Mitchell police: Washington couple failed to report juvenile's death, traveled with body

The Daily Republic, Mitchell, S.D.
·2 min read

Dec. 15—MITCHELL — A Washington couple is accused of failing to report to authorities the death of a minor and traveling with the juvenile's body in a storage trailer on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022.

The Mitchell Police Division was notified by Davison County coroner Bart Frederickson that he had been contacted by individuals stating that they were traveling from Washington state to Pine Ridge with their deceased daughter.

Mitchell police said they learned that 28-year-old Aleksander Kurmoyarov and his girlfriend, 33-year-old Mandie Miller, traveled from Airway Heights, Washington, to Mitchell, with the body of Miller's deceased 8-year-old adoptive daughter.

Officers from the Mitchell Police Division located Kurmoyarov and Miller at a residence in Mitchell with a U-Haul tow-behind trailer, traveling more than 1,100 miles from eastern Washington to Mitchell. They stated the trailer contained a coffin with Miller's juvenile daughter's body.

During an interview with Kurmoyarov, he stated that the juvenile had died in Airway Heights — a suburb of Spokane — shortly before Halloween. Miller told investigators that her daughter died on Sept. 10.

Kurmoyarov admitted that he did not seek medical attention for the deceased juvenile when she died because he and Miller wanted to spend more time with her and that he was afraid that they would get in trouble. Kurmoyarov did not attempt to notify authorities in Washington state of the juvenile's death, according to authorities.

Miller and Kurmoyarov had been in South Dakota for approximately four days and the city of Mitchell for approximately two days. Authorities said that neither Miller or Kurmoyarov notified law enforcement of the juvenile's death while in South Dakota, leading to Kurmoyarov and Miller each being charged with one count of failure to notify law enforcement of death of a child, which is a Class 5 felony.

Mitchell authorities said it is an ongoing investigation being worked in conjunction with authorities in Washington state.