State Briefs

Man killed Monday in Grand Teton National Park avalanche

JACKSON (WNE) – A man was killed in an avalanche in Grand Teton National Park on Monday, authorities said.

Matthew Brien, 33, of Jackson and originally from Pennsylvania, was buried in the avalanche, according to the Teton County Coroner. The slide was reported around 12:30 p.m. 

Park rangers and Teton County Search and Rescue were called to the slide in the Broken Thumb Couloir, off the north side of 25 Short in the park.

Avalanche danger in the area has hovered between high and considerable over the last week. This is the third person to die in an avalanche in this region in one week’s time.

The Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center’s Monday forecast was grim.

“Avalanche conditions remain dangerous at the mid and upper elevations. Backcountry travelers could easily trigger small to large wind slabs on steep, wind loaded slopes,” it stated. “While these slides could kill you, involvement in a persistent deep slab avalanche almost certainly will.”

Twenty-Five Short and the Broken Thumb Couloir are in the high-elevation range, where Monday’s avalanche danger was considerable.

Additional information about Monday’s avalanche wasn’t available by press time.

On Thursday, first responders and forecasters urged extreme caution in the backcountry after Michael McKelvey, 31, of Jackson, was killed in an avalanche off Togwotee Pass.

The day before, a Michigan man died in an avalanche off Greys River Road. The 56-year-old was snowmobiling with his son and brothers when he was buried, first responders said. The slide carried eight snowmobiles in its debris.

Snowmobilers rescued from Beartooth Mountains

CODY (WNE) – With the use of a Huey helicopter from Montana, Park County Search and Rescue saved two snowmobilers Saturday in the Beartooth Mountains. 

The two men had gone missing Thursday and said they were hours from resigning themselves to “curl up and die” when they heard the sound of the Huey overhead Saturday morning.

“As they began getting these thoughts, that’s when they heard the Huey in its search pattern,” Park County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Charla Baugher said in a release. “When it left, that’s when they heard the snowmobiles below them and began shouting for help.”

Trevor Deal, 22, of Bridger and Maison Ostwald, 21, of Laurel, were evacuated on the Huey and were exhausted, dehydrated and hypothermic. 

Deal refused treatment while Ostwald was transported to the hospital and eventually flown to the Idaho Falls Burn Center for treatment of severe frostbite. 

The rescue began when, at 8 p.m. Thursday, the Park County Sheriff’s Dispatch received a report of two overdue snowmobilers in the Beartooth Mountains east of the Top of the World Store. The two men began snowmobiling at 8 a.m. that morning and had contacted a friend at 5 p.m. to say that one of their sleds had become disabled but they were trying to get back to the highway on their own. No location was given. 

Park County Search and Rescue was deployed to the area on snowmobiles. They were assisted by volunteer members of the Cody Country Snowmobile Association and volunteers from Snow Search. They searched through the night, eventually suspending operations at 4 a.m. Friday morning.

The search, which included many volunteers, continued as conditions permitted until the men were recovered Saturday. 

Missing toddler found dead in Cheyenne dumpster

CHEYENNE (WNE) — Following a missing child search that began early Friday afternoon, Cheyenne Police discovered the body of two-year-old Athian Rivera in a dumpster.

The search for Rivera – which involved multiple law enforcement agencies, as well as two local fire departments – began following a report of the child being missing at about 1 p.m. Friday. 

CPD, along with members of the Laramie County Sheriff’s Department, the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, Cheyenne Fire Rescue and Laramie County Fire District 2 were involved in the search, according to information shared by CPD Public Information Officer Alexandra Farkas at a news conference about the incident late Friday afternoon.

Farkas said a reverse 911 call was sent out to locate the child within half a mile of his last known location; social media was used to try to find Rivera; and the child’s name was included in a national missing children database.

A K-9 unit was also involved in the search for Rivera, Farkas said.

The search ended when Rivera’s body was found in the dumpster.

“This is an active investigation,” Farkas said, noting that she would not be taking additional questions from reporters. “There is no danger to the public.”

Friday night, several Cheyenne residents held a small candlelight vigil at the state Capitol to pray for Rivera’s family and for swift justice in the matter.