Brother of Abducted Nevada Teen, Naomi Irion, Believes Kidnapper Studied Her Routine

The brother of abducted Nevada teen Naomi Irion does not believe his 18-year-old sister knew her abductor but said he believes the suspect had been studying her routine for days.

Irion was last seen in the early morning of March 12 when she parked her vehicle at the Fernley Walmart while waiting for a shuttle bus to her job at a Reno Panasonic factory, Daily Mail reported. Surveillance video shows that minutes after she parked, a man approached her vehicle, entered the driver’s seat, and left the parking lot with Naomi in the passenger seat at 5:25 a.m., the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) said.

Naomi’s vehicle was found in an industrial park near the Walmart around noon on March 15, and the suspect in surveillance footage has not been identified. As the industrial is adjacent to Interstate 80, the FBI has joined investigative efforts, said Detective Eric Kusmerz on Tuesday, the Reno Gazette Journal reported.

Naomi’s brother, Casey Valley, told Daily Mail that she went to Reno on a date on March 11 with a man who they did not name. The outlet reports Naomi has Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge accounts and said it was likely she met her date through one of the apps.

Her brother noted that law enforcement knows of the man and the date but said he does not believe he was behind her abduction. She previously reported to her management at work that she had been sexually harassed, the Mail said. Valley indicated that Panasonic handled the matter “internally” and did not delve into further details.

A Panasonic spokesman did not address the allegations but told the Mail the company is “devastated” by her disappearance. The spokesman noted that Panasonic is cooperating with authorities in the investigation.

Valley told the Mail he does not believe Naomi knows her abductor but said he believes the suspect had been studying her routine for days.

Her family said that she has lived a sheltered life, spending her formative years living in German, Russian, and South African communities as her father works for the State Department.

“She really wanted to experience life in America being an American kid,” Valley said. “Most kids get to learn how to drive a car and go on dates and get some freedom but in the diplomatic community overseas you can’t have that. You can’t learn how to drive a car. You can’t really go on dates safely.”

She relocated to the states from South Africa in 2021 after finishing school and has lived with Valley and his girlfriend Nikki since, hoping to save enough to get her own dwelling and pay for community college. Valley said she held a desire to experience life as a free young American woman.

Her mother, Diana, echoed the sentiment, noting how thrilled she was to move back to the states. Now Diana, her husband Herve, and their three adopted Ukrainian sons have traveled to America from South Africa in search of Naomi.

Valley told the Mail he saw her following the date on March 11.

“I saw her the night before. She had gone on a date on Friday afternoon. She was going to bed early because she had to work in the morning,” he said. “During that date, they’d hung out in Reno and gone to thrift stores. She seemed fine.”

He added that Naomi is not typically open with him about romantic conversations but said she and Nikki are close and engage in “girl talk.”

The next morning, Naomi left home at 5:00 a.m. and stopped at a Chevron gas station to purchase items at 5:03 a.m., the Mail reported. 

She arrived at the Walmart minutes later and parked her vehicle at approximately 5:09 a.m., the LCSO said in a press release. For about the next 14 minutes, until 5:23 a.m., she was active on her social media accounts. Surveillance video shows a suspect approaching her vehicle at 5:24 a.m, according to the LCSO. “He is seen getting into the drivers seat of Naomis vehicle” and the sedan leaves the parking lot in an unknown direction at 5:25 a.m. with Naomi in the passenger’s seat, the LCSO said.

She would usually arrive home around 8:30 p.m. but Valley went to bed early on March 12 after finishing his own workday, the Mail reported. When he woke up the following morning on March 13, he assumed Naomi headed out to work. He did not hear from her later that evening and reported her missing, but says authorities did not take his claims seriously.

The next day on March 14, Naomi’s family checked her bank statements and saw her card was last used at the Chevron at 5:13 a.m. on March 12, the Mail said. Valley headed to Walmart, where she parked her vehicle and met with security, which showed him the footage.

“My blood just ran cold. I could tell from my sister’s body language… she gets kind of jittery when she is nervous,” Valley said. He added that the suspect appeared to threaten her or tell her something that prompted her to slide into the passenger’s seat. 

The suspect is believed to drive in a blue 2021 or 2022 Chevy Silverado High-Country pickup truck, the Mail noted. The truck has chrome door handles and is believed to have been made sometime after 2021 as its front bumper is power-matched to the truck’s color, something the company did not do prior to last year.

Police have not revealed why they believe the truck belongs to the suspect. Initial reports from the LCSO indicated the suspect had walked over to Naomi’s vehicle from a nearby “homeless camp,” but the LCSO has since said they are not “100 percent clear on that yet,” according to a March 17 press conference documented by KRNV.

“We just know from the surveillance video that this truck we put out in the media is of interest,” the sheriff’s office said.

On Tuesday, Diana spoke at a press conference and begged for her daughter’s return.

“If you find any of (the evidence) just laying out, please call. It could be vital to saving her life, and that’s our No. 1 goal right now,” Diana said according to the Journal Gazette. “Please, save my daughter and bring her home. Please.”

Irion’s sister, Tamara Cartwright, also spoke Tuesday. 

“This is life and death for a beautiful and fun and loving sister, daughter and friend,” Cartwright said. “She is just starting her adult life. She hasn’t even gone to college yet. She just graduated high school.”

On Saturday, some 400-500 people gathered in Fernley to search for Naomi, Breitbart News reported.