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Jen Kocher - Headshot CSD

Jen Kocher

Public Safety

The Jane Doe found dead on Interstate 25 near Cheyenne in April has been identified as Brittany Smith, a 37-year-old Wyoming woman.

Smith was struck by a northbound Kia Sportage on the on-ramp from Missile Drive on April 20, according to Aaron Brown, senior public relations specialist with the Wyoming Highway Patrol. Her home town was unavailable at publication time.

Smith had been a pedestrian standing in the roadway, Brown said in an email. She succumbed to her injuries at the scene despite life-saving efforts by troopers.  

No charges or citations are pending, Brown said.

two unidentified people who two amateur genealogists in Cheyenne

 were attempting to track down by their distinctive tattoos.

Megan McWilliams and Ashley Kroner, Cheyenne sisters who run Genetics Uncovered, identified Smith and a second man— found deceased in Cheyenne in early June — through the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) database, the country’s only national clearinghouse for missing and unidentified persons.

Neither file contained much information, but both Does had distinct tattoos. The sisters posted them on their Facebook page, hoping someone would recognize them. 

Kroner said Smith’s mother saw the poster on their page and the appropriate contact information. Her mother commented on the post and then messaged the sisters, thanking them for their help.

This is just part of their efforts to help give the unidentified back their name.

"Too many souls are known only as 'Does' in this world, and we’re deeply grateful that she is no longer one of them — that she has found her way home,” Kroner said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Still Trying To ID John Doe"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The John Doe soon will be next."}]

Family members who saw the John Doe’s tattoos contacted McWilliams and Kroner, and that case is now moving toward identification as well.

Laramie County Coroner Rebecca Reid, who is overseeing both investigations, told Cowboy State Daily that her office has 180 days to complete them.

The unidentified male was found unresponsive in the 800 block of South Greeley Highway in Cheyenne on June 6.

He wasn slumped in a kneeling position alongside a commercial building with no cellphone or any other identification, according to Chance Walkama with the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office. He said the office was waiting for the coroner’s report with cause and manner of death from Reid’s office.

Walkama said in an earlier interview that foul play is not currently suspected.

Laramie County Sheriff spokesperson Brandon Warner did not respond to a request for an update on the John Doe investigation.

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

<title>Jane Doe Found Dead On I-25 On-Ramp In April ID'd As Wyoming Woman | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The Jane Doe found dead on Interstate 25 near Cheyenne in April has been identified as Brittany Smith, a 37-year-old Wyoming woman. Smith was struck by a northbound Kia Sportage on the on-ramp from Missile Drive on April 20.

Jane Doe Found Dead On I-25 On-Ramp In April ID'd As Wyoming Woman

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

The Wyoming Department of Health has confirmed three cases in 2026 of cyclosporiasis, or “explosive diarrhea”, according to Surveillance Epidemiologist Matt Peterson.

The illness is caused by the microscopic parasite 

, which commonly triggers profuse watery diarrhea, severe cramping, bloating, nausea, fatigue, loss of appetite, and weight loss.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

 says symptoms typically begin two days to two weeks after a person consumes contaminated food or water, making it difficult for many patients to remember exactly what they ate before becoming sick.

Two Wyoming patients likely contracted the parasite while traveling to countries where Cyclospora is endemic, Peterson told Cowboy State Daily.

[{"type":"text","text":"The third patient, however, had no history of international travel."}]

The department did not identify the locations of the affected individuals.

The CDC is investigating a growing number of Cyclospora infections across the United States while working with state health departments and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to identify the contaminated food responsible.

"At this time, we do not know if that case is related to any existing cluster or outbreak, but we are continuing to investigate the possibility," Peterson said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Weeks In The Bathroom"}]

Peterson said anyone experiencing prolonged watery diarrhea, especially if symptoms disappear and later return, should contact a physician and ask about testing.

Without treatment, cyclosporiasis can linger for weeks or even months, sometimes improving just enough to make people think they're recovering before roaring back with another round of illness.

Unlike viruses such as norovirus, Cyclospora generally does not spread directly from one sick person to another.

The CDC notes the parasite isn't infectious when it leaves a person's body. Instead, it must spend days to weeks maturing in the environment before it can infect someone else, making person-to-person transmission extremely uncommon.

Diagnosing the illness can also be challenging. Routine stool tests don't always detect Cyclospora, and physicians often must order specialized testing if they suspect the parasite.

