A body discovered in a remote gravesite in Nevada was identified Wednesday as a woman who vanished from a Walmart parking lot earlier this month, authorities said.
The sheriff’s offices in Churchill and Lyon counties said in a joint statement that the body of Naomi Irion, 18, was found after a tip led investigators to the area east of Reno.
Her body was found Tuesday, and the Washoe County Medical Examiner confirmed her identity Wednesday, the statement said.
Naomi Christine Irion.FBI
“We would like to extend our sympathy and condolences to the Irion family and thank all the volunteers for their hard work in trying to find Naomi and bring closure to the family,” the statement said.
Earlier Wednesday, Troy Driver, 41, appeared at a bail hearing on charges of first-degree kidnapping in Irion’s disappearance.
In a criminal complaint, prosecutors alleged that Driver abducted Irion on March 15 “with the purpose of committing sexual assault and/or for the purpose of killing her,” NBC affiliate KRNV reported.
Driver, who was being held in lieu of $750,000 bail, has not been charged with additional crimes. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Irion’s brother, Casey Valley, declined to comment Wednesday night.
Irion disappeared shortly after 5 a.m., and surveillance video captured what Valley described as a masked man circling his sister’s sedan in a Walmart parking lot in Fernley. The person could be seen forcing his way into the vehicle and driving away, he said.
Sheriff’s officials from Lyon County have declined to discuss that section of the surveillance video but said it showed Irion’s car leaving the store.
The car was later found in a nearby industrial area.
Todd Miyazawa and Kurt Chirbas contributed.