Airway Heights couple who kept daughter's dead body for 4 months arrested in South Dakota

Police said on Friday that Aleksander Kurmoyarov and Mandie Miller were arrested on a no-bond arrest warrant for homicide by abuse outside of Spokane.

By Jordy Blaine

AIRWAY HEIGHTS, Wash. — An Airway Heights couple was arrested and charged with failure to notify after police found the body of an eight-year-old girl in a U-haul trailer being pulled by the couple. The girl was later identified as the girlfriend's adopted daughter.

Police said on Thursday that the couple was arrested on a no-bond arrest warrant for homicide by abuse outside of Spokane.

28-year-old Aleksander Kurmoyarov and 33-year-old Mandie Miller were charged with one count of failure to notify law enforcement of the death of a child. The couple reportedly told police the child had been dead since September, but they kept he body because they "wanted to spend more time with her."

On Wednesday, Airway Heights Detectives received information from detectives in Mitchell, S.D. that a major crime occurred in the city of Airway Heights. 

According to Mitchell Police Department (MPD), Kurmoyarov and Miller traveled from Airway Heights to South Dakota with the body of Miller's dead eight-year-old adoptive daughter.

MPD located Kurmoyarov and Miller with a U-Haul tow-behind trailer that they stated had a coffin inside. They told police Miller's daughter was in the coffin.

Kurmoyarov told investigators that Miller's daughter died "a little before Halloween 2022," but Miller told investigators that her daughter died on Sept. 10.

They are being charged with Failure to report the death of a child to law enforcement. Airway Heights PD and major crimes detectives are outside the couple’s home executing search warrants.

Kurmoyarov admitted that he did not seek medical attention for Miller's dead daughter when she died because he and Miller were "afraid that they would get in trouble."

Kurmoyarov never notified Washington state law enforcement of the daughter's death. While in South Dakota, neither Kurmoyarov nor Miller notified law enforcement of the young girl's death.

The Airway Heights Police Department (AHPD) is working with the Spokane County Major Crimes Unit, Spokane County Forensics, Spokane Tribal Police Department and the Michelle Police Department in Mitchell, South Dakota. 

There is no current threat to the public's safety. The two suspects are currently in custody and being held in South Dakota. 

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information is made available.