Relatives said the two women were spending time together in a place they loved when prosecutors say a stranger attacked them.
TORREY, Utah — The family of Linda Dewey and Natalie Graves said Friday they are struggling to understand the killings of the aunt and niece, who were found dead near the Cocks Comb trailhead in Wayne County after setting out on a hike in one of their favorite places.
For relatives and neighbors in a rural part of southern Utah, the case has turned a familiar stretch of cliffs and backcountry into the center of a triple homicide investigation. Prosecutors have charged Ivan W. Miller, 22, with three counts of aggravated murder in the deaths of Dewey, 65, Graves, 34, and 86-year-old Margaret Oldroyd. Authorities say the women did not know Miller and that the killings appear to have unfolded in quick succession as he moved through the county and tried to get another vehicle.
The family of Dewey and Graves described the deaths as a blow that still does not feel real. In a statement released Friday, relatives said the women had been bonding over the beauty of a place they cherished and viewed as safe. They said the family could not comprehend why the killings happened. The women were reported missing after they did not return home on time Wednesday, and their husbands went looking for them near the trailhead by Teasdale Road and Cocks Comb. According to Utah officials, the men found their wives dead and called 911 at 4:25 p.m. Dewey and Graves were later identified by state investigators as two of the three women killed in Wayne County that day.
Relatives remembered Dewey as the heart of a large family. They said she was a wife, mother, grandmother, daughter and sister who was deeply loved and who loved her family deeply in return. They described Graves as a wife, daughter and sister whose warmth drew people to her, calling her joy, sunshine and beauty embodied. The family said they planned to place pictures of the women at the trailhead as a memorial while asking for privacy as they grieve. The killings also sent investigators toward a second scene in Lyman, where Oldroyd was found dead at her home after officers connected a vehicle at the trailhead to her address.
Oldroyd’s death widened the tragedy from a shocking double killing into a case that unsettled nearly every corner of Wayne County. Neighbors told reporters she was kind, quiet and known for keeping a neat yard and helping maintain the close ties that often define rural communities. Utah authorities said there is no known evidence connecting Oldroyd to Dewey or Graves beyond the investigation itself. State officials say Miller was not a Utah resident and had no known prior link to any of the victims. That detail has added to the fear and disbelief voiced by residents who are used to isolated landscapes, small towns and the sense that most people know one another or at least recognize a familiar truck on the road.
Charging documents outlined a violent and fast moving chain of events. Investigators say Miller’s own pickup was disabled after a collision with an elk in the Wayne County area on Feb. 28. Prosecutors allege he later made his way to Oldroyd’s property in Lyman, stayed in a shed and killed her after entering the home. Authorities say he took her Buick, drove it away, then decided he wanted a different vehicle after spotting Dewey and Graves near the trailhead. Utah officials tracked the stolen Subaru Outback through automated license plate readers and a vehicle recovery system after the hikers’ car was taken. By early Thursday, officers from several agencies had converged on Pagosa Springs, Colorado, where Miller was arrested and the Subaru was recovered.
Even with the arrest, many parts of the case remain under investigation. Authorities have said they are still working to retrace Miller’s steps and establish exactly how he moved across the county between the time his truck was disabled and the time the women were killed. Court records and published reports also show Miller had been facing burglary, theft and weapons related charges in Iowa before the Utah case. In Colorado on Friday, Miller made an initial court appearance that lasted about 14 minutes. His attorney said he intended to protect his client’s rights and told the court they would fight the case at every step. Prosecutors argued Miller posed an extreme flight risk and danger to the public, and a judge set his next Colorado court date for May 14.
Wayne County leaders have tried to respond both as officials and as neighbors. In a public statement, county administrators said the community was grieving the loss of three women and called it an incredibly difficult time. Counselors were scheduled to be available Monday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Wayne High School and throughout the day at the Wayne Community Health Center. The support plan reflected the scale of the shock in a county where news of a homicide can spread from a courthouse hallway to a ranch gate in minutes. For the families, though, the public response sits beside a quieter reality, the loss of ordinary lives and ordinary plans interrupted in places that once felt peaceful.
The case stood Friday at the intersection of grief and procedure, with memorial items appearing at the trailhead, counselors being arranged for residents and the accused man being held out of state as Utah authorities prepared the next step in bringing him back to face the charges.
Author note: Last updated March 7, 2026.