New details released Tuesday reveal a Casper couple was killed Sunday when their side-by-side rolled down a rugged Muddy Mountain hillside, and their daughter was injured scrambling down the hill trying to reach them.
Sara Anne Turman, 49, and James Earl Turman, 50, both of Casper, died in the rollover, the Natrona County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Tuesday.
Their 27-year-old daughter, Cheyenne Turman, was one of four people riding in the side-by-side and one of two passengers who got out before the rollover, the Sheriff’s Office said. Cheyenne later described what happened when she realized her parents were in trouble.
“I fell really bad running to them hitting my head and tailbone,” she wrote in a public Facebook post.
Cheyenne said she was airlifted from the mountain and medically cleared.
“Please please keep my family in your thoughts and prayers,” she wrote. “We are not okay right now. But we will be.”
Trying To Turn Around
Dispatch received the first report of the crash at about 3:45 p.m. Sunday, the Sheriff’s Office said. The side-by-side was about 5 miles east of the intersection of South Circle Drive and Muddy Mountain Road, in rugged country on the front side of Muddy Mountain.
Four people were aboard when the side-by-side was traveling uphill, and two passengers got out, investigators preliminarily determined. Sara and James remained aboard and attempted to turn the machine around when it rolled down the hillside.
The Sheriff’s Office’s Tuesday statement says both were pronounced dead at the scene.
Cheyenne fell while making her way down the hill toward the side-by-side and her parents.
She wrote that her mother died at the scene and her father died “shortly after.”
‘She Is Not Breathing. No Pulse.’
The remote location and rugged terrain required what the Sheriff’s Office described as “a significant emergency response and specialized equipment.”
The Natrona County Sheriff’s Office, Natrona County Fire Protection District, Casper Fire-EMS, Banner-WMC EMS, Wyoming Life Flight, Med Evac 4 and the Wyoming Army National Guard Aviation Unit all responded.
Radio traffic captured during the response offered an early glimpse of how serious the crash was.
“We have one female on top of the side by side,” a responder relayed. “She is not breathing. No pulse.”
Earlier radio traffic indicated a Life Flight helicopter had accepted the call as emergency crews made their way toward the scene. Responders also discussed concerns about moving the woman because of the position and stability of the side-by-side.
At 6 p.m., while the response was still underway, the Sheriff’s Office announced that deputies and Fire-EMS personnel were handling an ATV accident involving “multiple individuals with serious injuries in a remote area between Casper Mountain and Muddy Mountain on the east end.”
“This remains an active emergency response,” the agency said at the time.
It would be Tuesday before authorities publicly identified the Turmans and explained how the rollover happened.
‘Never Heard So Many Sirens’
A man camping at Beartrap on Casper Mountain posted about the emergency as sirens streamed into the mountains Sunday.
“There is a horrible side-by-side accident on Crimson Dawn,” he wrote on Facebook. “We are camping at Bear Trap and have never heard so many sirens!”
By Monday morning, the sirens were gone and the mountain was quiet again.
Cowboy State Daily drove the roads between Casper and Muddy mountains, documenting the isolated country where rescuers had been working hours earlier.
Beyond the more developed areas, pavement gives way to gravel and dirt roads cutting through sagebrush-covered hills, timber and draws. Smaller two-tracks climb hillsides and disappear into the backcountry.
Buddy Comes Home
Another member of the Turman family disappeared in the chaos.
Buddy, a white miniature schnauzer, was riding in the side-by-side when it rolled, family members said. A notice circulated through a Casper pets lost-and-found Facebook group Sunday asking people to watch for him.
“Missing dog goes by ‘Buddy,’” the post said. “Was involved in the side-by-side accident this evening by muddy mountain area.”
The family warned that Buddy, although friendly, might be skittish after surviving the rollover.
Friends spent hours searching the mountain for him before family members returned to the hillside themselves.
“Basically friends going up and looking for hours,” a family member told Cowboy State Daily. “Then we as family headed back, climbed the hill and he came out from hiding between 2 rocks.”
Buddy was reunited with his family Monday.
Kolby Fedore can be reached at kolby@cowboystatedaily.com.
