Ramirez Avatar

Michael P. Ramirez

Daily Cartoon

Cartoon 1 1 1 25

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

<title>Daily Cartoon 1: Wednesday, January 1, 2025 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Daily Cartoon 1: Wednesday, January 1, 2025

Jen kocher

Jen Kocher

Crime & Courts

Law Enforcement

Editor's note: This is the first of a two-part series on the infamous "Rawlins Rodeo Murders." Part two will be published Sunday and will focus on the suspects that have cropped up over the last 52 years.

It was the early 1970s and Rawlins was at the dawn of an energy boom. Oil and gas rigs studded the high-desert plains while Union Pacific trains hauled out coal around the clock. 

The population swelled to nearly 11,500 — many of those people transitory workers drawn to southwest Wyoming by high-paying jobs. 

New houses cropped up in the formerly empty fields around the county faster than downtown businesses could absorb the growth. It was a prosperous time. 

Then girls started to vanish before anyone could figure out what was going on. 

[{"type":"text","text":"The first two disappeared on Fourth of July weekend in 1974. "}]

They were 19-year-olds Carlene Brown and Christine “Christy” Gross, who had been visiting Rawlins from South Dakota. 

The pair had gone to the Little Britches Rodeo at the Carbon County fairgrounds, and just vanished.  

[{"type":"text","text":"Neither was seen again. "}]

Nine years later, Gross’ remains were discovered in a field 3 miles outside the neighboring town of Sinclair. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Brown has never been found. "}]

The third was 15-year-old Deborah Meyer, who disappeared on her way to the movie theater downtown. Meyer had been visiting her aunt from Red Lodge, Montana. She was last seen leaving her aunt’s house near Seventh and Spruce streets downtown.  

She told her family she was off to see a movie, but never made it to the theater. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Meyer also remains missing to this day.   "}]

Then the disappearance and death of 10-year-old Jaylene Banker at the Carbon County Fair in late August brought the community to a breaking point — the last in a string of losses that summer that the city has never fully recovered from.  

The culprit behind the disappearances and murders has never been identified, despite decades of investigation by law enforcement in what is now colloquially known as the “Rawlins Rodeo Murders.” 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Terrible Summer "}]

Ken Klouda, now 78, remembers this summer well. He was 25, fresh out of the Air Force and working in the mechanical department for Union Pacific Railroad.

[{"type":"text","text":"“The town was booming,” he said.  "}]

Klouda, who has lived in Rawlins for most of his life and is now president of the Carbon County Museum board, remembers the whirl of activity in the gas and oil field on top of coal mines with upward of five mines in the Hanna Coal Basin alone. 

The sudden 3,000-plus swell in population led to a bustling downtown that turned the once sleepy town into a thriving city. One friend fresh to town that summer told Klouda it reminded him of Las Vegas with all the blinking neon bar signs and active downtown. 

Up until that summer, they were used to bar fights and petty crimes, but not the disappearance of two 19-year-old girls. 

Klouda knew the Brown family and remembers people searching their yards and outbuildings when the teens vanished. People began paying careful attention to their surroundings, he said. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Everybody was talking about the missing girls. "}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Would Have Been Right Beside Her’ "}]

Details are vague about their disappearance. It’s not clear who last saw or spoke to them. 

Their van was found parked at the fairgrounds, former Carbon County Deputy Sheriff Jeff Faycosh said in a November 1983 Casper-Star Tribune article. 

Other unofficial accounts say the vehicle was found abandoned more than 200 miles north in Worland. 

Initially, police believed the teens may have run away despite their parents' belief that something was terribly wrong.   

Some thought Brown may have gone to her mother’s house in Colorado Springs. Her parents were divorced, with her father staying in Rawlins. Brown would float back and forth between the two houses. 

After a week with no trace of her, however, the grim truth set in that she and Gross were really missing. 

Mary Kay Albrechtson, now 71, was Brown’s close childhood friend who had planned to go with her that night to the rodeo and carnival.  

“I was sick and so I didn’t go,” she said. “Otherwise, I would have been right beside her.” 

It’s a guilt — and deep pain — she still carries more than five decades later. 

“It brings great sadness to me,” Albrechtson said, as she continues to search for her friend.  

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Who Is Christy Gross’? "}]

Oddly, Albrechtson said nobody knew Gross. That was the first question she and Brown’s friends asked after they vanished: “Who is Christy Gross?” 

