughter.
You see, her mom had lost ababy the year before Naomi was
born.
Diana said Naomi was also theglue that joined their blended
(17:26):
family together.
Diana, naomi's mom, also saidthat Naomi cared deeply about
others and the underprivileged.
She wanted to make the world abetter place.
She helped those that wereweaker than her.
She spoke out against injustice.
She was a bright light to allaround her.
Naomi loved rainbows.
(17:47):
She enjoyed rock-hounding.
She liked hanging out with herfriends and scrolling on some of
her favorite apps, such asTikTok and Instagram.
In the previous episode, partone, of this story, I told you
about a GoFundMe that had beenset up in this case.
Initially, it had beenestablished to help Naomi's
(18:07):
family members pay for travel toNevada from where they lived in
South Africa and Texas.
Well, the GoFundMe received 600donations totaling over $48,000
.
When it turned out that Naomiwas no longer with us, the funds
went to cover the cost of hermemorial.
(18:28):
The year before her murder,naomi had attended her senior
gala along with her classmatesin order to celebrate their
graduation.
Well before the importantoccasion, she had to find a
dress to wear to the formalevent Because of her size.
A store clerk said Naomi's onlyoption was to have one custom
made.
So Naomi chose a silky, darkblue floor length dress with
(18:54):
sequins and spaghetti straps.
When the dress was ready, naomiand her mom went to pick it up.
It was sparkly and stunning.
Naomi tried it on and looked inthe mirror.
She covered her face with herhands as her shoulders shook.
When her mom asked her what waswrong, naomi let her hands down
and said quote I feel beautifulfor the first time in my life.
(19:15):
End, quote On April 12th 2022,naomi Christine Erion was buried
in that dress.
Diana, naomi's mom, has aYouTube channel called the
Wandering Sewist.
There she has a beautifultribute video to her daughter,
naomi.
I'm going to read you a Facebookpost that was made by KC Valley
(19:37):
, naomi's older brother that shelived with in Nevada.
This post was made on April 1stof 2022, a few days after
Naomi's body had been discovered.
Quote the reason we wanted topush the trust the family
hashtag is because I called inNaomi as a missing person Sunday
313 at approximately 9.30 pm.
(19:59):
The deputy never came.
He only called me at 11.23 pm.
He filed no missing personsreport until 3.14 at around 9 pm
.
After I went and found thatfootage myself, I wasn't alone
doing that.
My girlfriend was with me andurged me to go.
Naomi's car wasn't found until36 hours after I made the
(20:23):
initial call and it was under ahalf a mile away in clear view
of the interstate.
I cannot stress enough howimportant the handling of this
case was in the beginning for mysister's life.
If this deputy had followed theLyon County Sheriff's Office
procedure as he is sworn to do,a bollo be on the lookout and a
(20:44):
missing persons report wouldhave been filed as soon as I had
called on that Sunday.
But he didn't because he didn'thashtag trust the family.
The footage he's referring to inthat Facebook post is the
surveillance footage that becamecritical in this case, the
video that shows Naomi'sabduction from the Walmart
(21:05):
parking lot.
When Naomi didn't come home,casey Valley went to Walmart and
spoke with their security there.
They viewed the Walmartsecurity footage and, sadly, he
had to witness Troy Driverentering his little sister's car
and taking her away About thatvideo.
Casey said quote it ruined me.
I mean, I couldn't believe whatI was looking at.
(21:27):
You know, I didn't want tobelieve it.
End quote.
He said it was sickening.
His heart leaped out of hischest and his blood ran cold.
Everyone in the true crimecommunity, and especially law
enforcement, knows that a timelyresponse is critical in a
missing persons investigation,particularly when the missing
(21:48):
person is a young woman and theprimary motive is most likely
sexual assault.
The initial hours are crucialbecause statistics tell us that
most young victims kidnapped bya stranger are murdered within
three hours and within 24 hoursalmost 90% have been murdered.
So the family is promoting thehashtag trust the family to
(22:12):
emphasize how important it isfor authorities to listen to the
family members of a missingperson.
They know what is normal andwhat is out of the norm for
their family member.
Many of us sit in parking lotsin our parked cars and eat or
put on makeup or do something onour phones, whether it's
playing a game or textingsomeone or reading something
(22:34):
online.
