 - The first quarter of 2026 has been markedly busier for the Fremont County Coroner’s Office than the same period last year - and busier than any first quarter in nearly a decade, Coroner Erin Ivie reported this month.){kind=link}
(Lander, WY) – The first quarter of 2026 has been markedly busier for the Fremont County Coroner’s Office than the same period last year – and busier than any first quarter in nearly a decade, Coroner Erin Ivie reported this month.
There have been 106 recorded deaths in Fremont County so far this year, Ivie told the Fremont County Commission during an April 14 meeting, and her office responded to 47 of those cases.
That’s 14 more than during the first quarter of 2025, Ivie said, and it’s the highest first-quarter case total her office has recorded since 2017.
“I don’t know why this year has been so awful,” she said. “It just has.”
Non-natural
Twenty-two of this year’s coroner cases involved non-natural deaths, Ivie told the commission this month – up from six during the same timeframe last year.
She said the 22 non-natural cases recorded so far in 2026 include:
- 14 accidental deaths (up from four last year)
- five suicides (up from zero last year)
- three homicides (up from one last year)
- zero undetermined (down from one last year)
There have been nine vehicular deaths in Fremont County so far in 2026, Ivie said – seven more than the same timeframe last year.
Seven of this year’s vehicular deaths involved alcohol or drugs, she continued, though she noted that two cases are still pending toxicology testing results.
Overall, Ivie said drug and alcohol related deaths accounted for 40 percent of coroner’s cases during the first quarter of 2026, up from 30 percent during the same timeframe last year.
Of the 22 non-natural deaths, Ivie said 13 (59 percent) involved drugs or alcohol – down “slightly” from the same time period in 2025.
“Alcohol continues to be our primary substance of abuse with 15 cases related or caused this quarter,” Ivie said, and “Methamphetamine continues to be a concern, (with) 3 percent of the accidental deaths being methamphetamine related or caused.”
Five drug-related deaths this year involved cannabis, she noted, and one death was due to ethylene glycol (antifreeze) toxicity.
Autopsies
The coroner’s office has completed 11 autopsies for Fremont County so far this year, Ivie said – up from five in the first quarter of 2025.
In addition, she said, 16 autopsies have been performed for contractual counties so far in 2026 – up from 12 during the same timeframe last year.
“In March alone, (we) performed 15 autopsies – well above the average of eight per month for both Fremont County and contractual cases,” Ivie said.
For the fiscal year, she said 32 autopsies have been completed so far for Fremont County – up from 21 last year – and 46 autopsies have been completed for contractual counties – up from 37 last year.