Daily Darwin

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Cowboy State Daily is Wyoming’s largest newspaper with Wyoming’s most experienced journalists. 

<title>Daily Darwin: Tuesday, November 1, 2022 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

100% chance this turns out terribly...

Daily Darwin: Tuesday, November 1, 2022

Mac Watson

Daily Video News

It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Thursday, June 4th.  I’m Mac Watson

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More than 32 years after her body was found along I-80, the woman known as “Shafter Jane Doe” has been identified, officials announced Thursday. Cowboy State Daily’s Jen Kocher reports Mary Alexander’s nude body was posed on the ground, arms extended to either side in the shape of a cross.

“Nobody reported her missing, because her family, she was a free spirit, so she was, they thought, laid on the side of the road for about seven days until she was found. So that was in 1993 And today the Elko County Sheriff's Office announced that they have identified her after 32 years. Her name is Mary Alexander, and she was a German immigrant, she moved to California in about 72 and she left home about 18 or 19. There was a lot of emotion in the room when the investigators announced her identity. These guys have been working on it for decades, and this is a huge story. In that, she's thought to be one of the nine victims in what's called the Great Basin murders, which took place between 1983 and 1997.”

Elko authorities announced Alexander’s killer as Roger Durkee of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Investigators were getting ready to fly out to Wisconsin with an arrest warrant to take him into custody, when they discovered he had already passed away in November of 2025.

The transgender Laramie resident who protested Wyoming’s cross-sex access ban for public bathrooms at the Capitol last summer is now waging a self-defense argument in a felony assault case. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Rihanna Kelver says he didn’t go looking for a confrontation. 

“Kelver was charged in September with aggravated assault, possession of a deadly weapon with unlawful intents, and interference with a peace officer, so that's two felonies and one misdemeanor. That case got knocked down to two misdemeanors at some point, like November, and there were negotiations underway where the prosecutor and the defense were trying to figure out what sentencing was appropriate, and the court file indicates that fell apart, and the prosecutor ratcheted back up to the two felonies and the one misdemeanor, and it's now on the level of the felony court.”

 for using the women’s bathroom in the Wyoming Capitol when a new state law activated banning the practice. 

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A Torrington family says the Goshen County Sheriff’s Office told them a suspect turned himself in for shooting their Rottweilers, whose mutilated bodies were found in the North Platte River. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports that the sheriff’s office confirms there is a suspect in the case who has not been identified.

“On Wednesday morning, Angelica Garcia learned from police that a suspect had come forward and turned himself in. However, the Goshen County Sheriff, Corey Fleener, said that they are keeping his identity private for now because it's a public safety concern. The suspect is not currently in custody, and they have not formally been charged as of Wednesday afternoon. An organization out of Washington, DC, is offering a $2,500 reward for anyone who has information that will help convict the person responsible for what they see as an unlawful killing of these dogs.”

The president of the Animal Wellness Action, Wayne Pacelli, tells Cowboy State Daily that  the reason the group became interested in this case is because of the well-studied link between animal cruelty and broader patterns of domestic violence.

Laramie doesn’t have any plans for data centers, but that didn't stop locals Tuesday calling for a permanent moratorium on them.  Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that because of resident’s concerns, the mayor is taking action.

“One gentleman suggested that the council consider a permanent moratorium on data centers. Mayor Sharon Cumby told me that they are planning to now fast-track a joint session between city council and county commissioners to talk about what you know if data center developers come in asking for proposals the city and county come together to have a very clear set of guidelines or procedure to answer those questions.”

Laramie city staff is compiling information that will explore the scope and ramifications of data centers and Mayor Sharon Cumbie said she wants to make sure that her staff has adequate time to thoroughly gather the latest information, so the joint groups are well informed when they come together.

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I’ll have more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.

Cowboy State Daily News continues now….

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An Evansville man accused of not returning to a Casper halfway house after work faces more charges for allegedly breaking into people’s homes. He “grabbed a container of orange juice from the fridge” when confronted by a frightened woman at one house.

