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Two dead after being buried under snow inside semi after crash knocks out windshield

UINTA COUNTY, WY. — Two men died trapped in their rig’s sleeper berth after a Jan. 22 crash along Interstate 80 near Evanston, Wyoming.

According to the Wyoming Highway Patrol (WHP), the men, identified as Keith Koehler II, 39, St. Peter, IL,  who was the driver, and Tyler Judd, 40, Faurina, IL., who was a passenger, were buried under around two feet of snow when rescuers arrived several hours later.

Both Koehler and Judd were pronounced dead at the scene.

The crash occurred at around 2:15 a.m. after their Volvo tractor-trailer drifted off the road and into a median, WHP officials said.

Koehler, attempting to regain control of the rig, steered back toward the driving lanes but overturned and wound up in a ditch near an interchange.

The force of the crash caused the truck’s windshield to dislodge, and the truck’s cab filled with snow as it slid down the embankment, according to the WHP. The snow became a solid block of ice overnight, trapping the two men inside the cab, which was lying on the driver’s side.

Workers with the Wyoming Department of Transportation finally discovered the wrecked rig several hours after the crash.

The WSP said that driver fatigue likely contributed to the accident.

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