Prosecutors say DNA and repeated informant statements helped bring a murder charge in the death of Rex Allen Lofts.
RIVERTON, Wyo. — The public case against a Wyoming man charged in the death of Rex Allen Lofts rests on two strands of evidence: investigators said several informants told similar stories about a revenge attack, and physical evidence placed Jose A. Gonzalez inside the victim’s truck.
That combination is what moved the Lofts investigation from a missing-person case to a murder prosecution. Published accounts of the affidavit say investigators tied Gonzalez to the steering wheel of Lofts’ truck and to the victim’s turned-out pockets, while informants described a group attack at a Wind River Reservation property known as “The Farm.” The questions now are whether prosecutors can match those statements to forensic proof against others and whether the single charged defendant is the first of several.
The affidavit, as summarized by local and national reports, says Lofts was lured to the farm after being told that a woman connected to him wanted to meet there. Gonzalez was the person who rode in the truck with Lofts, according to investigators. He later told agents that when they arrived, several men were already waiting. One man, he said, approached the vehicle with a gun, tapped on the window and fired into the ground. Gonzalez said he did not know who fired first and that the shooting began suddenly, prompting him to roll out of the truck. Investigators believe the ambush happened around Dec. 2, 2024. Lofts’ body was found much later, on April 21, 2025, in the same truck.
Much of the affidavit’s detail comes from informants who said one man, identified publicly only as E.E., admitted involvement. One account said E.E. told a person he had “done it,” meaning he killed Lofts. Another said E.E. stated he had “taken care of somebody” and confirmed that person was Lofts. A separate text exchange, reported by Cowboy State Daily, showed a tipster asking whether E.E. and his sister had anything to do with Gonzalez’s man going missing, with E.E. replying, “I can’t say anything about that but that should tell you enough.” Investigators also said E.E. told them the plan was not to rob Lofts but to scare him because he “kept putting his hands on my auntie.” In the public record, that motive is tied to allegations that Lofts assaulted a woman who was dating him and who was also E.E.’s aunt.
For prosecutors, though, motive alone was not enough. The affidavit says Gonzalez’s DNA was found on the steering wheel of Lofts’ truck and on Lofts’ pants pockets after those pockets were turned out. That detail mattered because informants told investigators Lofts was robbed after the shooting. The reported list of stolen items included $90, rings, a necklace, a gun and about 3 grams of meth. One account said three men moved Lofts from the driver’s seat before the theft. Another said Lofts’ truck was then driven away from the farm while others followed behind in a second vehicle, ending at the spot where the remains were later discovered. Public reporting has not described comparable physical evidence tying any other named person to the vehicle.
The evidence record is notable as much for what is missing as for what is there. Public reports do not say whether investigators recovered the murder weapon. One article said a gun was not found where Lofts’ body was later recovered. There has also been no public explanation of whether shell casings, fingerprints, phone location records or surveillance evidence support the account of six men converging on the truck. Another unresolved point is the timeline. Investigators place the killing around Dec. 2, but the missing-person record said Lofts was last seen Dec. 14 in his red Ford flatbed. Those inconsistencies are common targets for defense lawyers, though no defense account beyond Gonzalez’s own statement has appeared in the published stories.
Lofts’ death also drew attention because of the delay between the suspected killing and the public charging decision. The body was found in April 2025. By July, the coroner had ruled the death a homicide caused by gunshot wounds to the trunk and shoulder, with moderate decomposition noted. Gonzalez was charged in 2026 with first-degree murder and with accessory counts tied to aggravated assault and aggravated robbery. Reports said he was being held in the Fremont County jail after being bound over to district court. Yet no other suspect had been publicly arrested, despite the affidavit’s repeated description of a larger group and despite the many statements attributed to E.E.
At this stage, the public case presents a narrow charging decision built from a broad story. Investigators have laid out a revenge motive, a group ambush, a robbery and a body moved inside a pickup. But the prosecution so far is focused on the one defendant whose DNA, investigators say, put him closest to the vehicle. The next test for the case will come when prosecutors either add co-defendants or show that Gonzalez’s role alone supports the wider murder theory they have already described.
Author note: Last updated March 25, 2026.