Amateur sleuth websites offer little more, noting only that Gross was from Bowdle, South Dakota, was visiting friends or family in Rawlins at the time, and had been an active participant in high school life — band, choir, track, cheerleading. 

It’s not clear how Brown and Gross knew one another or who might have been driving that night. Albrechtson couldn’t recall if Brown had a vehicle and instead remembers her riding a motorcycle.  

The disappearances remained a mystery for nine years until October 1983, when Gross’ body was found in a field 3 miles south of Sinclair off Interstate 80.  

[{"type":"text","text":"She’d been killed by at least two blunt blows to the head.  "}]

The official cause of death was trauma to the head with the manner of death “pending investigation,” according to a docket report from Brittany Nyman, Carbon County coroner.  

Gross was identified through partial dental records and an “unusual ring” made by her uncle, stated news reports at the time.  

After Gross was found, Sheriff Faycosh was quoted by news media as saying that they “do have new leads and at least one suspect.” 

He further said that the suspect had been located but that a warrant would not be issued until more information had been gathered. He estimated it would take a month.

It’s not clear if that arrest ever came or whether that suspect was eventually cleared.  

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Not Afraid To Take Risks "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Brown, too, is suspected to be deceased though not yet located.  "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Albrechtson still misses her friend. "}]

After she vanished, Albrechtson had a reoccurring dream in which Brown turns up at her front door looking for her shoes.   

She described Brown as having a wild spirit who liked adventure. Brown’s “shenanigans” sometimes led the friends to getting in trouble, she said.

“We were opposites in that aspect but maybe that’s also why I liked her,” she said. “She had the nerve to venture out.” 

[{"type":"text","text":"She also wasn’t afraid to take a risk, Albrechtson said.  "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"“Unfortunately, that is also what took her life,” she said.  "}]

She believes that Brown willingly got into a car with a stranger the night she disappeared. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Lasting Pain "}]

The next to disappear was 15-year-old Meyer, who vanished one month later on Aug. 4, 1974.  

Meyer had been visiting her aunt in Rawlins from Red Lodge, Montana. She set out on foot to go to the downtown movie theater but never made it. 

[{"type":"text","text":"She has yet to be found. "}]

Her disappearance sent shockwaves back home. Even today, her oldest friends find it too painful to drudge up the memories and declined to be interviewed. 

Others who knew Meyer posted their thoughts about her life and disappearance on a January 2025 post on a Red Lodge Facebook page. 

Her mother, Diane, had been a beloved teacher and her dad, Ron, a crop duster pilot. Both have since died.  

They were Finnish, one friend posted, sharing her fond memories of using their sauna with Meyer and friends. 

Others expressed their shock upon learning she’d vanished and how terrifying and heartbreaking it was for all of them. 

“She is missed by all of us and we have never stopped hoping her remains could be found and put to rest,” wrote Jean Anderson Loyning. 

[{"type":"text","text":"It’s not clear why Meyer was in Rawlins at that time. "}]

One person posted that Meyer had been sent to her aunt’s while her mother was in the hospital for surgery. Another said that Meyer planned to spend the summer at her aunt’s to work at a restaurant her aunt either owned or worked at. 

Rare for a girl her age, Meyer had upper and lower dentures, several noted, which will make it easier for her to be identified should her body be found.  

Nobody back then, or today, thinks that Meyer willingly left on her own accord and suspect foul play.  

Janet Franson, then a cold case investigator for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), interviewed Diane before her death. Diane was adamant that her daughter would not have run away and had no reason to do so.  

Before their own deaths, Meyer’s parents had her legally declared dead with the date of her disappearance listed as the date of death. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Fourth Missing Girl "}]

Jaylene Banker, 10, vanished on Aug. 23, 1974, from the Carbon County Fair after becoming separated from friends at the rodeo grounds. The fairgrounds were less than five blocks away from the Banker home in Rawlins.  

The community instantly rallied around the family, pooling together nearly $14,000 — the equivalent of roughly $95,000 today — as a reward for information leading to her safe return. No one came forward. 

Former Carbon County Sheriff C.W. “Chuck” Ogburn organized multiple searches and volunteers went door to door in search of the girl.  

Desperate for answers, law enforcement even took tips from psychics all over the country. 

One extrasensory perception specialist was brought from Omaha to join in on a search, according to local media reports from the period. 

Another tip from an Arkansas psychic who offered a description of the perpetrator and a possible location prompted a search for a shallow grave south of Rawlins that also proved futile. 

Meanwhile, Banker’s family held out hope that their “shy” girl would be found. 