[{"type":"text","text":"Nearly all U.S. infections are linked to contaminated food or water."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"What's Causing It?"}]

Health officials still don't know exactly what's fueling this summer's outbreak.

Investigators with the CDC, FDA and state health departments are interviewing patients about everything they ate in the weeks before becoming ill, searching for common ingredients that could reveal the source. Because symptoms might not appear for up to two weeks, tracing the outbreak has proven especially difficult.

Past U.S. outbreaks have been linked to fresh produce, including cilantro, basil, raspberries, lettuce, mesclun greens and snow peas.

 washing produce helps remove dirt and many germs but might not completely remove Cyclospora. The parasite can cling tightly to fresh fruits and vegetables, making cooking the most effective way to eliminate it.

That makes Wyoming vulnerable even though the parasite isn't naturally found here.

"Because Cyclospora is not endemic here, imported fresh produce is always the most likely vehicle," Peterson said.

He said cooking food to an internal temperature of 158 degrees Fahrenheit will kill or inactivate the parasite. Choosing locally grown produce when available might also reduce the risk.

Peterson said Wyoming residents aren't insulated simply because they live far from major farming regions. Grocery stores across the state receive produce through the same national distribution networks that supply much of the country.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Significant Growth"}]

The Wyoming cases come as public health officials investigate what has become one of the country's most significant Cyclospora outbreaks in years.

While the CDC's most recent nationwide surveillance report documented 145 domestically acquired cases across 17 states through mid-June, the outbreak has grown rapidly. Michigan has reported nearly 1,000 illnesses, prompting state officials to describe it as the largest Cyclospora outbreak in the state's history. Ohio has also confirmed hundreds of cases as investigators continue searching for a common source.

Although the CDC has not yet linked every state to a single contaminated product, the scale of illnesses has made this one of the largest Cyclospora outbreaks the United States has experienced in recent years.

While the Wyoming Department of Health is still investigating whether the state's lone non-travel-related case is connected to the broader outbreak, Peterson emphasized that residents shouldn't panic.

Wyoming health-care providers are equipped to diagnose and report cyclosporiasis, and the department will continue working with the CDC to determine whether Wyoming's cases become linked to the national investigation.

If a contaminated food product tied to Wyoming is identified, public health officials say they will notify residents and coordinate guidance with the Wyoming Department of Agriculture.

Until then, health officials recommend washing fresh produce, cooking foods when appropriate, choosing locally grown produce when available and contacting a health-care provider if diarrhea lasts for days, returns after improving or is accompanied by significant weight loss.

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<title>'Explosive Diarrhea' Parasite Reaches Wyoming As Health Officials Seek Source | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Wyoming has confirmed three cases of a parasite known for causing explosive weekslong diarrhea, cramping, bloating, nausea, fatigue, weight loss, and more. The likely source is imported fresh produce, Wyoming epidemiologist Matt Peterson says.

'Explosive Diarrhea' Parasite Reaches Wyoming As Health Officials Seek Source

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Wildlife

Two experienced Wyoming outdoorswomen said a large black bear aggressively entered their camp in the Bighorn Mountains late Sunday and refused to leave, despite shouting, shining lights, firing a shot at its paws and four large dogs barking.

A second gunshot finally drove the bear away. The women, Shonna Kaye Dehl of Lovell and Maggie Bassett of Powell, retreated to their vehicles for about an hour.

Then they came out, grabbed their sleeping bags and headed to a cabin owned by Dehl’s family.

When they returned in the morning they discovered “the bear had come back and the night and had just completely ripped everything apart,” Bassett told Cowboy State Daily.

‘I Felt The Bear Hit The Side Of The Tent’

Dehl and Bassett are experienced campers, hikers and hunters. For several years, they’ve taken summer camping trips together in the Bighorns.

This year, they were camped on Fool Creek off Dayton Gulch Road with their dogs. Bassett has two German shepherds, and Dehl has a Labrador retriever and a German shepherd.

Bassett said they had just gone to bed in their tents when the bear came into camp at about 11 p.m.

“I felt the bear hit the side of the tent,” she said. “My dogs growled and I yelled, ‘Hey! Get out of here, bear!’ ” she said.

“It just hit the tent harder and I heard the tent starting to rip.” 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Total Chaos In Camp"}]

Bassett said she grabbed her flashlight and pistol and started to exit her tent.

