With four months left in 2024, the number of suicides, fatal auto crashes and killings in Natrona County are “through the roof,” Coroner Jim Whipps reports.
Categorized as “unnatural deaths,” he told county commissioners this week that those types of deaths are already on pace to make this year one of the county’s worst.
The overall number of deaths in the county through August this year are the same as 2023 — 94 — but “unnatural deaths are going through the roof.”
“This has been an abnormal year, kind of a roller coaster ride when it comes to unnatural death,” he said. “Unnatural death in every form is going through the roof. I don’t know why that is, but homicides, suicides, overdoses … they are way above what would be average for us.”
Statistics through the end of August show 20 suicides, with five in August. He said in 2023 at the same point, suicides were at 22, but the last quarter of 2023 “everything kind of dropped off the cliff for the rest of the year.”
“This year is doesn’t look like that is going to happen,” he said. “We are on pace statistically to have another 2020-21 kind of record-setting year.”
Whipps said one of the “shockers” for him is the number of deaths from “chronic alcoholism” in younger people in their 20s and 30s. The county also has had 36 people die in various crashes and workplace incidents. That’s one less than in all of last year.
Along with alcohol contributing to the county’s unnatural death toll are drugs and overdoses, Whipps said. So far with four months still left in 2024, those are “more than we took in last year.”
A number of high-profile killing of Casper youth by other youth have made local and statewide headlines this year.
Whipps said he can’t pinpoint exactly why the county is seeing higher death numbers, but in addition to 20 suicides and 36 accidents, there have been five homicides and one undetermined death so far in 2024.
In 2023, there were 27 suicides, three homicides and 37 accidents.
A surge in unnatural deaths doesn’t seem to be limited to just Natrona County.
Also Up in Campbell County
In Campbell County in the northeast part of Wyoming, Coroner Paul Wallem said he has seen an increase in unnatural deaths in 36% of the cases he’s dealt. That’s up from the 33.3% in 2023 when he had 105 cases total.
So far there have been 31 unnatural deaths of 87 overall cases, even though suicides in his county are significantly lower this year than last. There were 20 suicide cases in 2023, and this year so far there have been five.
“That maybe indicates how many accidental deaths we’ve had,” he said, pointing out that despite so many fewer suicides, “We are up 3%.”
Seven of Campbell County’s accidental deaths involve a July plane crash that killed three members of the Southern Gospel singing group The Nelons.
“At the start of the year we were seeing a noticeable increase in vehicle crashes like I haven’t seen in probably seven to 10 years,” he said. “That has kind of normalized recently.”
Not Everywhere
In Park County, Coroner Cody Gortmaker said he is not seeing anything unusual for his tourist-heavy county.
“Accidental deaths go up this time of the year, he said, adding that suicides are down.
Carbon County Coroner Brittany Nyman said she is seeing less unnatural deaths compared to last year.
“We haven’t had any overdoses this year. It’s a little quieter this year for us,” she said.
Nyman did not immediately have statistics to share.
In Laramie County, a coroner’s office spokesperson did not return a call for comment by publication time. However, the office’s website shows as of July 15, the state’s largest county had 41 unnatural deaths with 12 suicides, 25 accidents and four homicides. The website lists 21 cases as pending.
In 2023, Laramie County reported 20 suicides, 54 accidental deaths and five homicides.
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
