That folks say. It is Thursday, March fifth, and we are just getting a breaking update from authorities out in Utah that the man who had a whole community really in fear overnight and during the day today after a triple homicide has been caught. Welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. Roadse. We did an episode earlier today about the community being paralyzed out there. They say they got their guy, but man, so many questions.
I was just going to say, so I know the entire area, and we're talking about a huge portion of Utah, these southern, eastern, and central areas of Utah. Is how it was described to us that sheriff's departments were putting people literally on lockdown, or at least asking them to stay home and lock their doors, turn their lights on, be aware that a man hunt was underway. Sure, we can breathe a sigh of relief, but there are so
many unanswered questions right now. When you hear who this guy is, who they caught, it's going to be a head scratcher.
It absolutely is. The age is a head scratcher. Where he's from is a head scratcher. While he's there as a head scratcher. Did he know anybody there? It's all a head scratcher. But after three women were found dead yesterday in Wayne County in southern Utah, they have now caught the suspect and he is twenty two year old Ivan Miller. In Rome's Mystery Number one. There, you think, okay, it's such a young guy. What's going on? And then where he's from. He's not local, No.
He's from Blakesburg, Iowa, population two hundred and seventy four. It's somewhere in between Des Moines and Cedar Rapids. But it really is this small town in Iowa. And when you see this kid's picture, he's a kid. He is a young kid from Iowa. You see when you look at this picture and then you hear now what.
Police believe he did. It's confusing.
And then to try and even begin to understand why, I don't know where you start.
And they haven't released the manner of death, but they did tell us three women. Three women found dead. Two of them were hiking together in the area and another was found dead at a home that they say it was about ten or fifteen miles away. That home is where they found They say an elderly woman. An elderly woman, a woman in her eighties. The other two there's still some discrepancy about the ages, but one he believes in the thirties, and then he said sixties before and today
this press conference said maybe forties. So not sure there. But these two women were walking together, these three women found in robes. It'd sent the area, not just the immediate area, but we're talking about huge portions of that state were on alert.
Correct, because police from the get go, once they knew that they had a suspect on a loose, they knew they were looking for at least at one point a particular vehicle. They knew their suspect had wheels, so they knew their suspect could travel far. These are remote areas in the Utah Desert, and yes, there isn't high populations and there's expansive terrain, so they knew he could be in a lot of different places pretty quickly.
And we should mention that in fact, yes, he was found not in the area, actually was caught in southern Colorado by way of Arizona. We'll explain that in just a second. But we talked about what, Yes, he's off the streets, they say, and there's no dangers to the community. But robes you ask, first of all, motive, why you're trying to understand Is there a connection between the three women? Look, the two women hiking together, Yes they're friends, but why
the third a motive for it all? They've got nothing right now?
Yeah, from what we understand, correct, he started at the older woman's home.
Yeah, he's always started there. But again, I don't know why he was there in the first place. They have no answers about any of that, and why he went from her house over to the trailhead. Also, he said he's from Iowa. Why was he in the state? I mean the press conference, they were asking why was he there? We don't know how did he get here? We don't know.
Because he stole a vehicle once he started on the move. And certainly now that they have his name, you would think they would try that would be the first thing they would figure out. Where has he been staying, how has he traveled to that small town in southern Utah, and does he have any connection to the area, Does he have family there? Did he go to school around
the area. It's a pretty big distance and not a lot of answers as to why a young man from Iowa would be there in the first place and then commit these horrific crimes.
And again, they haven't told us the manner of death here, but you could, I mean you just oh my goodness. They haven't said anything but a weapon or anything like that either. But this was a detail that the the sheriff out there did given the press conference, that we didn't know about. Right, it's a trail, so you might wonder maybe some other hikers were along, and it was pretty horrific to hear how the first two women were found.
Yes, all we were told is that someone found these women on the hiking trail. Well, now we know it was their husband. So these women apparently were on a hike together. They were do back home at a certain time, and once they missed that window, the husbands grew concerned and they drove out to the trailhead. They knew where their wives had been hiking. And so yes, it was
their own husbands who found them on that trail. And again, because we don't know their manner of death, we don't know what those poor men came upon, but that had to be you know, you think about it, maybe they got lost, maybe they're in trouble. Maybe would you would your mind go to that place as you're on this trail looking for your wife, to think that you could possibly actually stumble upon or find worst case scenario.
And they did, And the husbands were the one that ones that first alerted police that any thing was going on that started all of this. So the police get there and they're investigating robes, and while they're there at the trailhead, they see a vehicle that they found suspicious, and it's that vehicle that ends up tracing back to the home where authorities go and then find this elderly woman dead as well. So this is how this all started.
But then they go back and they trade Even though they found the two women first, that's not the order of the crime according to police at least.
Yes, they believe that for whatever reason, this young man, Ivan Miller, went to the old woman's house and killed her first in her home, correct inside her home. Then he took her car to the trailhead. So why, if you know, you're trying to figure out why he would do this, why wouldn't he just get away or go somewhere else. No, he goes for a hike and then on that trailhead he kills the two women, two women, and then leaves.
The older woman's car at the trailhead.
That's how police connected that dot and then took another vehicle. And it was police ability through technology to track him all the way to Colorado.
D Where is he what exactly is he doing? Where is he going? But yeah, he took one of the women's vehicles that police say he had just murdered. So that technology is amazing. But these cameras, these traffic cameras tracked him, these license plate readers tracked him from southern Utah said he drove into Arizona. They continued to track that car until they got into southern Colorado, where they were able to track it down. They said they found it. He wasn't in it, but they searched a nearby area
and eventually took him into custody without incident. And that is it? What sense does this make? The randomness of this crime robes this alleged crime. He's the alleged criminal. But the randomness of this you said, the husband's thinking maybe the wives got lost, or maybe there was an accident of some kind. Oh, it was your mind does not go to something so random.
