Missing: The Speed Racer Case
On the evening of July 7, 2013, 17-year-old Molly Miller and 22-year-old Colt Haynes were riding in a Black 2012 Honda Accord with 21-year-old James Conn Nipp.
Nipp was known to get into deliberate car chases with cops and at approximately 10:46 P.M,, he was seen driving recklessly by two Wilson, Oklahoma Police Officers. They reportedly observed Nipp doing donuts that sent gravel flying towards marked police cruisers.
Officers flipped on their lights but Nipp had other ideas and headed toward his family's property at speeds of up to 120mph, driving in the wrong lane and even turning his headlights off in his efforts to evade police.
After the vehicle crossed into Love County, the pursuit was reportedly called off by Nipp’s cousin, disgraced Love County Sheriff Marion Joe Russell.
Molly called 911 from her cell phone close to 1:00 A.M., but the line was silent and eventually the call was disconnected. Miller and Haynes made several more attempts to call for help. Colt spoke with a friend, and said he had broken his ankle and coughing up blood, lying in the bed of a creek.
By the morning, both of their cell phones had gone dead, and they were never heard from again. Nipp was at home claiming he had no idea what happened to Molly Miller or Colt Haynes
A few weeks later, on July 22, the black Honda Accord was found wrecked in a field close to where the police pursuit had ended with an estimated $20,000 of damage.
In January 2014, arrest warrants were issued for Nipp and his girlfriend, Sabrina Graham, who owned the Honda. She originally told police Nipp had stolen it, but eventually admitted that she gave him permission to borrow it. She was charged with filing a false insurance claim.
After Nipp turned himself in, he claimed he had "no idea" where Molly and Colt were. He was convicted of endangering others while eluding a police officer and sentenced to ten years in prison followed by ten years of probation. Investigators have never been able to prove he was involved in the disappearance of Molly and Colt.
In March 2014, eight months after they went missing, Nipp's uncle Colby Barrick made an accidental 911 call in which Molly Miller's name was heard by a dispatch operator.
“You know, you’re fucking mad, you know, you’re fucking tired… fucking Moxley Lake. A buck knife… Molly Miller. They shot him in the mouth… Right there, I can put my finger all the way through it,” Barrick can be heard saying.
The operator heard the sound of water splashing and two gunshots. Then the line disconnected. She immediately called Sheriff Russell and told him that she heard someone, “talking about Molly and Colt, and I mean, the girl that was killed and dope and stuff like that.”
“They didn’t know they were on 911… and it comes from a pond just north of Long Hollow Road on Oswalt,” she said, confirming that the phone pinged near Moxley Lake. Police, including Joe Russell, went to the location to investigate. Three felons were found at the site with firearms but only received tickets for trespassing.
To the surprise of no one, Love County Sheriff Joe Russell resigned in 2015 and was arrested in July 2016 for corruption in office, willful neglect of duty and maladministration.
The charges of maladministration were brought over his allowing his nephew, James Conn Nipp, to meet with family members unsupervised in a room with evidence in it.
The willful neglect of duty charges are from an incident where the sheriff let a fugitive with multiple active warrants, Sara Bamburg, hide out at his house for a couple of weeks.
She told investigators that the sheriff’s son told her “You’ve got warrants and as long as you are here dating me, you are not going to get arrested.”
Shortly after that, Bamburg broke up with the sheriff’s son and moved in with someone else; Bamburg was arrested and taken to jail three days later.
The corruption allegations are from an incident in Love County Sheriff Joe Russell allowed several individuals to use meth both in his presence and in his home.
Russell’s son, Willie, was convicted on federal charges of dealing methamphetamine in 2015. The affidavit in that case says that Willie sold methamphetamine out of the house he shared with his father.
He also sold it from his fathers Sheriff's office patrol vehicle… allegedly, he even snorted a line of meth from off of the pick-ups interior console.
According to the courtroom transcript, FBI investigator Agent Steve West told the judge, "There is a history of Willie being protected by the sheriff… not suffering consequences for his drug deals, drug purchases.”
Agent West also testified that Sheriff Russell would arrest women for public intoxication while partying on the Red River. He told the judge, "Instead of taking them to jail, he would take them to his house where Willie… reported to have them dance or strip."
During the hearing, three people were mentioned who disappeared from the county reportedly after cooperating with law enforcement: Molly Miller, Colt Haynes, and Jordan Buckaloo.
Buckaloo went missing after he left a party in rural Love County on an early morning in the middle of June in 2011. Two days later, his four-door Mazda was found abandoned north of the Hickory Creek Wildlife Management Area.
Officials said Buckaloo's clothing, shoes, wallet and keys were also abandoned. His decomposed body was found in the Hickory Creek Wildlife Management Area in February of 2012.
Russell took a plea deal where he pled no contest to willful omission to perform a duty, a misdemeanor charge, and was sentenced to 1 year unsupervised probation and $370 court costs.
In 2018, Nipp's uncle Colby Barrick was arrested on unrelated firearm charges and sentenced to 46 months in prison, according to the United States Department of Justice.
While in custody, he allegedly told law enforcement that Miller and Haynes’ bodies were at the pond, which has never been searched by authorities. Miller’s cousin, Paula Miller Fielder, believes it is the most “significant place” to look for Miller.
If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Molly, Colt, or Jordan, please contact the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations Tips at tips@osbi.ok.gov or 1-800-522-8017.