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[{"type":"text","text":"That one time my daughter fell through the ceiling..."}]

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

<title>You Still Here? Sunday, December 17, 2023 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

That one time my daughter fell through the ceiling...

You Still Here? Sunday, December 17, 2023

 That one time my daughter fell through the ceiling...

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Crime & Courts

Courts

For nearly a year, the man known only by his scattered bones on a remote Wyoming mountainside remained a mystery.

Investigators found pieces of his skeleton spread across rugged country near the Sweetwater Gap Guard Station, along with a tent and personal belongings. 

An identification card hinted at who he might be, but proving it would require an investigation stretching from Sublette County to Scotland, involving Interpol, foreign police agencies and DNA collected half a world away.

On Thursday, the Sublette County Sheriff's Office announced the mystery has finally been solved.

The remains belong to John Gillies, a Scottish man who would have been 69 years old this year.

"This case is a testament to the dedication of everyone involved and the strength of partnerships that extend well beyond our county and even our nation's borders," Sheriff K.C. Lehr said in a statement.

"What began as the discovery of unidentified remains in a remote area of Wyoming ultimately brought together local, state, federal and international partners with one shared goal — to give a family answers,” he said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Very Remote'"}]

The investigation began Sept. 6, 2025, when Wyoming Game and Fish personnel 

discovered scattered human skeletal remains

 in a remote section of the Wind River Mountains near the Sweetwater Gap Guard Station.

Authorities later described the location as "very remote," in an area that sees little traffic outside of occasional search-and-rescue missions.

Deputies found disarticulated skeletal remains, a tent, and personal belongings. At the time, authorities said foul play did not appear to be a factor.

Four days later, a 14-member search team made up of deputies, detectives, Sublette County Search and Rescue volunteers and U.S. Forest Service personnel combed roughly 20 miles of rugged terrain, recovering additional skeletal remains.

By late December, a forensic anthropologist estimated investigators had recovered about 85% of the skeleton and concluded the remains had likely been in the wilderness for about six years.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'More Than Bones'"}]

Among the items recovered at the scene were personal effects that eventually led investigators to believe the man could be Gillies.

With no immediate next of kin in the United States, detectives contacted Gillies' ex-wife on Sept. 16, 2025.

Although she had not yet received confirmation that the remains belonged to her former husband, she provided photographs, medical history and details about his life.

[{"type":"text","text":"One message stayed with investigators throughout the case."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"I wanted you to know he was more than bones\" she had said. "}]

The sheriff's office called her compassion and willingness to help "a powerful reminder that every unidentified person is someone's loved one."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Investigation Crosses An Ocean"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The investigation soon expanded across the Atlantic."}]

Detectives contacted Saint Mary's Church in Kirkintilloch, Scotland, which helped locate Gillies' surviving relatives and assisted with an international death notification.

Through Interpol, Police Scotland and the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement International Bureau, investigators obtained DNA reference samples from Gillies’ family, the Sublette County Sheriff’s Office reports.

Those samples arrived in Wyoming on Feb. 10. The following day, investigators personally transported the family DNA and the recovered skeletal remains to the Wyoming State Crime Laboratory in Cheyenne for comparison.

On Tuesday, the lab confirmed the remains were biologically related to Gillies' surviving family members, bringing the nearly yearlong investigation to a close, along with six years of limbo overall for the family.

[{"type":"text","text":"Investigators immediately notified his family in Scotland."}]

At their request, the Sublette County Sheriff's Office and the Sublette County Coroner's Office are now working with Interpol to return Gillies' remains home for burial.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Questions Remain"}]

The sheriff's office did not say how Gillies came to be in the isolated Wyoming wilderness or whether he had been reported missing before his remains were discovered.

[{"type":"text","text":"Authorities also did not announce a cause or manner of death."}]

Instead, investigators focused Wednesday on the collaboration that ultimately restored a name to a man who had spent years missing and unidentified.

"We are grateful to everyone who played a role in helping bring John home," Lehr said.

The sheriff's office specifically thanked the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Sublette County Search and Rescue, the U.S. Forest Service, the Wyoming State Crime Laboratory, Interpol, Police Scotland, the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement International Bureau, Saint Mary's Church in Kirkintilloch and, most importantly, Gillies' family "for their patience, trust and assistance throughout this investigation.”

Missing man found inset

<title>Scattered Bones Found In Remote Wyoming Wilderness ID'd As Missing Scottish Man | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Scattered human bones found in Wyoming's rugged Wind River Mountains nearly a year ago have been identified as a Scottish man. "I wanted you to know he was more than bones,” his ex-wife said when contacted by investigators.

