CHEYENNE — A trio of fatal crashes throughout the state have pushed the death count on Wyoming‘s highways to 116 according to the Wyoming Highway Patrol.

A Cheyenne man died and his passenger was lifeflighted to Cheyenne Regional Hospital following a single-motorcycle crash on Happy Jack Road about 15 miles west of Cheyenne Dec. 12. The crash occurred at about 7:32 p.m. when a Harley-Davidson motorcycle ridden by Gregg Danny, 54, of Cheyenne and Colleen Mauch, 37, also of Cheyenne, failed to navigate a right-handed turn. The motorcycle left the road and struck multiple wooden posts, with both Danny and Mauch being ejected from the bike. Neither the rider or passenger were wearing helmets. Speed is considered the primary factor of the crash.

A second crash Dec. 9 in Crook County killed three people in an incident the WHP believes was caused by speed and driver inattention. According to the highway patrol, the crash occurred about four miles south of the Montana/Wyoming border on US 212. A 2020 Subaru Forester was driving westbound on the highway when it merged onto the eastbound lane to pass another vehicle. At that time, a 2015 Subaru Outback was in the eastbound lane and the two Subarus collided head-on, with both coming to a stop in the south burrow ditch. Jonathan Vought, 29, of Rochester, New York, died at the scene while the driver and passenger of the Outback, identified as Eugene Cadwell, 73, and Rebecca Cadwell, 52, both of Alzeda, Montana, also died at the scene. All three occupants were wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash.

The WHP also continues investigating a deadly crash near Lander that took place 16 miles southeast of the town on Wyoming Highway 789 Dec. 7. The WHP said a 2004 Dodge Ram pickup truck driven by 34-year-old Paul Switzer of Saratoga was travelling southbound on the highway when his truck left the roadway and hit a guardrail. The truck kicked to the left then went into a driver’s side skid across the road and into the opposite guardrail. The truck broke the guardrail, with the impact causing it to jump over it. The rear of the truck slid down the guardrail until it stopped. The truck then caught fire and was fully engulfed in flames. Switzer died at the scene. The WHP is still trying to determine what caused the crash and why the truck ignited.

At this time in 2024, there were 104 Wyoming highway deaths recorded by the WHP, while 2023 had a total of 137.