Episode Details

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming, for Monday, September 16th. I'm Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom - brought to you by ServeWyoming - Wyoming's center for volunteerism and AmeriCorps service for the last 30 years! For volunteer opportunities, visit ServeWyoming dot org"

The Rock Springs Police Department is asking for the public's help finding an autistic boy who went missing Sunday afternoon.

Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that 7-year-old Leo Ressler is not a runaway, and he's considered "missing and endangered."

"the Rock Springs police department specified he is not a runaway. And you know, often kids will run away, but they're still kind of fending for themselves.

But the police department said, No, he's not a runaway. He's nonverbal, autistic, last seen walking here in elementary school at 4pm."

Ressler was last seen wearing a white shirt and grey shorts, and in the area of F Street and Lincoln Park.

Read the full story HERE.

People evacuated on both sides of the Wyoming-Montana border in the path of the Short Draw Fire are allowed to go home again after several harrowing days of wind-blown flames burning through ranchland.

But Cowboy State Daily's Greg Johnson reports that unfortunately for some, there aren't places to go home to anymore.

"There are some homes that have been lost, have been burned, that they don't know really how many yet. They haven't really had time to do a full inventory, but there definitely have been some… At the same time they are getting a handle on it. It hasn't really grown much. The size of it has fluctuated as they've been able to get better information. So it's fluctuated between about 30,500 acres to about 40,000 and it's kind of remained there for the last day and a half or so. But now the reporting about 27% containment and that they've got lines around it."

The southern part of the fire area in Wyoming continues to be a problem and that structure protection efforts are ongoing. Just how the fire started remains under investigation.

Read the full story HERE.

Dying from cancer, one of a Pennsylvania man's last wishes was a first Wyoming elk and deer hunt for his 14-year-old daughter.

Thanks to a Gillette-area Airbnb owner and outfitter, Lee Swartzfager and his daughter Sadie got that dream hunt. Cowboy State Daily's Mark Heinz reports that this is a story about the kindness of the people of Wyoming, the power of faith and the many hunts to come for his 14-year-old Sadie.

"It's a really, very deeply emotional story… the daughter was able to make it out. She did get an elk… and her dad, miraculously enough, his condition… it took enough of a turn for the better that he was able to come out. He was not able to hunt, but he was able to at least… be like out in the field in a vehicle when his daughter shot the elk, and they were able to get up to where that was… he's centered on his faith and on the future of his daughter and how kind people and Wyoming is. "

Rather than people feeling sorry for him, Lee said he wants them to be uplifted by the story of his family's experience and Sadie's first hunt in Wyoming.

Read the full story HERE.

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