Family speaks after discovery of Naomi Irion’s remains

FERNLEY, Nev. (NewsNation) — Family members are grieving the loss of 18-year-old Nevada woman Naomi Irion, whose remains police discovered Tuesday in a rural area about 30 miles from the Walmart parking lot where she disappeared.

“Yesterday was the worst day of my life,” Irion’s mother Diana Irion said Thursday. “Today is the second-worst day of my life. It’s so raw.”

Nevada police announced Wednesday that they found remains belonging to Irion, who had been missing since March 12.

Investigators followed a tip that led them to a “remote part of Churchill County” on Tuesday where the remains were discovered, according to a news release. The remains were identified as Irion’s on Wednesday.

Irion, 18, was living in Fernley, Nevada, which shares a border with Churchill County.

Police have arrested 41-year-old Nevada man Troy Driver in connection with Irion’s disappearance. He faces a single count of kidnapping.

No one had yet been charged in connection with Irion’s death as of Thursday evening and police haven’t said publicly what information led them to the woman’s location.

“I started grilling the detective,” Irion’s sister Tamara Cartwright said. “I asked him, ‘When did it happen? Where did it happen? How did it happen? I need you to tell me everything.’”  

A man who identified himself to NewsNation as Driver’s “best friend” referred to the man as the “the most decent, honorable person” he knows.

“You guys are trying a man through public opinion over something he did when he was 17 years old, supposedly …” the man said. “I know this dude better than anyone in the world. He is innocent.”

Reports from 1997 in the Ukiah Daily Journal in California detailed Driver’s arrest in connection with the murder of a 19-year-old. Driver was 17 at the time of the crime and pleaded guilty to multiple counts of robbery, burglary, use of a firearm and being an accessory to murder after the fact, California court records show.

He was not charged with or convicted of murder. Two others also were arrested in connection with the same incident.

Another woman has come forward with claims that a driver followed her in the same area where Irion disappeared. She took a photo of the man, who appeared to be bald and had a beard.

Local police did not respond to NewsNation’s inquiries about the video.

As of Thursday, Driver had not entered a plea to the kidnapping charge, and his attorney Mario Walther did not respond to requests for comment.

Driver remains at a Nevada jail, where his bond is set at $750,000. He’s due back in court Tuesday.

Should Driver post bail, he would need to be fitted with a GPS monitoring bracelet before he could be released. Driver also would be barred from contacting Irion’s family or entering Fernley for non-court-related reasons.