Wyoming News Briefs

Local woman sentenced for role in state park death

CHEYENNE (WNE) — In connection with the death of a man in Curt Gowdy State Park, Gizelle Kellum has pleaded no contest to accessory after the fact as a relative.

This misdemeanor is punishable by up to six months in prison and/or a $750 fine. Judge Steven Sharpe sentenced Kellum to 180 days with credit for 175 days of time served.

Kellum’s varying accounts during the investigation were cited by the prosecution as a reason for the charge.

Stacey “Jason” Mullen was found unresponsive at Curt Gowdy State Park on Aug. 20, 2023. Wyoming State Parks involved the Cheyenne Police Department in the investigation due to the nature of Mullen’s injuries and the potential causes of death.

Mullen was airlifted to Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, Colorado, where he died on Aug. 28, 2023. His death was classified as a homicide due to blunt force trauma that resulted in multiple hemorrhages.

During the investigation, Kellum and her husband, Russell Perry, claimed they had last seen Mullen around 7 p.m. on Aug. 19, 2023, after dropping him off near the Ames Avenue underpass in Cheyenne. Later, Kellum confessed that they had driven Mullen out to the park after a night of drinking, during which Perry and Mullen fought.

During a conversation with detectives on Oct. 19, Kellum was confronted with evidence that indicated her phone was in Curt Gowdy State Park the night of the incident. She then told detectives that after drinking together, Mullen had started “swinging” at Perry while he drove. At some point, Mullen got out of the vehicle, according to Kellum. She told detectives she didn’t know where he had gotten out, but according to Perry, the two drove around looking for him for about an hour after they noticed he was no longer in the truck.

Perry’s manslaughter charge is pending trial.

Child killed in accident identified

CASPER (WNE) — Details have been released in the death of 13-year-old Natrona County girl who died last week after being hit by a commercial semi truck on Robertson Road in Mills.

The Natrona County Coroner’s Office confirmed the deceased as Allison Powell. The 13-year-old girl was a Casper resident, and investigators have not confirmed what brought her to Mills on the day of the accident.

She was riding her bike alone headed from a Robertson Road residential neighborhood toward the industrially zoned area north of Highway 220 when she collided with a semi-truck tanker carrying hazardous materials, responding Mills officer Detective Kate Acord told the Star-Tribune.

Witnesses told police that Powell failed to yield at a stop sign before the collision.

Officials are reviewing the driver’s dash camera footage while awaiting the results from a toxicology report that will answer questions about potential impairment.

The driver has cooperated with investigators. Detective Acord told the Star-Tribune malfeasance is not suspected at this time.

Four burned after fireworks explode in car

POWELL (WNE) — Two young men and two teens suffered severe burns on the Fourth of July after fireworks exploded inside their car.

Dylan McEwan, 25, of Powell, Riley Birky, 23, of Byron, Birky’s 16-year-old brother Tucker Schulenberg of Byron, and Powell High School student Landon Smallwood, 18, all remained in Denver area hospitals on Monday.

The group of four was driving near Cowley on U.S. Highway 310 with roughly 30 mortars when the explosives suddenly detonated, McEwan said.

An official cause has yet to be determined, with the Wyoming Highway Patrol declining to provide any information on Monday.

For his part, McEwan said he is not sure what caused the fireworks to ignite.

“Everything just went black,” he recalled. “Everywhere you looked you got burnt, everywhere you tried to touch you were getting burnt.”

McEwan said he was surprised Birky, the driver, was able to pull over and is thankful they didn’t get in a crash.

He said Birky made it out of the car first and helped out Smallwood; McEwan struggled through the smoke, then went back to help Schulenberg, who suffered severe burns up to his knees. McEwan carried Schulenberg out of the vehicle to Birky’s fiancee, Sierah Martin, who was driving behind them.

Given the extent of their wounds, all four occupants wound up being flown to Denver for treatment.

A GoFundMe campaign for all four boys is online at gofund.me/2f1e020f. Donations are also being accepted at any Big Horn Federal under the name TRLD Fundraiser. Updates on Birky, Schulenberg, Smallwood and McEwan can be found on the Facebook page “Tucker, Riley, Landon and Dylan Fundraiser.”

