‘Brightest light in the room’ - Manning mourns Dr. Rylie-Shea Muhlbauer at candlelight vigil
“She was genuine and authentic and made you feel seen in a room full of people”
MANNING, Iowa (KTIV) - A somber night for the town of Manning as the community came together to mourn the loss of Dr. Rylie-Shea Muhlbauer.
On Thursday, Aug. 6, they came together for a candlelight vigil to pray, to mourn, to love and to remember Rylie-Shea Muhlbauer.
Her family sat together in front as the community came together.
Friends describe her as the ‘brightest light in the room’ and the ‘greatest’, ‘most kind-hearted’ friend.
They say Rylie was sarcastic, funny, and always her truest self.
Thursday, a local pastor shared that when Rylie was present in a room, everyone felt seen.
For Thursday’s candlelight vigil, the community turned to God at the church she grew up in.
“We are also here to hope, hope in the god of hope and comfort in God’s word,” said Reverend Jonathan Conner at Zion Lutheran Church.
About Dr. Rylie-Shea Muhlbauer
Muhlbauer graduated from IKM-Manning H.S. in Manilla, Iowa, in 2017.
Dr. Rylie-Shea Muhlbauer was a 2020 graduate of Morningside University.
She then went on to earn her Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Cleveland University-Kansas City, graduating in December of 2023.
The community shared how big her heart was to do such a thing.
She even started a mobile chiropractic practice and they shared how brave she was with that, even sharing smiles in a very hard time.
Muhlbauer had just recently moved back to Iowa at the time of her death.
Rylie’s funeral is planned for Saturday morning at the Zion Lutheran Church in Manning.
Man charged with her murder
27-year-old Joshua Lehman is charged with 1st-degree murder in Muhlbauer’s death.
At about 10:27 a.m. on Aug. 2, 2026, the Sac County Emergency Communication Center received a 911 call reporting a shooting at a Lake View residence. Officers and EMS arrived to find a deceased woman, later identified as 27-year-old Dr. Rylie-Shea Muhlbauer of Manning, Iowa.
“Joshua Lee Lehman shot [Muhlbauer] with a firearm, firing a bullet into her head as she lay in bed at a residence in Lake View, Iowa,” stated authorities in court documents.
Lehman is being held in the Sac County Jail on no bond, and is expected to make a court appearance on Thursday, Aug. 13.
The case is being investigated by the Lake View Police Department, the Sac County Sheriff’s Office, the Sac County Attorney’s Office, and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.
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