Missing woman found stuck in mud

GILLETTE — A woman who was reported missing Monday in Wright was found two days later by a man who was walking his dog.

Shortly before 11 a.m. Monday, a 54-year-old woman called the Sheriff’s Office, saying her 57-year-old sister had been gone for two hours and she was worried.

At 4:55 p.m. Wednesday, a man was walking his dog when he saw the 57-year-old woman lying on her left side stuck in the mud in the bottom of a draw on the west side of Highway 59, about half a mile south of Highway 387. She was conscious but unable to get out of the mud, said Undersheriff Quentin Reynolds.

Deputies and EMS responded and found the woman in the mud at the bottom of a steep hill about 70 feet from the highway. Her location was not visible from the highway and she could not be seen by anyone who wasn’t walking in the nearby field, Reynolds said.

The man had given the woman a coat, but she was extremely cold. The temperatures overnight had been in the low 20s. The woman identified herself, and deputies learned she’d been reported missing two days earlier. She thought she’d been in the mud since Tuesday night, but it appeared she’d spent two nights there, Reynolds said.

Reynolds didn't know why she had gone to the location.

EMS personnel and deputies worked to get the woman out of the mud and onto a backboard. She was taken to the hospital by ambulance.

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Sweetwater commissioners dissolve fire department

GREEN RIVER — The Sweetwater County Fire Department will soon be a thing of the past after the Board of County Commissioners voted 4-1 to approve a plan which will close the county fire department and contract its services out to existing fire agencies in the county. 

“In no way is county fire (protection) going to be eliminated, reduced — if anything it will be enhanced,” Commissioner Mary Thoman said.

At the last commission meeting March 1, the commissioners discussed the findings of the Sweetwater County Fire Committee, which was formed to examine fire service in the county and see if there might be more cost-effective ways to provide those services. 

During this week’s meeting, Thoman summarized the fire committee’s process and findings again.

“We have studied this and worked on it and we’ve fully presented every possible thing we could think of,” Thoman told the commission. “I just feel it’s time to move.” 

During discussion of the issue, Commissioner Randy Wendling stated he would be voting no primarily because of the humanitarian services that would be lost due to closing the county fire department and his concern over contract costs rising over time. 

Schoenfeld addressed the concern over losing humanitarian services in the county by saying there are other entities and organizations who can provide similar services, and they can do so throughout the year regardless of whether there’s a fire or not. 

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South Dakota man killed in avalanche

SARATOGA — A 58-year-old South Dakota man is dead following an avalanche in the Encampment River Wilderness on March 12.

At approximately 1:02 p.m., the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) received a call from Roy Simonson of Rapid City, South Dakota. Simonson reported himself and Jon P. LaFramboise, also of Rapid City, had been caught in an avalanche while snowmobiling near Hog Park in the Sierra Madre mountain range. He also reported he had performed CPR on LaFramboise, but couldn’t find a pulse and noted LaFramboise still wasn’t breathing.

CCSO Deputy Patrick Patterson responded to the call and activated search and rescue units from Saratoga, Ryan Park and Encampment. Patterson also requested the Saratoga search members bring the snowcat for the call. Four members of search and rescue were on snowmobiles with two members and Patterson in the snowcat.

Due to the location given by Simonson, the search team was unable to reach the party. Eventually, Patterson requested Classic Air fly over the area to determine the location of the avalanche and how to reach the missing party.

At approximately 4:30 p.m., Classic Air departed from Rawlins and arrived at the scene 30 minutes later. The flight crew located the missing snowmobilers, located two snowmobile riders with search and rescue and guided them to the scene. The search and rescue team was able to locate the avalanche and Simonson and LaFramboise at 5:30 p.m.

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Grand Teton sees season’s first grizzly

JACKSON — Grizzly bears are continuing to wake up in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

The town of Jackson and Teton County, meanwhile, are continuing to consider measures that would require bear-proof trash cans countywide.

Grand Teton National Park announced Monday that the first grizzly bear of the season was spotted Sunday in the park. That came just under a week after Yellowstone National Park announced that a pilot flying over the park spotted a grizzly traipsing through its west-central reach. Male grizzlies tend to emerge in March and females in April and May.

Grand Teton advised caution recreating outdoors, specifically telling people to avoid carcasses. Grizzlies can be aggressive if approached while feeding on another animal’s remains.

The park also encouraged people to begin locking up attractants like garbage and livestock feed.

“Bear season has begun, how it ends depends on all of us,” Grand Teton National Park Superintendent Chip Jenkins said in the press release. “We welcome the community led effort to work across boundaries to protect bears in Jackson Hole, and we need everyone’s help to remove unsecured attractants from the valley.”

That, the park said, includes storing garbage in bear-resistant containers, securing livestock feed, pet food, compost and beehives, and hanging bird feeders so bears can’t reach them.

The Jackson Town Council and Teton County Board of County Commissioners are both set to consider actions to better bear-proof their jurisdictions.