Tragedy hits rescue mission

Two local men perished during a search and rescue effort at Keyhole State Park that began on Thursday and continued until dusk on Sunday.

Bruce Lang, 68, and Jason Otto, 48, both tragically lost their lives while attempting to rescue a stranded recreationist who had fallen through the ice.

The Crook County Sheriff's Office received a call on December 15 at around 9:10 p.m. that a male subject had gone through the ice while driving his UTV on the reservoir.

Dispatch spoke to the subject on the phone, who said he had made it out of the water and was now lying on the ice.

Pine Haven Fire and EMS were paged and arrived at approximately the same time as three local citizens, including Lang and Otto, who drove their UTV onto the ice. Witnesses stated they lost sight of the UTV as it went out across the reservoir.

The original subject and a second person were located and removed from the ice by the Sheriff's Office, Keyhole State Park, Pine Haven Fire and EMS, Moorcroft Fire and EMS and Wyoming Game & Fish. The second person is believed to have been the third passenger of the second UTV.

Lang and Otto's UTV is believed to have driven into open water and they could not be immediately located.

The two rescued men were taken by ambulance to Campbell County Memorial Hospital for treatment.

Meanwhile, Search & Rescue operations continued, but were then suspended at 11 p.m. due to the gusting wind and snow, poor visibility and frigid temperatures.

At around 7:30 a.m. on Friday, the mission resumed. Sheriff's Office ice rescue units walked to the area the UTV was suspected to have headed, where they found a substantial area of open water.

Search & Rescue could not locate the missing individuals, but found evidence of a possible entry point where the UTV could have entered the water.

At 11 a.m., efforts to find the two missing men were reclassified as a recovery mission. Those efforts continued for two days and involved Crook County, Weston County and Natrona County Search & Rescues.

On Sunday afternoon, December 18, at around 4 p.m., the two individuals were finally recovered.

The Crook County Sheriff's office has thanked all those involved for their support during an extremely difficult mission. According to Sheriff Jeff Hodge, the rescue efforts met obstacles and challenges at every possible juncture and he would like to share his appreciation for the multiple agencies and area law enforcement that contributed.

The Crook County Sheriff's Office also offered thoughts and prayers to the families of Lang and Otto and to the community of Pine Haven.

Recreationists are urged to exercise extreme caution at the reservoir at this time.

"New ice has caused pressure ridges and other parts of the lake to open up. With the upcoming cold spell, it will freeze these open water areas and cause hazardous conditions when people unknowingly cross those areas," says Hodge.