‘A real gut punch’: Utah mayor mourns relative among 3 women killed
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Garna Mejia, KSL
LYMAN, Utah (KSL) — Residents of a small Utah town and surrounding communities in Wayne County are mourning the loss of three women after a series of violent killings that stunned the quiet rural area.
Authorities say the victims — Margaret Oldroyd, Linda Dewey and Natalie Graves — were killed in incidents allegedly carried out by a 22-year-old man from Iowa, identified as Ivan W. Miller. Investigators believe Oldroyd, an 86-year-old grandmother, was the first victim and was shot inside her home.
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For many in the close-knit community, the news has been both shocking and deeply personal.
“This has been a real gut punch for us,” said Lyman Mayor Burke Torgerson. “We’re not used to this kind of thing.”
Early Thursday, the town was placed on lockdown as authorities searched for the suspect — something Torgerson said is unusual and “foreign” in the town of less than 300 residents.
Neighbors in surrounding communities were also told to stay inside and lock their doors as they tried to make sense of the unfolding events.
By daylight, those fears were confirmed.
“It was just so hard for us to believe,” Torgerson said. “It was just so shocking to us, and I think that is kind of the way it’s been for the whole community — just a big shock.”
Oldroyd, a lifelong resident, was also a relative of the mayor, married to his first cousin, making the tragedy even more painful.
“Natural death is one thing, but to be taken this way is awful,” he said. “That’s another extra hit, and we’ve been friends forever and known each other forever. She’s watched me grow up.”
Torgerson said the violence of the crimes has left many residents struggling to understand how something like this could happen in their small community.
“The thing is, it’s just so unnecessary. Such a loss. I mentioned to my wife today, ‘What a loss for us, and for Sister Margaret, and for the families of these ladies,'” Torgerson said. “What would make a young man do something like that, just randomly? It’s just the hardest thing for me to understand.”
Lyman community coming together
Despite the grief, the mayor said the community has shown support for the victims’ families and one another.
Pink ribbons have been placed around town by grieving neighbors as a small symbol of remembrance for the three women whose lives were taken.
Of Oldroyd, Torgerson said she was known for her generosity, kindness and compassion as one to always offer selfless service.
“If there was any person that was near sainthood on Earth, it would be her,” he said.
Torgerson also extended condolences to the families of Dewey and Graves, noting that the impact of the killings will be felt across the community for years.
Even so, he said Lyman residents are known for standing together during difficult times.
“It will be a bitter memory for a lot of years for all of us,” Torgerson said. “But it will be also that we will help each other and work through it together.”