Illinois man killed in crash in Wind River Canyon

A fatal crash between Thermopolis and Shoshoni on Tuesday, July 12 has resulted in the death of 45-year- old Marion Mabry Jr., of Calumet Park, Ill.

According to a press release issued by Wyoming Highway Patrol, the crash occurred at 12:44 p.m. near mile post 113 on US Highway 20 approximately 13 miles north of Shoshoni.

Mabry was driving a 2007 Volvo commercial truck towing a trailer southbound on US 20 in a steep left curve. The truck initially left the highway to the west and was overcorrected to the left. The overcorrection caused the load in the trailer, approximately 42,000 lbs. of bagged bentonite, to shift. The load shift caused the truck and trailer to trip and rollover. The truck came to rest stuck in a section of guardrail. The trailer, that did breach, was left hanging over an approximate 40 foot embankment.

Mabry was not wearing his seat belt and was ejected during the crash. He sustained fatal injuries on scene.

Both lanes of US 20 were closed until 2:55 p.m. Eventually the scene became safe enough for first responders to set up traffic control and route traffic around the crash one lane at a time. Both lanes were opened and normal traffic resumed at 6:09 p.m.

Driver distraction due to an electronic device, improper load securement and failure to wear a seat belt are being investigated as contributing factors in this crash that marked the 46th highway fatality in Wyoming for 2016. There were 70 fatalities during this same time period in 2015.