Scattered Bones Found In Remote Wyoming Wilderness ID'd As Missing Scottish Man

Lubnau head 2

Tom Lubnau

Opinion

CSD Columnists

Chuck Gray, a man who has been chasing an office for years, may win the Republican nomination for U.S. Representative with a little over 20 percent of the vote.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"The candidate field is huge. "}]

The Secretary of State’s website lists the following candidates in this order: Bo Biteman, Chuck Gray, David Giralt, Frank Chapman, Jillian Balow, Keith B. Goodenough, Kevin Christensen, Reid Rasner, Richard Dodson and Steve Friess.

Gray, fresh with another boxcar load of family money, is the statistical leader, according to polling information shared with me. 

While Chuck has large negatives, he has a solid backing of conservative Republicans who are impressed with his red-meat approach to politics.

He has been campaigning for an office in Wyoming for many years, now, and has a firm base of support from the MAGA Republicans. So far, the holy grail has eluded him, because he has not received the endorsement of Donald Trump.

Depending on whom you consult, billionaire heir Steve Friess, Reid Rasner and Jillian Balow come in next, in the polling.

To be clear, no campaign has shared their actual polling data with me.

My information comes from candidates who want to sway my opinion to their favor. Take my insights for what they are worth.

The rest of the field poll in near-single digits.

Wyoming has typically shown disdain for rich people from Teton County, rolling into Wyoming and running for political office. Attempts for millionaires to appear as blue-collar men of the people somehow come off hollow.

Frank Chapman, a rich midwestern attorney who bought a ranch and moved to Teton County is supported by a PAC running a social media campaign that consists of a country music video, and opens with, “Frank rides the range at the break of dawn, loves this land, knows right from wrong . . .” 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"He bought a guest ranch. "}]

As for his bona fides as a cowboy, my cowboy friends just shake their heads.

It seems like a day doesn’t pass that I don’t receive a mailer from Steve Friess. Friess might have the biggest boxcar of money. He talks about a place where we can raise our kids, a young man can learn a trade, get a good job in mining or minerals, and work with President Trump to take Wyoming from good to great. He tries to characterize himself as an “outsider” and successful businessman.

I have a hard time seeing Friess running a backhoe, driving a haul truck or fighting fire. I suspect his campaign is having trouble getting more traction for that reason.

Reid Rasner is running an interesting campaign aimed at aligning with Trump values and attacking "China" Chuck Gray. His physical ability videos are something I’ve not seen in Wyoming politics. We’ll see if running sprints and flipping tires connect with the Wyoming voters. They appear to crack the social media algorithm. 

The other candidates seem to be suffering from lack of money. If your family does not have hundreds of thousands of dollars to dump into campaign advertising, it is hard to break through all the political noise.

Bo Biteman has been in Wyoming politics long enough to rise to President of the Senate. 

Give him credit: he steered the Senate through some real minefields last session. But Biteman's association with the Hazlitt coalition of Young Americans for Liberty, a Freedom Caucus ally, is a pedigree hard to shake. 

Voters will have to decide if he's a steady hand or just Freedom Caucus with better manners.

Jillian Balow was elected into a Superintendent of Public Instruction's office that was the center of a political firestorm.  She calmed the storm. 

She was good enough at the job that Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin poached her to come run his schools department for a while. 

Now she's back, asking voters to send her back East, again. The question is whether competence or loyalty is the selling point this Republican primary.

I like some of the other candidates and have no idea about others. Column length limits prohibit full analysis of their campaigns.  Given the clutter in the advertising airwaves, it is going to be hard for any of the others to break out.

What could happen to change the current polling results?

First, the other candidates could voluntarily solidify their support for one candidate. If the race pares down to a two- or three-candidate race, the election becomes a different story.

Second, Donald Trump could endorse one of the candidates. That endorsement might be enough to tip the scale. This race, in many ways, has become a race for Trump’s approval.

Third, there could be some sort of July surprise that sways people. As candidates become increasingly desperate based on polling data, you will see increasingly shrill behavior.                                               

As it sits now, without a major shift in the electorate, we can get ready for Chuck Gray as our Republican nominee for U.S. Representative.

Tom Lubnau served in the Wyoming Legislature from 2004 to 2015 and is a former Speaker of the House. He can be reached at: YourInputAppreciated@gmail.com

<title>Tom Lubnau: Splitting the Field — Why Chuck Gray Might Win With Only One in Five Votes | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Columnist Tom Lubnau writes, "Chuck Gray, fresh with another boxcar load of family money, is the statistical leader in the congressional race, according to polling information shared with me."

