It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Wednesday, September 23rd. I’m Mac Watson.
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A Colorado man whose phone contained searches for “cliffs near me” before his pickup plunged off a Wyoming mountain road with his wife inside is now wanted in Wyoming for first-degree murder. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports that investigators say their truck went over the cliff at 57 mph.
“Investigators say his truck reached speeds of nearly 57 miles-per-hour before plunging off a cliff outside of Saratoga, and investigators say there were no signs of braking or trying to stop before the pickup went over the edge. His wife, 44-year-old Virginia Wood, initially survived the crash, but a coroner decided that she ultimately died of homicide based on her injuries. Investigators found the couple two days later. Virginia Wood was deceased at that point, and Jay Wood was still alive. They noticed that he was wearing different clothes from the clothes that he was seen wearing the day of the crash, per surveillance per surveillance video from a nearby gas station.”
Fort Collins police arrested 46-year-old Forrest J. Wood on Tuesday morning on a Carbon County warrant. He is now expected to be extradited to Wyoming, where he is facing first-degree murder charges, along with failure to render aid.
Read the full story HERE.
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The remains of a 43-year-old Gillette man named Derek Schaff, who has been missing more than three months, were found Saturday by a K-9 named Taz during an extensive search of the Weston Hills Recreation Area. Cowboy State Daily’s Jen Kocher reports that the K-9’s handler says, “I wouldn’t have seen the guy without” his dog.
“Remains were found by K-9 Taz and John Lebrec of Jackson Hole. His remains were found kind of wedged between rocks in a deep ravine about 14 feet deep. He was very difficult to see from above. Taz got alerted on the smell was an upwind, so Taz was able to detect the odor of human remains and just beelined down into the ravine. John followed, and when John went down, he saw, of course, that it was in fact human remains. Currently the cause and manner of death are unknown. No obvious foul play was detected, but of course, the coroner will have to determine cause and manner of death following the autopsy that happened on Monday.”
This was the biggest search for Schaff, including more than 20 volunteers, some from out of state, and nine dog teams.
Read the full story HERE.
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A Cody bowhunter said he did nothing wrong by leaving an elk that was partly devoured by a grizzly. Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that although Ron Niziolek was charged by Game and Fish, he said skinning and quartering an elk with likely-tainted meat wasn't worth the risk of a grizzly confrontation.
“He said, ‘you know what? I'm going to fight these charges.’ Took it to trial, and in August prevailed. He was found not guilty, but he said kind of his experience of going through all this. He really hopes that there's some more clarity because you know Game and Fish is at least informally telling people don't try to fight a grizzly if a grizzly does claim an elk car because even if they're not there right there at the moment, if you see evidence of a bear round, just get out of there. Don't risk a confrontation, and that's what he did. The game warden did talk in court, and so you know, records or his quotes from court said that his argument was that hey, even if the meat had been possibly tainted, they were still under the obligation to get it out of there, and then they could have looked at it, or inspected it, or had it inspected later and decided it's okay, or no, it's tainted. We need to just toss it. But they were still under the obligation to get that meat out of there.”
Wyoming statute states that big-game hunters are legally obligated to take all edible portions of the animals they kill. But in the end, the jury ultimately rejected the prosecution's arguments.
Read the full story HERE.
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Nearly two months after he fled to California while skipping his arraignment on dozens of child sex abuse and exploitation charges, John C. Smallbone was finally in a Converse County courtroom Tuesday. Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson was in the courtroom as Smallbone pleaded not guilty to 80 child sex abuse charges.
“I'm here in front of the Converse County Justice Center where John Smallbone finally had his arraignment hearing on 80 charges, 79 of them relating to child sex abuse charges and accusations of child pornography possession and voyeurism. He looked pretty matter of fact. Didn't show much emotion during the hearing. He's wearing the the standard issue orange scrubs. he was shackled at the ankles and at the wrists, his wrists were shackled in front of him, and it took it took 20 full minutes for the judge to read out all of the charges against him, and that's even when he lumped some of them together.”
