WAYNE COUNTY, Utah — Three women killed in two random attacks in Wayne County spanned generations, and their friends said they were the kind of people who made their community better.
Mickey Wright, a friend of Dewey's and the mayor of Torrey, said he never expected to carry a responsibility like expressing the grief of his town after such a traumatic event.
"For Salt Lake, an event like this, you could be degrees removed here," Wright said. "You're one person removed no matter who it is."
Wright said the attacks, though devastating, reflect the nature of the suspect's violence rather than the place itself.
"The disaster would have been somewhere else, but the point was there was a disaster with this guy somewhere," Wright said. "Somebody was going to be going through this."
Wright's wife, Susan, had recently texted Dewey about plans to hike together when Susan returned from a trip helping a friend. It was another troubling thought for Wright...that his wife could easily have been on that hike.
"She said, 'When I get back from the dog and house sitting thing, we need to go hiking," Wright said, recounting what the friend told him. "And you think about it and it's like, oh man."
Linda Ward, a fellow yoga instructor and friend of Dewey's, said their families had dinner together a week ago.
"Her laugh was just so infectious," Ward said.
Ward said she now looks back on that dinner differently.
"Looking back on that, that was, that was more precious than I even imagined," Ward said.
Ward said the grief has been overwhelming.
"It's just really hard," Ward said. "And this grief comes in waves."
Dewey's friends said they are determined to reclaim the place that meant so much to her — because she meant so much to them.