“It’s just as if she sprouted wings and flew away,” her mother told the Casper Star-Tribune in September 1974.  

Mrs. William Swanson, a neighbor of the Banker family, said that several people had called in reporting “visions” of the 10-year-old alive and heading east in a black pickup. 

Rawlins, home of the Wyoming State Penitentiary, is no stranger to violent crime, Swanson told the newspaper. But Banker’s disappearance, she said, had “clicked an emotional switch” in the community. 

Swanson said the disappearance had drawn the town together, with residents turning out in force to help search. Among them was a group of young girls who went door to door collecting money, carrying a sign that read: “We Want Jaylene Back. Can You Help Us?” 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Another Lead Gone "}]

In September, a promising lead emerged when police detained two Salt Lake City men on public intoxication charges. Both carried lengthy criminal records, one of which included child molestation, United Press International reported.  

A local detective determined the men had passed through Rawlins around the time of Banker’s disappearance, based on their travel route between Casper and Salt Lake City. 

 The FBI examined their vehicle and their fingerprints were submitted to the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office. The lead went nowhere. 

The following month, Ogburn announced renewed efforts to “start from scratch,” the Casper Star-Tribune reported. This included giving polygraph test to five unidentified people, two adults and three teens.  

By December and with no new leads, Banker’s mother, Alline, told the media that she hoped her daughter was still alive. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Soft Spot For Kids "}]

Klouda remembers the fear and frenzy of those days, and a the community reeling from the loss and brutality while authorities scrambled to find whoever was responsible and bring them to justice. 

He said then-Rawlins Police Chief Phil McGee and Sheriff Ogburn were working on overdrive, especially Ogburn, who had a “soft spot” for young people despite his otherwise stern demeanor.  

“Chuck scared a lot of us straight, but he worried about kids,” Klouda said. “I know his department was really looking for these kids and trying to find out what happened.” 

All hope dissipated when eight months later in April 1975 a city engineer running with his dog found Banker’s badly decomposed body in a field near local gravel pits about 2 miles outside town and approximately 5 miles from the fairgrounds in an area that had previously been searched. 

Banker was found lying face down in a rocky area after being hit in the head. Her official cause of death is a fractured skull with the manner of death a homicide, according to the coroner’s docket report. 

She was found with two red tennis shoes, two blue stockings and a pair of blue cotton slacks, the report states. 

Rawlins rodeo murders main 2 6 6 26

<title>More Than 50 Years Later, ‘Rawlins Rodeo Murders’ Of Young Girls Remain Unsolved | Cowboy State Daily</title>

More than 50 years after four young girls vanished in what has become known as the “Rawlins Rodeo Murders," the case remains unsolved. "We lost our innocence. That summer we lost that. We were never again the same,” said one longtime resident.

More Than 50 Years Later, ‘Rawlins Rodeo Murders’ Of Young Girls Remain Unsolved

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

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

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

Greg Johnson

Government & Politics

Politics

CHEYENNE — Data centers and Wyoming’s role in hosting them are greater than a local issue for communities debating whether they want that development or not; they represent a national security issue the state’s next governor needs to address.

That’s one of the main takeaways from a crowded Republican gubernatorial candidate forum Friday afternoon.

“We are in an AI arms race with China, and President Trump has been very bullish on data center development,” said Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder. “We have some resources here in the state of Wyoming to keep them going.”

She said she shares the concerns people in Cheyenne, Evanston, Casper and Laramie have already expressed about water usage and how data centers could impact power rates.

Data centers are important to national security and for Wyoming, said the top GOP candidates for governor during a Friday forum. “We are in an AI arms race with China,” Megan Degenfelder said, with all agreeing it will be a priority for the next governor.

Daily Cartoon 1: Wednesday, January 1, 2025

Michael P. Ramirez

Cartoonist

More in Daily Cartoon

Daily Cartoon 1: Saturday, June 6, 2026

Daily Cartoon 2: Saturday, June 6, 2026

Daily Cartoon 2: Friday, June 5, 2026

Daily Cartoon 1: Friday, June 5, 2026

Most read

Daily Cartoon 1: Wednesday, January 1, 2025

Authors

Michael P. Ramirez

Cartoonist

More in Daily Cartoon

Daily Cartoon 1: Saturday, June 6, 2026

Daily Cartoon 2: Saturday, June 6, 2026

Daily Cartoon 2: Friday, June 5, 2026

Daily Cartoon 1: Friday, June 5, 2026

Most read