Update • Stranded in Utah, 22-year-old killed three women for money and cars, prosecutors allege

Ending a search early Thursday that spanned three states, authorities arrested a man in Colorado after three women were killed Wednesday in Utah’s Wayne County, according to the Utah Department of Public Safety.

The suspect’s vehicle was tracked through southern Utah and into northern Arizona before it was found abandoned in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, said Lt. Cameron Roden of the Utah Highway Patrol. According to charging documents filed Thursday afternoon, the suspect also was spotted in Farmington, New Mexico.

Ivan Miller, 22, of Blakesburg, Iowa, was arrested Thursday morning and has been charged with three counts of aggravated murder.

Two women — one in her 30s and another in her 60s — were found dead Wednesday evening at a trailhead just off state Route 12 near Torrey after their husbands discovered their bodies and called 911, Roden said.

Detectives later found a third woman, in her 80s, dead in her home in Lyman, about 15 miles away, Roden said.

Update: Names of 3 women killed in Wayne County released

Investigators believe the suspect first killed the woman in Lyman, Roden said. Then he drove her car to the trailhead, where he allegedly killed the other two women before abandoning the first vehicle and leaving in another victim’s car, Roden said.

Roden said investigators believe the two women found at the trailhead were friends who had gone out to hike.

“We have nothing to suggest they were targeted,” Roden said. Investigators were still trying to determine why the Iowa man was in Utah, Roden said, adding that they are not aware of any connection between him and the victims.

Charging documents filed Thursday said that Miller told authorities after his arrest that he had been in Loa, a few miles west of Lyman, for several days after his truck struck an elk.

Authorities said the investigation remained ongoing as members of Utah’s State Bureau of Investigation and crime lab processed two crime scenes in the Lyman and Torrey areas.

There was no longer an outstanding threat to the public on Thursday, DPS said, and investigators are not looking for any other suspects.

“It’s going to be something that definitely shakes the community for a little while,” Roden said, “and we want, as law enforcement officers, to help them get back to normal as much as we possibly can.”

After the women were found dead, law enforcement officers across southern Utah searched for a car they believe the suspect used to flee, according to DPS.

The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office was investigating multiple crime scenes in Torrey and surrounding areas, the DPS release said. Torrey is a town of about 260 people in the south-central part of Utah, just outside the west entrance to Capitol Reef National Park.

The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office sent out an alert at 8:45 p.m. Wednesday on its Facebook account. The sheriff’s office asked residents to “take extra precautions, keep lights on, keep doors locked, remain home or with others.”

The sheriff’s office asked people to report “anything that causes alarm” by calling the Wayne County dispatcher at 800-356-8757. Officers urged people only to call if they had information to share with law enforcement.

The Sevier County Sheriff’s Office, north of Wayne County, posted an alert on its website Wednesday evening, describing the Subaru Outback that officers were seeking.

The Wayne County School District had announced Wednesday night that its schools would close Thursday and Friday, “out of an abundance of caution and concern for student and public safety.” When classes reopen next week, the district said on its Facebook account, “we will also have counselors in place to support students.”

After Thursday’s arrest, calls to the school district were not returned.

Mickey Wright, the mayor of Torrey, expressed condolences in a statement posted Thursday on the town’s website.

“Our community is grieving today,” Wright wrote.

Wright noted “the professionalism and rapid response of law enforcement” during the multi-state search. “Their work brought clarity and safety back to our community during an extremely difficult and uncertain day.”

Wright also asked residents to “give law enforcement the space they need to complete their work” of investigating the three killings.

“Our community is strong,” Wright wrote in conclusion. “In the coming days, we will support one another, check on our neighbors, and ensure that those affected by this tragedy are not alone. … We stand together today — in grief, in compassion, and in solidarity.”

Law enforcement in San Juan, Grand and Emery counties posted warnings on their Facebook accounts Wednesday similar to those issued in Wayne and Sevier counties. The Garfield County Sheriff’s Office posted an alert at 9:28 p.m., then posted another notice at 10:53 p.m. saying “there is no longer a threat in our area,” though the agency urged people to “please remain vigilant.”