Mother of Mikayla Miller demands transparency in police investigation into her daughter’s death

HOPKINTON, Mass. — Family, friends, and strangers come together at a vigil for a teenager found dead in the woods in Hopkinton last month. The mother of 16-year-old Mikayla Miller spoke for the first time, laying out specific reasons why she is questioning the investigation into her daughter’s death.

According to the Middlesex County D.A.’s office, Mikayla’s body was discovered in the woods near her home on April 18. The day before, the D.A.’s office claims she was involved in a physical altercation with a group of people in the clubhouse of her apartment complex. It’s unclear if that altercation played a role in her death, but the D.A. has suggested Mikayla may have taken her own life.

The D.A.’s office adds that investigators used information from Mikayla’s phone that showed she walked about 1,300 steps into the woods to where her body was found.

“The phone that my daughter had on her person at that time was not an active cellular phone. It didn’t have cellular data,” said Calvina Strothers, the mother of Mikayla Miller. “And the only way that it could work as if it was connected to WiFi. Once leaving the community, she no longer has WiFi there, so her steps can’t be cannot be counted, which I confirmed with Apple.”

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Strothers believes investigators measured the steps using Google. All the DA’s office could tell Boston 25 was that the steps came from the health app on Mikayla’s phone.

Strothers also questions the police department’s transparency through this whole investigation.

“They were given the names of all five kids involved,” said Strothers. “Almost a week later, when I requested a copy of the police report, it was nothing on file or in the Hopkinton police log. There was also none of the actual findings of Mikayla’s body.”

Boston 25 News has reached out to Hopkinton police about the police log and report but is still waiting to hear back.

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Strothers also says it took 12 days for the D.A.’s office to reach out to her after her daughter’s death. But the D.A. told Boston 25 News a victim’s advocate was in contact with the family one day after Mikayla’s body was found.

Cox Media Group