Wyoming
After 50 Years, Wyoming’s Oldest Missing Person Case May Never Be…
Larry Marvin Morris was just wrapping up a temporary stint as a seismograph worker in Riverton, Wyoming, when he mysteriously disappeared.
The 24-year-old Tulsa, Oklahoma, college student had planned a stop in Yellowstone National Park before heading home. Morris never made it to either destination and was reported missing April 24, 1974.
Since the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation started tracking missing persons cases, the disappearance of Morris remains the oldest and coldest of those in the agency’s missing person database.
Although it’s been 50 years, it’s a case that former Riverton Police Department detective and Fremont County Coroner Ed McAuslan knows well and continues to ponder well into retirement.
In fact, it had been McAuslan’s first missing person investigation as rookie detective.
He’d joined the department in 1973, and two years later was also hired as deputy coroner. In 1998, he was elected coroner and held the post for 16 years. McAuslan retired in 2014 after nearly 28 years with the police and 40 as coroner.
Over the course of his career, McAuslan never stopped thinking about Morris or trying to solve what he firmly believes was a homicide.
He’s also stayed in contact with Morris’ sister, who did not respond to Cowboy State Daily’s request for an interview.
Unfortunately, McAuslan said, the two men who were likely responsible for Morris’ murder have also long since died despite his repeated attempts to get them prosecuted.
“Every time we’d get a new county attorney in office, I would present the case to them,” he said. “Nobody would take it and prosecute it.”
Assumed Identity
After failing to show up at work the following Monday, Morris was reported missing by his boss.
A search of Morris’ Riverton apartment showed no signs of foul play, suggesting that he met with foul play somewhere between Riverton and Jackson.
“At that particular point, we didn’t have a whole lot to go on,” McAuslan said.
He sent out inquiries with Morris’ description and that of his car to police agencies in surrounding states, McAuslan recalled, and within a couple of weeks received a call from the sheriff’s office in Twin Falls, Idaho.
The sheriff had detained a man identifying as Larry Marvin Morris, McAuslan was told, who was being held on suspicion of armed burglary.
McAuslan immediately headed to Twin Falls, where he and the FBI interviewed a man who was determined not to be Morris. Instead, he was 36-year-old Jack Raymond Lincoln, who turned out to be an escapee from the Colorado State Penitentiary’s pre-parole center.
According to reporting by the Fort Collins Coloradoan, Lincoln had just completed an 11- to 18-year sentence for receiving stolen goods and larceny. At the time he escaped, he’d been serving an additional three to seven years for conspiring to escape from the Camp George West honor farm near Golden.
Lincoln was arrested with another ex-felon, James Franklin Jagers, 26, who had been Lincoln’s cellmate in the Colorado penitentiary.
Overdue Rental Car
The men had Morris’ driver’s license and credit cards, where McAuslen had traced them from Wyoming, Utah and Nevada to California, Oregon and Idaho, where they’d been arrested for breaking into a country store.
At the time of their arrest, Jagers and Lincoln were driving an overdue rental car from San Francisco that had been reserved under Morris’ name.
In the car, police found “guns and frozen meat” that likely tied them to an additional burglary at a rural home, according to a May 9, 1974, story in the Twin Falls Times-News.
The men had been arrested the same night robbing a country store in Hollister, Idaho. The store owner had caught them in the act after a woman saw the men entering the closed store, according to reporting by the Twin Falls Times-News.
Both were sentenced to a maximum of 15 years in the Idaho State Penitentiary.
Uncooperative
When questioned by McAuslan, both denied having anything to do with Morris’ disappearance and were uncooperative, he said.
“Their basic attitude was, ‘That’s a damn lie and that’s all I’m going to tell you,’” McAuslan said. “We didn’t get anywhere in our interviews, even though when they were arrested, they had all of Larry’s identification.”
Days after their arrest, Morris’ 1966 Ford LTD pickup with Oklahoma license plates was found abandoned at a car repair shop in San Francisco, where they had rented a car using Morris’ credit card and personal information.
To McAuslan’s knowledge, Morris’ family paid for the repairs and took his pickup back with them to Oklahoma.
No Trace
McAuslan is convinced that the men, both of whom have since died, were responsible for Morris’ death and suspects they dumped his body somewhere off the highway between Riverton and Dubois.
