HULETT, Wyo. — Three travelers are dead after a head-on collision in Crook County on Dec. 9. According to the Wyoming Highway Patrol, the crash occurred as the result of an unsuccessful attempt to overtake another vehicle on Highway 212 in the far northeast corner of the state.

According to the WHP report, published on the WYDOT website, a Subaru Forester was westbound on the route, heading towards the Montana-Wyoming border, at around 11:52 a.m.

Near milepost 16, the driver of the vehicle reportedly elected to overtake another passenger vehicle ahead of it on the two-lane highway.

While heading west in the eastbound lane, the Forester collided head-on with a Subaru Outback heading eastbound. Both cars came to sudden and uncontrolled stops in the southern road ditch. The other westbound car, which the Forester had originally attempted to pass, was left unharmed.

The three fatalities have been identified as 29-year-old Johnathan Vought, 73-year-old Eugene Cadwell and 52-year-old Rebecca Cadwell. Vought was reportedly a resident of New York, while both Cadwells resided in Montana.

The report did not indicate who among the deceased were in which car. They were all, however, wearing their seatbelts.

Speed and driver inattention were cited as the primary contributing factors in the incident. Weather conditions, including severe winds, overcast skies and wet roads, were also present during the time of the crash.

A map of the route on which the crash occurred, nestled in the far northeast corner of Wyoming and connecting Montana and South Dakota, can be seen below.

This story contains preliminary information as provided by the Wyoming Highway Patrol via the Wyoming Department of Transportation Fatal Crash Summary map. The agency advises that information may be subject to change.

Related

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is preparing to deliver a speech Saturday on rebuilding the “arsenal of freedom” at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California.

Ahead of the keynote address, Hegseth shared a video on X touring facilities in California. 

“The era of vendor-locked, prime-dominated, closed architecture, cost plus is over. We’re going to compete. We’re going to move fast. We’re going to do open architecture. We’re going to innovate. We’re going to scale. We’re going to do it at cost. Because this is a commitment to a mission,” Hegseth said in the video. 

“Whether you’re a vet or not who served already, all of you are serving the Department of War, the American people and the arsenal of freedom,” Hegseth said. “I need you to understand that, yes, we’re here for the warfighters who are out there pulling triggers on the behalf of our nation right now. Everybody here’s touched someone who serves at some point. But they can’t succeed without you.”

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The secretary told those building the Department of War’s arsenal that American troops would not be able to do what’s required of them “in far-flung places, in dangerous moments, in the dead of night without the capabilities that you will underwrite for them.”

“So, this arsenal of freedom is built not just with men and women in camouflage. But it’s in folks in civilian clothes all across the country who are also putting in the work 24/7, to out-compete, out-innovate and out-manufacture our opponents,” Hegseth declared.

Hegseth’s speech is scheduled to begin around 2:50 p.m. ET, according to a Reagan National Defense Forum schedule. He will be joined at the event by other leaders from the U.S. military.

“We are rebuilding the Arsenal of Freedom,” Hegseth wrote on X alongside the video. 

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The event is being held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.

“The Reagan National Defense Forum (RNDF) brings together leaders from across the political spectrum and key stakeholders in the defense community, including Members of Congress, current and former Administration officials, senior military leadership, industry executives, technology innovators, and thought leaders,” the Forum said on its website.

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“Their mission is to review and assess policies that strengthen America’s national defense in the context of the global threat environment.”

Notable speakers at the event so far on Saturday included Russell Vought, the director of the United States Office of Management and Budget; Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., who is the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee; Emil Michael, the U.S. under secretary of war for research and engineering; and Adm. Samuel Paparo, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

Why the dropoff?