(Fremont County, WY) – The Friday, June 23 crash that shut down a portion of US 20 / WY 789 and led to two fatalities was reportedly caused by a head-on collision, according to a preliminary report from the Wyoming Highway Patrol (WHP) posted on June 26.
The identities of the deceased were also identified in the report, both the drivers of the vehicles; Wyoming residents William Mesa and Candace Vassalluzzo.
The report states that one of the vehicles was northbound, while the other was southbound on US 20.
The northbound vehicle attempted to pass another vehicle in front of it, and collided with the southbound vehicle in a head-on style collision.
A third vehicle was behind the northbound vehicle and impacted the rear of it as the head-on collision occurred, the report also states.
Driver inattention was the only possible contributing factor listed.
The report also indicates that both parties were wearing a seatbelt, and there were two other parties involved in the crash who were not injured.
There have been 61 fatalities on Wyoming’s roadways in 2023 compared to 50 in 2022, 45 in 2021, and 43 in 2020 to date.