- Wayne County communities on Thursday mourned three women killed by a stranger.
- Ivan Miller, 22, was arrested in Colorado after fleeing in a victim's car.
- Residents remembered the victims with ribbons and shared memories of their kindness.
LYMAN, Wayne County — Neighbors placed ribbons around communities from Loa to Torrey Thursday as they honored and remembered three women who investigators said died at the hands of a stranger.
Police apprehended 22-year-old Ivan Miller of Blakesburg, Iowa, in Colorado after they said he fled Wayne County in one of the victim's cars.
The three victims have been identified as Margaret Oldroyd, 86, Linda Dewey, 65, and Natalie Graves, 34.
Linda Dewey and Natalie Graves, who were aunt and niece, were killed while hiking. Margaret Oldroyd was killed in her home.
The Utah Department of Public Safety has said at this time, there is no known evidence linking Dewey and Graves with Oldroyd.
"We wanted to honor our friend and neighbor," said Mary Sorenson, who was one of three women tying ribbons around Lyman, where one of the women was killed inside her home. "And the other two women who were viciously murdered yesterday."
Lori Chappell and Melissa Robins joined Sorenson, and remembered their neighbor as quiet, peaceful, "smiley," and someone who helped others.
"No matter her age, she was always first in line to help everybody," Sorenson said. "We're just overwhelmed and shocked, in disbelief, sad, angry — so angry."
There was similar high emotion in Torrey, where Mayor Mickey Wright said he and his wife were friends with one of the other victims.
"She was like everybody around here — a very good person," Wright said during an interview with KSL. "(We) offer our condolences to all the families, friends and (we) know it's going to be a few rough days, but we'll get through it."
The mayor described a tense 24 hours after the Wayne County Sheriff's Office issued a warning on social media for residents to leave lights on, lock their doors and stay inside as they dealt with the situation.
Learning that there were personal connections to the victims made the ordeal that much more difficult, he acknowledged.
"There's definitely a lot of hurt, a lot of, 'Why did this happen to those people,'" Wright said. "I think that's part of the process and part of the grieving, and that will be with us for quite a while."
Wright said the community would never forget, but he hoped it would be able to heal.
Well before that, however, women like Sorenson did what they "could do," placing pink ribbons in memory of those who were lost.
"Our hearts are still with them and their families," Sorenson said tearfully. "We want them to be remembered for their kindness and their love, and as part of this community, we're all deeply affected by it."
