Muscatine High School graduate Ryle McFarland, 20, Killed Alongside Mother, Lesa, by his father in an Iowa Shooting
Ryle McFarland was 20 years old. She had just graduated from college. She had just landed her first job as an elementary school teacher, set to begin in the fall. By every measure, her life was opening up in the most beautiful way possible.
On Monday afternoon in Muscatine, Iowa, that future was taken from her. Ryle was shot and killed by her father, 52-year-old Ryan Willis McFarland, who went on to kill five other family members before fatally shooting himself when police found him on a trail near the pedestrian bridge along the riverfront.
The victims identified by Muscatine police were Lesa McFarland, 51, Ryle McFarland, 20, Ryan McFarland Jr., 13, Mark McFarland, 16, Dakota Whitlow, 32, and Austin Harris, 29.
Police found four of the victims at a home on Park Avenue, one at a residence on Mill Street, and one inside a business on Grandview Avenue. The Muscatine Community School District confirmed that two of the victims were students and two were district employees.
Jonathan McFarland is the only surviving child. His mother was among the victims. His father was the one who pulled the trigger. At a vigil Tuesday evening at Muscatine High School Stadium, with hundreds filling the bleachers and the Norbert F. Beckey Bridge glowing in purple and gold, Jonathan stood before the crowd and spoke softly. He said he was still in denial.
“Just, it’s hard to even think that this is even real,” he told those gathered.
He paid tribute to each person he lost. Ryan Jr.’s baseball teammates showed up in their jerseys.
A Friend, a Leader, a Light to Everyone Who Knew Her
Beyond the tragedy and the headlines, those who knew Ryle personally are sharing memories of a young woman whose warmth reached people in ways both big and small.
A childhood friend, Kendall Burger, wrote that she grew up playing with Ryle on the bike path near their homes, knowing her from third grade right up until now.
She remembered Ryle and her brother Jonathan as two of the nicest people she had ever met, and noted that Ryle was one of the few people who took the time to talk to her during her school years when she felt she had no friends.
“You were taken way too damn soon from the world,” she wrote.
Drake Edwards, another close friend, described Ryle as someone he could always count on for advice, strength, and reassurance. He wrote that she had made an enormous impact on his life and that he could not fully understand why this had happened. “My sweet Ryle, I will love you in every lifetime. Forever 20,” he wrote.
Chi Alpha at the University of Northern Iowa, where Ryle had been an active student leader, released a statement calling her one of the most joyful and kindhearted people anyone could meet.
The organization said she loved deeply and showed that love to everyone around her.
“We are honored to have known her and to have been a part of her journey of faith,” the statement read.
Criminologists tracking family mass killings say Monday’s shooting was the sixth such incident in the United States in 2026 alone.
That number lands with particular weight when you put a face to it. When you know that face belonged to a 20-year-old who was about to spend her days teaching children.
Her name was Ryle McFarland. Remember it.
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