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

<title>You Still Here? Sunday, November 19, 2023 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

You Still Here? Sunday, November 19, 2023

 Just in time for Thanksgiving, a new recipe! Alternative title: Some people should be banned from cooking...

Jimmy orr

Jimmy Orr

Outdoors

Wildlife

A California man said he was dragged 20-30 feet by a grizzly before it finally let him go in an attack he sustained late last month in Glacier National Park.

The report of the attack, which up until now has been scant of specifics, has turned vivid with Daniel Crago discussing the blow-by-blow of his bear encounter on a 

Crago says he was on his last day of a hiking trip when he peeled away from his friend to “take in some views.”

[{"type":"text","text":"That’s when he spotted a “smaller” grizzly."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Then the worst thing happened: he spotted a larger grizzly."}]

“I did as you’re told, I alerted the bear,” he said, which was about 15 feet away.

[{"type":"text","text":"That did no good."}]

“At that point, I was so close it likely frightened the bear,” he said. “As soon as it saw me, it charged down and attacked me.”

“I threw my arm up, it bit my arm, dragged me about 20-30 feet, and took off,” he said in the GoFundMe post.

The National Park Service said park employees believe that loud rushing water made it difficult for the hiker or the bears to detect each other.

Calling the experience “terrifying,” Crago said he was fortunate in that a pediatrician was in the area who was able to stabilize the arm while another hiker made noises in an attempt to keep the bears from coming back.

[{"type":"text","text":"The bears did not return."}]

Another hiker, he said, alerted emergency services and a helicopter airlifted him to nearby hospital in Kalispell.

He’s had three surgeries so far, he said, and is expecting at least one more.

"I am facing significant medical bills from the treatment and care I received," he said. "The costs are overwhelming, and I am reaching out for help to cover these expenses so I can continue my recovery."

Retired ecologist Chuck Neal of Cody, who frequently hikes solo in grizzly country, told Cowboy State Daily that hiking in Glacier Park demands extra alertness.

“Encounters can happen at just a few yards away” if hikers aren’t paying keen attention, Neal said.

“It’s a high-quality habitat for bears. It’s better habitat for bears than Yellowstone is” and tends to attract a younger crowd, he said.

“Those younger hikers go barreling up those trails without paying that much attention,” Neal said.

[{"type":"text","text":"Busy Season For Bear Attacks"}]

Crago’s is the latest of multiple bear encounters with humans in the region so far this season.

Earlier in the month, Glacier Park reported its first fatal bear attack since 1998 when the body of Florida resident Anthony Pollio, 33, was found May 6 two days after he was reported missing.

His body was found about 50 feet from the trail he’d apparently been hiking on.

On the same day Pollio went missing, two brothers were severely hurt when they were attacked by a female grizzly with cubs near Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park.

On May 26, a man running on a trail in British Columbia, Canada, was attacked by a female black bear with two cubs.

Outdoor adventurer Michael Hodges was photographing grizzlies in the Glacier Park backcountry on the day that Pollio’s body was discovered about 15 miles away.

Later, he was on the same trail where the alleged May 28 bear attack was reported.

“I was up on the trail the week of May 6 and saw many grizzlies,” he stated in a text message to Cowboy State Daily last week.

“I warned hikers from California and Texas at the trailhead that there was an unusual number of griz, and to be extra alert,” stated Hodges, a novelist and internet personality.

Daniel crago 6 5 26

<title>California Man Says Grizzly Dragged Him 30 Feet In Glacier National Park Attack | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A California hiker said after he surprised two grizzlies last month on a trail in Glacier National Park, the larger bear bit through his arm and dragged him 30 feet. “I did as you’re told, I alerted the bear,” he said, but the bear attacked him anyway.

California Man Says Grizzly Dragged Him 30 Feet In Glacier National Park Attack

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Crime & Courts

Courts

A Washington man is facing 14 wildlife-related criminal charges in Campbell County after Wyoming investigators say years-old Instagram videos, voice messages and cellphone data uncovered evidence of alleged illegal hunting trips that stretched back more than a decade.

Court records filed in Campbell County allege Bobby Chuck Ephrem, 48, illegally killed antelope and mule deer in Wyoming in 2014, 2015 and 2020, sometimes from vehicles, sometimes without licenses and at least once using a .22-caliber pistol that investigators say was illegal for taking big game.

The charges stem from an Idaho wildlife investigation that eventually led Wyoming Game and Fish investigators to social media posts, archived videos and cellphone extractions that they say show hunting activity in Campbell County.

An arrest warrant was issued June 4, 2025. Ephrem later appeared in Campbell County Circuit Court for an initial appearance on Tuesday, where bond was set at $75,000. Court records show he posted a surety bond on Wednesday.