Maybe we're waiting on a storeto open, maybe we're finishing
up an important phone call,maybe your kid is out of sports
practice and you're waiting onthem to get done.
We all do it for differentreasons, but we all do it.
We sit in our cars and inparking lots and we do stuff and
we're not paying attention andwe're wrapped up in what we're
(22:58):
doing.
As I've said many times before,there's something to be learned
from every true crime story.
So I urge you, when you'resitting in your car, stay
vigilant of your surroundings.
Keep all of your doors lockedand do not open them for anyone
you do not know for any reason,even if they brandish a gun.
It's better to take yourchances and take the time to
(23:21):
shift your car into driving, hitthe gas then to open the door
and allow them access to you oryour vehicle and most likely
they will not fire their gun atyou because they don't want to
draw attention to themselves.
Naomi's mom said that she wasthe type to freeze up in the
face of danger, and there aremany people out there, I'm sure,
that react the same way whenthey get scared, they can't
(23:42):
think or move.
They're like paralyzed, andthat's okay.
It's normal.
Anytime any of us are facingdanger or a potentially
life-threatening situation, yourmind has to have time to decide
how to react to the situation,whether it be fight or flight.
If this happens to you, don'tpanic.
Take a deep breath.
You won't stay paralyzed orstuck for long.
(24:03):
Decide on a course of actionand make your move.
Preparing yourself fordifferent scenarios ahead of
time might give you an edge,especially if you are the type
that freezes up.
So every time you hear a truecrime story, put yourself in the
victim's shoes In your mind.
Put yourself in that situationand think of what you would do
to escape and or survive.
(24:25):
If you've already decided whatyou would do in a certain
situation, then you findyourself in a similar situation.
You might be able to react morequickly.
I noticed something during myresearch that I wanted to
mention.
In a mugshot of Troy Driverfrom years ago, his ears were
normal, like unremarkable, butin mugshots from 2022, he's
(24:48):
missing half of his left ear.
I wonder if it happened in aworkplace accident or something
more sinister.
It crossed my mind that maybesomeone bit his ear off in
self-defense, like did he attacksomeone and that victim bit his
ear?
I looked and looked online andcould not find anything about
how he lost a big chunk of hisleft ear.
If you guys happen to find outwhat happened to it, please let
(25:11):
me know.
Another thing that gave mepause, remember this earlier in
the story I said that TroyDriver's girlfriend told police
that he'd left on Friday night,march 11th, the night before
Naomi was taken.
She said he'd told her that hewas going solo camping and that
he'd left his cell phones behind.
She said that that was normalbehavior for him not to take his
(25:33):
cell phones with him when hewent camping.
That gave me chills and made methink are there other victims
out there?
I mean you would think that ifyou go camping by yourself, you
would take your cell phone withyou just in case something
happened and you needed tosummon help.
If you want to be likeconnected to nature and while
(25:54):
camping and disconnect from yourcell phone, like I totally get
that, that's plausible, but itseems like you would still take
it with you just in the case ofan emergency.
What if your car broke down orsomething?
I mean you could just leave itoff and keep it in your vehicle
or in your bag, just in case.
So he went quote unquote solocamping before in the past and
(26:14):
left his cell phones behind.
That's really creepy.
Like what do you guys think?
Thank you so much, you guys, forlistening to this episode of
Tell Me a True Crime Story.
Please follow this podcast onsocial media at Tell Me a True
Crime Story on Facebook,instagram, youtube and TikTok.
And I have a couple of ways youcan support the podcast.
(26:38):
You can buy me a coffee bygoing to buymeacoffeecom slash
truecrimestorypod, they call it.
Buy me a coffee, but I don'teven drink coffee.
It's just a way to show yourappreciation and send a tip.
And the other way you cansupport the podcast is totally
free.
You can submit a review onApple Podcast or Spotify.
(27:02):
You can write a short but sweetfive star review on Apple or
give it a five star rating onSpotify.
Thank you again for being here.
I love you guys lots.
I hope that you and your familyare happy, healthy and together
forever.
Please join me in the nextepisode when I'll tell you
another True Crime Story.
(27:24):
Big, big hugs to each and everyone of you.
Bye-bye, two, three.
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