“We’re all thankful to be alive, and we’re all thankful for how much support that the community has shown us,” McEwan said Monday.

Longer time limit goes into effect for newborn safe haven law

CHEYENNE (WNE) — During the 2024 legislative session, House Bill 90 was passed into law with an effective date of July 1. Known as the Safety for a Newborn Child Act, this law updates the existing safe haven law to help protect newborn babies.

Now, a parent of a baby 60 days old or younger can safely give up his or her child for any reason to ensure the baby is cared for and kept safe. This is an increase from the previous limit of 14 days.

Parents can take their newborn to any of these safe haven locations, as long as the location is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week:

• A fire station

• A hospital

• A police department or sheriff ’s office.

The safe haven provider cannot demand any information from the person relinquishing the child, nor can they require that the person intends to reclaim the child in the future. If either parent does not seek the return of the child within three months, the parental rights will be terminated so the child can be adopted.

WyoGives provides nonprofits coordinated way to raise money

CHEYENNE (WNE) — The Wyoming Nonprofit Network has created a program called WyoGives that accentuates these traits through a 24-hour day of giving once a year in July.

The program, created in 2017 and executed for the first time in 2020, allows residents, businesses and other organizations to visit the WyoGives website, wyogives.org, at any point from 12 a.m.-11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, July 10, to donate to any of the nonprofit(s) listed.

Jody Shields, the Wyoming Nonprofit Network’s executive director, said donors can choose from a list of over 380 nonprofits located throughout Wyoming and donate any amount of money they’d like.

“We really started it as a way to bring the state together, to raise funds for Wyoming’s nonprofits, and to raise awareness about what they’re doing in our communities across the state,” Shields said. “It’s really a day of celebration and shining a light on that.”

WyoGives has grown over the past five years, Shields said. In 2020, there were 130 participating nonprofits and $571,000 in donations. In 2023, there were 329 nonprofits with a little over $4 million raised.

Each participating nonprofit has to pay a registration fee of $100 to $350 and put in their own marketing for the campaign, but Shields said the return on investment greatly outweighs the fee.

“It’s a way to collectively gain from this awareness, and for all the participating organizations to be able to raise funds in a collective and collaborative way,” Shields said.

Gordon announces Game and Fish director

CASPER (WNE) — Angi Bruce was selected as the next Wyoming Game and Fish Director on Friday by Gov. Mark Gordon. Bruce will become the first female director in the agency’s 51- year history.

Game and Fish Director Brian Nesvik in April announced he will retire in September after 29 years at the department — five of those years as director.

Bruce was one of three candidates that the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission selected in June.

“The Game and Fish commission forwarded three exceptionally well-qualified candidates reflecting Wyoming’s commitment to wildlife and our natural resource heritage,” Gordon said. “In her role as Deputy Director, Angi has demonstrated the department’s dedication to protecting our state’s leadership role in science and policy on wildlife issues large and small.”

Bruce has worked at Wyoming Game and Fish for seven years — as deputy director since 2019 — and has overseen fish and wildlife issues as well as Game and Fish participation in federal planning efforts, among other duties. She additionally served as Habitat Protection Supervisor with Game and Fish, where she oversaw wildlife Environmental Reviews for the Director’s office and administered the state’s sage grouse Executive Order review process.

Bruce previously spent 17 years with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources in multiple capacities, according to a press release from the governor’s office.

“I am thrilled for this opportunity. I will build off the incredible work of Director Nesvik to grow partnerships, work with the public, and utilize the Department’s dedicated and passionate staff to manage our world class wildlife,” Bruce said.

BLM seeks input for proposed carbon dioxide sequestration project in Wyoming

ROCK SPRINGS (WNE) — The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is seeking public comment on a draft environmental assessment that considers a right of way for the Southwest Wyoming CO2 Sequestration Project proposed by Moxa Carbon Storage, LLC (Moxa Carbon).

The project would store carbon dioxide permanently in nearly 605,100 acres of subsurface federal pore space beneath Lincoln, Sweetwater, and Uinta counties.

