Episode 178: Naomi Irion – Bite-Sized Crime

When a young woman disappears on her way to work, surveillance footage holds the key to the truth. What happened to Naomi Irion?

Episode Media

Naomi last seen on gas station cameras at 5am on March 12, 2022 *(Lyon County SO)*

Suspect seen walking through the Walmart parking lot on March 12, 2022 *(Lyon County SO)*

Episode Sources

Episode Transcript

Welcome back to Bite-Sized Crime. This week I’m bringing you a story of a young woman whose future was ripped away from her, and a family who refused to give up searching for truth. This episode discusses sensitive topics, so listener discretion is advised.

Naomi Christine Irion was born and raised in Houston, Texas. One of seven siblings, Naomi was described as kind and compassionate, a homebody who loved to play music alone in her room. But Naomi also had a spirited, stubborn personality. She felt strongly about helping others and wanted to stand up for the underdog.

At the age of 13, Naomi began traveling the world with her parents. Her father’s job as a foreign diplomat took the family to places like Germany, Russia, and South Africa. This exposure to other cultures and languages only strengthened Naomi’s commitment to social justice. Although her life was sheltered in many ways – her family often described her as naive – Naomi became a vocal advocate for marginalized communities. At her school in South Africa, she led a student campaign to fight for fair treatment for Black students. As a proud member of the LGBTQ community, Naomi believed that everyone deserved the same rights. She wanted to use her voice to make a difference in the world.

After graduating high school in Pretoria, South Africa, 18-year-old Naomi wanted to spread her wings. In August of 2021, she moved halfway across the world to live with her older brother Casey in the small town of Fernley, Nevada. Naomi believed this move would be a launchpad into adulthood, a chance for her to explore her independence and figure out what she wanted to do with her life. She got a job working at the Panasonic tech plant outside Reno, excited to be earning a real paycheck and putting money away for the future. She bought her first car – a blue 1992 Mercury Sable – and started making friends in the area. Naomi was thriving in her new life.

On the evening of Sunday, March 13, 2022, Naomi’s brother Casey was starting to get worried. He hadn’t seen Naomi since Friday. This wasn’t completely out of the ordinary – their work schedules were so different that they often missed each other – but it was strange that she hadn’t checked in, and she wasn’t answering her phone. Naomi had been scheduled to work at Panasonic on Saturday and Sunday, but she should have been home by now.

Concerned, Casey called Naomi’s workplace only to be told that Naomi hadn’t shown up for work either day. This set off alarm bells – Naomi was very responsible. She wouldn’t have skipped out on two work shifts without a very good reason. Casey started calling around to jails and hospitals in the area, but there was no one matching Naomi’s description.

Casey reached out to family members, hoping someone had heard from Naomi. Her father had access to her bank accounts, so he checked her recent purchases. Naomi had last used her card around 5am on Saturday at a gas station near the Walmart on East Newlands Drive. This made sense – Naomi always parked her car at Walmart and then took a shuttle to work. She had probably stopped to grab a snack on her way. But what had happened after that?

At 9:30 on Sunday night, Casey contacted the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office and reported Naomi missing, telling them he believed something bad had happened to his sister. But according to Casey, it took deputies over two hours to respond to his call, and he didn’t feel they were giving it the proper attention. Naomi was 18 years old, a legal adult; she didn’t have to come home if she didn’t want to.

Casey’s girlfriend suggested that Walmart likely had security cameras pointed at the parking lot, so Casey drove to the store first thing on Monday and asked to view the footage. What he saw was chilling. At 5:09am on Saturday, March 12, Naomi’s Mercury Sable pulled into its usual spot. Naomi sat in the car for a while, as was her habit, probably scrolling on social media while she waited for the shuttle. Soon after, a man in a gray hoodie appeared on the video, staring in the direction of Naomi’s car for several minutes before walking around the parking lot and approaching her car from behind. At 5:24am, he pulled open the driver’s side door and got in, but Naomi didn’t get out. The car then drove away, out of sight of the cameras.

Casey immediately passed this information on to the sheriff’s office, and they finally filed an official missing persons report on the evening of March 14th. At this point, Naomi had been missing for 52 hours. On March 15th, they issued a Be On the Lookout for Naomi and her blue Mercury Sable, stating that Naomi was possibly the victim of a kidnapping.

While they searched for Naomi and her car, investigators were also looking at Naomi’s phone activity. She had last used her phone on the morning she disappeared, with a final login to Snapchat at 5:23am, just one minute before her alleged abductor approached her car. There was no activity after that, but the phone’s location data led investigators to an industrial park less than a mile away from the Walmart. There, they found Naomi’s car abandoned in a dirt lot. Naomi was not there; neither was her cell phone.

