TORREY, UT — Utah investigators said Thursday they arrested a 22-year-old Iowa man after three women were found dead in two locations, including a trailhead near State Route 12 in Torrey and a residence in Wayne County.
Authorities identified the suspect as Ivan Miller of Blakesburg, Iowa, and said he was taken into custody after a multistate search that ended in Colorado. Investigators said he was located while driving one of the victims’ vehicles, then later detained after that vehicle was found abandoned in Pagosa Springs.
Officials said the women have not yet been publicly identified. They believe the victims were in their 30s, 60s and 80s, and they said the women were not related.
Husbands found two of the bodies at a Torrey trailhead
Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Cameron Roden said the first discovery came Wednesday evening when the husbands of two victims found the bodies at a trailhead near State Route 12 and called dispatch. That finding quickly widened the investigation across southern Utah.
Roden said investigators then noticed a suspicious vehicle near the trailhead and traced it to a residence in Lyman, Utah. From there, detectives found evidence that led them to a third body at a Wayne County residence later on Wednesday.
According to Utah Department of Public Safety officials, that third victim was the registered owner of the vehicle linked to the case. Investigators have not publicly released the women’s identities.
Investigators say the suspect had no known ties to the victims or the area
Roden said investigators believe Miller had no prior relationship with the victims and no known ties to the area. Officials also said they are still working to learn more about his criminal background.
The Utah Department of Public Safety described the case as a triple murder investigation. Authorities have not said what may have led to the killings, and they have not identified a possible motive.
Investigators also said the victims were not related to one another. That detail, combined with the lack of an apparent connection to the suspect, has made the case especially unsettling for local residents and agencies involved in the search.
Vehicle search stretched from southern Utah into Colorado
After the killings were reported, investigators tracked the suspect’s flight through southern Utah and into northern Arizona before the vehicle reached Colorado. Law enforcement officials in Colorado later found the car abandoned in Pagosa Springs.
That is where authorities took the suspect into custody shortly afterward, Utah DPS said. The sequence of events suggested a rapid, expanding search across multiple jurisdictions as agencies tried to intercept the vehicle before it disappeared farther from the crime scene.
Officials were also searching for a 2022 white Subaru Outback tied to at least one of the murders. Roden said that vehicle belonged to one of the victims found at the trailhead.
FBI says it is ready to help as officials calm the public threat level
A representative for the FBI Salt Lake City field office told KTVX the bureau is aware of the case and is prepared to help local law enforcement if asked. For now, Utah investigators said there are no outstanding suspects.
Officials also said there is no ongoing threat to the public. During the search, residents in multiple counties were told to take precautions such as keeping lights on and locking all doors.
That warning reflected the seriousness of the manhunt while investigators tried to determine whether the suspect might still be moving through the region. With the arrest made, authorities say the immediate public danger has eased.
Wayne County schools closed for two days after the killings
The investigation also affected daily life in Wayne County. The Wayne County School District said schools were closed Thursday and Friday as authorities continued to work the case.
Officials have not released a timeline for when students and staff might return to normal schedules, and they have not said whether the closure was prompted by direct safety concerns or by the broader impact of the ongoing investigation.
Even with the suspect in custody, detectives are still sorting through the circumstances surrounding the deaths, the vehicle movement and the connections between the two locations where the women were found. The victims’ names remain private as the investigation continues.
Local news that matters, from Dulaney Griffin.
