Triple Homicide Investigation Timeline
Wayne County and Lyman, Utah

October 24, 2025

• Ivan W. Miller received a truck driver’s license.

Late 2025

• Ivan W. Miller is cited by Alaska wildlife troopers near Bristol Bay for operating a vessel without required flotation devices.

December 17, 2025

• Department of Transportation records indicate a first notice of involuntary revocation was issued for Miller’s truck driver’s license.

December 31, 2025

• At Lake Wapello State Park, a park ranger preparing a cabin for arriving guests finds evidence someone has been living inside.
• Rangers encounter Ivan W. Miller inside the cabin after he entered by picking the lock.
• Several loaded firearms are discovered inside the cabin including:
• A fully loaded 7.62×54 bolt-action rifle with bayonet
• A fully loaded Diamondback AR-10 .308 rifle with scope and bipod
• Multiple loaded magazines and ammunition
• Miller reportedly tells the ranger, “It’s OK, you can arrest me now.”
• Iowa court records later list charges including:
• Theft
• Burglary
• Marijuana possession
• Being ineligible to carry a firearm.

January 20, 2026

• The revocation of Miller’s truck driver’s license becomes officially effective, according to Department of Transportation records.

Late February 2026

• Near Loa, Utah, Miller crashes his truck after striking an elk.
• The vehicle becomes disabled.
• A local auto parts store owner reportedly gives Miller a ride after the crash.
• Miller sells the damaged truck to a local tow company.
• After losing his vehicle, Miller remains in the Wayne County area.

February 27, 2026

• Investigators later determine the elderly victim’s vehicle was seen in Loa.
• This confirms the victim was alive several days before the murders.

Late February – Early March 2026

• Miller stays at a hotel in the Wayne County area after selling his truck.
• Investigators later determine:
• Miller had no known connection to the victims.
• Miller had no ties to Wayne County.
• The victims did not know each other.

March 3, 2026

• Miller travels to the residence of a woman in her 80s in Lyman, Utah.
• According to charging documents, Miller spends the night in a shed located behind the home.
• While on the property he observes that the victim owns a Buick LeSabre.

March 4, 2026

Morning

• Miller observes the victim leaving and later returning to the home in the Buick.
• After she returns inside, Miller enters the residence and hides behind a door.
• When the victim sits down watching television:
• Miller shoots her in the back of the head with a 1911 pistol.
• After the killing:
• Miller attempts to clean the crime scene.
• Investigators later locate blood in the front room.
• Drag marks lead from the home toward an outbuilding.
• Miller then:
• Drags the victim’s body outside.
• Uses a wheelbarrow to move the body.
• Places the body in a cellar beneath a shed on the property.
• Miller gathers his belongings and steals the victim’s Buick LeSabre.
• He later tells investigators he did not like the vehicle and wanted another one.

March 4, 2026 — Later that morning

• Miller drives the Buick to the Cockscomb Trailhead.
• Two women arrive to hike:
• One in her 30s
• One in her 60s
• The women exit a white Subaru Outback.
• Miller approaches them.
• He shoots the younger woman in the chest.
• He shoots the older woman twice in the body.
• When she continues moving:
• Miller stabs her multiple times in the heart.
• Investigators later locate evidence including:
• Three .45-caliber shell casings
• One spent 20-gauge shotgun shell
• Blood droplets along the roadway
• Drag marks leading toward a dry creek bed.
• Miller drags both bodies into the creek bed and places them next to each other.
• He steals the white Subaru Outback.
• Miller takes credit cards belonging to the victims.
• During later questioning he tells investigators the murders “had to be done.”

March 4, 2026

10:32 a.m.

• The stolen Subaru is recorded by license-plate readers traveling through Bicknell, Utah.

March 4, 2026 — Later that day

• Miller uses one of the victims’ credit cards to purchase gasoline.

March 4, 2026

4:00 p.m.

• Wayne County Emergency Communications receives a call reporting two deceased women at the trailhead near State Route 12.
• The victims’ husbands had gone searching after the women failed to return home.

March 4, 2026

4:03 p.m.

• Wayne County Sheriff’s deputies are dispatched to the trailhead.

March 4, 2026

4:15 p.m.

• First deputies arrive and confirm two homicide victims.

March 4, 2026

4:18 p.m.

• Deputies speak with the husbands who discovered the bodies.

March 4, 2026

4:20 p.m.

• Investigators determine the deaths appear to be homicides and secure the scene.

March 4, 2026

4:25 p.m.

• Officers locate a vehicle concealed under a tree near the trailhead.
• Investigators also locate a live 20-gauge shotgun shell nearby.

March 4, 2026

4:35 p.m.

• Vehicle registration links the car to an elderly woman in Lyman.

March 4, 2026

4:45 p.m.

• Deputies are dispatched to the residence in Lyman.

March 4, 2026

5:00 p.m.

