Rollover claims life of Colorado man

A one-vehicle rollover Tuesday afternoon southwest of Lovell claimed the life of a Cody man, the Wyoming Highway Patrol reported.

The crash took place near milepost 108 on Wyoming Highway 32, the Emblem Highway, 10.8 miles south and west of the intersection at U.S. 14A-310, past the south road into Byron. It was called in at 2:38 p.m.

According to Trooper Blain Mollett, the rollover claimed the life of Rodney Dye, 49, whose driver’s license and car registration were issued in Colorado but who was apparently a resident of Cody.

Mollett said Dye was driving a 2003 Mercury Mountaineer northbound on Highway 32 when he failed to negotiate a lefthand curve in the roadway. The vehicle left the road on the right side, and the driver overcorrected, causing the Mercury to cross back over the road and leave the pavement off the left side. The vehicle rolled at least three times, Mollett said, after striking a driveway access road to a field. Dye was ejected from the vehicle.

Speed and drug use were being investigated as contributing factors in the crash, Mollett said. The driver was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash, he said, adding, “The seatbelt was buckled but was not in use.”

Dye was transported to the county coroner’s facility in Basin, Mollett said.