Episode Details
Back to EpisodesCowboy State Daily Video News: Wednesday, September 23, 2026
Description
It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Wednesday, September 23rd. I'm Mac Watson.
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A Colorado man whose phone contained searches for "cliffs near me" before his pickup plunged off a Wyoming mountain road with his wife inside is now wanted in Wyoming for first-degree murder. Cowboy State Daily's Kolby Fedore reports that investigators say their truck went over the cliff at 57 mph.
"Investigators say his truck reached speeds of nearly 57 miles-per-hour before plunging off a cliff outside of Saratoga, and investigators say there were no signs of braking or trying to stop before the pickup went over the edge. His wife, 44-year-old Virginia Wood, initially survived the crash, but a coroner decided that she ultimately died of homicide based on her injuries. Investigators found the couple two days later. Virginia Wood was deceased at that point, and Jay Wood was still alive. They noticed that he was wearing different clothes from the clothes that he was seen wearing the day of the crash, per surveillance per surveillance video from a nearby gas station."
Fort Collins police arrested 46-year-old Forrest J. Wood on Tuesday morning on a Carbon County warrant. He is now expected to be extradited to Wyoming, where he is facing first-degree murder charges, along with failure to render aid.
Read the full story HERE.
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The remains of a 43-year-old Gillette man named Derek Schaff, who has been missing more than three months, were found Saturday by a K-9 named Taz during an extensive search of the Weston Hills Recreation Area. Cowboy State Daily's Jen Kocher reports that the K-9's handler says, "I wouldn't have seen the guy without" his dog.
"Remains were found by K-9 Taz and John Lebrec of Jackson Hole. His remains were found kind of wedged between rocks in a deep ravine about 14 feet deep. He was very difficult to see from above. Taz got alerted on the smell was an upwind, so Taz was able to detect the odor of human remains and just beelined down into the ravine. John followed, and when John went down, he saw, of course, that it was in fact human remains. Currently the cause and manner of death are unknown. No obvious foul play was detected, but of course, the coroner will have to determine cause and manner of death following the autopsy that happened on Monday."
This was the biggest search for Schaff, including more than 20 volunteers, some from out of state, and nine dog teams.
Read the full story HERE.
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A Cody bowhunter said he did nothing wrong by leaving an elk that was partly devoured by a grizzly. Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that although Ron Niziolek was charged by Game and Fish, he said skinning and quartering an elk with likely-tainted meat wasn't worth the risk of a grizzly confrontation.
"He said, 'you know what? I'm going to fight these charges.' Took it to trial, and in August prevailed. He was found not guilty, but he said kind of his experience of going through all this. He really hopes that there's some more clarity because you know Game and Fish is at least informally telling people don't try to fight a grizzly if a grizzly does claim an elk car because even if they're not there right there at the moment, if you see evidence of a bear round, just get out of there. Don't risk a confrontation, and that's what he did. The game warden did talk in court, and so you kn