Northeast Iowa Man Gets Nine Years in Prison for Assaulting Woman (Rescued After Child Gets “Call 911” Note to School Bus Driver)

A northeast Iowa man will serve almost a decade in prison for assaulting a woman, with a note from a child to a bus driver helping save her life.

The Fayette County Sheriff’s Office said on the morning of September 24, 2025, a Sumner-Fredericksburg School District student passed a note to their bus driver that said “Call 911.” The bus driver did as the note said, and deputies responded to a home in rural Westgate.

When FCSO deputies arrived at the home, the suspect, 29-year-old Glenroy Miller, answered the door. Deputies asked to speak to the victim, and she came out of a bedroom upset with bruising on her face.

Further investigation found the woman had been assaulted throughout the night, with Miller also holding a knife to her throat and wrists, threatening to kill her. FCSO says Miller admitted to punching the victim several times and pushing her down in the bathtub, causing bruising on her back. Miller also admitted to slapping her during the argument that he said lasted all night.

FCSO said the victim was held against her will and unable to call for help herself, so she wrote the note and told her child, a first grader, to get help. At one point, Miller started to take the victim to the hospital, but then turned around and forced her home after he realized he would go to jail.

An exam at the hospital later showed the woman suffered two broken ribs and a punctured lung from getting kicked.

Miller was originally charged with second-degree kidnapping armed with a dangerous weapon,  a Class B felony; willful injury causing serious injury, a Class C felony; plus two counts of domestic abuse assault.

Miller pleaded guilty to the two assault charges, with the willful injury charge reduced to a Class D felony, and the felony kidnapping reduced to false imprisonment, a serious misdemeanor.

Miller has been sentenced to up to nine years in prison.