• Officers arrive at the home.
• Blood is located inside the residence.
• Drag marks lead outside.

March 4, 2026

5:10 p.m.

• Deputies discover the victim’s body in a cellar beneath a shed.
• The case becomes a triple homicide investigation.

March 4, 2026

5:20 p.m.

• Investigators confirm the Subaru belonging to the hikers is missing.

March 4, 2026

5:30 p.m.

• A statewide BOLO alert is issued for the stolen Subaru.

March 4, 2026

6:00 p.m.

• Law enforcement begins tracking the vehicle using license-plate readers and vehicle tracking systems.

7:00 p.m.

• The vehicle is tracked entering northern Arizona.

8:30 p.m.

• Tracking data indicates the vehicle travels through northwestern New Mexico.

9:13 p.m.

• License-plate readers detect the vehicle in Farmington, New Mexico.

10:30 p.m.

• Investigators determine the vehicle has entered Pagosa Springs, Colorado.

10:35 p.m.

• Sevier County Sheriff’s Office issued Attempt to Locate Source
• We are looking for information on a 2022 WHITE SUBARU OUTBACK 10-28 UT/ U560YF SUSPECTED INVOLVEMENT IN SUSPICIOUS DEATH OUT OF WAYNE COUNTY. IF you have seen this vehicle within the last 24 hours please contact dispatch at 435-896-6471. Further information will come from the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office.

10.45 p.m.

• Update from Wayne County, Utah Sheriff’s Office  Source 
• Due to recent incidents that have occurred in Wayne County today, WCSO is asking that all residents take extra precautions, keep lights on, keep doors locked, remain home or with others this evening if possible. Multiple law enforcement agencies are currently in the area. Wayne County Sheriff’s Office and the other law enforcement agencies are taking action to keep all residents safe. Please report anything that causes alarm to our Wayne County dispatch line which is 1-800-356-8757. Please DO NOT call dispatch to have questions answered, only to give legitimate information.
• We will not be answering to press, all updates will come from the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page.

11:10 p.m.

• Police in Pagosa Springs are notified the suspect vehicle connected to the Utah killings has entered the area.

March 4, 2026 Later that night

• Officers locate the Subaru abandoned in Centennial Park in downtown Pagosa Springs.
• A search perimeter is established.

March 5, 2026

2:40 a.m.

• Miller is located and detained near the abandoned vehicle.
• During a search officers find:
• A concealed handgun
• A large knife
• Credit cards belonging to the victims.
• Miller is arrested on a concealed weapons offense.
• During questioning Miller admits killing the three women.
• He tells investigators the murders “had to be done” so he could obtain vehicles and money to return to Iowa.
• Miller is charged in Utah’s 6th District Court with three counts of aggravated murder.

10:11 a.m. 

• Seiver County Sheriff’s Office Update: Wayne County Suspect in Custody Source
• We have received confirmation that a suspect in the Wayne County homicides was captured early this morning. The suspect is in law enforcement custody. We greatly appreciate all our law enforcement and investigation partners, and all of our citizens who provided tips and assisted in the process. We ask for patience as the investigation progresses. Official details will come from Wayne County Sheriff’s Office and Utah Department of Public Safety.

12:00 p.m. 

• Update from Utah DPS: The suspect of a triple homicide in Wayne County, Utah, is in custody early Thursday morning after investigators tracked him in one of the victims’ vehicles. The vehicle was tracked through southern Utah into northern Arizona and eventually into Colorado. Colorado law enforcement located the vehicle abandoned in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, and after a brief search, took the individual into custody without incident. Source
• The investigations continue into Thursday morning as members of the Utah State Bureau of Investigation and the Utah Crime Lab process two crime scenes in the Lyman and Torrey area.
• There are no ongoing threats to the public, and investigators have no outstanding suspects.
• We would like to thank the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Land Management, the Pagosa Springs (CO) Police Department, and the Archuleta, Sevier, Page (AZ) Police Department, and Kane County Sheriffs’ Offices for their support and assistance. Furthermore, we recognize the vigilance of all surrounding law enforcement agencies whose proactive communication and coordination were instrumental in locating the suspect and securing the region.

12:23 p.m.

• Update from Wayne County Sheriff’s Office: Source
• With the use of LPR Cameras and vehicle tracking methods, law enforcement agencies were able to locate the suspect, Ivan Miller, who was located in Colorado in the early morning of Thursday, March 5, 2026, near the abandoned missing vehicle.
• The suspect is still in custody in Colorado at this time.
• Wayne County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank all the participating law enforcement agencies for their assistance and dedication to quickly apprehending the suspect.
• Wayne County Sheriff’s Office would also like to extend our deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims.
• More information will be released as necessary in cooperation with the Utah Department of Public Safety.

The victims have now been identified as 86-year-old Margaret Oldroyd, 65-year-old Linda Dewey, and 34-year-old Natalie Graves, according to the Utah Department of Public Safety