As a condition of release, Ephrem is not allowed to leave Campbell County and is barred from hunting, fishing, trapping, collecting shed antlers or accompanying anyone engaged in hunting or fishing activities while the case is pending.

A voicemail seeking comment from the Campbell County Attorney's Office was not returned before publication.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Case Built From Phones And Social Media"}]

The investigation began in April 2024 when Idaho conservation officers shared information uncovered during an ongoing wildlife investigation, according to an affidavit filed by Wyoming Game and Fish Investigator Daniel Beach.

Investigators say Instagram videos, voice messages, and other evidence pointed them toward multiple incidents involving antelope and mule deer.

Beach wrote that he later traveled to Oregon in June 2024 to assist Oregon State Police while that agency executed a search warrant at Ephrem's home.

During the search and interview, investigators say Ephrem talked about several mounted animals displayed in his home and admitted to killing some of them in Wyoming.

The affidavit shows Wyoming investigators subsequently reviewed cellphone extraction data, Instagram videos and archived voice messages that they believe corroborated those admissions.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'No Permission, Just Shoot'"}]

Some of the most serious allegations center on an October 2020 antelope hunt in Campbell County.

Investigators discovered Instagram voice messages sent from Ephrem's account that referenced plans to hunt antelope in Wyoming.

One message cited in the charging documents read, "We're going antelope hunting today."

Another allegedly said, "No, just drive around and shoot shit. No permission, just shoot."

Investigators say they later identified the location shown in one of the videos as private property owned by Peabody Caballo Mining LLC south of Gillette.

Neither the company nor the rancher leasing the pasture granted permission for the hunting activity depicted in the videos, wrote Beach. 

In another video, investigators say Ephrem can be seen firing a rifle at antelope from inside a vehicle. 

Investigators also allege the video showed Ephrem handing the rifle to a younger passenger.

The charging documents include allegations of wanton destruction of antelope, taking big game from a vehicle, trespassing to hunt and accessory counts connected to those offenses.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The .22-Caliber Pistol Allegation"}]

A separate video described in the affidavit forms the basis for another series of charges.

Investigators say the recording showed Ephrem driving a Dodge Ram pickup while firing a pistol at multiple antelope from the roadway and adjacent ditch.

Beach wrote they later determined the firearm appeared to be a GSG 1911-style .22-caliber pistol, and that Ephrem fired 10 rounds at several antelope from close range.

During a June 2024 interview, Ephrem said, "I remember shooting, yes, got it.'" 

The case includes charges alleging illegal use of a firearm for taking big game, wanton destruction and taking big game from a vehicle.

Investigators also allege another man, who they say appeared in some of the videos, later confirmed witnessing portions of the hunt during a recorded interview.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Allegations Reach Back To 2014"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The investigation didn't stop with the 2020 videos."}]

Cellphone data allegedly connected Ephrem to an antelope killed in 2015 and a mule deer killed in 2014.

Beach wrote that Ephrem admitted during a 2024 interview to those killings. 

Wyoming licensing records showed Ephrem did not possess licenses for those species during the years in question, says investigators, and that Ephrem improperly used or transferred hunting licenses connected to his son during some of the incidents.

Cellphone photographs, taxidermy records and statements made during interviews were used to support those allegations.

The charges remain allegations. Ephrem has not been convicted, and the case will proceed through Wyoming's court system. His next expected appearance will be held within about 10 days for a preliminary hearing. 

Campell county pronghorn 4 5 26

<title>'No Permission, Just Shoot': Instagram Videos Lead To Wyoming Poaching Charges | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Washington man faces 14 Wyoming poaching-related charges after Game and Fish investigators say Instagram videos and phone data exposed illegal hunts over more than 10 years. “No permission, just shoot,” the man messaged, Game and Fish says.

'No Permission, Just Shoot': Instagram Videos Lead To Wyoming Poaching Charges

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's Feature Reporter, Andrew Rossi.

Andrew Rossi

Wyoming Life

Around Wyoming

Another aurora is heading for the skies over Wyoming, and it might be the last good 

natural light show for Cowboy State residents

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) has issued 

Three coronal mass ejections (CMEs) surged out of the sun on Tuesday and are anticipated to reach Earth’s atmosphere sometime Thursday.

“The current forecast calls for combined CME arrival around mid-afternoon (Thursday), with up to G3 levels possible afterward,” according to the SWPC. “CME passage would likely continue into the evening and possibly overnight hours of (Friday).”

Wyoming aurora enthusiasts are already anticipating a good show, and they’ll be making the most of it. 

[{"type":"text","text":"There might not be another one this good for another 10 years or more."}]

“I wasn't expecting any more activity after last spring's activity,” said Jan Curtis, a retired meteorologist and former Wyoming state climatologist. “We're definitely at the edge of the envelope for seeing these big displays during this solar cycle.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Cannibalistic Event"}]

The intensity of CMEs ranges from G1 to G5. The incoming CME is now a G3, but the SWPC believes it could be G4 by the time it reaches Earth.