Carbon sequestration is the process of injecting carbon dioxide — the most common greenhouse gas—deep underground, permanently preventing it from entering the atmosphere and contributing to the climate crisis.

The BLM issued a policy update in June 2022 guiding the BLM’s review of proposals for the geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide on public lands, one of many efforts to help combat atmospheric carbon pollution.

No BLM-administered surface area would be disturbed for this project.

Moxa Carbon is working with the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality on required permits for Class VI Wells used for Geologic Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide. If granted, the permits would allow Moxa Carbon to construct and operate carbon dioxide injection wells on non-federal lands, but the carbon dioxide itself would be stored in federally owned pore space underground.

Additional information, a map of the project area, and instructions on how to comment are available at the BLM National NEPA Register: https://eplanning. blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/ 2023000/510. Comments may also be delivered to BLM Rock Springs Field Office, Attn: Maura Bradshaw, 280 US Highway 191, Rock Spring, WY 82901.

The comment period ends on July 30, 2024.

For more information, please contact Maura Bradshaw, at 307352-0378.

Experienced aerobatic airman perishes after Palisades Reservoir crash

JACKSON (WNE) — In his last hour above Palisades Reservoir, pilot Edan Shalev was using his airplane to draw hearts in the sky.

The California-based pilot, who had 35 years of aerobatic flight experience, died Thursday after his plane nose dived into Palisades Reservoir just inside the Idaho border.

Shalev, 53, was pronounced dead at Star Valley Hospital on the evening of the Fourth of July after private boaters raced to the crash site, recovered him and began lifesaving measures until they could get him to first responders on shore. Star Valley EMS continued to work on Shalev and transported him to Star Valley Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries, officials said.

On the busy holiday, many onlookers saw Shalev performing aerobatics for nearly an hour. He soared alone and with another airplane and used exhaust from his plane to fashion hearts in the air.

In a social media post, Clipper Aviation of Los Angeles described Shalev as a flight instructor and avid aerobatic competitor, having performed for the last 35 years.

“He participated in many aerobatic competitions and then went on to represent Israel in the World Aerobatic Championships at the unlimited level,” Clipper Aviation wrote in a 2022 Instagram post. “Edan then became a Certified Flight Instructor strictly to teach aerobatics…with students ranging from beginners, airline pilots, air force, navy test pilots to Hollywood actors.”

Shalev was the only occupant of the plane, according to authorities. Lincoln County Coroner Dain Schwab did not have a cause of death as of press time Friday.

The crash remains under investigation.

Missing kayaker a cautionary tale for water users

JACKSON (WNE) — Grand Teton National Park rangers continue to search for a kayaker who disappeared more than two weeks ago when conditions became choppy on Jackson Lake.

The incident underlines the need for caution when recreating on waterways, whether on lakes or on the Snake River.

“Aside from motor vehicle crashes, drowning is the second leading cause of unattended deaths in national parks,” said Cynthia Hernandez, a National Park Service spokesperson.

Wesley Dopkins, 43, of St. Paul, Minnesota, was last seen June 15.

Search efforts are mainly water based, Chief Ranger Erika Jostad said, as rangers use patrol vessels to comb the water, islands and surrounding shore lines.

Dopkins and a friend departed Colter Bay Marina around 2 p.m. June 15. They were heading toward Waterfalls Canyon on the west shore of the lake when 25 mph winds picked up. As that happened, the pair became separated.

Whether Dopkins reached the canyon on the far side of Jackson Lake is unknown. His partner turned around mid-lake and reported Dopkins missing at Leeks Marina to the north.

The kayakers brought only one personal floatation device, Jostad said, which Dopkins offered to his partner. Dopkins felt he was the stronger kayaker.

Some of Dopkins’ belongings — an Oru folding kayak, paddle and dry bag — were located the evening of June 15, six hours after he and his friend were separated. Jostad said it looked like the items had washed ashore.

The incident paints a cautionary tale for being prepared on waterways, officials say. The key message? Wear a life jacket.

In past years, revelry on the Snake River south of the park has led to a number of fatalities for people who were not wearing a life vest.