The Viall Files - VIGILANTE IS AVAILABLE NOW!

Episode Date: May 27, 2022

Tim Miller is a famous search-and-rescuer in Dickinson, Texas, who's helped track down more than 300 missing persons. After 38 years of searching, he’s now convinced that he’s finally solved his own daughter’s murder.  In the first season of VIGILANTE, Allie Conti (New York Times, Vice) explores the human cost of Tim’s singular obsession with the case—from the people he’s falsely accused in the past, to the current girlfriend he’s put in the crosshairs of a possible serial killer. As Allie prepares to interview the suspect in person, she grapples with whether she might be the latest victim of Tim’s vigilantism.   Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vigilante/id1622288667 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/49wzulSXKQKWYOIWoTVEPT?si=d9bb79b8fb9243e2 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you like this podcast, be sure to check out Vigilante, a new true crime series with twists up until the final moment of this five-episode story. Tim Miller is famous for his ability to locate missing children. Tim spent every day for the past 40 years trying to find out what happened to his own daughter. Join Allie Conte, a journalist and recently licensed private investigator, on her journey to Texas as she shadows Tim on a search for answers in the infamous Texas Killing Fields case. Allie follows Tim as he puts together evidence on a man named Clyde Hedrick, a convicted killer just released from prison. However, during the course of this investigation, Allie starts to think that Tim isn't the hero he is made out to be. Tim keeps pushing Allie to go meet with Clyde on his behalf and becomes increasingly clear that he will do anything to get what he wants,

including putting Allie herself in danger. What started out as an excavation of past turns into a present tense thriller, one in which Allie begins to fear for her life. From Cast Media, this thrilling five-part series is out now. I'm about to play you a clip of episode one, but first, follow, rate, and review Vigilante, right where you get your podcasts. Cast.

I woke up. I had five pistols. And I said, you know, I'm going to kill that motherfucker today. I don't care what y'all tell me, you're never going to have a son of a bitch arrest. You're not going to do it. Fuck, I lost it. I lost it. I was going to kill him. Yeah.

Not a lot of people know about that story. This is the first time I've ever shared it. That's Tim Miller. It's toward the end of 2021, and we're driving around Texas together. Not in the part that has cowboy hats or cacti. We're a little south of Houston. Picture a lot of oil refineries, model homes, and chain restaurants. Almost every road there is under construction.

It's actually really difficult to navigate. No, I'm not going by you. I got a damn ticket for doing it. Don't run into me, buddy. Tim's story about driving around with five pistols, threatening to kill someone, jolts me. It goes against everything I know about him. You see, Tim's story is supposed to be inspirational. He's a real-life superhero. Texas EquiSearch founder Tim Miller.

Tim Miller with Texas EquiSearch. A organization that has helped search for the missing all over the country. When kids go missing, he's the one who scours the woods to find them. He's a local legend, though he could give any big city police detective a run for their money. Tim's known as the guy who can find anyone. And he basically lives up to that reputation. A missing teenager's body found by EquiSearch volunteers. In fact, the only person he's never been able to find is the person who murdered his own daughter.

Laura Miller went missing in League City in 1984 and her remains were found nearly two years later. Her tragic death inspired her father Tim Miller to help families facing the agony that he knew but Tim has a theory about what happened to Laura He thinks she was the victim of a serial killer And at one point Tim had apparently tried to go to the alleged killer's house an exact revenge to the alleged killer's house.

An exact revenge. And I was like, you know what, I'm letting that motherfucker control me still. I'm letting him control me. Thank God I was not drinking at that time. If I would have been drinking, now, I would have done something really, really stupid. So I proved myself, you know what?

You don't have to be fucking drinking and go crazy and lose your shit. But Tim didn't commit murder that day. He put his detective skills to work instead. And now, after nearly four decades, he thinks he has the evidence he needs to put the supposed serial killer away for good. This is Vigilante, an original podcast from Cast Media. The first episode in our five-part series is called Welcome to Tim World.

I'm Allie Conte. It's Tuesday, May 17th, five days before the show is supposed to launch, and I just jumped into the studio to add a quick addendum. Because Tim has just called me with some completely unexpected news. Hey, listen. What's up? Anything I tell you, I don't want you fucking sharing that shit. Some big things are developing right now, and I mean big things.

And I can just tell you this, I've solved my daughter's murder.