The area had been hit with heavy spring snow at the time Morris disappeared, which would have limited how far they could have gotten off the road to ditch the body, he said.
“We did a lot of groundwork,” McAuslan said, including searches with Morris’ family. Over the years, he speculates they’ve searched the entire terrain between the two cities.
“He [Morris] never did turn up,” McAuslan said, “so when they disposed of the body, they did a good job of it.”
McAuslan speculated that Morris may have seen the two hitchhiking along the highway and picked them up or ran into them at a gas station or other location in town because they had just ditched the car they’d stolen out of Colorado.
This was the early 1970s, McAuslan noted, where it would have been normal to give a person a lift.
No DNA was taken from the car because it wasn’t introduced as evidence in a court until 1986, according to the National Institute for Justice.
McAuslan is under no misconception that Morris is still alive.
“My perspective was, well, they’ve got everything else and he’s [Morris] never been seen again,” McAuslan said. “You can make an assumption that he has to be dead.”
Deal, No Deal
McAuslan kept close tabs on the men over the decade-plus that he worked the case and stayed in constant contact with Morris’ family.
Anytime an unidentified body was found close to Morris’ description, McAuslan would investigate it further.
“We looked at a lot of dead bodies,” he said.
And despite the relatively strong tangential evidence of being caught with Morris’ identification, credit cards and other possessions, neither man was ever arrested in connection with the disappearance.
Jagers, however, came close to a confession in 1983, when he attempted to negotiate a move from the Idaho penitentiary to a Wyoming prison in exchange for information.
Jagers allegedly told authorities that Morris was indeed dead and he knew where the body was.
The deal never went anywhere, McAuslan said.
Ryan Cox, DCI commander and head of cold cases, confirmed a deal had been discussed, though in the end, the “inmate did not agree to cooperate with Wyoming law enforcement.”
Jagers died in 2014 at age 68, according to his obituary in the Tribune Chronicle. Lincoln died years earlier, McAuslan said, though Cowboy State Daily could not locate his obituary.
As such, they took their secrets to the grave, McAuslan said.
No other suspects apart from the two men were identified, McAuslan said, despite extensive interviews and groundwork.
To date, the case remains unsolved pending new information or the discovery of Morris’ body. Despite the odds of actually finding answers, McAuslan refuses to write it off.
“You never want to say something’s unsolvable, because sometimes something can turn up,” he said.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact the Riverton Police Department at 307-856-4891 or the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation at 307-777-7181.
Jen Kocher can be reached at jen@cowboystatedaily.com.
The Platte County Attorney’s Office has nearly doubled the possible penalties for a Wyoming reporter accused of forging exhibits in an environmental case tied to her staunch opposition to a wind farm.
The 10 new counts against April Marie Morganroth, also known as the Wyoming-based reporter Marie Hamilton, allege that she convinced her landlords that she’d been approved for a home loan to buy their property, and grants to upgrade it.
Hamilton was already facing 10 felony charges in a March 9 Wheatland Circuit Court case, as she’s accused of submitting forged documents and lying under oath before the Wyoming Industrial Siting Council.
That’s an environmental permitting panel that granted a permit to a NextEra Resources wind farm, which Hamilton has long opposed. She’s also reported on NextEra’s efforts and the community controversies surrounding those.
Then on Wednesday, Platte County Attorney Douglas Weaver filed 10 more felony charges: five alleging possession of forged writing, and five more alleging forgery.
The former is punishable by up to five years in prison and $5,000 in fines; the latter by up to 10 years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines.
Hamilton faces up to 65 years in prison if convicted of all charges in her March 9 case. The March 25 case would add up to 75 years more to that.
Both cases are ongoing.
Hamilton did not immediately respond to a voicemail request for comment left Thursday afternoon on her cellphone. She bonded out of jail earlier this month. The Platte County Detention Center said Thursday it does “not have her here.”
The Investigative Efforts Of Benjamin Peech
Converse County Sheriff’s Lt. Benjamin Peech investigated both cases at the request of Platte County authorities, court documents say.
