An Amish mother has been arrested after body camera footage captured her saying she drowned her 4-year-old son and "gave him to God," authorities said. Tuscarawas County deputies responded to a campground at Atwood Lake, Ohio, after reports of a golf cart plunging into the water with a woman and three children aboard; officers later found the woman, identified as Ruth Miller, 40, being helped by two of her adult sons.
Deputies said Miller told them, "I gave him to God. I threw him into the lake and gave him to God," and repeatedly spoke about miracles and an imminent end times in footage released by law enforcement. Search-and-rescue crews recovered the child's body, identified as Vincen Miller, around 6 p.m. Saturday. The body of Miller's husband, Marcus Miller, 45, was found in the same area the following morning, authorities said.
Police said the incident followed a series of episodes over the weekend in which the couple and their children engaged in what investigators described as ritualistic "swimming exercises" intended to prove faith. Deputies said both parents believed God was speaking to them and had instructed them to perform tasks to demonstrate worthiness. The sheriff, Orvis Campbell, told reporters one reported directive was particularly unusual: that God had told the couple to allow themselves to be swallowed by a fish.
Authorities said they do not believe Marcus Miller was involved in the death of his son or in the mother's alleged actions with their three other children. Investigators believe Vincen likely drowned while participating in an act meant to demonstrate faith and that Marcus accidentally drowned. The three older children — a 15-year-old daughter and 18-year-old twin sons — were forced into the water at various points over the weekend, police said; they escaped on their own and were not injured in the golf cart crash. The older children have been released to other family members.
Miller has pleaded not guilty to killing her son by reason of insanity, News 5 Cleveland reported. She was hospitalized after the incident for mental health care, authorities said. The Tuscarawas County coroner will conduct autopsies to determine the official causes of death for both children and Marcus Miller.
Investigators reported finding no weapons or evidence of drug use at the family's campsite, but they did find an open Bible. Deputies said body camera footage shows Miller alternately consoling and exhorting people at the scene, telling officers that "people are going to tell me that I am crazy, but he is real and he loves you" and urging others to "prepare your hearts. The end is close."
The Old Order Amish Church and members of the extended Miller family issued a statement to WOIO saying the couple had been "misinterpreting passages of the Bible" and that the actions did not reflect church teachings. The statement said the events appeared to be the result of mental illness, that church ministers and family had been "walking with them through their challenges," and that the couple had previously received professional help.
Sheriff Campbell said the couple had attempted a test of faith earlier in the weekend, jumping from a dock around 1 a.m. before returning to their campsite. He described a pattern of increasingly extreme acts that, in his words, were intended to demonstrate complete faith but had "not gone very well." Deputies said Miller at one point told them she ran from officers and hid in brush after the incidents.
Authorities said they are continuing their investigation into the circumstances that led to the drownings and the golf cart crash, and that criminal charges and mental health assessments remain pending as the coroner completes autopsies and prosecutors review the case. The church thanked law enforcement and rescuers for their response and said attention is now focused on supporting the family directly affected by the tragedy.