Curtis said the intensity of this CME is “a cannibal-type event.” The three CMEs ejected from the sun are intensifying each other as they hurtle through space.

“When one CME catches up to another, it intensifies it,” he said. “It adds a force multiplier to the intensity of the initial eruption.”

That said, there’s no way of knowing how intense the subsequent aurora will be until it gets here. Curtis said there’s “a 50/50 chance” that there will be a super-strong aurora visible in Wyoming, even though it’s almost guaranteed that the CMEs will reach Earth.

“When Earth’s atmosphere is positively charged, they repel other positively charged particles, like a magnet,” he said. “The last time this happened, we were expecting a pretty good display, but the magnetic declination was in the wrong direction.”

Even the SWPC acknowledges there is “a rather complex series of events and circumstances” that will impact the intensity of 

If the CMEs are even more Earth-directed than they already seem to be, they will continue to intensify each other before combining with each other in Earth’s atmosphere.

“The forecasts of aurora are always questionable,” Curtis said. “The SWPC gives you the best estimate they can, but if there are multiple solar wind bursts coming through, that’s usually a good indicator that we will get to see something.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"All-Nighter"}]

Aurora enthusiast and photographer Laura Redmond is already anticipating an “all-nighter” based on the developing forecast.

“They're comparing this storm possibly to the one in May 2024, and that was a very good one,” she said.

The May 2024 auroras were considered some of the best in living memory in Wyoming. They started with 

 between May 10 and 12 of that year, followed by 

Redmond isn’t getting her hopes too high, but said the current outlook is “pretty promising.”

“When a CME hits the Earth, it takes several hours for it to push this far south,” she said. “I'm hoping that it'll hit between noon and 3 p.m., because then it should be down by dark down here in Wyoming. From the numbers yesterday, it looks pretty promising.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Mooning Us"}]

When it comes to CMEs, timing can be tricky. There’s no definite time someone can expect to step outside and see the aurora at its peak.

Redmond had a few suggestions based on her personal experience that have proven results.

“For the people in Wyoming, you just need to be away from city lights,” she said. “You don't have to drive out that far, and you probably will be able to see them with your naked eye.”

Redmond said people need to look for a “white, wispy, moving cloud” between the constellations Ursa Major, the Big Dipper, and Cassiopeia. That’ll be in the northeastern sky.

“The May 2024 was an all-nighter on the first night, and it lasted about an hour and a half after dark the next night,” she said. “We got two nights out of that one, so it’s possible we could get two nights out of this one, too.”

As for timing, Curtis has a good suggestion of when to step out and look up.

“They're most active around midnight, plus or minus an hour,” he said. “It will probably start off very faint, then burst into a lot of activity. But once it gets dark, certainly start looking.”

There will be a potential problem to contend with. The moon is scheduled to rise around 11 p.m., and it’s an 84% illuminated waning gibbous.

“It’s still a pretty big moon, but if the aurora’s bright enough, there should be no problems seeing it,” Curtis said. “Also, the moon’s going over the southern horizon, and we’ll be looking north, so it won’t interfere as much as it could.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Last Hurrah"}]

The sun reached the climax of its solar maximum in October 2024. It’s the point of the 11-year solar cycle when there are more sunspots on the surface of the sun, which means there’s a higher probability of CMEs being generated.

At this point, the sun has nearly cycled out of its solar maximum. It won’t reach its next maximum for another decade, and possibly longer.

As its sunspots decrease, the likelihood of any CME, let alone three colliding CMEs, decreases “exponentially,” according to Curtis.

He added that summer “is not really notorious” for auroras, specifically the northern lights that will potentially reach Wyoming over the next two days. For Wyomingites, this is a “make the most of it” moment for anyone who wants to see an aurora in all its (potential) splendor.

“If we see anything in the next day or so, we should count ourselves lucky,” he said. “We are coming at the end of the two-year buffer after solar maximum, and the frequency of aurora storms diminishes pretty fast at this point. 

"This will probably be the last aurora of this particular solar cycle that we’ll see in Wyoming.”

Auroras 9adf49dd df79 4f73 b03b 6344cd7e4837 6 4 26

<title>Powerful Geomagnetic Storm Could Bring Aurora Shows To Wyoming Thursday And Friday | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Scientists are excited about the possibility of colorful aurora shows on Thursday and Friday nights and Wyoming is in the target zone. Conditions for this event are being compared to May, 2024, which provided some of the most colorful shows in decades.

Powerful Geomagnetic Storm Could Bring Aurora Shows To Wyoming Thursday And Friday

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Public Lands

President Donald Trump’s decision to lift restrictions on motorized use of federal lands dating back to the 1970s has some Wyoming motorsports enthusiasts saying the move prioritizes much-deserved public access.

