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    Fatality reported in semi vs. van crash near Rock Springs

    (Rock Springs, WY) – On February 21, 2021, a fatal crash occurred around milepost 110.5 on Interstate 80 east of Rock Springs, Wyoming.  At 12:55 p.m., Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers were notified of a motor vehicle collision.

    A 2019 Dodge Caravan was traveling eastbound on Interstate 80 and was approaching an area of the roadway recently closed due to hazardous winter driving conditions.  The Dodge driver failed to notice traffic was being detoured to an exit and collided with the back of a slow-moving 2020 Freightliner Penske truck.  At the time of the crash, the road conditions were ice and snow-covered from snow blowing across the roadway.       

    The driver of the Dodge has been identified as 53-year-old California resident Lucille Hopkins.  Hopkins was wearing a seatbelt and transported to Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County for injuries sustained in the crash.  The passenger in the Dodge has been identified as 79-year-old Sacramento, California resident Mary Gallego.  Gallego was not wearing a seatbelt and succumbed to her injuries at the scene of the crash.

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    The driver of the Freightliner has been identified as 27-year-old Colorado resident Anthony J. Montelongo Hewitt.  Hewitt was wearing a seatbelt and not injured in the crash.  

    Speed and driver inattention on the part of Hopkins is being investigated as potential contributing factors.

    This is the 15th fatality on Wyoming’s roadways in 2021 compared to 7 in 2020, 18 in 2019, and 9 in 2018 to date.   

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