“She called 911 and said, ‘I don't know where he went, but there was a guy that came into my house and took orange juice.’ This guy, before he left, said, ‘Yeah, I've been staying at your trailer in the backyard.’ Then, about an hour later, they get another call from a woman who sees a guy who is apparently drunk or something walking down an alley. Police go there and find the man that matches the description from the other residences, they start talking to him and understand that, yeah, he's the guy that took the orange juice.”

Court documents show Maheu’s renewed encounter with the court system began with his failing to return to the halfway house facility by midnight May 25th following a shift at the Outback Steakhouse in Casper.

Despite huge storms in southern Wyoming, May was Jekyll and Hyde, either exceeding or falling short of moisture expectations — with much of the state still in drought. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports meteorologist Don Day says  some towns in Wyoming are dry as a bone.

“In some places, like Buffalo, they got less than 30% of their historical average for precipitation in the month of May, that's the seventh consecutive month of below average, below average monthly precipitation in Wyoming. There is a chance that June and July could be more wet as we get into an El Nino, and the North American monsoon begins to form, but unfortunately it's very rare for June or July to turn around a drought situation.”

After the warmest, driest winter on record for areas across Wyoming, experts 

going into May ranging anywhere from “just OK” to “basically horrible."

The Wyoming Department of Education warned lawmakers this week that artificial intelligence is coming, so students should receive training outside of Facebook and Instagram. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that “The job of a school is to create real intelligence,” said Rep. Ocean Andrew.

“The person who works in this area for Sheridan County School District number 1 said, ‘Yeah, we just, we just work on guidance because it's more flexible, more malleable, urge against plagiarism, urge against surveillance, urge against bad topics like that, talk about AIs have biases and can hallucinate, and we just try to teach our people how to warn and safeguard against these things.’”

The committee ultimately didn’t draft legislation during its Tuesday meeting, but questioned the department on next steps.

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As Yellowstone buzzed with tourists and other bears were caught up in courtship, a black bear apparently decided he’d had enough and zonked out by the roadside near Tower Junction. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that the bear was out so hard, some people worried that it was dead.

“This black bear that's just, just off the road, flopped over on his back, just absolutely passed out. Snooze and tongue hanging out. Other bears are running around, and you know, because it's courtship mating season, so other black bears are really up and active and chasing each other, and all that, but this one was just not. It's 80 degrees, I'm flopping on my back and taking a nap. The bear was passed out so hard, some folks were worried that it was dead, and he said a lot of other people never even saw it, they had their eyes up looking at the other bears that are running around. They didn't notice this one right in front of them, that was just, just zonk.”

Wildlife photographer Corey Pettis tells Cowboy State Daily 

 has been getting plenty of attention in Yellowstone National Park this spring, but around Tower Junction, it’s all about black bears.

And that’s today’s news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming's only statewide newspaper by hitting the Daily Newsletter button on 

 - and you can watch this newscast every day by clicking Subscribe on our 

 channel, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app.  Thanks for watching - I’m Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.

News image 6 4 26

<title>Cowboy State Daily Video Newscast: Thursday, June 4, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Thursday's headlines include:
* Nude ‘Jane Doe’ Finally Identified
* Rottweiler Killer Suspect Turns Self In
* Trans Bathroom Protestor Faces Felony

Cowboy State Daily Video Newscast: Thursday, June 4, 2026

Coy Knobel

Don Day Weather

Mostly sunny to sunny in Wyoming on Thursday. Chance of afternoon rain. Partly cloudy to clear overnight with a chance of rain in a few locations. Highs mainly in the 70s and 80s. Lows from the mid 30s to mid 50s.

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Mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 85 and wind gusts as high as 26 mph. Partly cloudy and breezy overnight with a low near 52 and wind gusts as high as 23 mph.

Sunny and breezy today with a high near 87 and wind gusts as high as 26 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 49 and wind gusts as high as 24 mph.

 Mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 82 and wind gusts as high as 32 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 47 and wind gusts as high as 28 mph.

 Sunny today with a high near 75 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a low near 41.

  Sunny and breezy today with a high near 80 and wind gusts as high as 31 mph. Clear and breezy overnight with a low near 47 and wind gusts as high as 31 mph.

Sunny and breezy today with a high near 74 and wind gusts as high as 33 mph. Clear and breezy overnight with a low near 40 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph.

Sunny and breezy today with a high near 71 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph. Clear and breezy overnight with a low near 37 and wind gusts as high as 22 mph.

 Sunny today with a high near 74 and clear overnight with a low near 38.

  Sunny and breezy today with a high near 74 and wind gusts as high as 29 mph. Clear and breezy overnight with a low near 35 and wind gusts as high as 26 mph.

 Mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 71 and wind gusts as high as 33 mph. Clear and breezy overnight with a low near 38 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph.

  Sunny today with a high near 74 and clear overnight with a low near 37.

Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park

:  Slight chance of rain after noon, otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 65 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 34.

Mostly sunny today with a high near 87 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 52 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph.

:  Slight chance of rain after noon, otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 77 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a slight chance of rain before 7 p.m., a low near 50 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph.

  Mostly sunny today with a high near 84 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 52 and wind gusts as high as 23 mph.

  Chance of rain, otherwise partly sunny and breezy today with a high near 77 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph. Partly cloudy and breezy overnight with a chance of rain mainly before 10 p.m., a low near 52 and wind gusts as high as 26 mph.

  Chance of rain mainly after 2 p.m., otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 78 and partly cloudy overnight with a chance of rain before 11 p.m. and a low near 46.

:  Chance of rain mainly after 2 p.m., otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 75 and wind from 11-16 mph. Partly cloudy overnight with a chance of rain before 11 p.m., a low near 48 and wind from 12-17 mph.

Chance of rain after noon, otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 82 and wind gusts as high as 23 mph. Partly cloudy overnight with a chance of rain, a low near 47 and wind gusts as high as 24 mph.

  Chance of rain after noon, otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 82 and wind gusts as high as 16 mph. Partly cloudy overnight with a chance of rain, a low near 53 and wind gusts as high as 16 mph.

:  Chance of rain after noon, gradually becoming sunny today with a high near 84 and wind gusts as high as 17 mph. Increasing clouds overnight with a chance of rain, a low near 47 and wind gusts as high as 17 mph.

  Slight chance of rain after 3 p.m., otherwise mostly sunny and hot today with a high near 91 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 57.

  Slight chance of rain after 3 p.m., otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 89 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 54 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph.

  Mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 85 and wind gusts as high as 23 mph. Partly cloudy and breezy overnight with a slight chance of rain before midnight, a low near 50 and wind gusts as high as 22 mph.

  Chance of rain after 3 p.m., otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 84 and partly cloudy overnight with a low near 50.

  Slight chance of rain after 3 p.m., otherwise mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 79 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a low near 45 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph.

  Chance of rain after noon, otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 87 and partly cloudy overnight with a low near 53.

  Mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 81 and wind gusts as high as 35 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 46 and wind gusts as high as 35 mph.

  Mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 83 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 45 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph.

  Mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 85 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 45 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph.

Daycap no play 6 4 26

<title>Don Day's Wyoming Weather Forecast: Thursday, June 4, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Don Day's Wyoming Weather Forecast: Thursday, June 4, 2026

One More For The Road

Before embarking on a tour across America for the 250th anniversary, Andrew Rossi and Bill Sniffin stop to fill up their new RV.....

