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[{"type":"text","text":"Now let's all watch a baby pig..."}]

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

<title>Daily Smile: Monday, December 18, 2023 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Now let's all watch a baby pig...

Daily Smile: Monday, December 18, 2023

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 post.

“I could see my hand, and it was just dangling there,” he told 

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 

 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.

 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 a hearing 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.

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

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

A Yellowstone grizzly called Quill has been making his rounds with the females, but it hasn’t all been sweet romance.

 when Quill and a well-known female, Snow, recently engaged in courtship.

The mood was decidedly different on Tuesday when Quill attempted to mate with another female, Grizzly 864, sometimes called the “Mud Volcano Sow.”

“He was actually biting her, wrestling with her. It was very aggressive,” grizzly watcher Kelly Ogilvie told Cowboy State Daily.

“I felt that he was getting frustrated and his aggression was escalating because she wasn’t receptive,” added Ogilvie, who lives in Idaho Falls, Idaho and frequently visits Yellowstone.

For male grizzlies, such behavior could be a survival of the fittest tactic, biologist Cecily Costello told Cowboy State Daily.

“Male reproductive success can be enhanced by them being aggressive,” said Costello, the statewide grizzly research biologist with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP).

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Wrestling Throwdown"}]

Estimated to be about 9 years old, Quill might be coming into his own as a top male bear in Yellowstone, Ogilvie said.

Listed by researchers as Grizzly 288, he’s been called Quill, because he showed up with a porcupine quill stuck under his left eye in 2024, said  Ogilvie.

She’s a hobby wildlife photographer who watches bears in the Greater Yellowstone area, as well as in Alaska, Canada and Minnesota.

Grizzly 864 is estimated to be 13 years old and is roughly equal in size to Quill, she said.

She had one previous set of twin cubs that she raised to maturity. A second set of twins, born last year, didn’t survive, Ogilvie said.

Ogilvie said that she and others heard Quill and Grizzly 864 scuffling and roaring in the trees late Monday, but didn’t see them.

The two bears came into view on Tuesday, and Ogilvie captured video of Quill chasing the female, who would occasionally stop and brawl with him.

Quill was engaged in “relentless harassment,” she said. But at least on that day, it didn’t pay off for him.

“She would not put her rear end where it was available to him,” Ogilvie said. “I think that’s what was making him extremely frustrated.”

At one point, Quill tossed the female down onto her back.

“We were joking later that it was like a wrestling throwdown,” Ogilvie said.

She wondered if Grizzly 864 was not yet in “peak estrus” (heat) and therefore just not interested in mating at the time.

Whether the female finally gave in remained a mystery as of Thursday, she said. As far as Ogilvie knew, the pair hadn’t been spotted again after Tuesday’s display.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Single-Minded’"}]

Grizzly mating season peaks in June, Costello said.

“Males can be relatively single minded this time of year and don’t take ‘no’ for an answer, she said.

“The males want to mate but the females have the ability to choose,” she said.

It’s not known for certain, but it could be that females’ estrus might be pushed into high gear by the presence of a persistent male, Costello added.

Whatever the factors driving female estrus might be, the males are hyper-focused on spreading their genes during mating season.

“They aren’t eating as much. They’re relying on their fat reserves. That’s why it’s important for males to come out of the den fat in the spring,” Costello said.

Ogilvie said that Quill’s throwdown with Grizzly 864 is the first time she’s seen him get aggressive during mating season.

Over the past couple of years, he’s courted Snow and her sister, Jam.

Snow and Jam are the daughters of Raspberry, perhaps Yellowstone’s most famous grizzly.

“Quill has courted Snow and Jam in a very relaxed manner,” Ogilvie said.  

Grizzlies brawl 6 4 26

<title>Grizzly Courtship Isn't Very Cuddly. In Fact, It Can Turn Into An Aggressive Fight. | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Grizzly courtship isn’t always cuddly. It can look more like a brawl as a videographer captured earlier this week in Yellowstone. But, persistence and aggression can often pay off, one biologist told Cowboy State Daily.

Grizzly Courtship Isn't Very Cuddly. In Fact, It Can Turn Into An Aggressive Fight.

A Laramie couple accused of keeping drugs in the same room as an infant — including a meth-loaded syringe investigators say was found inside the baby's crib — face felony charges after a probation officer inspected their home.

Alyisha Edwards and Edward Miller are each charged with one count of a child being present where meth or fentanyl is possessed, a felony that could put them in prison for up to 10 years each. 

They are also being charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance.

Both waived their preliminary hearings Tuesday, and a judge set their bonds at $30,000 cash-only, according to court records made available Thursday. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Syringe In The Bassinet"}]

The allegations stem from a probation compliance check at a residence in Laramie last week.

Wyoming Probation and Parole agents requested assistance from deputies while checking on Edwards, who was under supervision, wrote Albany County Sheriff's Deputy Jacob Fourman in an affidavit supporting the charges.

When authorities arrived at the home shortly before 11 a.m. May 27, they were told by a roommate that Edwards wasn't home. 

Eventually, authorities found Edwards with Miller hiding in a shed behind the home, court documents say.

Investigators also found drug paraphernalia during the search of the shed, including glass and metal pipes with suspected meth and marijuana residue. 

[{"type":"text","text":"What deputies say they found inside a bedroom elevated the case."}]

Inside the couple's bedroom, they found a loaded hypodermic syringe containing suspected liquid meth at the bottom of an infant bassinet belonging to their son. 

Deputies wrote that Edwards told investigators the child regularly slept there.

A subsequent TruNarc test of the liquid inside the syringe produced a presumptive positive result for meth, the affidavit states.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Pointing Fingers"}]

After their arrests, both adults reportedly told investigators the syringe belonged to the other.

According to the affidavit, Edwards admitted using meth days earlier, but denied ownership of the syringe, telling investigators it belonged to Miller.

During an interview with investigators, “Edwards admitted her infant son … regularly sleeps in the bedroom inside the infant bassinet, and admitted to using methamphetamine the previous Sunday,” the affidavit says.

“Further, Alyisha Edwards claimed the hypodermic needle found in the bassinet was not hers, but belonged to Edward Miller and stated her roommate does not use drugs,” the document continues.

Miller, meanwhile, allegedly told investigators the syringe belonged to Edwards, the affidavit says.

The competing explanations are among the issues likely to be addressed as the case moves through Albany County District Court.

Miller is represented by Albany County Public Defender David M. Korman. Edwards is represented by court-appointed attorney Jeremey William Meerkreebs.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Cases Headed To District Court"}]

Tuesday's hearing in Albany County Circuit Court lasted only minutes. Rather than requiring prosecutors to present evidence supporting the charges, both defendants waived their hearings.

Edwards and Miller will next appear in Albany County District Court for arraignment hearings that had not yet been scheduled.

Albany County Sheriff 9 11 25

<title>Laramie Couple Charged After Meth-Filled Syringe Found In Baby's Crib | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Laramie couple was bound over to felony-level court this week after a meth-filled syringe was found in their baby's crib. Both claimed the syringe belonged to the other, while the baby’s mother admitted using meth, according to court documents.

Laramie Couple Charged After Meth-Filled Syringe Found In Baby's Crib

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.

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.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Piecing Together Mystery"}]

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.

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 Smile: Monday, December 18, 2023

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