WAYNE COUNTY, Utah — The small farming town of Lyman is grieving after a shocking act of violence that has shaken this tight-knit community.
“Devastating. Unbelievable. Senseless,” said Carla Chappell Lyman on the murder of her best friend, “It shook my whole life.”
Lyman is mourning the loss of her close friend, 86-year-old Margaret Oldroyd, one of three victims killed in what authorities say was a random and violent crime carried out by a stranger passing through town.
“She didn’t deserve that. She did not deserve that,” Lyman said.
Oldroyd lived along the main road entering Lyman, a quiet town known for wide-open farmland and neighbors who know each other by name. A pink ribbon now flutters from the town’s welcome sign, a small symbol of remembrance in a place where tragedy like this is almost unheard of.
Friends say Oldroyd was known throughout the community for her kindness and work ethic.
“She was compassionate and helpful. She was a hard worker,” Lyman said. “She was just a good, good woman, and she never pretended to be anything but Margaret Oldroyd.”
Investigators say Oldroyd was shot and killed inside her home. Authorities have identified the suspect as 22-year-old Ivan Miller.
Miller was later arrested in Colorado and has been charged in connection with Oldroyd’s death, as well as the killings of two other women connected to Wayne County.
The bodies of 65-year-old Linda Dewey and her niece, 34-year-old Natalie Graves, both from Wayne County, were discovered along trails inside Capitol Reef National Park.
Friends of women killed in Wayne County remember, grieve with the community:
Lyman says she had spent nearly two hours visiting with Oldroyd the day before she died.
“We just sat and visited,” she said.
The two had discussed recent troubling news, including the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie. Still, Lyman says her friend refused to live in fear.
“She didn’t act like she was afraid,” Chappell said. “And I’ve never been afraid. I said I’m not going to live in fear. My doors have been locked, but I’m not going to live in fear. But you know… there’s fear.”
'We are one community,' Wayne County residents honor, mourn those killed:
For families across Wayne County, the violence has rattled the sense of security many associate with small-town life.
“It’s been awful,” said Bicknell resident Madison Blackburn, a mother of four. “It’s affected the community so strongly and scared a lot of the kids. Generally, you feel really safe in a small town like this, but it’s going to change that.”
At a hardware store in nearby Loa, residents say the loss has been deeply personal.
“Margaret has lived here forever,” said Greg Pace of Loa Builders Supply. “I’ve known her since I was a young boy and was friends with her youngest son.”
Pace says in small towns, neighbors often look out for each other in simple ways.
“Driving to work I’d pass her house and look over to make sure her lights were on, and things were OK,” he said. “The things people do in small towns.”
He says the tragedy has been a sobering reminder that violence can happen where you least expect it.
“Quite an eye opener that bad things happen to good people,” Pace said. “And it can happen anywhere.”
At a nearby gas station in Loa, pink ribbons have been tied as a tribute to Oldroyd.
Friends say they hope she will be remembered not for the way her life ended, but for the kindness she showed neighbors here for decades.
