Iowan Charged With Murder of Three Women Found Near Capitol Reef Trailhead

Ivan W. Miller, 22, of Blakesburg, Iowa, was arrested near Pagosa Springs, Colorado, and charged with three counts of aggravated murder after Wayne County prosecutors say he killed three women in separate incidents in south‑central Utah. Prosecutors allege one victim was an older woman found at her Lyman home and two were hikers discovered in a dried-up creek bed near the Cocks Comb Trailhead off State Route 12 between Torrey and Teasdale.

Court documents and reporting trace Miller’s movements to an elk collision a few days earlier in a tiny farming town near Capitol Reef National Park, after which he sold his truck to a tow company and spent several days sleeping in hotels. Prosecutors say Miller slept in a shed on the Lyman victim’s property the night before that woman was killed, then shot her from behind while she was watching TV and stole her Buick.

Prosecutors allege Miller drove the stolen Buick roughly 10 miles - about 16 kilometers - from the Lyman home to a trailhead near Capitol Reef, where he encountered two women who had exited a Subaru. According to court documents quoted by KUTV, Miller “went up to them and shot the younger one in what he thought was the chest and she went down. Miller then shot the other one twice in the body but that she was still moving. Miller then stabbed her multiple times in the 'heart.'” Wayne County dispatch received a call Wednesday that two women had been found near the Cocks Comb Trailhead in a dried-up creek bed.

After his arrest early Thursday near Pagosa Springs, the Pagosa Springs Police Department released an undated image of Miller on March 5, 2026, and reports say he was held in the Pagosa Springs/Archuleta County detention facility. KUTV reported Wayne County prosecutors filed the aggravated murder charges Thursday afternoon; the charging documents allege Miller told investigators he killed the women to steal cars and credit cards because he needed money to return to Iowa.

Investigators characterize the killings as random and say there was no known prior connection between Miller and the victims. Utah Department of Public Safety Lt. Cameron Roden told reporters, “There was no indication that the man had any connection to the victims,” and added, “There's nothing to suggest they were targeted specifically.” KSL reported investigators are still assembling a timeline that includes Miller stopping in Pagosa to get gas before continuing.

Several concrete details remain unresolved in public reporting: the victims’ names have not been released, coroner findings and official ages are pending, and accounts conflict on the reported ages of the hiking victims. KUTV identified the victims generally as being in their 30s, 60s, and 80s while KSL described the two hikers as in their 30s and 40s and the Lyman woman in her 80s.

Miller’s statements to investigators include a grim rationalization - “didn't like to do it, but ... 'had to be done'” - and one procedural detail quoted by KUTV: “When asked what he did with the knife he used to stab the woman at the trailhead, he pulled it out.” Wayne County prosecutors have lodged three first‑degree aggravated murder counts; the case will hinge on charging affidavits, vehicle and transaction records, and forthcoming autopsy reports.