Ivan Miller, Blakesburg, Iowa man shoots & kills 3 women in Wayne County, Utah in two different incidents cause he needed money and car to get back home. Victims id as Margaret Oldroyd, of Lyman and niece and aunt, Natalie Graves and Linda Dewey.
An Iowa man is accused of shooting and killing three women in two separate incidents in rural Utah that prompted a multi-state manhunt across the western United States, according to prosecutors and law enforcement officials.
Ivan Miller, 22, of Blakesburg, Iowa is accused of shooting and killing his first female victim, stealing her vehicle and driving it to a nearby trailhead where he killed two more women before fleeing in one of their vehicles and crossing state lines before being arrested in Colorado.
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, KCCI reported.
Shooter needed money and car to get back home to Iowa
Miller confessed to shooting and killing his victims to steal their cars and credit cards because he needed money to get back to Iowa, charging documents show. He had hit an elk a few days earlier in Utah and was without a vehicle after selling his truck to the tow company.
After staying in hotels for a few days, Miller said he eventually spent the night in a shed on the property of the first woman, 86-year old Margaret Oldroyd, of Lyman only to shoot and kill her inside her home and then stealing her Buick vehicle, Wayne County prosecutors stated in court documents.
Miller told authorities that he quickly realized he did not like the Buick and wanted a different vehicle, according to the documents. He parked it at a nearby trailhead, saw two women get out of a Subaru and killed them before taking the car, the documents state.
He attempted to conceal their bodies in dry creek bed, prosecutors allege.
Victims and shooter were unknown to each other
Investigators identified the victims as Natalie Graves, 34, and Linda Dewey, 65, who were related as niece and aunt. Along with being fatally shot, one of the two women had also been ‘stabbed multiple times in the heart’ the Des Moines Register reported.
According to prosecutors, the two women had traveled to the area for a hike. When they failed to return, their husbands went to the trailhead to search for them.
When the men arrived, they discovered both women dead and their vehicle missing, prompting an emergency call to authorities.
The killings triggered a large search involving multiple law enforcement agencies. Investigators tracked Miller using license plate reader data and vehicle tracking technology, which indicated he traveled from Utah through northern Arizona and into Colorado.
Officials said the stolen Subaru was eventually found abandoned near Pagosa Springs.
After a brief search in the area, officers located and arrested Miller. Authorities said he was allegedly armed with a large knife and a .45-caliber pistol at the time of his arrest.
Iowa 22-year-old confesses ‘it had to be done, but he didn’t like it’
At the time of his arrest on March 5, Miller had credit and debit cards belonging to the victims and one of their identification cards. He told investigators he used one of the cards to buy gas and was planning to go back to Iowa, where he is from before his arrest.
‘Miller confessed that it ‘had to be done’ but he did not like to do it,’ the complaint said.
Investigators said the victims were not known to the suspect and that the attacks appear to have been random.
Miller’s criminal history in Iowa includes four counts on Dec. 28, 2025: burglary, theft, possession of marijuana and a weapons charge, according to records obtained by the Des Moines Register. The burglary charge is a class C felony, the others were serious misdemeanors.
Miller is scheduled to make his first court appearance, Friday afternoon.