She said her pistol is a .38 Special revolver “that is basically just a small, self-defense firearm” made to stop a human attacker, not a bear – but it would have to do.

“I fired a shot at the bear’s feet because I hoped that would scare it off, but it didn’t,” Bassett said.

By that time, Dehl was coming out of her tent with her flashlight and pistol. Her firearm, a 10mm semi-automatic loaded with hardcast ammunition, is much better suited for dealing with bears.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"The campsite erupted into chaos."}]

“We were both screaming and yelling at it, being as loud as we could be,” Dehl said.

At first, the dogs were fiercely barking at the bear.

“That bear couldn’t give a crap about our dogs,” Bassett said. “They quickly understood that they were outmatched. They just went back over by the vehicle and waited quietly.”

Dehl and Bassett have both seen plenty of bears in the wild. And by their estimation, the bear was mature, large and most likely a boar, or male.

They added that because the bear was so aggressive, some people have asked if it was a grizzly.

There have been rumors of grizzlies in the Bighorns for years. But only one has been confirmed.

In April 2024, wildlife agents killed a grizzly bear that was attacking cattle 

Bassett is a wildlife artist and said she’s confident the bear was a black bear.

Dehl agreed that she got a good look at the bear in the light from the flashlights, and it was a black bear.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Shaking From Adrenaline"}]

Dehl said that despite having the more powerful firearm, she hesitated to shoot because she couldn’t get a clear shot.  

Bassett said she didn’t want to hurt or kill the bear. But because it just wouldn't leave, she fired a second shot “at it,” and the bear finally retreated.

She added that after her experience, she wants to get a 10mm pistol “like Shonna’s.”

The women likewise retreated to their vehicles and waited inside with their dogs.

“That’s one of those instances when you’re trying to recover from what just happened, and shaking with adrenaline,” Bassett said.

Dehl said she looked at the clock in her vehicle and it said 11:20 p.m. That means it had taken about 20 minutes to drive the bear out of their camp.

They waited for what felt like just a few minutes but was probably closer to an hour, she said.

“By the time we grabbed our sleeping bags, made it over to the cabin and got settled in, it must have been about 2 a.m. (Monday),” Dehl said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Bear Never Got Food"}]

They returned the next day and found their camp completely torn apart.

They searched for blood or other evidence they'd shot the bear but found none, Bassett said.

Dehl said that after posting about her experience on social media “to get the word out and warn people,” she and Bassett have gotten flack about what they should have done, or what they did wrong.

They said that amounts to armchair quarterbacking by people who weren’t there.

Dehl said they followed all the same bear-safety protocols they would have followed in grizzly country, including keeping a clean camp and their food securely stored.

“The bear never got any food out of this,” even when it came back and trashed the camp, Bassett said.

One lesson the incident taught her was not to rely on dogs for protection from bears.

“I think they would still protect me if a strange human tried entering my camp,” she said.

She and Dehl noted that while their dogs didn’t confront the bear, they at least didn’t make the situation worse by trying to cower between their owners’ legs, as dogs sometimes do during bear attacks.

The dogs’ behavior matches extensive research into bear incidents involving dogs by bear biologist Tom Smith of Brigham Young University in Utah.

Smith previously told Cowboy State Daily that dogs will 

 during bear incidents rather than trying to fight the bears.  

The exceptions are specially bred and trained dogs, such as 

Dehl said that after their ordeal, she and Bassett are “rethinking” their approach to camping, and might stick to cabins and hard-sided campers.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Game And Fish Search"}]

Dehl and Bassett said they reported the incident to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

In a statement emailed to Cowboy State Daily, Game and Fish confirmed that an incident had been reported Monday afternoon.  

“Within an hour of receiving the report, three Game and Fish personnel were responding to the scene to investigate and begin setting traps. Four traps were set in the area. Signs were placed advising the public of active trapping taking place,” according to Game and Fish.

Game and Fish agents spoke to other campers in the area who didn’t report any bear conflicts.  

“The personnel remained nearby overnight to monitor the traps. The traps were left in place until the morning of July 8. No bear was captured and no further incidents have been reported as of this afternoon,” according to Game and Fish.  

Warning signs are also posted in the area, advising campers to secure food.

“Unfortunately, the warning signs indicating that bear trapping was taking place in the area were removed by unknown members of the public,” Sheridan game warden Jesse Niemeir said in the statement.

