Michigan man killed in Grand Teton crash
By Emma Breysse, Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Date: June 15, 2012
A head-on collision in Grand Teton National Park killed a Michigan man Thursday.
John Richard Grace, 60, of Rochester Hills, Mich., was driving one of the cars that collided in the park’s Oxbow Bend area at around 12:30 p.m., Teton County Coroner Kiley Campbell said.
As of Thursday afternoon, Campbell said he hadn’t determined exactly how Grace died, but he expected to know within the next day.
Two cars, each with a driver and a passenger, were involved in the wreck, park spokeswoman Jackie Skaggs said. Neither the other driver nor either passenger was injured, she said.
The first call reporting the accident came at 12:39 p.m., she said.
At 4 p.m., rangers were still investigating the scene, but expected to be done Thursday night, she said. Information about the accident’s cause should be available in the next several days, Skaggs said.
Rangers closed the five-mile stretch of Highway 89/191 between Moran Junction and Jackson Lake Junction for the investigation. They rerouted traffic to the Teton Park Road.
The rerouting and closure caused five- to 10-minute traffic delays Thurs-day afternoon, spokeswoman Jenny Anzelmo-Sarles said. Delays occurred mainly when emergency vehicles were en route to the crash.
“It did cause traffic delays and back-ups, especially right at first,” Anzelmo-Sarles said. “But I would characterize them as minor.”
Most of the back-ups occurred at Moose Junction, where northbound travelers were rerouted, and at Moran Junction, she said.
Construction on the inner route past Jenny Lake may have caused some travelers further delays, she said.