Gillette Police Investigating Human Skull Found in Abandoned Storage Unit
Authorities determining whether skull is affiliated with a crime
- Published In: Criminal Justice
- Last Updated: Oct 27, 2023
By Jennifer Kocher
Special to the Wyoming Truth
GILLETTE, Wyo.–Authorities are investigating a skull that was found in an abandoned storage unit in Gillette on Wednesday.
The skull, which appears to be human, was turned over to police by the new owner of the storage unit who cleaned it out on Oct. 25. The skull is currently being investigated to determine whether it might be affiliated with a crime, according to Brent Wasson, Gillette Deputy Chief of Police.
“That determination is the goal of the investigation,” Wasson said in an email Thursday.
Should the skull be associated with a crime, there are currently seven active missing person cases in Gillette, according to the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation missing person database, dating back to Paul Hibbard who was last seen in Campbell County in May 1976.
The two most recent missing person cases are that of 16-year-old Lainy Blazo-Young, who was last seen on Oct. 10, 2023, and the Kenyan nursing student, Irene Gakwa, who disappeared from the home she shared with her fiancé, Nathan Hightman, in Gillette in 2022.
Other missing people include Shannon McClure, then 23, who was last seen in June 2013, and Roy Vavra, then 38, who was last seen in January 2006 after leaving his house to meet a friend for a hunting trip.
Older cases include 14-year-old Amanda Dawn Gallion, who was last seen walking to school in October 1997 and her companion, 20-year-old Patrick Lee Ghering, who was seen with Gallion on the morning she vanished.
The Wyoming Truth will update this story as more information becomes available.