 “This could have created a safety issue for other members of the public who did not receive notice of bear trapping taking place. Additionally, it’s possible that by spending time in the vicinity of our traps, these individuals may have interfered with our ability to successfully capture this bear.”

“We need the public’s cooperation in situations like this,” he added. “This includes reporting any conflicts as quickly as possible to Game and Fish, Forest Service personnel or a local law enforcement agency.”  

Mix Collage 08 Jul 2026 04 14 PM 647

<title>Aggressive Black Bear Drives Women From Bighorns Camp Before Shredding Tents | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Two experienced Wyoming outdoorswomen said a large black bear aggressively entered their camp in the Bighorns late Sunday and turned it into "total chaos." When they returned the next day after escaping to a cabin, their camp was completely torn apart.

Aggressive Black Bear Drives Women From Bighorns Camp Before Shredding Tents

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's business and tourism reporter, Renée Jean

Renée Jean

Energy

Project Jade, Wyoming’s largest data center, is now Project Tembo, and the company behind the 2.7-gigawatt facility is a mystery no longer.

The data center will be owned and operated by none other than Google, giving Cheyenne yet another of the world’s largest tech companies in what is fast becoming an emerging tech frontier. 

Cheyenne has hosted Microsoft data centers for the past decade or so and that company has announced plans for a major expansion on a 3,500-acre tract of land 

 it was joining the Wyoming fold with an $800 million, 715,000-square-foot data center campus on a 960-acre parcel in the High Plains Business Park. That project, recently making headlines because of 

 that showed up in Cheyenne’s wastewater system, is set to open as early as 2027. 

Google’s new facility likely isn’t the last large tech company to show up in Cheyenne. In addition to its 10 existing locations, Cheyenne has five more under construction and another nine in advanced stages of discussion, according to data from Cheyenne LEADS. 

LEADS has also had 36 data center companies or site selectors express interest in Cheyenne or Laramie County, plus another 30 “tire kickers” that made at least one exploratory call.

Prometheus Hyperscale, meanwhile, has said it’s talking with “name-brand” companies for one gigawatt-scale data center 

Google’s project, according to planning documents filed with Laramie County, will be a 716-acre campus 8 miles south of Cheyenne in the Switchgrass Industrial Park, formerly used for seasonal cattle grazing. It is surrounded by rural, agricultural private and state-owned lands, as well as a solar field. 

The nearest residence is .1 miles east of the project. Single-family residences are also located .5 miles north and 1.34 miles south of the location. All of them are “low-density,” Google said in its filing.

Deeds filed with the application identify the owners as the Lazy D Grazing Association and Boyd and Allison Meyer. 

The application outlines a project that includes four data center halls and an office hub, as well as logistics and network buildings and new access roads off U.S. 85, with a planned completion date of 2031. The size of each data center hall is not mentioned, other than to describe them as “large-scale” facilities designed to support “a large number of computer servers operating simultaneously, along with associated mechanical and electrical equipment” for high-density computer workloads.

Google’s data center facilities are being built by Jupiter Star Holdings, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Google. Jupiter Star Holdings is replacing Crusoe, which last month told Bloomberg it’d been asked to “pause” construction of Project Jade at the customer’s request. 

That initially led some to believe the huge data center project, which can scale to up to 10 gigawatts, had been put on hold.

Subsequent statements, however, made it clear the project 

. Crusoe actually had been asked to pack up and leave by the data center client, which was taking over construction of the facilities. 

Tallgrass Energy executives told Cowboy State Daily at the time the project was “full steam ahead” and they would still be building out and delivering a bring-your-own power generation hub for the data center client. The client, Tallgrass added then, had not changed, though they declined to confirm who was building such a large data center.

Black Hills Energy also put out a media statement at the time, saying the project was continuing. In a subsequent interview with Cowboy State Daily about how the company is handling 

 coming to its Cheyenne-area grid, the company confirmed it is a partner in the project. 

That suggests the project will eventually be connecting to the existing electrical grid and infrastructure, even though it has been touted as bringing its own power.

Google’s application says Tallgrass Energy will “combine energy resources from Black Hills Energy, fuel cells, and its power plant” to a substation that will serve power to the data center campus.

Wastewater treatment, meanwhile, will occur on site with evaporative lagoon storage. Connection to Cheyenne’s municipal wastewater system was not deemed cost-effective. 

All wastes will be handled in accordance with applicable local, state, and federal laws, the document goes on to say, and disturbed areas will be revegetated with native or adapted dry-land perennial vegetation. 

