22-vehicle crash on I-80 near Elk Mtn kills 6
March 27, 2006
(Elk Mountain) Troopers continue to investigate the events that led up to a 22-vehicle crash on Interstate 80 early Sunday afternoon 9 miles east of Elk Mountain. The crash took six lives and left at least a dozen injured.
The six fatalities involved in the crash have been identified and their names and address have been released. The names of the injured are still being compiled at this time and are not available.
The fatalities are as follows:
40-year old Laura Graves driving a 2002 Mercury Sable and her 3 children:
18-year old Kaleb Graves
16-year old Kelsey R. Graves
14-year old Cameron A. Graves
All from Conifer, Colorado
57 year old Patrick Guinn, Loveland, Colorado, who was a pedestrian at the scene. It is believed that Guinn had stopped and exited his vehicle when he was struck by two semi tractor trailer combination units.
22 year old Christopher Starz, Eagle River, Wisconsin, driving a Land Rover Discovery.
The crash occurred on the eastbound lanes of the Interstate shortly after 2:30 pm during whiteout conditions caused by strong storm winds producing ground blizzards and heavy snow. Troopers are attempting to determine an exact sequence of events as to how and when all of the vehicles became involved in the crash.
Interstate 80 was closed from Cheyenne to Rawlins after the crash. Both lanes of Interstate 80 reopened Monday morning just after 7:00 am. Both eastbound and westbound lanes of the Interstate had been closed since the crash.
Photos courtesy Wyoming Highway Patrol
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