Tom Lubnau: Splitting the Field — Why Chuck Gray Might Win With Only One in Five Votes

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's general assignment reporter, Clair McFarland.

Clair McFarland

Government & Politics

Politics

Media outlets gasped last week at the socialist movement’s success in the New York congressional 

That success headed west Tuesday, to Wyoming’s southern neighbor of Colorado.

Democratic socialist Melat Kiros, 29, defeated 15-term incumbent U.S. House Rep. Diana DeGette in Tuesday evening’s primary election.

Colorado Public Radio called the ouster “a stunning blow to the Democratic establishment in Denver and continuing a run of leftist victories in major cities.”

Former Wyoming Gov. Mike Sullivan, a Dvemocrat, told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday that he wasn’t surprised at the move by Denver voters, but he doubted the proximity of a House socialist – if Kiros wins the general election – will affect Wyoming much.

“We have our own issues, and we’re certainly more sensitive to certain issues than others,” Sullivan said. “And it doesn’t necessarily divide us or make us closer to anybody else.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Could Deepen 'Don't Colorado My Wyoming' Sentiment"}]

Liz Brimmer, longtime Wyoming politico, agreed in general, but said having a socialist congressional neighbor could galvanize Wyoming even harder into a tendency it already has: spurning anything that looks like Colorado governance.  

“I think Wyoming uniformly and strongly feels, you know, ‘Don’t Colorado my Wyoming',” Brimmer said. “And I think if anything, it deepens that sentiment.”

Brimmer said the ouster speaks of “these times, where there’s no doubt an anti-incumbent strain.” But no one will know all the reasons, nor should presume too much, until the voter data return, she said.

The Republicans saw the anti-incumbent strain surface differently, with newcomers ousting President Donald Trump’s foes in GOP primary elections.

State Rep. Landon Brown, R-Cheyenne, who is finishing off his final legislative term, voiced fascination with the election outcome.

Brown, a self-described political junkie, lives about 14 miles from the Colorado border.

He said the ouster shows Denver is increasingly dictating the rest of Colorado’s fate, and that the state is growing more polarized.

On the Republican gubernatorial primary side, The 

 a half-point lead for Victor Marx as of Wednesday.

“He’s just as crazy as a democratic socialist on the left,” said Brown.

As for DeGette’s defeat, it’s not as symptomatic as one would think, he added.

“She was running a ‘Hey, I’m the incumbent and I’ve been here 30 years’ (campaign),” he said.

That hurt her. As did a growing divide on the left over Israel’s approach to its many foes — and Congress’ funding of Israeli war and defense efforts, said Brown.

Israel was also a fulcrum in the May primary loss of libertarian-leaning incumbent Rep. Thomas Massie, of Kentucky. But the Republican voters took the inverse approach on that one, nominating the candidate who supports funding Israeli war efforts.

Jack Speight, the GOP strategist who helped Wyoming Gov. Stan Hathaway to victory in 1966, told Cowboy State Daily Kiros’ win is alarming.

Speight was a Democrat when he graduated from the University of Wyoming law school. But the allure of capitalism and the prevailing logic of his good friends pulled him to the Republican side, he said in another interview last month.

The socialist victories of 2026 are “sad for this country. It may well affect the results of this fall, and nationwide,” he said. He called it a shift of California transplants into the Rockies, and a symptom of a growing entitlement.

[{"type":"text","text":"Colorado isn’t the only Wyoming neighbor with socialist momentum."}]

Sam Forstag, a smoke jumper endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-New York, won his primary bid for Montana’s U.S. House District 1 on June 2.

Forstag may be less favored than Kiros going into the general election: No Democrat has won that Montana House district this century.

 a “test for left-leaning politicians” who have been arguing for a populist surge in the blue party.

Melat Kiros Getty 7 1 26

<title>Win By Colorado Socialist Could Galvanize Wyoming Independence, Says Politico | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Fresh after socialist-backed candidates' success in New York's U.S. House primaries, Colorado Democrats nominated their own socialist House candidate Tuesday. Having a socialist neighbor could galvanize Wyoming's independence even more, one politico said. 

Win By Colorado Socialist Could Galvanize Wyoming Independence, Says Politico

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's managing editor, Greg Johnson.

Greg Johnson

CHEYENNE — A former fifth-grade teacher who had faced nearly 30 charges relating to sexual abuse of children was sentenced Wednesday to 27-30 years in prison.

The sentencing comes after he pleaded guilty in April to two counts of sexual abuse of a minor and one of third-degree sex abuse of a child in an agreement with prosecutors.