One more for 6 4 26

<title>One More For The Road: Thursday, June 4, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

One More For The Road: Thursday, June 4, 2026

[{"type":"text","text":"Never bring a guitar to a sheep fight…"}]

Darwin 6 4 26

<title>Daily Darwin: Thursday, June 4, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Never bring a guitar to a sheep fight…

Daily Darwin: Thursday, June 4, 2026

You Still Here

[{"type":"text","text":"Can a tree stop a .50-caliber sniper rifle?"}]

Bonus vid 2 6 4 26

<title>Bonus Video 2: Thursday, June 4, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Can a tree stop a .50-caliber sniper rifle?

Bonus Video 2: Thursday, June 4, 2026

Jen kocher

Jen Kocher

Crime & Courts

Law Enforcement

For more than 30 years, the body of an unidentified woman discovered in the remote desert along Interstate 80 in rural Nevada has kept her secrets hidden.

The woman, known colloquially as “Shafter Jane Doe,” had been beaten and shot in the chest and back.

Her nude body was posed on the ground, arms extended to either side in the shape of a cross with legs slightly parted.

Less than a week after her death on Nov. 16, 1993, a geologist who had pulled off at the remote Shafter exit off I-80 to stretch his legs discovered her body, according to news reports from the time.

Later investigation in 2010 revealed that the woman had spent seven months in Afton, Wyoming, which was determined through the isotope testing. 

For years, her donated headstone has read, “Who Am I?”

Now more than 32 years after the gruesome discovery, authorities finally have an answer.  

Her name is Marion Hertha Alexander, who was a German immigrant who moved to California with her family in 1972.

After a decades-long investigation, members of the Elko County Sheriff’s Office and other law enforcement partners told the Elko County Commissioners on Thursday afternoon that they identified her through the use of advanced DNA testing and forensic genetic genealogy.

The decades-long investigation also revealed the woman was in Afton, Wyoming, for about seven months before she was murdered. 

Alexander left home around age 18, and her family told investigators that Alexander was a free spirit who liked to drift around.

Her family questioned where she had gone, but given her lifestyle, they did not report her missing to law enforcement.

Her living family members were notified of the identification in January of this year, Elko County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Douglas Fisher stated, and continue to be in touch with law enforcement.

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Her suspected murderer, however, will not see justice.

Authorities were closing in on Roger Lee Durkee of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who was identified through semen found on a vaginal swab that yielded a full DNA profile, authorities said.

The profile was run through the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) but did not result in a match, so the Elko County Sheriff’s Office contracted a private group to perform forensic genetic genealogy analysis in February 2022 that led to Durkee as a potential suspect.

Further investigation indicated that Durkee was likely the murderer, but as detectives began planning their trip to Wisconsin to make an arrest, they learned that Durkee had died on Nov. 13, 2025.

He died within 14 days of detectives learning Alexander’s identity.

Now, however, Alexander will be properly laid to rest.

The Elko Sheriff’s Office asked the commission — and were granted — money to buy a proper headstone to finally put her to rest.

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Authorities worked for decades to identify Alexander through the use of several forensic tools.

Initially when she was discovered, Alexander’s face was beaten beyond recognition, so the FBI created a computer-generated image of her likeness to help local authorities attempt to identify her, according to a 1993 article by the Elko Daily Free Press.

Along with her image, authorities had little else to go on.

They were able to extract a partial print from her right thumb, which did not find a match in any federal databases.

The only other identifying characteristics were what appeared to be a burn scar or birth mark on her right calf, pink fingernails that looked to be professionally done and a tooth that had undergone a partial root canal, according to the same article.

A portion of her skull was sent to the Minnesota State Crime Lab, according to reporting from the Casper-Star Tribune, where her DNA was extracted and run through databases with no match.

They turned to the media and a national crime show, but no viable leads to her identity were forthcoming.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Human Time Capsule"}]

A big break came nearly two decades later with the advancement of using stable isotopes that tracked Alexander to Afton, Wyoming.

This discovery came in 2010 when scientists at Utah State University were able to determine she had spent the past seven months in Afton by analyzing isotopes in her hair that traced her to the area.

