Terry Allen Miles, Accused Of Abducting Texas Girls, Caught In Colorado

A man suspected of abducting two young girls whose mother may have been murdered in Texas, was caught Wednesday in Colorado and the girls were found safe, the Round Rock police chief confirmed.

Round Rock Police Department Chief Allen Banks wrote on Twitter that the suspect Terry Allen Miles was "caught in Colorado without incident."

Police found Miles based on a tip they received, where the suspect was identified on a business surveillance tape in Trinidad, Colorado, on Dec. 30, Banks said earlier on Wednesday.

The two girls, Lilianais Griffith, 14, and Luluvioletta Bandera-Magret, 7, were not seen with Miles in the surveillance video. Police had been working closely with all agencies throughout the country, although they said that numerous tips led them to Colorado.

"Our whole focus right now is to get Lily and Lulu back home safely," Banks said prior to the discovery of Miles, Fox News reported.

The girls’ mother, Tonya Bates’ body, was discovered on Sunday Dec. 31 after police responded to a welfare check in Round Rock, Texas. After the discovery, police said they learned her daughters were missing. The two girls lived with their mother.

Miles was cited as a suspect in the girls’ abduction and a person of interest in the death of their mother. Hours after an Amber Alert was deactivated in Texas, another was soon activated in Colorado after the tip that Miles was seen at a business in Trinidad without the girls.

Federal investigators had stepped up their search for the suspect after he was caught on surveillance video of the business in Colorado.

Bates’ cause of death has not yet been released. Banks said that while he had not yet read the autopsy results for Bates, authorities were "investigating [her death as] a homicide at this point."

Banks had previously characterized Bates’ death as "suspicious in nature," according to NBC News.

Round Rock police chief Banks had said on Monday that Miles and Bates were roommates. He added that it is still not clear how long Bates had been dead before her body was discovered.

Investigators said the girls' safety was of great concern because of Miles' criminal history.

Officials said Miles’ criminal history was extensive. Tony Mancuso, the sheriff of Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, claimed that Miles was arrested there at least seven times between the years 2006 and 2015.

"I know that one of the arrests was porn involving a juvenile. When we interviewed him for that it was a pretty disturbing interview," Mancuso said.

The police chief of Sulphur, Louisiana, Lewis Coats, also added that Miles has a long list of charges his department has investigated.

"In 2015 we are investigating an alleged rape filed against him of a 13-14 year old female," Coats noted, according to Denver CBS local. He added that Miles moved to Texas during the investigation, but the case is still open.

Miles was also previously arrested in Louisiana for a second degree murder after allegedly beating his girlfriend and strangling her "to the point of unconsciousness," NBC affiliate KPLC-TV reported.