When he was investigating evidence that Hamilton submitted forged documents and lied under oath for Industrial Siting Council proceedings, Peech also pursued Hamilton’s claim that she owned property on JJ Road, and that she’d bought it with a U.S. Department of Agriculture loan.
The property, however, is registered under Platte County’s mapping system to a couple surnamed Gillis, says a new affidavit Peech signed March 19, which was filed Wednesday.
Peech spoke with both husband and wife, and they said they had the home on the market to sell it, and Hamilton contacted them in about July of 2025.
Hamilton told the pair that she and her husband wished to buy the property and were pre-qualified for a USDA loan through Neighbor’s Bank, wrote Peech.
But the property didn’t meet the standard of the loan, Hamilton reportedly continued. Still, she’d been approved for a USDA grant to work on the problems with the property and bring it up to the standards to qualify for the loan, she allegedly told the homeowners.
Papers
Hamilton provided the couple and their realtor with letters from USDA showing her loan pre-approval and grant approvals, the affidavit says.
During the lease period that followed, Hamilton was late “often” with rent and didn’t provide the couple with work logs until pressed, Peech wrote.
In early 2026, the lieutenant continued, the homeowners became concerned and asked Hamilton about her progress improving the property.
Hamilton reportedly sent the homeowners two invoices from contractors, showing she’d paid for work to be done. She said the wind had delayed that work, wrote Peech.
The affidavit says the Gillis couple sent Peech the documents Hamilton had reportedly given them, along with supporting emails showing those had come from one of Hamilton’s email addresses.
The Loan approval documents showed the respective logos for USDA Rural Development and Neighbor’s Bank at the top of each page, the lieutenant wrote, adding that the documents assert that Hamilton and her husband had been approved for the loan.
“There was then a list of items that needed to be completed — 14 items — prior to Final Loan Approval,” related Peech in the affidavit.
A signature at the bottom reportedly read, “Sincerely, USDA Rural Development Neighbors Bank Joshua Harris Homebuying Specialist.”
Grant Document
The documents purporting Hamilton had received a grant also showed the USDA Rural Development logo at the top of each page, with the names of Hamilton and her husband, other boilerplate language and a description of a $35,000 home buyer’s grant.
The project was about 65% complete at the time of review, the document adds, according to Peech’s narrative.
Peech describes more documents: a January notice, an invoice bearing the logo and name of “Cowgirl Demolition and Excavation, LLC,” and another invoice bearing the logo and name of “Pete’s Builders Roofing and Restoration.”
Real Estate Agent
Peech spoke with the Gillises’ real estate agent, Kay Pope, and she said she’d tried to verify the USDA grant and pre-approval by calling Susan Allman, who was listed in the documents as the Casper-based USDA agent. Pope left several messages without response, the affidavit says.
Pope spoke with Hamilton’s real estate agent, and he said he’d spoken to Allman, and he gave Pope a phone number.
Cowboy State Daily has identified Hamilton’s real estate agent and tried to contact him for further clarification.
Pope called that number and left messages without response, wrote Peech.
Peech then called a USDA Rural Development office and spoke with a Janice Blare, deputy state director, he wrote.
Peech sent the three USDA letters to Blare and gave her “all of Hamilton’s names and aliases,” he added.
The lieutenant wrote that Blare later told him the USDA investigated the letters and determined no evidence existed to show the USDA had issued them.
No records existed either, of Hamilton “using all her alias permutations” or her husband within either the USDA loan program or grant program, wrote Peech.
The USDA didn’t have an office at the address listed in two of the letters. The address pertains, rather, to a dirt lot. The USDA Rural Development office didn’t have a program titled “Rural Communities Home Buyer Program” as listed on two of the letters.
On Nov. 6, 2025, the date of the first letter purporting Hamilton had been approved for the grant program, all U.S. government offices including USDA were on furlough, noted Peech from his discussion with Blare.
A person named Susan Allman didn’t appear in USDA’s employee records, Blare reportedly added.
The Phone Call
Peech called the cellphone number one of the letters listed for Allman, “and this was disconnected,” he wrote.
The number Hamilton’s real estate agent had given was a voice over internet protocol number that Bandwidth LLC operates but is assigned to Google, added Peech.
Meanwhile, Converse County Investigator Amber Peterson spoke with the construction and roofing companies listed in the documents.
