WASHINGTON, Washington County — Classic car collectors gathered Friday morning for a procession in remembrance of Dennis “Deny” Rutkoskie, who died while driving his Model T Ford last month.

The procession was held on what would have been Rutkoskie’s 85th birthday. According to friends, he was a well-known figure in the classic-car collecting community in southern Utah and owned more than 20 classic cars, which he showcased at his shop in Washington.

Longtime friend Doug Chambers brought his 2006 Ford Mustang to the event and said that the procession was less about cars and more about honoring the great man Rutkoskie truly was.

“He was always a great guy, and every week we would meet at Cracker Barrel for what we called, Hot Rod Hangout,” Chambers said. “He would drive a different car every time, it might be a Rolls-Royce one week, and the next week it would be the Model T, or it could be one of his 1904 racers.

“(Losing Deny) was a shock — just a gut punch,” he added. “Myself and my friends couldn’t believe it was real, and then we started seeing pictures on social media and KSL. It’s hard to believe. … When we lose someone, it’s really hard.”

The procession, which included upwards of 50 classic cars, started at the Walmart in Washington City and went down Washington Fields Road all the way to Rutkoskie’s car museum. It was led by local law enforcement and spearheaded by friends such as Tony Lonnett, president of the Desert Rodders Car Club of Southwest Utah.

Lonnett spoke of Rutkoskie’s generosity and reflected on spending time with him during the annual Shop With a Cop event, to which Rutkoskie was a large donor.

“This is a sad event, but it’s going to be really joyous,” he said. “(The procession) shows respect for a man who had the love of cars and enjoyed them immensely. (Deny’s) the kind of guy who made me reflect on how to be a better man. That’s Denny.”

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food is tracking cases of New World Screwworm after the first U.S. case since 1968 was detected in Texas.

The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food described New World Screwworm as a fly. The fly’s larvae burrow into the living tissue of warm-blooded animals, causing large wounds and even death in untreated animals.

Officials said the fly was eradicated from the United States in the late 60s. However, an increase in flies in Central America in recent years led to the discovery of New World Screwworm in Mexico and has since spread into the States. The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed on Wednesday that a three-week-old calf in Texas was carrying the fly’s larvae.

According to UDAF, if New World Screwworm spreads in the United States, it could cost billions in treatment costs, production, and losses.

“It is critical for animal owners and veterinarians to be aware of the signs of NWS and to report any suspicious cases immediately to the State Veterinarian’s office,” UDAF said in a statement.

Signs include discomfort, draining or enlarging wounds, and larvae or eggs in or around body openings, such as the nose and ears. The New World Screwworm most commonly affects livestock, pets, and wildlife and, in very rare cases, people and birds.

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SANTAQUIN — A mother is accused of leaving her young child in a hot car in 2019, resulting in the toddler’s death.

Amy Kay Bethers, 29, was charged Thursday in 4th District Court with child abuse homicide, a first-degree felony.

On Aug. 13, 2019, about 5:45 p.m., Bethers brought her 6-month-old son – identified in court documents only as W.T. – to Mountain View Hospital. An obituary identifies the toddler as Wade Ron Taylor.

The boy’s “jaw was locked tight in the onset of rigor mortis, he was warm to the touch, he had sloughing of the skin on his scalp, face, ear and chest, his skin was discolored and mottled, and (his) eyes were open with dryness over the cornea and fixated pupils,” according to charging documents. The toddler’s body temperature was recorded at 109.8 degrees Fahrenheit and he was pronounced deceased about 6:15 p.m.

Doctors “believed that W.T.’s death was probably related to being in a hot environment for too long,” the charges state.

Bethers told police she was driving with her child to a storage unit in Santaquin “when she noticed W.T. was not as ‘wiggly and chattery’ as usual, so she ‘rolled down the windows some more’ and turned around to go home,” according to the charges.

Bethers told police she noticed he was “getting discolored” and his lips turning purple, “and he started ‘getting stiff’ and drooling,” the charges state.

She told investigators that she had been driving for two to three hours and her vehicle did not have air conditioning. Temperatures that day reached about 93 degrees Fahrenheit.

W.T.’s “immediate cause of death was hyperthermia,” but the manner “‘could not be determined’ because her findings from the autopsy were not consistent with Bether’s accounting of events,” according to the charges.

A doctor later concluded “that under conditions where both windows were up and the vehicle was traveling 25 mph, W.T.’s temperature could reach 109.8 degrees in 50-70 minutes; under conditions where both windows were up and the vehicle was traveling 45 mph, W.T.’s temperature could reach 109.8 degrees in 70-150 minutes; under conditions where both windows were up and the vehicle was traveling 65 mph, there would be little to no change in W.T.’s temperature during anytime of the day. (The doctor) concluded that under conditions where the vehicle was parked in the sun and both windows were closed, W.T.’s temperature could reach 109.8 degrees in 40-50 minutes; under conditions where the vehicle was parked in the shade and both windows were closed, there would be no change in W.T.’s temperature,” the charges state.

Court documents do not explain why it took several years to follow up on the charges.