Cowboy State Daily Radio News: Wednesday, April 3, 2024

A man was reportedly cited in Sublette County for capturing a wolf, allegedly tormenting, then killing it; the Gillette woman who was the subject of a five-day search died of hypothermia, according to the coroner’s report; and families of Wyoming cold-case victims have new hope.

We’ll take a look at these stories and more today from Wyoming’s largest news organization. I’m Wendy Corr, for Cowboy State Daily.

The case of a man allegedly capturing a wolf and tormenting it before finally killing it could spark enough outrage to shake Wyoming’s wolf management policy.
“a person I talked to who wishes to remain anonymous is all for hunting, all for wolf control. We said that's just, this isn't the way we do things. If you're gonna kill an animal, you give it a well placed shot, and you kill it, you don't keep something alive and mess with it like that.”
Cowboy State Daily verified the reports of both sources, which also align with a report of an incident the same day from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

A Gillette woman who went missing last month died accidentally of hypothermia.
55-year-old Tami Sturgeon disappeared while shed hunting with her husband John on March 23 in the rugged country about 6 miles southeast of Gillette. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Sturgeon was wearing a thin down coat and a cotton sweatshirt which was soaked with rain, according to the Campbell County Sheriff.
“she was actually found in the mouth of a ravine, she had crossed a well traveled road, and had headed toward the ravine. And she was she was found in a dense sagebrush area.”
The county coroner estimates that Sturgeon died the first night she was missing.

Wyoming’s coal-rich Powder River Basin has seen a steady decline in production of thermal coal over the last dozen or so years.
But PacifiCorp, the parent company of Wyoming’s Rocky Mountain Power electric utility, submitted a refreshed roadmap that may offer a dose of cautious optimism, according to energy reporter Pat Maio.
“even though the EPA wants to, you know, impose more clean air restrictions on coal …Pacific Corp was able to successfully argue that doing such would actually kind of hurt the reliability of the grid, because … as population grows, and more people are using electricity, you need that power. So what they're doing is … they're gonna keep some of their coal fired plants on a little bit longer, which is good news for Wyoming's coal industry.”
Pacificorp will still be investing in new solar and wind energy projects, but not as aggressively as in previous years.

I’ll be back with more news, right after this.

The principal of a Laramie County elementary school where a boy died by suicide last year has denied any wrongdoing in the fifth grader’s death.
Tyler Muniz, principal of Carpenter Elementary School, denied any wrongdoing or knowledge about incidents that led to the death of 11-year-old Paul Kenneth Pine, who hanged himself in a school bathroom. Cowboy State Daily’s Ellen Fike reports that Pine’s parents have filed five separate civil claims against Muniz - four of which were dismissed in February.
“The only complaint left against him is that he violated this boy's 14th Amendment rights. So he asked the judge to dismiss it, dismiss this complaint and also he wanted to be awarded attorneys fees and costs and expenses.”
Muniz did admit knowledge of the student’s desire to die by suicide, and that the boy had numerous mental health struggles.

And a pair of new laws is giving Wyoming families of cold-case victims guarded hope that more money, and more public scrutiny, can break cases.
Cowboy State Daily’s Jen Kocher says as a result of these new laws, roughly 150 unsolved cold cases throughout the state will be added to a new statewide cold-case database, giving the families of these victims some hope.
“they're so lost, and they want answers. And so … any kind of new development is exciting for them. Because, think of not having any answers for 25 years, for example. So there's a desperation. And they're hopeful that any kind of development that will help the state police and law enforcement solve these cases is welcome.”
The new laws provide the Division of Criminal Investigation $300,000 to create and maintain a statewide cold-case database, and launch a forensic genetic genealogy pilot program.

And that’s today’s news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming’s only statewide newspaper by hitting the subscribe button on CowboyStateDaily dot com
I’m Wendy Corr, for Cowboy State Daily.