Suspect identified and in custody after 3 women found dead in Utah, 2 on hiking trail, authorities say
Authorities in Utah have identified the man taken into custody on suspicion of killing three women as Ivan Miller. Two of the women were found dead on a hiking trail and a third was found dead in a residence, authorities said.
The Wayne County Sheriff's Office released Miller's name on social media around 10:30 a.m. local time. Officials did not share any other details about Miller or what connection, if any, he had to the victims.
The Sevier County Sheriff's Office said on social media that it received confirmation that the suspect was captured early Thursday morning.
Utah's Department of Public Safety said investigators used license plate cameras and other tools to track Miller through southern Utah, into Northern Arizona and eventually into Colorado in one of the victim's vehicles. Colorado law enforcement found it abandoned in Pagosa Springs. After a brief search, Colorado law enforcement took the suspect into custody without incident, the department said.
He remains in custody in Colorado, the Wayne County Sheriff's Office said. There was no ongoing threat or other suspects, the Department of Public Safety said.
The DPS says a manhunt began when the Wayne County Emergency Communications Center department received a call about two bodies found on a hiking trail on Wednesday. As investigators looked into their deaths, a third victim was found in a residence in the town of Torrey. The DPS said it was processing two crime scenes.
Thursday night, the department said the victims were Margaret Oldroyd, 86, Linda Dewey, 65 and Natalie Graves, who was 34, and that Dewey was Grave's aunt, but there was no evidence that they knew Oldroyd.
Dewey's and Graves' husbands were the ones who found their bodies on the trail and called the communications center, the DPS said.
The DPS had asked for the public's assistance in locating a 2022 white Subaru Outback. It turned out that the vehicle belonged to the hikers, according to the DPS.
While the suspect was on the loose, law enforcement had urged residents in Torrey and the surrounding area to "take extra precautions, such as locking doors, remaining at home or with others, and being vigilant about surroundings," as well as reporting suspicious activity to 911.
Officials from the Wayne County School District said classes were canceled for the rest of the week "out of an abundance of caution and concern for student and public safety," CBS Salt Lake City affiliate KUTV reported. The district said counselors will be in place to support students when they return.
Torrey is near Capitol Reef National Park and the mountains of Fishlake and Dixie National Forests.