State Briefs

Body found near in Park Co., murder suspect arrested

POWELL (WNE) — A hunter stumbled upon a woman’s body about halfway between Cody and Meeteetse on Saturday afternoon — and authorities say she appears to have been the victim of a homicide.

A suspect was arrested in connection with the case on Saturday night, the Park County Sheriff’s Office announced Monday. However, the agency’s brief news release did not identify the man who is in custody or name the deceased.

Law enforcement officials indicated that they believe the woman was killed in southeast Wyoming and then brought to Park County, but they otherwise released few details about their investigation on Monday.

“We’re just trying to do as thorough an investigation as we can while at the same time trying to assist another county in this case,” Park County Prosecuting Attorney Bryan Skoric said of the limited information that’s been publicly released so far.

The sheriff’s office said the victim was a resident of “southeast Wyoming,” but it, like Skoric, did not name the specific place where the woman was from.

A local hunter called the Park County Sheriff’s Office shortly before 2 p.m. Saturday to report finding the body. The sheriff’s office said the body was found on private property located west of Wyo. Highway 120.

The sheriff’s office said its deputies and personnel from the Bureau of Land Management and the Wyoming Highway Patrol apprehended a suspect in connection with the apparent homicide on Saturday evening.

Coroner: Woman died from hypothermia

PINEDALE (WNE) — The cause of death of 28-year-old Aubree Shanae Corona, who went missing July 13 and was found Aug. 20, was determined as “complications of environmental exposure and hypothermia.” 

Her body was found in the Leeds Creek area of Bridger-Teton National Forest in Fremont County more than a mile from her vehicle nearly six weeks after she was reported missing by family.

The Sublette Examiner filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Fremont County Coroner for the “Coroner’s Notes” in the death. 

The notes provided by Fremont County Coroner Mark Statmoen state the date and time of her death as “unknown,” and only include the date Corona’s body was located by searchers on Aug. 20. 

The manner of death is listed as “accident.” 

According to the document’s toxicology results, samples included 45 micrograms per milliliter of Gabapentin, an anti-epileptic drug, also called an anticonvulsant. It affects chemicals and nerves in the body that are involved in the cause of seizures and some types of pain. 

Corona also tested positive for 9.4 nanograms per milliliter of Oxycodone, an opioid pain medication sometimes called a narcotic and used to treat moderate to severe pain. 

The body also had 8.4 nanograms per milliliter of Delta-9 THC, a derivative of marijuana. 

Alcohol, tobacco use high among Wyoming youth

RIVERTON (WNE) — A survey by U.S. Drug Test Centers physician and CEO Jonathan Baktari indicates that young people in Wyoming use less marijuana – but drink more alcohol – than people ages 25 and younger in most other states. 

In the 12-17 year age group in Wyoming, the survey states, 5.76 percent have used marijuana in the past month. The leader for that age group was Vermont, with 10.75 percent having used the drug in the past month. 

The survey said 16.5 percent of 18- to 25-year-olds in Wyoming recorded marijuana use in the past month, which is also among the national lows per state. 

The survey reports that alcohol consumption has fallen slightly across all age groups since 2008. “Young people are consuming less alcohol today than they were a decade ago,” Baktari writes. People from ages 12-20 in Wyoming reported a 21.6 percent use rate for the past month, which is within the top third for the nation. Massachusetts led at 32 percent.

Utah had the lowest alcohol consumption percentage in the age group, at 12.11 percent. 

The report acknowledges a nationwide decline in overall tobacco use, especially among teens and young adults. Conversely, it notes a rise among many states in vaping and non-cigarette tobacco use. 

Here Wyoming was a tobacco use frontrunner: 9.3 percent of 18- to 25-year-olds surveyed reported using non-cigarette tobacco products in the past month, compared to the highest use in West Virginia, with 10.3 percent, and the lowest use reported in Hawaii, at 2.19 percent. 

Cheyenne council approves resolution for grant repayment

CHEYENNE (WNE) — At the request of Cheyenne City Council members, a resolution about how the city will repay Bloomberg Philanthropies was brought forward at Monday’s Finance Committee meeting under “other business.”

The resolution doesn’t bring anything new to the situation, but will put the repayment of the grant before the council.

“Everything this resolution contemplates is already in the works,” City Attorney Mike O’Donnell said.

In spring 2018, the city received a $100,000 Mayor’s Challenge grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies to create a website that would connect owners of underdeveloped properties with developers.

The city spent about $43,000 on the project before its expiration in October 2018. After that, about $23,000 was charged to the grant by the mayor’s office for expenses such as Christmas decorations for city hall and the mayor’s travel. The city is in the process of paying back that $23,000 for improper use, along with about $33,000 worth of unused funds.

The money spent using the grant is in the process of being reclassified to be charged to the mayor’s discretionary fund.

The city will repay Bloomberg Philanthropies by way of purchase order, and the purchase order was presented to Council President Rocky Case to sign last week. With his signature, the order would’ve gone through as a done deal.

“This needs to go before the governing body and the public,” Case said.

Mayor Marian Orr said the resolution is a way for Case to drag out the process even further.

“There’s absolutely no reason for this to come forward as a resolution,” Orr said.

Kanye West officially takes possession of Park Co. ranch

CODY (WNE) — It’s official. Kanye West is the new owner of the former Monster Lake Ranch.

Although the information is hardly news to most people in Cody, it is now official as two new deeds for the property were filed Oct. 28 with the Park County Clerk’s Office.

Deed documents reveal West made two separate purchases under his Psalm 2019 Limited Liability Company.

The principal office for this company is in Los Angeles, where West has a residence.

The associated address for this LLC is for 3202 Big Horn Ave., where West was recently confirmed to have purchased the Mountain Equipment property owned by Steve and Laurie Swan. That property was purchased on Oct. 17 under Psalm Cody Commercial LLC.

It appears West privately purchased the 4,524-acre property he is now referring to as West Lake, in two chunks. The first was signed off on Oct. 23 and granted by Cody Oar Lock Ranch LLC. Cody Oar Lock is associated with Colin Simpson of the Burg Simpson law office in Cody.

West has been spotted throughout Cody numerous times in recent months. His most public moment came when delivering a Sunday Service concert at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in late September.