(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – A Council Bluffs man is in custody in connection with the August 19th disappearance of a child from Omaha. Officials with the Council Bluffs P-D’s Criminal Investigation Division said Saturday (Aug. 23rd), 30-year-old Devon C. Miller was arrested without incident at an apartment in the 800 block of 2nd Avenue. Miller was charged with Kidnapping in the 1st Degree (A Class-A Felony). He was also found to have valid arrest warrants out of Story County, Iowa. Miller was being held in the Pottawattamie County Jail without bond, following his arrest.

Authorities say their investigation began after the CBPD was notified at around 9:30-p.m., on Friday, August 22nd, that the missing juvenile, 12-year-old Ava Little Eagle, was was possibly in the area of South 8th Street and 2nd Avenue in Council Bluffs.

Members of the CBPD Uniform Division were dispatched to the area and quickly located the juvenile. Members of the CBPD Criminal Investigation Division (CID), the FBI Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, the US Marshall’s Service and the Omaha Police Department’s Missing Persons Unit conducted a joint investigation into the circumstances surrounding the girl’s disappearance and developed information that led them to Miller’s apartment.

After he was detained by authorities, a search warrant was executed at Miller’s apartment. Through the course of the investigation, investigators were able to establish probable cause to arrest Miller on the aforementioned charges and out-of-county warrant.

According to the Omaha Police Department, Ava Little Eagle was safely reunited with her family. The case has been referred to the Pottawattamie County Attorney’s Office for prosecution.

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“The public is reminded that the charges are not evidence against the defendant, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.” (Photo: Devon C. Miller; Courtesy CBPD)