LOA, Utah — The suspect connected to three women killed in Wayne County had been in the area since the week after his truck struck an elk.
Ivan Miller, 22, was taken into custody in southwestern Colorado after a multi-state search following the women's bodies being discovered on a local trail and a home in Lyman. Once apprehended in Pagosa Springs, Colorado early Thursday, Miller was found to have a concealed gun and large knife.
But days beforehand, Gary Brian had no idea that he was spending time alone with the man accused of being a cold-blooded murderer.
"It was Saturday night at about 10:30 is when dispatch called. They just told me it was a vehicle versus elk at mile marker 40 on SR-24," Brian explained.
He works at a local auto parts store that was called out about 13 miles from Loa to tow Miller's truck after he hit an elk.
"The vehicle was smashed up, and we just loaded it up, and the customer got in with me and rode back to town here," said Brian. "And we unloaded his vehicle and come in the shop and did the paperwork."
Looking back, Brian is most disturbed that Miller didn't give him a bad gut feeling. It all felt normal.
"I had no idea to think that it was him," he said Thursday. "I mean... he called here to the shop and talked to us on Monday morning and said that he'd caught a ride out of here and that he wanted to come back this coming Saturday and pick up his stuff.
"He talked to me just normal."
Suspect in custody after 3 women found dead in Wayne County:
The two spoke about whether Miller had any insurance for the truck, which he did not, before Brian made arrangements to have a salvage company buy it.
Sadly, Brian knows all the women who were killed, and their deaths hit him as they have for the rest of the community.
"It's not a good situation," he said. "I feel terrible for their families, and yeah, I thought to myself, 'Wow, that could have been me.' Should have been me instead of all of these other people. I spent an hour with him, and it was in the middle of the night."
Brian was best friends with one of Margaret Oldroyd's sons. When asked what the residents in Wayne County need right now, he had a simple answer.
"Just put their arm around and give [residents] some love and support," he shared. "You can't fix what's happened. You got to support from here on out, I would say."