In a press release, the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office stated that evidence found in the vehicle was “criminal in nature,” but they did not offer any specifics. The car was immediately processed by crime scene investigators and sent to the lab for forensic analysis.

On March 16th, the sheriff’s office released surveillance images from the day of Naomi’s disappearance. Naomi was clearly seen at the gas station buying an energy drink around 5am, which aligned with her bank activity. She was wearing a Panasonic t-shirt under a gray cardigan with gray pants and brown boots. They also released grainy images of the suspect – a man in jeans and a gray hoodie walking along the sidewalk of the Walmart parking lot.

Just a few hours later, officials announced that they had a lead on the suspect’s vehicle. After finding Naomi’s car in the industrial park, investigators had pulled all surveillance footage from businesses in the area. On the day of her disappearance, Naomi’s car was seen driving down the road and parking in the dirt lot at 3:30pm. A person got out of the car and started walking down the road. About 45 minutes later, a dark pickup truck traveled down the same road and parked near Naomi’s car. The driver got out, walked to Naomi’s car, moved it to a different spot in the dirt lot, then got back in the truck and left. Unfortunately, the camera was too far away to get a good look at the driver, but they did get a clear shot of the truck. The sheriff’s office released the image – they were now looking for a dark Chevrolet High Country 4-door pickup truck. They believed the truck had a direct connection to Naomi’s disappearance and asked the public to call with any information.

Meanwhile, Naomi’s family was reeling. They flew in from all over the world to be together during this difficult time, and they were grateful for the support shown to them by the community in Fernley. Casey told News4, “I’m overwhelmed. I’ve never seen this kind of community response. There’s so many people out there that are walking the streets, putting up signs, sharing things on social media… We’re doing everything we can to get her back and to get her back safe.”

On Saturday, March 19th, over 400 people gathered in the cold and rain to search for Naomi. Searchers on foot joined teams on horseback and ATVs to cover six square miles of land along Interstate 80. Although they didn’t find any sign of Naomi, it was an encouraging display of community that brought hope to the family. Naomi’s mother Diana spoke to KOLO, thanking everyone for their support. “Please keep it up, don’t stop now, please don’t forget about my beautiful girl.”

As the search for Naomi continued, investigators were working hard to find the owner of the Chevy pickup truck. Working with the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles, they were able to determine that a truck matching the description of the one in surveillance videos was registered to a man in Silver Springs, about 15 miles south of Fernley. The man was 41-year-old Troy Edward Driver, and he had a long history of criminal activity dating back to his early teens. In 1997, he was convicted for his role in the murder of a drug dealer in Mendocino County, California. Driver had been sentenced to 15 years for accessory to murder, a crime he committed when he was just 17 years old. Now, investigators wondered if this man was responsible for Naomi’s disappearance.

They quickly learned that Troy Driver was living with his girlfriend in the neighboring town of Fallon, just a 30-minute drive from Fernley. Investigators put Driver under surveillance while they waited for a warrant to get his phone records. Once they did, they learned that Driver had two cell phones, and neither had been used at all on the day Naomi disappeared. This was unusual for Driver, who typically had continuous activity on both devices. It was possible he had left his phones at home to cover his tracks while he committed a crime.

Investigators returned their focus to the movements of the pickup truck, believing it was the key to connecting Troy Driver to Naomi’s disappearance. They uncovered more surveillance footage that showed the truck pulling into the far side of the Walmart parking lot at 4:22am on March 12th, less than an hour before Naomi arrived. The driver of the truck – dressed in clothes very similar to what Naomi’s abductor was wearing – was then seen wandering around the parking lot as if looking for something or someone.

Now that they knew where the truck had parked, investigators pulled video from the Walmart parking lot around the time Naomi’s car had been left at the industrial park. There, in plain view, walking from the industrial park to Walmart, was Troy Driver.

Investigators had enough probable cause to make an arrest, so on March 25, 2022, they took Driver into custody on suspicion of kidnapping. His truck was seized as evidence, and a search warrant was served on the home.

A judge set Driver’s bond at $750,000 and scheduled his hearing for March 30th. Naomi’s brother Casey told the Reno Gazette Journal that while the family was frustrated that Driver had the option to bail himself out of jail, they were hopeful that this arrest could lead to Naomi’s recovery. “What’s going through my mind right now is that there’s a potential suspect… and it seems like it might be one more step toward finding Naomi. I’m very optimistic.”

