- Diana Irion is the mother of missing Nevada teen Naomi Irion.
- Naomi was abducted from a Walmart parking lot on March 12.
- Diana told Insider it felt like being "shot in the chest" to learn her daughter was missing.
The mother of a missing Nevada teen told Insider about the gut-wrenching moment she learned about her daughter's abduction while thousands of miles away in South Africa.
Naomi Irion was waiting in her car to take a shuttle to her job at a Panasonic factory around 5:30 a.m. on March 12, when a nondescript man approached her vehicle, got in, and drove off with her inside.
Naomi's car was found abandoned less than a mile from the parking lot two days later, with evidence inside suggesting her disappearance was "criminal in nature," according to police.
Naomi's disappearance came just a few months after she returned to the US to live with her older brother, after finishing high school in South Africa, where her parents worked for the State Department at the US diplomatic mission in Pretoria.
In an interview with Insider on Thursday, Naomi's mother, Diana Irion, said her husband woke her up at 3 or 4 in the morning to tell her that Naomi had been taken.
"It was like being shot in my chest," Irion said. "My heart just exploded with pain and I felt like I was going to die. I still feel that way all the time."
Irion said the embassy took "really good care" of the family as they made preparations to travel back to the US to aid in the search for Naomi.
"They sent a doctor to travel with me because I was in shock. They medicated me so that I wouldn't have a panic attack or something on the plane," she said.
Irion also made the grueling 36-hour journey with her three younger adopted sons.
Naomi's older brother, Casey Valley, said that Naomi's disappearance is all the more heartbreaking because she was the family's "miracle" baby.
Valley said that his mom suffered a miscarriage before Naomi was born, and when Diana was in the final stages of pregnancy with Naomi, doctors told her that there was a good chance Naomi would die after birth as well, due to a depletion of amniotic fluids.
Doctors "expected her to basically gasp for breath and pass away as soon as she was born and she didn't," Valley said.
"That was an actual miracle that brought Naomi into our lives and we need another one," he added.
Valley remains hopeful that he will see his sister again, saying "if anyone can make it through this kind of thing, it's Naomi."
"We have hope."
Naomi is described as being 5-foot-11, 240 pounds, with brown hair and green eyes. She has both sides of her nose pierced and her septum pierced. She has a smiley face tattoo on one of her angles. She was last seen wearing a blue Panasonic shirt, a gray cardigan, sweats, and knock-off Ugg boots.
Anyone with information on Naomi's disappearance is being asked to contact Lyon County Sheriff's Detective Erik Kusmerz at 775-577-5206, ext. 2, mentioning case number 22LYO068. Kusmerz can also be emailed at [email protected]. Anonymous tips are to be directed to Secret Witness of Northern Nevada at 775-322-4900.