Triple homicide suspect arrested in Colorado after women found dead on Utah hiking trail and in home
By Holly Yan, Amanda Musa, CNN
(CNN) — Utah’s rugged canyons and picturesque national parks became the backdrop of a horrific tragedy when officials in the small town of Torrey responded to a pair of distraught men who had discovered the bodies of their wives — friends who hadn’t come back from a hike on a nearby trail that Wednesday afternoon.
The gruesome discovery would eventually lead authorities to a third woman, in her 80s, killed a few towns over, triggering a manhunt across several states and prompting a two-day closure of schools in Wayne County.
The suspect, 22-year-old Ivan Miller of Blakesburg, Iowa, was arrested Thursday after a victim’s stolen car “was tracked through southern Utah into northern Arizona and eventually into Colorado,” Utah DPS said. Miller is charged with three counts of first-degree aggravated murder, according to an indictment filed Thursday.
The indictment details Miller’s alleged admission to the killings, which he said he committed because he needed money, according to the court document.
He appeared to have “no connections to the victims and no connections to the area that we’re aware of,” Utah Highway Patrol spokesperson Lt. Cameron Roden said.
The tragedy at first bewildered law enforcement in both states, as investigators were unsure why Miller traveled to Utah or why the three women were killed.
A horrific discovery
Wayne County, about 200 miles south of Salt Lake City, is sparsely populated with about 2,500 residents, according to the US Census. But the area is popular with hiking and outdoor enthusiasts because of nearby Capitol Reef National Park, Canyonlands National Park and Fishlake National Forest.
The case started when authorities received a call Wednesday afternoon about “two deceased females located on a hiking trail” in Wayne County, Utah DPS said. Bullet casings and shotgun shells were found at the trailhead, court documents show.
“During the course of the investigation, a third victim was located deceased at a residence in Wayne County,” Utah DPS said.
Officials have not released the victims’ identities as of Thursday night.
Prior to killing the women near Torrey, officials say Miller killed an older woman in her home about 15 miles away in Lyman, Utah.
Miller told officials that he had been staying at a hotel in the area for a few days after he hit an elk with his truck, which he then sold to a tow truck company, according to his indictment.
After arriving in Lyman, Miller spent that night in the eldest victim’s shed and later entered her home when she left the house, according to court documents. Miller said he waited in the woman’s home until she returned and shot her in the back of the head while she watched TV, the documents show.
Miller made efforts to clean up the scene before dragging the woman’s body to a cellar under the shed where she was later found, according to court documents.
The man then stole her vehicle and traveled to the trailhead in the Torrey area, where he killed the two other women, who were in their 30s and 40s, Roden told CNN.
He reportedly shot both women and stabbed one in the chest when he realized she was still moving, according to the indictment, which says Miller admitted to dragging their bodies off the trail and into a ditch.
Miller also admitted to stealing the women’s credit cards and using one of them to pay for gas, the documents show.
Officials say Miller left the trail driving a white Subaru belonging to one of the two hikers.
The woman’s husband was able to track the car’s location using an app that monitored the vehicle’s key fob. At about 9 p.m. Wednesday, the key fob appeared to be in Farmington, New Mexico — about two hours southwest of where Miller would later be taken into custody, according to the indictment.
“Colorado law enforcement located the vehicle abandoned in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, and after a brief search, took the individual into custody without incident,” Utah DPS said. “There are no ongoing threats to the public, and investigators have no outstanding suspects.”
Miller had a handgun and a large knife in his possession at the time of his arrest, according to police in Pagosa Springs.
The Utah State Bureau of Investigation and the Utah Crime Lab are hoping to uncover more clues as they process the crime scenes.
Miller remains detained in Colorado. He has a court hearing scheduled for Friday afternoon in Archuleta County. Records show he will be represented by a public defender.
The suspect is expected to be extradited to Utah afterward, Roden said.
A tranquil community shaken
Many homes, businesses and schools were either locked down or shuttered Thursday morning as investigators scoured the scenic landscape for the suspect.
Authorities urged residents to take extra precautions, “such as locking doors, remaining at home or with others,” Utah DPS said.
The Wayne Community Health Center, Kazan Memorial Clinic and Wayne County Courthouse in Loa closed because of the manhunt earlier Thursday, CNN affiliate KSL reported.
The Wayne County School District announced it would be closed for the rest of the week and would “have counselors in place to support students when we are back in session next week.”
Torrey Mayor Mickey Wright described the ordeal as a “heartbreaking moment for our small, close‑knit community” and thanked law enforcement for their coordinated efforts to capture the suspect as well as offered his condolences to the victims’ families.
“Our community is strong. In the coming days, we will support one another, check on our neighbors, and ensure that those affected by this tragedy are not alone,” Wright said in a statement Thursday. “We stand together today — in grief, in compassion, and in solidarity.”
CNN’s Andi Babineau, Cheri Mossburg and Sara Finch contributed to this report.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
