I went to church with Ed and noted that this is one of the only times he doesn’t carry his phone with him. That afternoon at 1:15 pm there was an accident on Highway 28 near the South Pass rest area. An older man, by the name of Skinner, and his friend had ridden their motorcycles to Farson for ice cream and were returning to Lander when one was hit by a car driven by a college age student. As so often happens with motorcycle versus car crashes, the motorcyclist lost. The student told police that he had fallen asleep and woke up when the collision occurred. After investigating the scene police identified that the student’s car crossed the center line of the road and for that reason he broke the law and can be sent to jail for vehicular homicide. It is unknown what they are going to do right now but the key point in me telling this story is to warn all of you drivers ... Don’t drive when you are sleepy. It could ruin your life!
June 29, 2009 Monday
At 1 am there was a vehicular accident. It occurred near Lander so the Lander coroner staff responded and called Ed throughout the night with details and updates. This accident was a one car roll over. The key reason for the death was, just like the case on Saturday, a one vehicle rollover in which the individual inside was ejected because he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.
June 30, 2009, Tuesday
We got our call at 7:50 am. and Ed and I drove with lights and siren to just north of Milford where there was a head-on collision between two trucks. Those that witnessed the crash described a lot of smoke and fire. The fire department and EMS had been at the scene before we got there and it was from them that we learned what had happened. This scene was very popular in the news so there are a lot of pictures of the accident.
July 1, 2009 Wednesday
Our call came at 4 am. We were sent to the Riverton hospital to investigate a death that had occurred. Chief Deputy Mark Stratmoen had been on vacation, having just returned today so he was called out early this morning to help Ed and I work the scene. This case was tough because it was so early in the morning that we didn’t have time to go back to sleep before going to work. Instead, the three of us went out to eat breakfast and then went right to the office for a full day of work.
While at the hospital Ed was called by the Natrona County Coroner letting him know that we had another case. The same time that the accident on Milford occurred on Tuesday, there was another head on collision in Ethete. This crash didn’t receive as much media attention and we weren’t called out on it because no one died at the scene. The call this morning was to advise Ed that the women from this accident, who had been life flighted to Casper, had passed away early this morning. This is one of the key points that people need to remember about the Coroner’s office. Unless there is a death the coroner is not called out to a scene. Consequently, we now have to go back to the accident scene, which has been released, to conduct our own investigation.
That afternoon we went to different offices trying to learn the background about that second head on collision. While in that area we went to a feast that was held in honor of one of the natural deaths that occurred over the weekend. (We were not called out to it because it was in a nursing home and the funeral director deputy coroners normally work these scenes and don’t call us unless there is something suspicious). The man that passed away was the uncle of Kim one of Ed’s deputy coroners. Kim had spent that day baking and the feast was amazing- especially the home made pumpkin pie. Ed and I were exhausted that whole day and when we got back to the house that night we took naps.
July 2 , 2009 Thursday
Ed, Roni and I took off to go to Green River for a Centennial celebration. This year is the hundredth year in which the Taliaferro’s ranch has been in operation. We drove to Green River and met my parents then together with my whole family, Tyler Reese, and the McAuslans, we drove to Manflat for the celebration. All of us had a really good time and Kayli, Adar, and Tyler were sad they had to leave about 5 to go to work that night. The rest of us stayed and danced the night away at the barn dance. Who knew the Taliaferro family had so many good and active dancers! Most barn dances have only the kids dancing but this one had everyone dancing. A really great time.
Thursday was also a noteworthy day because it was the first day that we didn’t have any calls. After 10 calls in 6 days we were more than ready for the break. There are a few key points to note after this week of excessive calls. First, there were 5 vehicular accidents and only one survivor. That one survivor was the only person that had his seatbelt on. Second, I’m repeating this I know but it is important ... Don’t drive when you are sleepy.
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