Others worry that it will cause a wildlands disaster, subjecting wildlife and non-motorized users to noise and destruction of habitat.

The Trump administration on Friday rescinded Executive Order (EO) 11644, issued in 1972 by President Richard Nixon, along with President Jimmy Carter’s 1977 EO 11989, which amended and strengthened Nixon’s order.

Throughout the ensuing decades, those orders shaped how federal land agencies managed the use of ATVs, dirt bikes, snowmobiles, and other motorsports vehicles.

The orders directed the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to designate where off-road vehicles could and could not be used.

The stated goals of the orders were to protect resources, mitigate user conflicts, and minimize environmental damage.

Trump’s move is good news for Sweetwater County Commissioner Taylor Jones.

An avid off-roader and snowmobiler, he’s been a vocal critic of the controversial BLM Rock Springs Resource Management Plan, which he argues is too restrictive for motorized use.

"Certainly, I’m thrilled,” Jones told Cowboy State Daily. “I've always been a strong proponent for public access to public lands.

“There are a lot of areas in the national forest and in the mountains that should be open for access,” added Jones, who sits on the Wyoming State Trails Advisory Council.

Jones said he understands the misgivings of hikers, birdwatchers and others who seek isolation and silence on public lands.

As he sees it, the current restrictions push off-roaders into certain areas. That increases friction between motorsports enthusiasts and other public lands users, Jones said.

Lifting restrictions could disperse motorized users across the landscape and ease tensions, Jones said, adding that it could make it easier to maintain a balance between those user groups.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Terrible’ Idea"}]

Avid mountain biker, hiker and skier Amber Travsky of Laramie told Cowboy State Daily that lifting motorized restrictions is a “terrible” idea.

“There are roads and trails designated for ATVs, and I have no problem with that,” she said. “There is so much opportunity already for off-road vehicles, I don’t see why it needs to be everywhere."

Off-road vehicle use can have wide-reaching effects on other uses, Travsky said, because of noise and potential damage to the landscape, particularly fragile areas such as wetlands.

Travsky has long been an advocate for the non-motorized Medicine Bow Rail Trail in Albany County. She said she’s not sure how Trump’s rescinding of the previous executive orders will affect that trail.

However, there’s been “chronic” unauthorized motorized use of the rail trail for years, so she wonders if lifting restrictions will just make that worse.

She understands why motorized users are tempted to jump on the rail trail. A nearby route intended for motorized use is in horrible shape, she said.

“We’ve sat down with the off-road vehicle people and worked toward a solution,” she said, which could entail improving the ATV trail.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Low-Impact Dirt Bikes"}]

Jason Harris of Lyman has participated in long-distance dirt bike races and said he welcomes Trump’s decision.

“If it means that I can ride my dirt bikes in some new places, then I’m stumping for it,” he told Cowboy State Daily.

He’s also happy to see less federal control over public lands.

Harris said he’s seen vegetation “recover quickly” from dirt bike use because the motorcycles are lighter than other off-road vehicles, and cut only a single track.

As he sees it, more widespread use of dirt bikes and more freedom for riders won’t damage Wyoming’s prized landscapes.

“I’m an enthusiast for all motorsports, but my area of specialty is dirt bikes,” he said.

Relaxing motorized use restrictions could have unintended consequences for hunters, Sierra Club spokesman Nick Gevock of Butte, Montana, told Cowboy State Daily.  

“It’s going to dramatically push elk down onto private ranches where they cause fence and crop damage” while also reducing public hunting opportunities, said Gevock, the Sierra Club’s organizing strategist for Northern Rockies wildlands and wildlife.

“Large-scale use of ATVs on public lands” can also spread noxious weeds, push sediment into mountain springs and disturb delicate wildlife habitat, he said.

“This is indicative of the Trump administration’s attitude toward public lands,” Gevock said. “There was no reason to do this, other than to give a nod to the ATV crowd that we’re going to give you free rein over public lands.”

He also worries that it will lead to many more “user-created (motorized) trails” cropping up in isolated areas.

Public land should get the same level of respect that private land does, Gevock added.

“I’m a fair-chase elk hunter, and never once has a rancher who has granted access to public hunting said, ‘’Well you can go anywhere you want,’” he said.

ATV medicine bow 7 17 23

<title>ATV Riders Cheer Trump Opening Access To Federal Lands, Critics Expect Disaster | Cowboy State Daily</title>

President Trump’s lifting of restrictions on motorized use of federal lands dating back to the 1970s has some Wyoming motorsports enthusiasts cheering a move they say prioritizes public access. Others worry that it will cause a wildlands disaster.

ATV Riders Cheer Trump Opening Access To Federal Lands, Critics Expect Disaster

Jen kocher

Jen Kocher

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.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"No Justice"}]

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.

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.

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