Authorities say a Riverton man was lured to “The Farm” on the Wind River Reservation and shot.
RIVERTON, Wyo. — A 2024 disappearance in central Wyoming turned into a homicide investigation, then a murder prosecution, after authorities said Rex Allen Lofts was lured to a reservation property and killed in an ambush that remained hidden for months.
The case gained new force in February 2026, when Jose A. Gonzalez was charged with first-degree murder in Lofts’ death. Public reporting describes a timeline that began with Lofts going missing in late 2024, deepened when his body was found in April 2025 and sharpened after a coroner ruled the death a homicide. The immediate stakes now are whether prosecutors will file charges against others mentioned in the affidavit and whether they can resolve conflicting dates in the public record.
Investigators say the central event happened at a place known locally as “The Farm” on the Wind River Reservation. A probable cause affidavit summarized by Wyoming news outlets said Gonzalez persuaded Lofts to drive there after saying a woman Lofts knew wanted to meet him. Authorities believe that when Lofts arrived, five men were waiting. Gonzalez later told investigators that one man came to the truck with a gun, tapped on the window and fired into the ground, after which the shooting started. He said he rolled out of the truck during the gunfire. Public reports place the attack around Dec. 2, 2024. Yet the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation’s missing-person listing, filed in January 2025, said Lofts was last seen Dec. 14, 2024, in a red Ford flatbed truck. That difference remains unexplained in the public record.
The case surfaced publicly in stages during 2025. On April 21, authorities found a body in a vehicle on the reservation, and Lofts’ daughter later told a Wyoming outlet she believed it may have been her father. By July 30, a report from the Wyoming News Exchange said Fremont County Coroner Erin Ivie had ruled Lofts’ death a homicide caused by gunshot wounds to the trunk and shoulder. Ivie’s report also said the time of death was unknown and that the body showed moderate decomposition when recovered. Those details made clear that Lofts had not simply disappeared. They also set the frame for investigators who were already interviewing informants about what had happened months earlier and who may have been involved.
By the time Gonzalez was charged, investigators had assembled a case that mixed witness accounts with physical evidence. Informants told agents that a man identified as E.E. had said he killed Lofts or had “taken care of” him after Lofts allegedly abused E.E.’s aunt, who was said to be dating Lofts. One account described the woman arriving at a house bruised and bleeding from her nose. Another said E.E. told someone the men only meant to scare Lofts because he kept putting his hands on her. Investigators also cited Gonzalez’s DNA on the steering wheel of Lofts’ truck and on the victim’s turned-out pockets. That evidence appears to be the main reason Gonzalez became the first person charged, even though the affidavit points to a larger group at the scene.
Public summaries of the affidavit say the violence was followed by robbery and concealment. Three men allegedly moved Lofts from the driver’s seat, then took $90, jewelry, a gun and 3 grams of meth. One man then drove Lofts’ truck away while others followed in another vehicle, according to an informant account. The truck was later found with Lofts’ remains inside. Prosecutors also charged Gonzalez as an accessory before the fact to aggravated assault and battery and aggravated robbery. Reports in late February 2026 said he had been bound over to district court and remained in custody at the Fremont County jail. No published report listed a next court date, and no additional arrests had been announced.
The timeline has made the case stand out in Wyoming because so much of it became public only after long gaps. There was the period between the suspected shooting and the missing-person filing. Then came the months between the body’s discovery and the coroner’s homicide ruling becoming public. Finally, there was another long stretch before murder charges were filed. Lofts’ obituary added a human outline to the court record, describing him as a 72-year-old Riverton resident, a veteran and a longtime farrier. But the legal story remains incomplete. Public reports do not say whether prosecutors believe E.E. fired the fatal shots, whether ballistics have tied any weapon to the killing or whether investigators expect more defendants.
Gonzalez has been charged, the death is ruled a homicide, and investigators say the ambush was deliberate. Nearly everything else still points forward. The next public milestone will come when the district court docket fills in dates and prosecutors decide whether the case remains focused on one defendant or expands to match the wider plot described in the affidavit.
Author note: Last updated March 25, 2026.