While Driver sat in jail, investigators were busy building their case. They spent hours interviewing Driver’s girlfriend, who was very open and honest with them, clearly shocked that the man she lived with was being accused of such a horrible crime. She told them that her stepdaughter took the same shuttle bus route as Naomi, and Driver had recently been extra curious about her routine, which had seemed odd at the time but not overly concerning. She said that on March 11th and 12th, Driver had allegedly gone camping by himself and had left his phones at home. When he returned, the camping gear had been unused, and he had been in a rush to clean his truck out. Then, Driver had deleted all of the home security footage that would have shown him cleaning the truck in their garage.

His girlfriend also told investigators that after the sheriff’s office released the surveillance images of the truck, Driver had insisted that they switch cars so she would be the one driving the truck to work each day. Also, two days later, Driver replaced all four tires on the truck. He had insisted on driving to a tire shop 130 miles away from his house instead of going to one of the many tire shops in Fallon that had the tires he wanted in stock. Investigators believed that Driver had done this to minimize the risk of his truck being identified as the one in the surveillance images.

With Troy Driver in custody, there was less fear of danger to the community, but Naomi was still missing. The FBI added her to their Missing Persons Most Wanted list, offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to her whereabouts. Local organizations banded together to put up digital billboards with Naomi’s picture, hoping the exposure would generate new leads.

And it did. Investigators received a tip that Troy Driver had been employed as an excavator operator for a mining company. One of his recent work locations was the Buena Vista Mine, a large excavation site located in Churchill County. On March 29th, investigators from Lyon County and Churchill County discovered a possible gravesite off Coal Canyon Road, 70 miles north of Fernley. A forensic team from Washoe County assisted in processing the scene, where they recovered the remains of Naomi Irion. An autopsy would later reveal that she had been sexually assaulted and shot multiple times in the head and chest. She had been buried under four feet of desert sand and rock.

Naomi’s family was devastated. They had held onto hope for so long, and now they had to live in a world without Naomi. Her mother Diana told KOLO that receiving the news was, “the worst thing in my life.”

Casey expressed the family’s determination to get closure, telling KOLO, “Naomi is at peace now. But I know Naomi was a stubborn, independent, strong-willed woman, and she would want justice.”

Troy Driver’s charges were elevated to first-degree murder, sexual assault, robbery, and destruction of evidence. His bail was revoked. In May of 2022, he pleaded not guilty to all charges and waived his right to a speedy trial. He was placed in a maximum security cell at the Lyon County jail. Several months later, Driver smuggled a letter out to his girlfriend, which she immediately turned over to investigators. In the letter, Driver admitted to having a “terrible darkness” inside of him, comparing it to when he had been addicted to drugs. He described feeling guilt for what he had done, and said he was choosing a quick end to spare himself any further suffering.

Driver was placed on suicide watch after his letter was discovered, and he attempted to take his own life several times while in jail. In August of 2023, before he could stand trial, Troy Driver died by suicide in his cell.

Naomi’s family had mixed feelings about this outcome. Not only had Troy Driver taken Naomi from them, he had also taken away their opportunity for justice. But they were also grateful that a dangerous man wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone else. Casey told the Reno Gazette Journal that although they wouldn’t have a trial, they still wanted the world to know what he had done. “I don’t have any doubt he was the perpetrator, but to me, it’s just – I would have felt better about the whole thing to have it play out in court. I wish it hadn’t happened this way.”

Investigators felt the same way. In the aftermath of Driver’s death, they held a press conference in which they laid out their entire case against him. They believed Driver had been planning his crime for weeks, using his work at the mine to cover for him as he dug the grave a month in advance. He had stalked the Walmart parking lot, looking for a victim and studying her routine. He had planned every detail, believing he would never get caught. But he was wrong.

Lyon County Sheriff Brad Pope told the press, “I have seen the insurmountable evidence against Troy Driver. I know that Troy Driver was a coward who preyed on the vulnerability of an innocent young woman, Naomi Irion. And Troy Driver proved himself to be the coward I knew him to be when he took his own life instead of facing justice.”

Naomi’s family refuses to let her memory fade. Casey told KOLO, “I don’t think Naomi’s life could ever be extinguished. We will never forget her. We will forget the person who did this. We won’t let him live in our heads rent free because he did this cowardly act.”

Naomi Irion was a young woman on the road to adulthood, ready to spread her wings and explore the future. She deserved to live a long life. May her memory live on in those who love her.

If you or someone you know is struggling with depression or suicidal thoughts, please reach out for help. Call or text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org to chat with a trained counselor who can connect you to the support and resources you need.