Woman dies in crash

Thirty-nine-year-old Annette R. Arey of Thermopolis has been identified as a fatality in an accident on May 20, at milepost 148 on US 20, south of Worland. Around 7:35 a.m., Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers were dispatched to the area for a two-vehicle collision.

A 2005 Toyota Corolla, driven by Arey was traveling northbound on US 20 when the vehicle crossed into the southbound lane to pass another vehicle. Arey failed to see an oncoming southbound 1993 Chevrolet Caprice and both vehicles collided on the southbound shoulder of the roadway.

Arey was wearing her seatbelt and succumbed to her injuries at the scene of the crash. The driver of the Caprice was identified as 62-year-old Worland resident Henry J. Kumpe, who was wearing his seatbelt and transported to the Washakie Medical Center for injuries he sustained in the crash.

Unsafe passing is being investigated as a contributing factor.

This is the 63rd fatality on Wyoming’s roadways in 2019 compared to 36 in 2018, 36 in 2017, and 19 in 2016 to date.