It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Monday, July 20th. I’m Reece Cowan, filling in for Mac Watson
This newscast is brought to you by the Wyoming State Fair. Wrap up your summer at the Wyoming State Fair, August 11th through the 15th in Douglas!
Rodeo, Demolition Derby, live music, entertainment and fair food await. Learn more at W-Y State Fair dot com. See you at the fair! This ad was paid for by Converse County Tourism.
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Triple-murderer Gerald Uden says he put the bodies of his 1980 murder victims in barrels and sunk them in Fremont Lake, Wyoming's deepest. Cowboy State Daily’s Zakary Sonntag reports that Officials were skeptical — until they found a barrel 388-feet deep last week.
“It is pitch black down there. So it is the perfect place to stash something that you don't want people to find. They searched and they searched and they searched and they found nothing. Then years later, a citizen connects with this man and they determine that they may have previously searched in the wrong spot. So this independent search and rescue organization known as OSAR said we're going to go see if we can find this. People spent months looking for anything before, and these guys go out there, and within the first day, within the first handful of hours, they find exactly what people have been looking for. They were stunned, and now comes the extraction phase.”
Stacy Koester, founder and president of WyoFind Search, Rescue and Recovery contacted Uden in prison through letters and asked for his help finding Virginia and the two boys. Uden initially denied having a role in their killing or disappearance. But Koester kept pressing, and eventually he admitted to killing them.
Read the full story HERE
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After an agitated bison flipped a 65-year-old man in Yellowstone last weekend, it charged after another group of campers. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports the first incident was “only the beginning of the bison’s rage," according to a Colorado man who said the bison targeted a 12-year-old.
“As far as the world knew, the bison that tossed Carl McDaniel just ran off after that encounter. But according to an eyewitness that I spoke to, the bison rampage continued at the same campground. There were four people in the E loop of the Bridge Bay campground. Two of those people were from Switzerland, a mother and her 12-year-old son. And at one point, the bison was targeting both of them. It was highly agitated. Thankfully, they managed to find safety in a bathroom that was on site.”
As everyone’s adrenaline started to come down, they were trying to process what had just happened. Joshua Lewis spoke to the two men who successfully distracted the bison, and they were going over every detail in exasperation. They seemed to be experienced backcountry hikers, which added to their dismay in the moment.
Read the full story HERE
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The Wyoming Supreme Court on Friday rejected all the appeals a former award-winning Casper foster dad made to overturn his 128-to-178-year sentence for sexually abusing children. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that multiple former foster and adopted children testified against him at trial.
“Steve Marler was convicted last April for sexually abusing and physically abusing children who had been his foster kids. He was a formerly award-winning foster dad, and he had adopted kids. The testimony ranged fairly graphic, explicit, and severe. Now Marler on appeal had contested many portions of his trial. One of those was that the judge didn't properly hedge and control the offerings of these these ‘other acts’ evidence. The decision the Supreme Court handed on Friday was not to let him have a new trial or a second chance.”
Steven Marler, 51, was not deprived of a fair trial in April 2025, says a unanimous majority opinion by Wyoming Supreme Court Justice Robert Jarosh issued Friday.
Read the full story HERE
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A routine drive over Teton Pass turned into a white-knuckle spectacle Wednesday when an RV appeared to lose its brakes and barreled downhill. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports it was weaving through traffic before somehow reaching the bottom without crashing.
“Last Wednesday, a Jackson videographer named Jeff Bernhard captured a terrifying video of a motorhome that apparently had lost its brakes. So as it careened around the pass, you could see smoke. Bernhard said it was especially concerning because there had just been a fatal wreck about one week earlier on July 7 that resulted in two fatalities with four people injured. Luckily, this did not result in a crash. Bill Sniffen, who's had over 50,000 miles pulling a motorhome, says that often you'll smell something or hear something before you know something is wrong, and it is terrifying.”
For commuters who travel Teton Pass every day, Wednesday's close call serves as another reminder of how quickly a routine drive can become an emergency. Bernhard tells Cowboy State Daily "it demands more respect than what most people give it."
Read the full story HERE
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I’ll have more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.
