Fremont County Coroner presents 2024 end of year summary, comparison

(Lander, WY) – Fremont County Coroner Erin Ivie presented a 2024 End of Year Summary & Comparison from her office during a Fremont County Commission meeting this week. 

The report indicates that there were 349 recorded deaths in Fremont County in 2024 – up by 51 from the year before.

The coroner’s office was contacted 183 times for investigation and referral related to those local deaths, Ivie said, and her office accepted 168 of those calls for investigation.

“That’s 48 percent of the total deaths in Fremont County (and) 29 more than in 2023,” she said. “Unfortunately it’s a lot more than it was last year – and we’re not starting off well this year, either.”

2024 cases

Out of the coroner’s 168 cases in 2024, Ivie said 62 deaths were non-natural – meaning accident, homicide, suicide, or undetermined.

“That’s 12 more than (for) 2023, when we had 50,” she said. 

Thirty-nine of the non-natural deaths were accidental in 2024, Ivie said, up from 35 in 2023.

Ten of those accidental deaths were caused by motor vehicles and 10 were caused by fall trauma, Ivie said – including two falls “from a height” and eight falls from “a standing height.”

Nine accidental deaths were caused by drug or alcohol toxicity in 2024, Ivie said, while three were caused by drowning, three were caused by asphyxia, two were caused by carbon monoxide poisoning, and two were caused by hypothermia. 

Thirteen of the coroner’s cases involved suicides last year, up from nine in 2023, she said, and there were seven homicides in 2024, up from three in 2023. 

Three of the coroner’s cases were ruled undetermined in 2024, she said, and those involved drowning, sepsis, and a stab wound.

Motor vehicles

There were 10 motor vehicle deaths in Fremont County in 2024, Ivie said, down from 13 in 2023.

Half of those 2024 deaths involved drugs or alcohol, she said, while one involved a pedestrian.

Nine of the 2024 traffic deaths involved vehicles equipped with safety restrictions, Ivie noted, but only two were in use.

Drugs, alcohol

Drug and alcohol related deaths accounted for 54 (32 percent) of the cases the coroner handled in 2024, Ivie said – slightly higher than the 30 percent recorded in 2023.

Of the non-natural deaths recorded in 2024, Ivie said half were drug or alcohol related – a slight decrease from the 56 percent recorded in 2023.

Drugs and alcohol contributed to 44 percent of accidental deaths in Fremont County last year, Ivie said – a decrease from the 57 percent recorded in 2023. 

“The primary substance of abuse in Fremont County is still alcohol and has been for the last 30 years,” Ivie said. 

Thirty-four (62 percent) of the drug and alcohol related deaths recorded in 2024 involved alcohol, Ivie said, while 11 involved methamphetamines (down from 13 in 2023), 15 involved cannabis (up from four in 2023), three involved cocaine, three involved opiates excluding fentanyl, and one involved benzodiazepines. 

“(Cannabis) is on the rise,” Ivie said. “We’re seeing it more often in our fatalities. (And) cocaine is on the list for the first time in 10 years.”

Call volumes

The coroner’s office responded to Riverton 71 times in 2024, Ivie said, while there were 39 calls to Lander and 14 calls to Dubois – a number Ivie called “atypical,” since “our normal total to Dubois is six.”

Twelve of the 2024 calls were in Fort Washakie, Ivie said, while 10 were in Arapahoe, four were in Shoshoni, four were in Ethete, three were in Jeffrey City, three were in Crowheart, two were in Hudson, two were in Kinnear, and one was in Bonneville.

Nine cases were at SageWest Health Care in Riverton, six cases were at the Wyoming Medical Center in Casper, five cases were at SageWest Health Care in Lander, one was at Help for Health Hospice in Riverton, and one was at the Billings Clinic, Ivie said. 

Nine of the coroner’s 2024 cases involved search and rescue or or firefighting crews, she said, while one involved Tribal Fish and Game, one involved Wyoming Game and Fish, and one involved the State Parks Department.

“We have conducted 34 autopsies for our own cases (and) 42 for contractual autopsies for our surrounding counties,” she said. “Seven contractual cases for December are awaiting payment, and the total revenue billed for the 2024 calendar year is $84,071.”

There was one completed unclaimed remains burial in 2024, Ivie concluded, and there were no unidentified cases last year.

New building

Fremont County recently used American Rescue Plan Act funding to purchase a new building for the coroner’s office at 201 E. Washington Ave. in Riverton. 

Commissioner Mike Jones said meetings would begin this week to “start talking about how we can convert that” building, which previously housed Bunks BBQ.

For more information, call the Fremont County Coroner’s Office at (307) 856-7150.