Well especially, look, I know everyone always says things like this never happen here. This is such a quiet town, this is such a small town. But this actually is the exact description of this area in Tory, Utah. I looked it up earlier this morning when we were talking about this, and it's again a town of.
What three hundred folks.
It's in what they call a desert high high area where they're like elevation. It's gorgeous, there's hiking, there's fishing, people are outdoors. This is an area where you wouldn't even lock your doors, where you might leave your car keys in your vehicle, where sheriff's deputies were actually telling folks, hey, make sure you don't have your car keys in your car.
That's how safe this area is.
Typically so yes, I can't imagine anyone was even envisioning walking upon and finding their wives murdered on a hiking trail in literally the middle of nowhere.
And the sheriff, we give them credit, he's been thrown into a national spotlight to a certain degree. Was Look, we see a lot of sheriffs, smaller town sheriffs have a lot thrown at them, and I thought this guy did a pretty good job of answering as much as he could. But it became clear in listening to him. And I know it's early in the investigation. They just don't know. And I believe and I think robes some of the warnings they were given to the community were
we talked about this. We've done tons of manhunts, and you always hear the end armed and dangerous, do not approach. That's scary enough. Some of the stuff they were putting out was urgent and scary as hell.
Yes, leave your lights on, don't be alone, try to be with other people. Please stay in your home if you can, lock your doors. They didn't close schools just for today. They closed them for today and tomorrow. They said they had counselors at the ready government offices, health clinics. You don't just shut down these buildings unless there is a serious threat of imminent danger. And that's certainly how
they made it seem. And you know, to that point, investigators have said that these do not appear to be target attacks. So if you can't put a motive behind someone, if someone isn't going after a specific target or a specific victim, that's scary as hell, as rare as it is when it does happen. That inability to know who and when someone will strike next is just cripple crippling.
I mean, that's so scary.
You said, as rare as it is that this happens, And as soon as you said it, I thought, my goodness, we just covered another story where this happened. Stay here, We're back here on NAMY and TJ on this Thursday, just getting an update on a breaking new story as a story that started our day. It was our first episode we put up today talking about a killer on the loose in the southern Utah. We're authorities that put
their community on alert. Several communities, their schools closed, local government buildings, told people to lock their doors, keep your lights on because there was a killer on the loose. After three women were found dead, they say they have now found their suspect, a twenty two year old named Ivan Miller from Blakesburg, Iowa. They don't know why he was in the area, They don't know why he might have done this, They don't know what his connections might
have been to the area. So a lot of questions here now. Robes and the scary. One of the scariest parts sometimes about crimes like this is just the randomness of it. You can't how could you have put yourself in a different position, a better position, or a safer position. He went out for a hike and somebody who doesn't know you just decides to do what. That's awful.
That's the scariest type of crime because you can't possibly change your behavior or anticipate anything, or do anything differently to become safer when someone is willing to attack and kill someone they don't know for no reason. And right now, that is what investigators are trying to figure out what could possibly have been Ivan Miller's motive. They did say
they don't believe that these women were targeted. So far, he's only technically been charged with one count of carrying a concealed weapon, but clearly they have identified him as the suspect in the triple homicide, and so more charges are certainly coming and this may be a part of their investigation, just trying.
To get him to talk. Why, why did you want to do this?
You're twenty two years old, you're from a completely different state, and after you killed once and you've got someone's vehicle. Why wouldn't you just go on and move through?
Why go and find more victims? That is just frightening.
And Rose I didn't think about it until this moment, but we cover it. Not it was the last year, was it not? To a couple stabbed on a hike in Arkansas? Daughters with them, and some high school teacher was the guy who did it?
Random?
Is all get out? They found him later at a barber shop. Was it not? And that was another one there was. It made no.
Sense and it still doesn't. Clinton and Kristen Brink.
This happened at Devil's Den State Park right there in Arkansas. And yes they had their two young daughters with them. He left them alone. But yes, a random young white guy, twenty eight year old teacher Andrew James McGann.
And there is still no known motive.
It looks like and police have said, this appears to be a random act of violence.
What do you do, robes? And what do they tell folks? And no, excuse me, what do they tell? Women? Go with somebody, somebody with you, I have a partner with you. And in both of these cases, double death on a hike bro in this and we might never know is just these some of these stories robes we will we just will never know. It makes no sense sometimes, the randomness of life.
And it's a reminder that, yes, there are evil people in the world. And I think, having covered crime for so many years, the question people always want answered is why. Of course they want to know who and know what and when, but the why carries so much meaning because by knowing the why, maybe you can make sense of it or come to peace with it or prevent it. But when you don't have the why, I feel like
that almost is never a satisfying answer. When people, when criminals, when murderers, actually do explain it, it doesn't actually make things better. But we have that curiosity always and certainly I think if anything else, to prevent or to look for or to see warning signs, or to just try and find a.
Way to keep those we love safe.
And this kind of stuff is just scary, especially for those of us who love to hike and just to feel that peace with nature, and to know that some evil, random act is lurking and you don't see it coming. It's scary and we're just certainly glad that they have their guy. So that is certainly a big update there in the massive manhunt in Utah. We will of course keep our eye on the situation for those WHYSE if they become available, but we thank you for listening to us.
As always, I made Roebuck alongside T. J. Holmes. We'll talk to you soon.