Where Is Sonya Ivanoff’s Killer Matthew Owens Now?

Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.

Dateline: Unforgettable‘s upcoming episode, “A Walk in the Rain,” will air on Oxygen on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at 8 p.m. ET. It revolves around the murder of 19-year-old Sonya Ivanoff and the subsequent conviction of the Nome Police Department officer, Matthew Owens.

In August 2003, Sonya Ivanoff was reportedly shot, following which her body was found in an abandoned gold mine. Matthew Owens, an officer with the Nome police department, was on duty at the time of Ivanoff’s disappearance. Two years later, on December 6, 2005, he was found guilty and was sentenced to 101 years in prison. According to the Bureau of Prisons, Owens is serving time at the federal prison in Otisville, New York.

Nome Nugget reported that Sonya Ivanoff was reported missing by her roommate, Timayre Towarak, on August 12, 2003. The two reportedly went out to party on August 10 and left after midnight. However, Towarak did not find Ivanoff at home the next morning. Two days later, her body was found, and the autopsy revealed that she was shot with a .22 caliber bullet in the back of her head. 

When her body was found, Ivanoff was stripped of all her clothing except for a sock on her left foot. The autopsy did not reveal any DNA evidence in her fingernails or other parts of her body. There was also no physical evidence of sexual assault. There also weren’t any .22 casings or magazines found, per court records. Experts then testified that the lack of physical evidence indicated that someone consciously tried to avoid leaving evidence for the authorities. The culprit was also aware of how evidence works as an officer would.

What was Matthew Owens convicted of?

Matthew Owens was convicted of the first-degree murder of Sonya Ivanoff and the tampering with physical evidence on December 6, 2005. According to Oxygen, the guilty verdict came after two witnesses reportedly saw her getting into what they thought was a police car on the night of her disappearance. Weeks after her disappearance, a police car went missing. During the search for the stolen vehicle, a retired officer, Byron Redburn, told authorities that Owens contacted him.

Owens reportedly claimed that he was being shot at and was at a sand and gravel mine called Bessie Pit. However, when Redburn rushed to the location, he found him unharmed. The windows of the police car were broken. Moreover, an envelope containing Sonya Ivanoff’s missing ID card and a letter was discovered.

Officers remained unconvinced as they tried to re-enact the scene based on Owens’ account. On the night of the murder, Owens was on duty alongside another police officer. While the other cop passed the polygraph test, Owens reportedly “failed miserably.” Although he maintained his innocence, he was arrested in October 2003.

Investigators suspected that Matthew Owens saw Sonya Ivanoff while he was on patrol and proposed that they engage in intercourse. However, when she refused, he noticed that she wasn’t under the influence of alcohol. Fearing that her account of their confrontation would be reliable, he then killed her. Besides, Owens was reportedly seen burning things around the area where Ivanoff was found. Buttons and other remnants from the clothes that Ivanoff had been wearing were found in the burn pit.

As per the outlet, the Sonya Ivanoff Bill was reportedly introduced in 2007. It mandates any officer found guilty of first-degree murder while on duty to be given the maximum sentence.

The upcoming Dateline: Unforgettable episode will air on Oxygen on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at 8 p.m.