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

The Wyoming Highway Patrol reports that a truck driver and a passenger lost their lives on Sunday morning in Uinta County following a crash that left the cab of their truck filled with snow.

The crash occurred shortly after 2 a.m. on Sunday, January 22, near Lyman, Wyoming.

Authorities say that driver Keith Koehler II, 39, and passenger Tyler Judd, 40, were in a tractor trailer headed eastbound on I-80 at mile marker 33 when the truck drifted off the roadway to the left and went into a median.

Koehler veered hard back right onto I-80, troopers say, then lost control. The truck rolled over onto the driver’s side into a ditch at an interchange.

The semi truck’s windshield was detached by the force of the crash. As the truck slid down an embankment, the cab of the truck became filled with snow.

Troopers say that the snow solidified and the two men were trapped in the sleeper area unable to dig their way out. Both men died at the scene.

Because the truck went down the embankment, it took three hours for Wyoming Department of Transportation crews to notice the crashed vehicle.

Driver inattention and fatigue may have been factors in the crash, according to the Casper Star-Tribune.