Brian Wrhel, 56, was given three 9-to-10-year sentences to be served consecutively, the Cheyenne Police Department reports.

He was first arrested July 28, 2025, about a week after the Laramie County District Attorney’s Office charged him with 16 felony sex crimes.

While out on bond facing those charges, Wrhel was hit with another 11 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor after a search of his cellphone uncovered more than 4,000 images of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), according to court documents.

His April plea bargain voided a pair of trials that had been set for the former teacher.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"What The Girls Said"}]

Wrhel first came onto the radar of the Cheyenne Police Department when someone at a Laramie County School District No. 1 elementary school called the CPD to report sexual abuse of a minor, according to an evidentiary affidavit written by Detective Damon Hall.

The principal told the responding officer that school staff became aware the week prior that a fifth-grade teacher had been allegedly touching students inappropriately in class.

“An internal investigation was conducted prior to law enforcement notification,” wrote Hall, and Wrhel was placed on leave May 16, 2025.

Investigators identified multiple potential victims, all girls, and arranged for them to be interviewed forensically at Safe Harbor.

Some girls in their forensic interviews described their teacher touching their bottoms, breasts, genitalia, torsos, thighs and backs during class, wrote Hall.

Repeatedly, the girls who allegedly suffered this touching also noticed when Wrhel did it to others, the document alleges.

The teacher’s inappropriate touching happened at his desk, which sat in the back of the class, especially when a girl would go to him for help with schoolwork, Hall related from those interviews.

One girl, whom the others identified as most frequently victimized, said her teacher would touch her “private part” under her pants, and it felt “uncomfortable and weird.”

She said the teacher unclipped another girl’s bra, according to the document.

“Small things,” or more minor, inappropriate touching, started around October 2024, but the touching progressed to where the teacher was touching the girl inappropriately every day, two or three times a day, wrote Hall.

Another girl claimed the teacher put his hand up her shirt “three times each week” and down her pants “four times in one week,” wrote Hall.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Thousands Of Images"}]

Wrhel was out on bond when he was re-arrested following a search of his cellphone, home computer, and other electronic devices that uncovered thousands of CSAM, according to another affidavit filed in his case.

A forensic download of one of his cellphones “recovered approximately 2,102 images of CSAM, eight CSAM video clips, and 5,372 internet searches from (a pornographic website),” the affidavit says. 

A little less than two weeks later, a search warrant executed at Wrhel’s home — specifically his electronic devices — found 1,196 child sex images on another cellphone and another 1,974 web searches from the same pornographic website, according to the affidavit.

“Many of the images were from picture packages viewed or obtained from the website and were individually titled or labeled with a specific theme name from the website,” the affidavit says.

Examples of the titles include: “Nudist Summer Forest Hike with Youngers;” “Nude Pageant Video;” “Family Shower;” “Naked Camping Bubble Fun;” and “Twister Family Game Night.”

“The CSAM images were of children ranging from approximately 4 to 16 years of age and appeared to originate from Russia and the Czech Republic,” says the affidavit. “The images showed the children, both male and female, completely nude and exhibited the genitals and pubic areas of the children in a lascivious manner.”

Had he been convicted on all 27 of the previous charges, Wrhel faced potential for a prison sentence of up to 395 years.

Brain Wrhel and Laramie County School District 1 administration Unknown 1 9 17 25

<title>27-30 Years In Prison For Former Cheyenne Teacher On Child Sex Abuse Charges | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A former Cheyenne fifth-grade teacher who had faced 27 charges relating to sexual abuse of children was sentenced Wednesday to 27-30 years in prison. Without his plea agreement, Brian Wrhel, 56, could have faced 395 years.

27-30 Years In Prison For Former Cheyenne Teacher On Child Sex Abuse Charges

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily reporter, Dale Killingbeck

Dale Killingbeck

A 17-year-old Lander homeschooler who beat out 8,000 other students in what was billed as an “Impossible Civics Test” won the nation’s Presidential 1776 Award, collected a $150,000 scholarship, and then stood beside President Donald Trump in the Oval Office where he gave her a challenge coin.

“I just thought it was really amazing to get to meet the president in the Oval Office, because it’s something that I never thought that I would be able to do,” Miriam Washut told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday. “It’s just a once-in-a lifetime opportunity.”

To get there, Washut had to plow through more than 5,000 pages of books, foundational documents and biographies, as well as know the facts on 10 Revolutionary War battles. She then was tested at state and regional levels before the national finals competition at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

The finals competition was broadcast on CBS on Tuesday, but was taped a couple of weeks ago when 20 students gathered for the competition in the nation’s capital.