The Colorado woman who put up the money for Smallbone’s $250,000 bond was also in court Tuesday, testifying that she was a longtime friend of his wife and that she and her husband dipped into their retirement to help the Smallbones out. In the end, the judge noted the merit behind the state’s argument to forfeit the whole amount, but ultimately ordered $20,000 of the bond forfeit while $230,000 will be returned to the Colorado couple.
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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A truck driver killed when his car plunged 50 feet into Wyoming’s Snake River Canyon on Friday leaves a wife and two small daughters. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports that Robert Saad’s wife, Neshako, describes the 6’ 6”, 400-pound truck driver as a “big teddy bear.”
“The 39-year-old Idaho Falls truck driver left Friday morning for a job in Jackson when his SUV struck a guardrail, sending him off a cliff 50 feet into the Snake River Canyon, killing him. Saad's vehicle went unnoticed for hours before first responders were able to get to him, and noticed his vehicle submerged in about 18 inches of water. His wife said that after he passed, his employer retired the big dump truck with purple lights, known affectionately as the ‘Smoke Show.’”
The 39-year-old Idaho Falls truck driver was on his way to a dump-truck job in Jackson, Wyoming, when his Hyundai Santa Fe went off U.S. Highway 89 and plunged about 50 feet into the Snake River Canyon.
Read the full story HERE.
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Wyoming's Office of Consumer Advocate on Tuesday said it will fight Rocky Mountain Power's proposed 8.8% rate hike — its third in three years. Cowboy State Daily’s Emma Jane Jackson reports they say they will recommend a significant reduction or an elimination of the proposed increase altogether.
“The Wyoming Office of Consumer Advocate has said that it's going to challenge Rocky Mountain Power's latest rate hike of 8.8% that it's proposing to kick in in 2027. Some customers across the state are less than thrilled about the proposed rate hike. Jesse Caines of Riverton said that he used to pay about $100, and it's just been steadily rising to now $300 in the winter, and he's had to pick up a second job just to make up for the rising cost of electricity.”
Rocky Mountain Power, the regulated monopoly utility serving roughly 150,000 customers across Wyoming, announced in May it is seeking a rate increase beginning in 2027.
Read the full story HERE.
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Large-animal veterinarians pleaded for their livelihoods Tuesday when discussing a bill that would have let non-vets pregnancy-check livestock. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that one rancher cried during the hours-long debate.
“It is important to note that ranchers can already preg check their own cattle. This bill would have opened it up so that non-veterinarians could basically sell that service, and the veterinarians were saying, "Whoa, the preg checks are our bread and butter, and they're the reason that we can live in these tiny little towns and do midnight cesareans and other vital services that you actually need a vet for. On the other hand, some of the ranchers were saying, ‘Yeah, but we can't book a vet.’ There was one rancher who testified in favor of the veterinarian's position, so against the bill, and she broke into tears saying that veterinarians are underappreciated.”
In the end, the bill died by an 8 to 5 vote.
Read the full story HERE.
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Pinedale’s Tip Top Search and Rescue rescued an injured horseback rider out of a tight crevice recently using sophisticated short-haul helicopter rescue training. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that the man became wedged after his horse bucked him near Mount Darby in Sublette County.
“The individual fell into a crevice that was eight feet deep, and there were logs on either side. It was a difficult spot. So, what was determined by Tip Top Search and Rescue was they staged in a field. They tethered one of their own onto the bot of a helicopter. The helicopter flew him in while he was hanging off the line, lowered him to the individual so he could get him into a screamer bag, and then they hitched themselves back onto the line. The helicopter flew them back to the staging area where a medevac was waiting.”
Tip Top Search and Rescue got a call the morning of Sept. 15 that a man had been bucked off a horse while riding near Mount Darby in Sublette County. The unidentified victim ended up at the bottom of an 8-foot-deep crevice. He reportedly hit his head, had difficulty breathing, and couldn’t move his lower legs.
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 Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.
