ROUND ROCK, Texas — According to an FBI special agent affidavit unsealed Thursday, Tonya Bates left work on Dec. 29, 2017, at approximately 7:15 p.m. She failed to show up for work the next day, which was unusual.

On Dec. 30, Round Rock officers conducted a welfare check at her home and discovered her body. She had been a victim of apparent blunt force trauma. Investigators estimated she had been killed on the evening of Dec. 29.

Officers made contact with Tonya Bates’ sister, Shirley Bates, who informed them that Tonya Bates had two young daughters. She also informed them that her sister had a roommate named Terry Allen Miles.

On or about Dec. 30, at approximately 1 a.m., Miles’ biological mother, Elizabeth Elliot, received a text message, apparently from her son, who was using the victim’s phone. That message stated the following: 

“Mom I left with the kids and came home to something bad I think Tonyas boyfriend. I cant talk now tonya was involved in some bad stuff I will talk to you later when im safe these guys are crazy Mexicans.”

The FBI later obtained surveillance video from a Round Rock Walmart store dated Dec. 30 that appears to show Miles purchasing camping gear including sleeping bags. 

Miles was arrested Wednesday night in southern Colorado.

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The man accused of taking two girls from their Round Rock home after their mother was found dead has been charged with kidnapping.

Terry Miles, 44, was taken into custody in Colorado on Tuesday, Jan. 3; four days after the girls went missing. The girls were found safe and will be reunited with their family through the help of Child Protective Services.

Miles was the roommate of the girl’s mother, Tonya Bates, who was found dead on Dec. 31, 2017. Bates appeared to have suffered from blunt force trauma, according to the Department of Justice.

Along with her daughters, police also discovered that Bates’ Hyundai Accent was missing. Miles was spotted in the car after an Amber Alert was issued for the girls in Colorado. Tips helped trace Miles to Colorado. He was captured on surveillance footage in a store in Trinidad.

RELATED | Amber Alert issued for 2 kids as woman's death is investigated

Police named Miles a person of interest in Bates’ death, but have not said if he is a suspect at this time.

Miles is scheduled for a court appearance for the kidnapping charges at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 4 in the Federal District Court in Denver, Colorado.  

Miles’ background:

Miles was well-known to Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's officials  in Louisiana for domestic violence and drug complaints. Sheriff Tony Mancuso says Miles is still a person of interest in an open 2014 homicide investigation.

Louisiana authorities said Miles is on probation on a 2015 domestic violence conviction and on a 2014 conviction for possession of stolen goods.

Mancuso said Sulphur, Louisiana, police had charged Miles with attempted second-degree murder after they say he tried to strangle a woman and stage her suicide. Those charges were dropped after the witness was unable to testify.

Miles was sentenced in California in 1995 for injuring his spouse. He received a sentence of two years. He was paroled in 1996, but returned to prison for violating his parole twice.

Then in 2002, Miles was given a new sentence for making a terrorist threat. He was sentenced to another two years in prison and paroled in 2003. Once again, he broke parole and ended up back in prison. He was discharged in 2007.