Chad Derenzo of Pete’s Roofing confirmed the logo and name listed on the documents were his company’s own — but said his company hadn’t issued the bid listed in those documents, according to the affidavit.
“Their company had never contracted to do work for Hamilton or at the… JJ Road address,” the document says.
The invoice also bore an address in Torrington, Wyoming, and his company doesn’t have a Torrington office, said Derenzo, reportedly.
Jessica Loge of Cowgirl Demolition and Excavation gave similar statements, saying the documents bore her logo, but her company hadn’t issued the bid or contracted with Hamilton.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
Wyoming
Wyoming State Parks announces pause on potential visitor center project at Sinks Canyon State Park
Wyoming
Coyote Flats Fire near containment as critical fire danger hits Black Hills, Wyoming counties
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – The grass is starting to return in the Black Hills, but the damage left behind by last week’s wildfire is still visible beneath the surface. The Coyote Flats Fire is now almost completely contained, but fire officials say the work for crews who battled the flames is far from finished.
“It’s been a long week,” said Gail Schmidt, fire chief for the Rockerville Volunteer Fire Department. Schmidt said firefighters worked the Coyote Flats Fire for multiple days as the blaze forced hundreds of people to leave their homes.
Schmidt also warned the timing is concerning.
“It’s early,” she said. “It’s early — and that’s the more concerning part. We haven’t even hit summer yet.”
Some of the same crews, Schmidt said, have moved from the Black Hills to a second wildfire — the Qury (pronounced “Koo-RAY”) Fire. That fire has burned nearly 9,200 acres and was holding at 70% containment as of Monday.
Between multiple wildfires and routine emergency calls, Schmidt said the pace doesn’t slow down.
“The world does not stop just because there was a fire,” she said. “Life continues. We still have our day jobs that we need to go take care of.”
Another challenge arrives Wednesday, with critical fire danger forecast across the Black Hills and into parts of Wyoming, including Sheridan, Campbell, Crook and Weston counties. Forecast conditions include wind gusts up to 40 mph and humidity as low as 12%.
Schmidt said she believes fire lines are in good shape, but she’s watching the weather closely after recent high-wind events.
“Saturday night, 50 mile an hour winds — that was multiple days ago, and there’s been a lot of work done since,” she said. “I personally am pretty confident that we’re going to be able to hold this fire through today.”
While spring is typically the region’s wetter season — which can help reduce fire behavior — Schmidt urged residents not to become complacent as wildfire season ramps up.
See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.
Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.
Copyright 2026 KOTA. All rights reserved.
Tiger Woods involved in rollover crash in Florida less than 2 weeks before Masters: reports
Fox News AI Newsletter: Family turns down $26M from AI giant to keep farmland
Commentary: How a custody fight over an old dog showed why lawyers should never trust AI to tell the truth
The two Taylor Lautners announce a baby Lautner is on the way
L.A. Affairs: Our night together reminded me of what I’d been missing this entire time
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Indiana Members Credit Union announced as new anchor tenant at Bottleworks District
US diplomat Marco Rubio denounces settler violence, tolls in Hormuz strait
Iran-linked hackers have breached FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal emails | CNN Politics
Live: CPAC 2026 Day 2
Video: Will ICE Change Under Its New Leader?
DHS shutdown breakthrough comes at cost for Republicans as funding fights nears end
-
Detroit, MI1 week agoDrummer Brian Pastoria, longtime Detroit music advocate, dies at 68
-
Movie Reviews1 week ago‘Youth’ Twitter review: Ken Karunaas impresses audiences; Suraj Venjaramoodu adds charm; music wins praise | – The Times of India
-
Sports6 days agoIOC addresses execution of 19-year-old Iranian wrestler Saleh Mohammadi
-
New Mexico5 days agoClovis shooting leaves one dead, four injured
-
Business1 week agoDisney’s new CEO says his focus is on storytelling and creativity
-
Technology5 days agoYouTube job scam text: How to spot it fast
-
Tennessee4 days agoTennessee Police Investigating Alleged Assault Involving ‘Reacher’ Star Alan Ritchson
-
Texas1 week agoHow to buy Houston vs. Texas A&M 2026 March Madness tickets