Wyoming Man Killed in Rollover Crash Near Thayne
A Jackson man died last weekend in a crash in western Wyoming.
Gabriel Martinez Cortez, 36, died at the scene shortly before 10 p.m. Sunday on U.S. Highway 89 near mile post 97, roughly three miles south of Thayne.
Cortez was driving a 1990 Acura Legend passenger car northbound and failed to properly negotiate a left-hand curve in the highway, according to a news release from the Wyoming Highway Patrol.
The Acura crossed the centerline and drifted off the west shoulder. The Patrol says Cortez overcorrected the Acura to the right, sending the car into a spin.
During the spin, the car tripped and rolled multiple times.
Cortez was not wearing his seatbelt and was thrown from the car. He died at the scene.
The Patrol is investigating failure to maintain a single lane as the contributing factor in the crash.
Cortez was the 20th person killed on Wyoming Highways in 2017. The same time period saw 11 highway deaths statewide in 2016, 23 fatalities in 2015 and 26 people killed in 2014.