One person is dead and another hospitalized after an accident late Wednesday night in Yellowstone National Park.The accident happened shortly before midnight on the road between Mammoth Hot Springs and the park�s North Entrance.
The red Chevrolet Avalanche was traveling north through the Gardner River Canyon when the driver lost control. The vehicle skidded for over 160 feet, struck a guardrail, vaulted 45 feet down the embankment, and came to rest upside down along the riverbank.
National Park Service (NPS) Fire, EMS, and rescue personnel had to turn the vehicle upright and carry out a technical rope rescue to remove the male driver from the wreckage. The 27 year old Michigan resident was flown by an Air Idaho Rescue helicopter to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls where he remains hospitalized. Over 25 NPS employees and members of the Park County, Montana Sheriff's Department were involved in the incident.
The passenger, a 27 year old woman from Michigan, was dead at the scene. An autopsy is scheduled for later today in Bozeman, Montana.
Identities of the accident victims are being withheld pending notification of next of kin. While the accident remains under investigation, alcohol consumption was involved. NPS Special Agents are in the process of seeking a Federal arrest warrant for the driver. NPS rangers and agents are leading the investigation with assistance from the Montana Highway Patrol, the Park County, Montana, Coroner, and the Park County, Montana, Sheriff's Department.
Rangers will temporarily close the road between Gardiner and Mammoth Hot Springs for a few hours this afternoon to remove the wreckage.
This is the third fatal accident in Yellowstone National Park this year and the third DUI related motor vehicle accident in Yellowstone in the last week.
The driver of the vehicle involved in a fatal accident Wednesday night in Yellowstone National Park has been arrested and is in federal custody.
27 year old Colby Anthony Skippergosh of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan was arrested Thursday night after being released from Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls. Details on the variety of charges Skippergosh faces will be available once he makes his initial appearance next week before Federal Magistrate Stephen Cole in Mammoth Hot Springs.
The passenger in the red Chevrolet Avalanche has been identified as 27 year old Meghann Rebekah Williams, also of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. She was dead at the scene.
The accident happened shortly before midnight Wednesday on the park�s North Entrance Road between Mammoth Hot Springs and Gardiner, Montana.
The vehicle carrying the pair was traveling north through the Gardner River Canyon when Skippergosh, the driver, lost control. The vehicle skidded for over 160 feet, struck a guardrail, vaulted 45 feet down the embankment, and came to rest upside down along the riverbank.
The road between Mammoth Hot Springs and Gardiner was closed for about 90 minutes Thursday afternoon to remove the wreckage.
Alcohol was involved in the accident. This was the third DUI motor vehicle related accident in Yellowstone in the last week, and the third fatal accident in the park this year.
By SUSAN FIELD
Clare Managing Editor Morning Sun Daily Publication
A 27-year-old Mt. Pleasant man remains jailed in Wyoming after being charged in U.S. District Court earlier this week in connection with a traffic crash that killed a local woman.
Colby Anthony Skippergosh was charged Monday in U.S. District Court in Mammoth with committing involuntary manslaughter by committing a misdemeanor and unlawful act; driving on a public highway while license revoked; giving false information to authorities and for drunken driving, according to the U.S. District Court Clerk's office in Cheyenne.
Skippergosh, who is accused of causing the death of Meghann Rebekah Williams in a Sept. 6 crash in Yellowstone National Park, waived a preliminary hearing in U.S. District Court in Mammoth, Wyo. Monday before the case was transferred to Cheyenne, according to court records.
Williams, 27, of Mt. Pleasant was a passenger in a Chevrolet Avalanche allegedly driven by Skippergosh when the accident occurred, according to officials at the Yellowstone public affairs office.
A registered nurse took a blood sample from Skippergosh at approximately 2:55 a.m. Sept. 7, which registered a .211 blood alcohol content, according to court records.
Skippergosh was allegedly driving the Avalanche on the park's north entrance road between Mammoth Hot Springs and Gardiner, Mont. when he lost control of the sports utility vehicle in the Gardner Canyon, according to park officials.
The accident was reported at 10:41 p.m., according to court records.
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK
Felony Indictment For Involuntary Manslaughter
On September 20th 2006, a federal grand jury indicted Colby Skippergosh, a 28-year-old Michigan resident, on two felony counts � involuntary manslaughter and false information. The indictment stemmed from a September accident and fatality that occurred in Gardner Canyon (click on �More Information� below for the original report). On the night of September 6th, the Chevy Avalanche that Skippergosh was driving hit a guardrail and vaulted about 30 feet down into a river, landing on its roof. A technical rescue and vehicle extrication ensued. The passenger in the Avalanche, Meghann Williams, 27, sustained significant head and chest injuries and died at the scene. Skippergosh was extricated, treated by NPS paramedics, and flown to a trauma center in Idaho. A preliminary investigation indicated that DUI was the underlying cause, and rangers also found evidence of identity theft. A park special agent drove the 110 miles from West Yellowstone to the hospital and was joined by another ranger. Together, they kept Skippergosh secured. Other agents wrote up a criminal complaint and obtained an arrest warrant on one felony manslaughter and three misdemeanor counts. Skippergosh was released after 36 hours at the hospital, at which point agents placed him under arrest and took him to Mammoth Hot Springs. He made his initial appearance on September 12th and was remanded to the custody of a U.S. Marshal. He remains in federal custody, and the Michigan State Police have placed an additional detainer on him for an outstanding felony assault arrest warrant. A Montana Highway Patrol accident reconstruction team helped park investigators. Their findings indicated that the Avalanche skidded over 160 feet before it hit the guardrail and tumbled into the river. Park investigators also found witnesses who reported that, just prior to the crash, they�d seen the car accelerating and driving the wrong way through the Mammoth Hot Springs area, passing through narrow curves at a high rate of speed, and colliding with a guardrail about a half mile before the final crash occurred.