Anya Cain (25:29)
Reiner case, it just, it's, you know, we talk about how horrifying it is when a parent kills their child, how against nature that is. But there's something unnatural about this too. So the years pass. It's 2016 at this point. Dean was at the Tenaya Elementary School. Ian was at the Tealand Middle school. Dean was 10, Ian was 12. The Millard boys did soccer, swimming, rock climbing. And family friends at least described them as outgoing, funny and adventurous boys. And they got that sense of adventure, I think, from their parents, especially their mom, Renee. She was really described as a devoted mom and wife. She was, you know, known to the swim teams and the soccer teams. And she was a serious athlete in her own right. She was actually a cross country coach. She was a mountain runner, a triathlete, raced on bicycles all the time. She did an ironman In Hawaii, which involved like a 1.2 mile open water swim, a 56 mile bike race and like a half marathon, which is just insane to me. And Ian actually took off for his mom. He was apparently a triathlete too, was a big swimmer on the Wasilla Waves team, a mountain runner. So you know, all of that's, all of that sounds very good to me. I mean like my family, we were, we were into soccer and swimming and it's like, you know, working out and being healthy was important. So like you kind of like it just seems like all American, you know, everything seems normal. But on Monday morning, February, that was February 4first, 2016, police get a call from a juvenile in a home in a quiet neighborhood of Meadow Lakes, Wasilla. The troopers rush over and they find that there's been a shooting. So you know, have the helicopter flying around. The Alaska State troopers are searching for a killer en masse. At this point they realize that 40 year old Renee Miller Millard and 10 year old Dean had been shot dead. Alvin was not there. He was away working at the Red Dog Mine in Northwest Alaska at the time. At that point he was with GIS Construction in Anchorage. 12 year old Ian was the sole survivor and police would pretty quickly figure out why that was. The following day, February 2, 2016, they took 12 year old Ian into custody. Not much information came out about this from there because of his, you know, very young age. But Alaska's news source reported that he spent several years locked up in a juvenile detention center. His juvenile records obviously, like all juvenile records are not public. At some point though, he was apparently released from the McLaughlin McLaughlin Youth center when he was about 19, which I think would have been around 2022. And someone with the name Ian Millard is actually listed in the newspaper as a 2021 UA scholar. I think that's University of Alaska. So yeah then, so like that's a horrible tragedy, right? Like just a hor, like who knows what happened? Is there it. Was it an accident? Was it some kind of like childish dispute? Was there some kind of burgeoning mental illness? Was the happy picture painted by family friends when talking to the newspaper totally false and they were struggling with this kid and he just, or was it something where it wasn't false and like one day he just did this like I don't know, I don't know the answer. I'm, I'd be curious if people do know because I, I. Either way it's terrifying. If they were struggling and it's like they weren't being able to get help, that's awful. And then if there was no struggle and then one day he just did this, that's also terrifying. So that's what happens then. Much like Renee's friend Bonnie Craig, a terrible fate befell another young woman in the anchorage area. Around September 25, 2023, Atasia Banks went missing. She was 18 years old. She was from Anchorage, Alaska. Her family reported her missing on October 21, 2023. After not hearing from her for a while, November Anchorage Police Department launches an investigation and then ultimately hands it over to the Alaska State Troopers because they find a clue indicating that she was last known to be alive in the Matsu Valley. So the Matsu is the, the Matanuska Susitina Valley. And this is about like 35 miles north of Anchorage. It's pretty fast growing area. There's a town called Palmer there, and that is the borough seat. So for years, Atasia's family waited in anguish. And then troopers kept working it. They ultimately reviewed the case again and then headed up to Wasilla. And they found on September 4, 2025, the remains of Atasia. Those were on Moose Meadows Road in Wasilla. And they quickly determined that they believed she was murdered. Her body was autopsied by the state medical Examiner's office about six months ago. Around, probably around September of 2025, Ian Millard moved in with his father, Alvin, and Alaska Bureau of Investigation continued working the case. Now, there's been some pretty big developments recently. On March 5, 2026, a grand jury in Palmer, Alaska indicted Ian Millard. The following day, March 6, he was driving on Nick Goose Bay Road and the Alaska State Trooper SWAT team swooped in and arrested him. He was remanded to the Matsu Pretrial center on the following charges. Murder in the second degree, manslaughter, and tampering with physical evidence. Atasia Banks's family released a statement. They called Atasia, quote, an amazing sister, daughter, aunt and friend. A bright bubbly soul whose laughter could light up any room. They talked about how she was, loved the arts, painting, writing, poetry. And this is what they said of Ian, quote, ian Millard is a dangerous individual who must be held accountable. Our family will not rest until justice is served. End quote. So he so far not pleaded not guilty to the charges in the Palmer courtroom on March 9, 2026. But for me, I would really love to know what happened with his family because I feel like if we can understand that, we can best better understand the situation. What were the perceptions of the motive for that because is this guy just kind of like a born murderer? You know, I mean, like, I think that's rarer than people who are made into murderers. But I think it can happen. And I would want to know, yeah, what is this guy's deal? And honestly, it really troubles me. Obviously, you want to be more lenient when kids do horrible things because you would hope that they could be rehabilitated easier than adults who become hardened into a criminal lifestyle. But the idea that he was let out and, like, pretty shortly thereafter this young woman lost her life potentially because of him is very troubling. And there needs to be some conversation around that.
