It was over 100 degrees in rural Oklahoma the day they vanished. Most people who live in Love County or Carter County know the names by heart now: Molly Miller and Colt Haynes. They were young, they were in a car they didn't own, and they were riding with a guy named James "Conn" Nipp who had a reputation for poking the bear when it came to local cops.
That night in July 2013 wasn't just a "missing persons" case. It was a chaotic, high-speed disaster that ended in a forest and left two families screaming for answers for over a decade. Honestly, if you look at the timeline, it feels less like a mystery and more like a failure of the systems meant to protect people.
The Chase That Shouldn't Have Been Called Off
The whole mess started around 10:30 PM on July 7, 2013. Molly was just 17. Colt was 21. They were in a 2012 Honda Accord driven by Nipp.
📖 Related: Chicago Tribune Injun Summer: Why This 1907 Cartoon Still Sparks a Fight Every October
Nipp did something stupid. He did a donut right in front of a Wilson police officer, spraying gravel all over the patrol car. It was a taunt. A pursuit broke out immediately, reaching speeds of 120 mph. The chase crossed county lines into Love County.
Then, things got weird.
The Love County Sheriff at the time, Joe Russell, got on the radio. He told his deputies to "10-22"—basically, shut it down. Stop the chase. Why? Because the driver, Conn Nipp, was the sheriff’s own nephew.
The car disappeared into the darkness near Long Hollow Road.
Those Chilling 911 Calls
People often think Molly and Colt just vanished into thin air the second the car stopped. They didn't. They were alive, they were scared, and they were calling for help for hours.
✨ Don't miss: Mayor of Omaha Candidates: What Most People Get Wrong About the 2025 Shift
Molly dialed 911 at 12:47 AM. The call lasted five seconds. No one spoke, just the sound of buttons being pressed. The dispatcher called back, but nobody picked up. No officers were sent to the area.
Colt was calling his friends, too. He told them he had a broken ankle and was coughing up blood. He thought he was in a creek bed. His friends actually drove out to the area, honking their horns and yelling into the woods while Colt was on the line.
"I can't hear you," he told them.
The last ping from Molly's phone was at 10:00 AM the next morning near the corner of Pike and Oswalt Roads. Then, silence. For eleven years.
The Corruption Factor
You can't talk about Molly Miller and Colt Haynes without talking about the Love County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Joe Russell didn't just call off the chase; he was later accused of protecting Nipp.
Eventually, the FBI got involved, and Russell was hit with a mountain of corruption charges. He resigned in 2016. While his arrest wasn't directly for the disappearance of Molly and Colt, it confirmed what the families had suspected: the well was poisoned from the start.
Nipp eventually served several years in prison for the chase itself—eluding officers—but he has never been charged in connection to the disappearance. He’s out now. He’s stayed quiet.
What Most People Get Wrong
There’s a lot of hearsay in small towns. Some say they stumbled into a drug deal. Others think they died of exposure in the brutal Oklahoma heat.
- The "Fire Pit" Theory: Families found a deep pit on property near where the car was dumped that had been burning for two weeks.
- The Exposure Theory: It was July. They were injured. If they got lost in the dense brush without water, they wouldn't have lasted long.
- The Foul Play Theory: Many believe that if they didn't die in the woods, someone came back to "clean up" the situation once the heat from the police pursuit died down.
In 2021, Molly was legally declared dead. It was a move her family made so they could keep the legal pressure on. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) eventually took over parts of the investigation because Molly was part Chickasaw.
Where the Case Stands Right Now
There is still a $45,000 reward out there. Someone knows where they are. In a town where everyone is related or knows everyone’s business, secrets have a way of sticking around, but they also have a way of leaking.
If you’re looking for a way to help or stay updated, the most active resource is the "Molly Miller and Colt Haynes" search groups on social media, often led by Molly’s cousin, Paula Fielder. She hasn't stopped digging for a single day.
If you have a tip, don't go to local gossip—call the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) at 1-800-522-8017. They are still taking leads.
✨ Don't miss: Waterloo Courier Obituaries Waterloo Iowa: What Most People Get Wrong About Finding Local Records
The best thing we can do is keep their names in the conversation. Cold cases only stay cold when people stop talking.
Next Steps for Information:
- Review the official OSBI cold case files if you have specific location data from that night.
- Follow the "Find Molly Miller" and "Find Colt Haynes" updates for any upcoming community-led searches in the Love County area.
- Contact the Bureau of Indian Affairs Missing and Murdered Unit if you have information specifically regarding the jurisdictional handling of Molly's case.