Naman Shrestha
After getting into the Future Soldiers program, high school senior Michelle Miller thought that her dream of becoming a part of the Army was well within reach. The 17-year-old teenager had a bright future and so much to look forward to, but everything fell apart when she tragically lost her life in 2013. The intricate details of the death of Michelle Miller are covered in the episode titled ‘The Sergeant and the Schoolgirl’ of ‘Forbidden: Dying for Love.’ It also consists of interviews with the victim’s loved ones and officials who were a crucial part of the entire investigation.
What Happened to Michelle Miller And Adam Arndt?
Michelle Lynne Miller was born on September 1, 1995, to Kevin T. and Pacita Florendo Miller. Growing up in Rockville, Maryland, she was accompanied by the love and care of her brother Patrick Miller. Studying in Rockville High School at the time, she was an athletic personality who had interests in soccer, basketball, and lacrosse, as well as academically talented. Apart from taking several honors classes, she was also taking classes at a college.
Moreover, Michelle had been accepted by Arizona State University and was looking forward to her college life. As per the claims of her lacrosse coach, she always wished to become a therapist and help military personnel deal with their struggles after returning from battles. She got one step closer to her dreams of getting into the Army when she joined the Future Soldiers program. After some time, she allegedly told her father, Kevin Miller, that someone in her platoon was suicidal and she was going to help them around 9:15 pm on April 7, 2013. Despite his disapproval, she promised she would be fine and text him the address when she reached there.
As per Kevin’s claims, he received an unclear text message from Michelle regarding the address and when he tried to contact her, she did not respond. After calling the police around midnight, he received the details about the location where she might be from one of her friends. Then, the next morning, on April 8, 2013, when he drove to the 12900 block of Pinnacle Drive in Germantown, Maryland, and nobody answered the door, he dialed 911 and informed the police about the situation. When the authorities arrived, they broke in and found 17-year-old Michelle Lynne Miller and Adam Anthony Arndt, aged 31, dead in the latter’s Germantown, Maryland home.
Upon closer inspection, the cause of each of their deaths was found to be a single gunshot wound. Wasting no time, the police collected all pieces of evidence from the crime scene, including a handgun, and launched an extensive investigation to get to the bottom of the case. As the detectives reached out to Michelle Miller’s family and friends, they learned that she was a “little smitten” with Adam Arndt, a nine-year Army veteran who had been working as a recruiter since 2011. The two met when Adam was assigned as the coordinator for Michelle to help her get into the Reserves after she graduated.
Adam got engaged and married to Kaitlyn, a 21-year-old Army recruit, within a few weeks just the previous year in June, as per their friends and local students. Both families reportedly joined in the celebration of the wedding. Kaitlyn reportedly enlisted at the same Gaithersburg recruiting center where Adam used to work, which is seemingly where they first met. Despite being married and not allowed to date or even invite the recruits to their abode, he still got involved with Michelle. Apart from working as an Army recruit, Adam was also a leader of a mentoring program at Poolesville High School. As Adam and Michelle interacted with each other during training sessions, the two allegedly grew closer and developed some unexpected feelings for one another.
According to Denise Coates, one of Adam’s friends, there didn’t seem to be trouble in paradise for Adam and Kaitlyn, but they did have one constant challenge in their marriage. Since Kaitlyn was posted in North Carolina at the time, distance was always an issue. Denise also claimed that they used to alternate weekend visits to Maryland and North Carolina. Adam’s previous marriage might have ended badly, but he appeared to be pretty happy about his life with Kaitlyn. However, not much is known about how the couple first met. So, when the news of Adam’s potential affair with the deceased 17-year-old came to light after the tragedy, Kaitlyn’s parents were surprised as they did not suspect anything. Her father, Randy, who had met Adam just a few times after the wedding, was in total disbelief about the entire situation.
At first, the police believed that the recruiter, Adam, had shot Michelle and then went on to kill himself. But after a few months of studying the case deeper and connecting all the dots, on June 28, 2013, the authorities came to the conclusion that Adam Arndt died of suicide while the manner of death for Michelle Miller was left undetermined. They ruled out the possibility of a third person involved as, at the time of their death, the two victims were the only people present in the house.
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