Though not new science, this application of stable isotope analysis has transformed how law enforcement solves cold cases, said Christy Mancuso, an assistant research professor at the University of New Mexico and sales representative for Thermo Fisher Scientific.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Mancuso knows the science well."}]

She got her doctorate degree in biology from the University of Utah and was affiliated with the stable isotope lab, where her thesis advisor, Jim Ehleringer, started the now-shuttered IsoForensics lab.

She wasn’t familiar with Alexander’s case, but said that stable isotope analysis is an excellent tool for helping to identify remains.

Essentially, humans are like time capsules of chemical information that are stored within one’s bones, teeth and hair, Mancuso said, which helps trace that person to a generalized location.

Humans living in these various regions incorporate the stable isotope signal from their drinking water and food that correlate to particular regions.

When forensic scientists analyze human remains, they examine the various stable isotopes — carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen — that act as chemical signatures reflecting what a person consumed and where they lived during their lifetime, both recent and past.

Every geographical location has a unique chemical composition evident in its local water and food sources, soil composition and climate, Mancuso explained.

Researchers can then track these predictable geographical patterns using isotope maps called “isoscapes” to identify likely regions where that person lived or traveled.

Hair in particular, which was used to trace Alexander to the Afton area, serves as an excellent linear time recorder of isotope information because it grows at a predictable rate of about one centimeter per month and provides a chronological record in its keratin protein structure, Mancuso said.

In this case, isotopes in Alexander’s hair matched those in drinking water that suggested she’d lived in the that particular area of Wyoming for the past seven months.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Great Basin Murders"}]

Alexander is thought to be one of about nine victims killed between 1983 and 1997 across four states in the Great Basin geographical area that includes Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and Idaho, and dumped along interstates in the remote arid watershed.

Many had been sexually abused or assaulted and either strangled, shot or stabbed.

Some were posed like Alexander, including another Jane Doe found in rural Elko County in July 1972 who also had been shot twice with her body posed to resemble a cross.

Initially, it was thought that one serial killer might be responsible for all the deaths, but it was quickly determined that most the murders were committed by different people.

The first victim was thought to be 23-year-old Janelle Johnson, who was hitchhiking from Denver to Riverton in February 1983 and was last seen at a truck stop in Sinclair, Wyoming.

The aspiring model was found less than a month later in a shallow grave near Shoshoni, Wyoming, according to the national nonprofit Parents of Murdered Children.

 in March 1988, was also among the young women killed.

Her body was found floating in the North Platte River near Casper and it took until 2004 to bring her killer to justice.

Eaton had also been suspected in Alexander’s murder because he had reportedly lived in the Elko area at the time and had been arrested for domestic violence, according to a 2010 report by the Elko Daily Free Press.

One of the other Wyoming victims, who remained unidentified for years and was known as “Bitter Creek Betty,” was identified in 2025 as Irene Vasquez.

Both Vasquez, and Cindi Arleen Estrada, who had formerly been known as “I-90 Jane Doe,” 

were determined to be victims of Clark Perry Baldwin

Baldwin, a long-haul truck driver who was convicted of murdering a woman in 1991 in Tennessee, was 

Other victims affiliated with this geographic region and time period are Vicky Lynn Perkins, 19, who vanished from Oregon and whose body was found two months later off 1-70 in Emery County, Utah, in May 1989.

Two more victims were found within one month of each other in 1991.

The badly beaten deceased body of Ermalinda Garza Sherman was found in St. George, Utah, in April while a Jane Doe, later identified as Barbara Kaye Williams, was found in Salt Lake City in March.

Shafter Jane Doe inset 6 3 26

<title>32 Years After Her Posed Body Was Found Along I-80, ‘Shafter Jane Doe’ Identified | Cowboy State Daily</title>

More than 32 years after her body was found along I-80, the woman known as “Shafter Jane Doe” has been identified, officials announced Thursday. Her nude body was posed on the ground, arms extended to either side in the shape of a cross.

Daily Darwin: Tuesday, November 1, 2022

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