Traffic studies will also be conducted, and efforts will be made to minimize noise, wildlife impact, and visual impacts.

Most of the new details about the former Project Jade aren’t coming from press conferences and ribbon cuttings right now. They’re from a June 30 site-plan amendment, filed with Laramie County’s Planning and Development, along with a stack of other documents.

The site-plan overview filed with the amendment identifies Google in its first sentence, publicly revealing the company behind the former Project Jade for the first time.

Google, through Jupiter Star Holdings, has also sent out a required “adjacent neighbor” notice identifying a 32.83-acre area where an office support facility is planned. That was not part of Project Jade’s original conditional-use permit, the letter says.

A hearing has thus been set for the required permit at 3:30 p.m. Aug. 13 in the Laramie County Commission chambers. 

Comments on the matter are to be accepted through July 31, and may be emailed to 

Taken together, the January approvals for Project Jade and June’s amended filings for what’s now being called Project Tembo show that Wyoming’s biggest data center has quietly shifted from a Crusoe-branded campus with an unnamed “hyperscale” client to a Google-owned build advancing through Laramie County’s land use processes. 

That evolution is happening alongside other large-scale tech build-outs in Cheyenne, a city once known as the Magic City on the Plains for its seemingly overnight growth when the Union Pacific railroad arrived.

Some local observers, including longtime Cheyenne attorney and Councilman Larry Wolfe, have begun questioning whether data center and power planning are keeping pace with the speed and scale of these projects. 

It’s a debate that’s likely to grow as Tembo and other campuses continue to converge on Cheyenne’s new tech frontier.

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<title>Say Hello To Google, The Mystery Owner Behind Wyoming's Largest Data Center Project | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The 2.7-gigawatt data center once called Project Jade 8 miles south of Cheyenne has been unmasked as a massive Google campus. Google’s project, according to planning documents, will be a 716-acre campus in the Switchgrass Industrial Park.

Say Hello To Google, The Mystery Owner Behind Wyoming's Largest Data Center Project

A 24-year-old Texan had spent days riding his Triumph motorcycle across the country, detouring through Utah for repairs, crossing Idaho and climbing into Wyoming on what he hoped would become a journey through all 50 states.

As Caleb Batista crested Teton Pass on Tuesday morning, he lifted the visor on his helmet and looked out over the valley below.

"I remember just thinking, 'Oh my God, I rode my bike all the way from flat Texas to this place'," Batista told Cowboy State Daily. "It's a beautiful valley. I can't believe I made it. I'm finally here."

Hungry after skipping breakfast, he started wondering whether Jackson had a McDonald's where he could grab a cheap hamburger.

Seconds later, he was flying through the air after an 

 slammed into his motorcycle from behind.

"I didn't hear an engine, didn't hear brakes, didn't hear squealing or anything," Batista said. "Just boom."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Better View "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"For Batista, the trip wasn't just a vacation. "}]

He told Cowboy State Daily he had recently lost his job and was going through a divorce. Rather than sit at home, he decided to chase something he'd always wanted to do.

"I love to travel," he said. "I decided to go on a motorcycle trip because I have a lot of big things happening in my life right now ... so I decided, 'Why don't I take a trip and get my mind off things?’ "

The journey had already thrown him a curveball days earlier when his bike was having mechanical problems that forced him to stay in Salt Lake City waiting for replacement parts before continuing north.

He spent Monday night in Idaho before setting off toward Yellowstone National Park through Teton Pass.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"It was actually a really beautiful ride,\" he said."}]

Because he was on a motorcycle, he was able to pass slower traffic in designated passing zones.

[{"type":"text","text":"Near the summit, he overtook a dump truck hauling asphalt."}]

As Batista started down the east side of the pass, he slowed to take in the scenery.

[{"type":"text","text":"He raised his helmet visor for a better view. "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"I was just thinking, 'I'm finally here',\" the 24-year-old said."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Then everything changed."}]

"I wish to God there was some warning," he said. "It's my worst fear, getting hit from behind on a motorcycle."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Airborne"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Batista said the impact launched him from his motorcycle. "}]

A motorcyclist who was hit by an out-of-control dump truck Tuesday on Teton Pass said he could feel his bones "crunching" as he tumbled across the pavement. "I thought I was going to fly off the cliff," he said. Two people were killed in the crash.

Aiden Fairbanks, 10