EVANSTON — Two Missouri residents succumbed to injuries after a crash on Interstate 80 left them trapped in a snow-filled semi-truck cab, according to the Wyoming Highway Patrol (WHP).

The accident occurred on Sunday, January 22, around 5:39 a.m. and troopers responded to the fatal rollover crash at milepost 33 on Interstate 80 east of Evanston.

A 2007 Volvo Conventional commercial truck was headed east on Interstate 80 when the vehicle drifted off the left side of the road. The driver overcorrected the Volvo to the right and re-entered the roadway. The Volvo overturned, exited the road, and traveled down an embankment.

“As the vehicle continued down the embankment, the cab of the Volvo began to pack with snow trapping the driver and passenger in the cab. Due to the depth of the embankment and the darkness, the vehicle was not immediately located,” WHP stated.

The driver of the Volvo has been identified as a 39-year-old Saint Peter, Missouri resident Keith R. Koehler II. Koehler II was wearing a seatbelt and succumbed to his injuries at the crash scene. The passenger was identified as Tyler U. Judd, a 40-year-old resident of Farina, Missouri. Judd was not wearing a seatbelt and succumbed to his injuries at the crash scene.

Driver inattention or fatigue is being investigated as a possible contributing factor.

This is the sixth and seventh fatalities on Wyoming’s roadways in 2023 compared to one in 2022, eight in 2021, and three in 2020.