Washut is the daughter of Wyoming Catholic College President Kyle Washut and his wife, Erin. She said it was her dad who first saw on the competition announcement on social media, but she initially had only one week to prepare before testing for the state competition.

“I took the test the last day you could take it,” she said. “And then I had a month before regionals, so there was a little bit more time to get ready for that.”

Kyle Washut said his daughter has always been interested in history, and she was actually working as an intern during part of her study time this spring in the Wyoming Legislature where her grandfather, Art Washut, serves as a state representative for House District 36 in Casper.

The competition involved more than 8,000 students nationwide, and students took three 30-minute exams with a short break to qualify for the regionals. 

Miriam Washut said the exam questions became more difficult as she progressed through the “Impossible Civics Test.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Oval Office Handshake"}]

While in the Oval Office with the president during the short time they had with him, Trump asked her and the other students about their plans for the future, shook their hands, and then they posed for photos with him and Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Miriam said. 

She enjoyed seeing a copy of the Declaration of Independence there as part of the event.

It also was not lost on her that she had traveled from Lander, Wyoming, to the seat of the nation’s executive power and government.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"“Yeah, it was really cool,” she said."}]

U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman and Wyoming State Superintendent of Education Megan Degenfelder were among those congratulating Washut on her accomplishment Wednesday.

“She competed against students from all 50 states and came out on top. Wyoming is proud,” Hageman wrote in a statement.

Degenfelder praised the 17-year-old’s dedication to “understanding the nation’s foundational values.”

“In Wyoming, our students grow up with a love for America and civics education,” Degenfelder said. “Congratulations, Miriam.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Regionals In Dallas"}]

She was one of the top four Wyoming participants sent to a regional competition at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas. 

There, competitors had two rounds of questions on anything regarding the documents that made up the competition’s “library.”

Among the documents were the “Funeral Oration of Pericles Book II,” “Polybius, The Histories,” the Magna Carta, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, James Madison’s notes on the Constitutional Convention, Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense,” biographies on Washington, Crispus Attucks, Benedict Arnold, and much more.

She was among the top four who advanced from Dallas to the nationals at the Kennedy Center. 

While 20 students were part of the finals competition, those competitors were whittled to eight when it was shown on CBS.

Miriam said questions in the finals involved topics such as the Alien and Seditions Acts, and buzz rounds on the Declaration of Independence and Revolutionary War battles and the Constitution.

One of the questions she tackled involved “why taxation without representation is the end of liberty,” she said.

The high school senior said she really enjoys history more than civics, but appreciates civics “when you get to put it in perspective.”

As a homeschooler, she has been reading a lot of American history and took an online class on the Declaration of Independence and Constitution.

Kyle Washut said his daughter has become a fellow at The Heritage Academy, which offers online students an understanding of the nation’s founding ideals.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Pottery And Drama"}]

Additionally, Miriam has enjoyed taking pottery and woodworking classes at Lander’s high school and was involved in a play on C.S. Lewis’s Narnia book “The Horse and His Boy” while preparing for the regional competition.

“I think I just had time to read everything through once and take some notes because there was so much material and I was also really busy with softball and the play,” she said. “I gave it as much time as I had.”

Current plans call for her to finish her senior year and then attend Wyoming Catholic College. Beyond that, there are no certain career goals, yet, she said.

While in Washington as part of the competition, she and her family were able to tour the war memorials, U.S. Capitol and visit the National Archives.

“They took us there as part of the national competition, which was neat to see the documents that we’ve been reading for months,” she said. “I was able to get a Library of Congress card which was something I kind of wanted to do.” 

Kyle Washut said the family also took time to swing through Philadelphia on the way home and visit Constitutional Hall and other sites there. 

As someone in higher education, he views the competition and the students who competed as “basically doing a graduate course in American civics.”

He said he’s obviously proud of his daughter’s accomplishment and that she among the students whose “lights” are shining as they embraced their national roots.

“Miriam revealed herself to be in the top high school students in the country with her grasp of America civics,” he said. “The hours of study and thousands of pages that she read, and her deep love for the country and knowledge of what it means to be an American should give us great hope for the future.”

Miriam Washut 736621873 27230431639918737 4588156401187251718 n 7 1 26

A 17-year-old Lander homeschooler who beat out 8,000 other students in what was billed as the “Ultimate Civics Showdown” stood beside President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on national TV on Tuesday. Miriam Washut won a $150,000 scholarship in the effort.

You Still Here? Sunday, December 17, 2023

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