On April 27, 2019, a fatal crash occurred at milepost 36 on Wyoming 487 north of Medicine Bow, Wyoming. Around noon, Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers were dispatched to the area for a two-vehicle collision.
A 2004 Ford Ranger was traveling north on Wyoming 487 when the vehicle entered the southbound lane colliding with a southbound 2014 Subaru Forester head-on.
The driver of the Ford has been identified as 69-year-old Laramie, Wyoming resident Michael J. Hopkins. Hopkins was wearing his seatbelt but succumbed to his injuries at the scene of the crash. The passenger in the vehicle was identified as a 9-year-old juvenile male who was wearing his seatbelt and transported to the Wyoming Medical Center for injuries he sustained in the crash.
The driver of the Subaru has been identified as 57-year-old Casper, Wyoming resident Jonathan D. Schmidt. Schmidt was wearing his seatbelt but succumbed to his injuries at the scene of the crash. The passenger has been identified as 55-year-old Jeaneece K. Schmidt. She was wearing her seatbelt and transported to the Wyoming Medical Center for injuries she sustained in the crash.
Driver fatigue, on the part of Hopkins, is being investigated as a contributing factor.
This is the 48th and 49th fatalities on Wyoming’s highways in 2019 compared to 25 in 2018, 32 in 2017, and 14 in 2016 to date.