The search for a missing DeKalb County woman continued last weekend as local law enforcement joined with other area county and state agencies to conduct the most thorough search as of yet. The controlled ground and air search, held last Saturday, is only the latest of several searches conducted since the woman went missing on the Fourth of July, 2022.
Brittany Miller, who is now 32-years-old, vanished from her home on Hurricane Ridge Road had has not been heard or seen since. She was last seen wearing a black tee shirt, possibly saying “DCHS Tigers,” and was also wearing black knee-length shorts, and black tennis shoes with black “no show” socks. She is 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weighs 150 pounds. Her eyes are blue and she has dark brown shoulder length hair. She also has a tattoo of “Adam” across her forearm and “Tyler” on her right ankle.
The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department mounted a massive ground search for the woman in the days after she was reported missing, conducting as many as six varying searches on ground and in the air, but no traces of Miller have been found.
Detectives have taken DNA from family members and entered Brittney’s information into the U.S. Department of Justice National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. Her information has also been entered into the National Crime Information Center as a missing person.
According to Sheriff Patrick Ray, during the summer months local law enforcement, firefighters, and rescue personnel waded through thick underbrush and through heavy foliage in the woods around Miller’s home. With no evidence of the woman’s whereabouts, the Sheriff’s Department began planning a mass grid search in November 2022.
“Back in July, we did searches with tracking dogs, as well as cadaver dogs,” Sheriff Ray explained. “We had a helicopter do a flyover around her property to the lake, and we used drones to search over this area at least two different times. When we were searching in July, we had a lot of leaves on the trees and tall weeds, and we couldn’t see the ground. We came back in November and we identified some steep areas and sink holes in the area that we wanted to search. We have searched multiple areas in the county including other parcels of property and boat ramps on Center Hill Lake.”
“We’ve been very busy since July,” Sheriff Ray continued. “The TBI, an investigator from the District Attorney’s Office, and a detective from the Sheriff’s Department that has been assigned the case, have done multiple interviews with people, as well as investigating possible leads in the case.”
When asked if there were any suspects in the case, Sheriff Ray explained that as of yet there is no evidence of a crime being committed. “In the United States, we have the right to hide if we want to go hide. We can vanish if we want to and don’t have to contact anyone. That makes a case like this very difficult. To have a suspect, you have to have probable cause to charge somebody. As of right now, there is no crime.”
At the time of her disappearance, Miller had reportedly taken with her, her medication, cellular telephone and dentures. She also reportedly didn’t have very much money in her bank accounts, which had not been touched.
“After we learned of her disappearance, Brittany was reported missing to our local news media outlets, WJLE Radio and the Smithville Review, with a picture of her and a description of her to help in our missing person investigation,” Ray said. “Brittany’s disappearance was also reported to WKRN 2, WSMV 4, WTVF 5, Fox 17 Nashville and Stonecom Radio the same day.”
Sheriff Ray is also cautioning people making accusations of social media about the case. “A lot of what we have read on social media is somebody’s opinion and not a fact. We have not identified a suspect in our investigation of this case and it is very dangerous when someone starts accusing someone of something on social media that can’t be proven. That can be hurtful to Brittany’s family.
“We have gone non-stop since July and put in a lot of hours in this case. We take it very seriously. We had started planning this search back in November and we had Saturday as the projected date to do the search weather permitting.
“We wanted this to be a surprise search, but it leaked out on social media earlier in the week, so we went ahead and announced the search Friday and with it having been leaked the social media rumors started up again. Everything in the world has been posted about this case and it’s just a disgrace to the family.
“If anybody has any credible information we urge you to call the sheriff’s department, central dispatch, or our crime tip line to report it and I assure you we will go check it but to blast it on social media is not the way to do it,” Sheriff Ray said.
“The purpose for the search on Saturday was to try to find additional information during our investigation. The search area was from Highway 70 (Nashville Highway) to the 1000 block of Hurricane Ridge Road,” Sheriff Ray said.
After several unsuccessful searches, Sheriff Ray said he reached out to other agencies to help coordinate a grid search of the area around the Miller home.
“We reached out to TEMA, Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, to help coordinate our search,” Sheriff Ray said. “TEMA was able to assist us in the mapping of the area along with helping us coordinate this search. We have had prior meetings with our local TEMA liaison, TEMA officials, Smithville DeKalb County Rescue Squad, DeKalb EMS, DeKalb County Mayor, Alexandria Police Department, Smithville Police Department, and DeKalb Central Dispatch along with other agencies.”
“The purpose of the effort today [Saturday] was to do a more in-depth and coordinated search of the area where Brittany was last seen. Members from Law Enforcement and Rescue Squads were divided into teams. Each team was sent to a designated area and supplied with a GPS device to track their movements so we could make sure we thoroughly covered the area. Cadaver dogs and drones were also used in the search.”
During the search on Saturday, 146 people participated along with nine K-9 dogs, searching 187 acres of rough and steep terrain. The group was divided into 13 search teams and nine K-9 teams. The search also consisted of cave and cliff rescue teams who looked into caves and sink holes in the area.
Throughout the day, search teams did discover various bones in the wooded areas. Detectives and an anthropologist from Middle Tennessee State University responded to the marked locations and determined that all bones found were animal bones.
Sheriff Ray said that although no clues or human remains were found during the search, authorities will continue to search this area and more parcels in DeKalb County and possible in other counties. “Our investigation is not over until we find Brittany,” Sheriff Ray said.
Agencies involved in Saturday’s search efforts included: 13th District Attorney General’s Office, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Tennessee Highway Patrol, Rutherford County Fire and Rescue, Rutherford County Sheriff’s Department, Murfreesboro Police Department, Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, DeKalb County Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, Smithville DeKalb County Rescue Squad, Alexandria Police Department, Smithville Police Department, DeKalb EMS, DeKalb County Mayor Matt Adcock, DeKalb Central Dispatch, Storm Point Emergency Response, Watertown Police Department, S&R K-9, Cam Search and Rescue, Beersheba Springs Rescue Squad, Williamson County EMA, DeKalb Fire Department, Cannon County Rescue Squad, Putnam County Rescue Squad, Hardy Chapel Overton County Fire Department, Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency, Hamilton County Rescue Squad, Hamilton County Cave and Cliff Rescue, Davidson County Sheriff's Office K-9, Set Safety Solution, Sequatchie County Rescue Squad, Maury County EMA, LNL, Maury County Search and Rescue K-9, Overton County Rescue Squad, FirstNet Communications, Robertson County EMA K-9, Smithville Fire Department, Sumner County EMA, Upper Cumberland Homeland Security, Knoxville Police Department, Middle Tennessee State University Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Outreach Baptist Church, Smithville Cumberland Presbyterian Church, DeKalb Market, Indian Creek Memorial Baptist Church, and property owners on Hurricane Ridge Road.
