TORREY, Utah (AP) — A man who authorities accuse of killing a southern Utah woman, stealing her vehicle and driving it to a nearby trailhead and killing two women who were hiking together before fleeing in one of their vehicles has been arrested, officials announced Thursday.
The series of events happened late Wednesday afternoon in small ranching and farming communities that bustle with tourists in the summer because of the proximity to national parks.
Authorities were alerted to the killings by the husbands of the hikers who went to the trail near Capitol Reef National Park looking for them, said Lt. Cameron Roden of the Utah Highway Patrol. The husbands told authorities one vehicle was missing from the trailhead, and they didn't know who owned the other.
Authorities were combing the site Thursday that is partially shielded from a paved road by piñon and juniper trees, and other vegetation. The trail used mostly by locals winds through rock formations.
Roden said authorities discovered the first woman who was killed after identifying the owner of the vehicle. Police tape surrounded the brick home in Lyman on Thursday while investigators gathered evidence. Down the road nearby, the authorities were combing through an area nestled in pinon trees.
Authorities used license plate readers and vehicle tracking services to follow his path, from Utah through northern Arizona and into the mountain town of Pagosa Springs in southwestern Colorado where he abandoned the stolen vehicle, Roden said. The suspect was found after a short search, he said.
Roden identified the suspect as Ivan Miller, 22, of Blakesburg, Iowa. According to online jail records, Miller was being held on suspicion of carrying a concealed weapon, a misdemeanor. He was scheduled to make his first appearance in a Colorado court Friday afternoon.
Miller is being represented by the Colorado Public Defender’s office, said Justin Bogan, who heads the office in the judicial district that covers Pagosa Springs. Bogan declined to comment further. Voicemail messages left at listings for possible relatives of Miller were not immediately returned on Thursday.
There is no indication that Miller had any connection to the victims, Roden said. Investigators were still looking into when he arrived in Utah and what he was doing prior to the killings, Roden said.
Officials have not identified the hikers who were friends but said they were in their 30s and 60s, and the other woman in her 80s. The hikers had no connection to the other woman who lived in a home in Wayne County about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the trail, officials said.
Investigators haven’t found a motive for the killings yet and don’t believe the suspect targeted the women for any other reason other than just “convenience”, Roden said.
Before the suspect was taken into custody, residents in Wayne County were asked to remain vigilant and schools nearby were closed Thursday. Officials asked for help finding a white Subaru Outback but warned people not to approach it.
The State Bureau of Investigation and Crime Lab were supporting the homicide investigation, and multiple scenes were being processed in Torrey, Utah, and the surrounding area, Roden said.
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Slevin reported from Denver and Brumfield from Cockeysville, Maryland.