Cowboy State Daily News continues now….
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Second-quarter campaign finance reports for Wyoming’s GOP primary House race are in. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Steve Friess has amassed the most with $2.5 million, which includes a $2 million self-loan. Reid Rasner is second, loaning himself $1.7 million out of $2 million.
“We had been watching for the July reports. They surfaced this week in that U.S. House race. Steve Freeze a clear leader as far as total fundraisings, loans, earnings. Reed Raisner has spent the most at nearly 2 million, and Rasner, Freese, Chuck Gray, and Teton County Rancher Frank Chapman have all loaned themselves at least a million dollars. These candidate campaign earnings and spendings aren't the whole story. There are also independent PACs that can process significant wealth, that can level significant speech at their candidate or candidates that they don't believe in.”
Steve Friess, Reid Rasner, Secretary of State Chuck Gray and Frank Chapman will face off against six other Republican contenders for the GOP nomination in Wyoming's Aug. 18 primary election in the hopes of winning the state's lone U.S. House race soon being vacated by Rep. Harriet Hageman.
Read the full story HERE
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From burgers and ice cream in Atlantic City to showers in Lander to Thai food in Rawlins, Cowboy State Daily’s Renée Jean reports that hikers on the Continental Divide Trail are giving small Wyoming towns a big economic boost. “It’s put Atlantic City on the map,” said one local business owner.
“The Continental Divide Trail really is giving some of these really tiny towns along the trail a big boost. The hikers they spend about $9,000 on this trip. They're also looking for places like the laundromat in Lander, which is a little bit like a lounge. They sell boba, coffee, beer, cocktails. You can play a game of pool while you're waiting on your laundry. They offer showers, and it's like a little bit of food, finger food. So it's everything a hiker might want in one place. And I don't think she started the business for that, but it's turned out really great for the hikers.”
Gateway communities that have embraced the trail are seeing more benefits than those keeping it at arm’s length. Even relatively modest investments, like Lander allowing free camping in the park, can pay dividends to a community’s businesses.
Read the full story HERE
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A Dubois woman who specializes in cleaning up hoarder houses says every cleanup begins with the same plea from clients not to judge them. April Jo Jones tells Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore that growing up in a similar situation gave her the empathy to help people living in homes buried beneath clutter.
“What started as a routine cleaning business for a Dubois woman has turned into a specialized service offering help to hoarder houses. April Joe Jones says that it's about helping someone safely reclaim their home and their dignity. Joan says that the hardest part isn't actually the cleaning; it's the emotional toll that it takes on the homeowners. Sometimes they'll say they want everything gone, but then when she starts removing things from the home, they begin to panic. In these situations, Jones says that cleaning a house is one thing, but keeping it clean is another.”
For firefighters, the danger extends far beyond having to climb over piles of belongings. Casper Fire-EMS Battalion Chief Bradley Adles tells Cowboy State Daily that firefighters regularly encounter homes where excessive piles of clothing, paper, trash and other belongings complicate emergency calls.
Read the full story HERE
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When no one showed up for a Cody girl's 7th birthday party, her mom went to Facebook to see if anyone would swing by. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that the town of Cody rallied. More than 150 people stopped by the local pizza place to wish Chloe a happy birthday.
“Chloe wanted a nice seventh birthday party, and everybody who RSVP'd canceled at pretty much the last minute. So her mom, in desperation, just put the word out on Facebook saying, 'If anybody in Cody is available to come to her birthday, just so we're not alone, it would be greatly appreciated,' and over 100 people responded. I'm still getting emails from people who heard the story and want to give something to Chloe for her birthday weeks after the fact. So it's just incredible how the community stepped up because nobody wants to see a kid be sad and alone on their birthday.”
Chloe’s mother said “She started making friends really fast. It was a beautiful moment of a small town supporting each other. They are amazing, and we love this town.”
Read the full story HERE
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And that’s today’s news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming's only statewide newspaper by hitting the Daily Newsletter button on Cowboy State Daily Dot Com - and you can watch this newscast every day by clicking Subscribe on our YouTube channel, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app. Thanks for watching - I’m Reece Cowan, in for Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.
