Three deaths confirmed by WHP in Saturday crash

The Wyoming Highway Patrol has issued a report with details of Saturday’s fatal head-on vehicle collision south of Thermopolis in Wind River Canyon.

The report states, on September 24, a fatal crash occurred at milepost 121.4 on US 20.  Around 10 a.m., Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers were notified of a motor vehicle collision.

 The driver of a 2016 Cadillac Escalade was headed south on US 20 when he attempted to pass a southbound vehicle and collided head-on with a 2014 BMW X-6 traveling northbound.   

The driver of the Cadillac has been identified as 83-year-old Dallas, Texas, resident Peter A. Sherman. Sherman was wearing a seatbelt and succumbed to his injuries at the crash scene. 

The driver of the BMW has been identified as 52-year-old Casper resident Mauro E. Diaz. Diaz was wearing a seatbelt and succumbed to his injuries at the crash scene. A juvenile passenger, reported to be the son of Diaz, was properly restrained and transported to Hot Springs County Memorial Hospital, where he succumbed to injuries sustained in the crash.     

Diaz was a Natrona County High School teacher.

Driver inattention on the part of Sherman is being investigated as a possible contributing factor in the crash, which closed Wind River Canyon highway for hours. 

This is the 88th, 89th, and 90th fatalities on Wyoming’s roadways in 2022 compared to 86 in 2021, 100 in 2020, and 120 in 2019 to date.