When an alleged drunk driver drove her GMC Yukon off U.S. Highway 14/16/20 between Cody and Greybull two months ago, Zac Beardall of Zac's Towing and Recovery committed to recovering it.
Two months later, it's still there.
It’s not a run-of-the-mill recovery, though. The 7,000-pound SUV is wedged between some large rocks and in a remote spot in northwest Wyoming. It’s going to take a team to get it out, Beardall said.
Coming from him, that's saying something. He has a reputation for getting to anything that’s stuck anywhere.
"It's in a pretty tight spot," he said. "We've been looking at it for a couple of months now, trying to come up with our best plan on it. I think we've got a good plan drawn up for it, so we have to go find a day and get it done."
It Was Carjackers, I Swear
Since June 8, the Yukon has been wedged between several large rocks halfway down a hillside alongside U.S. 14/16/20. It belongs to Suzanne Marie Cole, 59, who was driving it at the time of the incident.
The Park County Sheriff’s Office believes she was drunk at the time, but she claimed carjackers took her wheels, went on a joyride and got the Yukon stuck off the highway in the middle of nowhere.
"She said she was helping some people, had been hit over the head, and her car was driven off a cliff by them," Monte McClain, a spokesman with the Park County Sheriff's Office, told Cowboy State Daily. "When the deputy arrived and investigated it, he found out that there was only one occupant in the vehicle, and that was her."
Cole was allegedly driving while intoxicated and lost control of the vehicle. She was arrested and, since she was reportedly drinking while on parole, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of a probation violation.
"She was fully aware of what happened even if she didn't want to admit it to the deputy," McClain said.
This GMC Yukon that sits crashed and abandoned in rugged terrain off Highway 14-16-20 in northwest Wyoming sparked a lot of speculation. Truth is, a suspected drunk driver left it there. (Pere Davison via Facebook) 
This GMC Yukon that sits crashed and abandoned in rugged terrain off Highway 14-16-20 in northwest Wyoming sparked a lot of speculation. Truth is, a suspected drunk driver left it there. (Pere Davison via Facebook) 
This GMC Yukon that sits crashed and abandoned in rugged terrain off Highway 14-16-20 in northwest Wyoming sparked a lot of speculation. Truth is, a suspected drunk driver left it there. (Pere Davison via Facebook)
A Tight Spot
Beardall was contacted by the Park County Sheriff's Office to recover Cole's Yukon. He's been planning a way to get it out since.
"From the road, the vehicle went down the hill and over several large rocks," he said. "Then it went down a 12- to 13-foot cliff face and wedged in a ditch against a big rock with several other big rocks around it.
“There is no direct line of access to the vehicle's location. You can hike down to it, but I could only get one of my recovery vehicles within about 130 yards."
Even in the treacherous terrain of northwest Wyoming, Beardall usually needs only one truck and one or two people to recover a vehicle. The Yukon will require a lot more effort.
"We're going to take two of our wreckers and put one above (the Yukon) and one to the side and try to get it pulled back and forth to maneuver it between the rocks and try to get it out through the side of the cliff,” he said.
Size will also be an issue.
Cole's Yukon was fully loaded when it drove off the highway, so Beardall estimates the entire load will be between 6,500 and 7,000 pounds.
"That's going to be a lot of weight to maneuver with no steering capabilities," he said. "We're basically dragging 7,000 pounds of dead weight through those rocks."
It'll be an all-day job, requiring at least two trucks and five people. Since summer is already the busiest time of year for his crews, it didn't make sense to spend that much time and effort recovering the Yukon.
Plus, there might be no money in this job. Beardall said the BLM doesn't directly cover the expenses of vehicle recoveries and he doesn't see any way of getting compensation from Cole.
"There's not really a great, cost-effective way to do it in the middle of our busy season," he said. "It's going to take my full crew a full day to try to get this thing out, and there may be no way to get compensation for it. But we want to minimize the litter on BLM land, so we want to get it out of there."
While They Can
With the busy season winding down, Beardall believes he has the time and availability to recover the Yukon. He hopes to finish the job sometime before the end of August or the first weeks of September.
"There was no time in July or August to get that job done, but we want to try and beat the snow and get it done as soon as possible," he said. "We just have to find a day and get it done."
It's in a day's work for Beardall and his crews, even if recovering the Yukon will be a particularly difficult day. The challenges keep the business interesting.
"I got into towing for the off-road part of it, and we all enjoy the work," he said. "We've repelled down cliff faces and winched vehicles straight up cliffs. There are obviously difficult times with it, and this Yukon has fallen into a very difficult terrain. But for the most part, it's why we're in it."
As more time passes, it seems unlikely the carjackers will come back and solve Beardall’s problem for him.
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
