2 die on Wyo highways

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The Wyoming Highway Patrol reported the 24th and 25th fatal accidents of the year this weekend, according to statements on Sunday.

Bernadene G. St. Clair, 29, of Fort Washakie died on Wyoming Highway 789 after a pickup hit her 1999 Plymouth one mile north of Hudson in Fremont County at 10:30 p.m. Friday, according to a prepared statement from Sgt. Stephen Townsend.

The driver of the 2005 Ford pickup and an accomplice face criminal charges.

St. Clair was driving southbound through heavy snow on the icy and slushy highway when Gene W. Arnell's northbound pickup crossed the center line and hit her vehicle head-on.

Both vehicles came to rest on the north side of the road.

A passenger in St. Clair's car, 31-year-old Guy Kindness, was transported to the Lander Valley Medical Center for treatment.

Neither St. Clair nor Kindness were wearing seat belts.

Arnell fled the scene in another vehicle - not involved in the crash - that was driven by Garth Yeates.

Law enforcement authorities later located and arrested Arnell, 47, at a residence in Riverton.

Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers are investigating alcohol use by Arnell as a contributing factor in the crash.

The Fremont County Attorney will review the completed investigation and determine what criminal charges to file against Arnell and Yeates.

In the 25th reported fatality, Townsend wrote 17-year-old Michael T. Woodley of Evanston died Saturday in a one-vehicle rollover accident on U.S. Highway 189 eight miles north of Marbleton in Sublette County.

Woodley was driving southbound on the dry road when his 1991 Chevrolet pickup went off the right-hand shoulder of U.S. 189 at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

He steered the pickup back to the road where he over-corrected to the right. That caused the vehicle to rotate clockwise and into a broadside slide off the roadway into the barrow ditch.

The pickup rolled 1-1/2 times during which Woodley, who was not wearing a seat belt, was totally ejected.

The pickup then became airborne, clipping the right-of-way fence, landing and coming to rest on its wheels on the opposite side of the fence.

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