Missing vehicle may have caused fatal wreck

Highway Patrol trooper and couple from Hungry Horse killed in accident

By RICHARD HANNERS / Whitefish Pilot

Three people died in the Aug. 26 fatal wreck on U.S. Highway 2 just west of Bad Rock Canyon, near the House of Mystery, and police are looking for a missing vehicle that may have caused the accident.

Ginger Wilborn, 30, of Hungry Horse, died at Kalispell Regional Medical Center two days after the accident. She had been airlifted to the hospital in critical condition.

Wilborn's companion and the driver of the GMC half-ton pickup she was in at the time, Roy Moore, 42, also of Hungry Horse, died at the scene. Both Wilborn and Moore were not wearing seat belts and were ejected from vehicle.

Montana Highway Patrol trooper Evan Schneider, 29, of Kalispell, also died at the scene after his Ford Crown Victoria patrol car crashed head-on into Moore's pickup truck.

According to a source, Schneider was westbound on U.S. 2 when he observed an eastbound vehicle weaving and crossing the centerline. He quickly turned around and began to pursue the suspect vehicle at high speed.

When Schneider turned on his overhead emergency lights, his onboard video camera was activated and began recording images through the windshield. Schneider passed two eastbound vehicles and was closing in on the suspect vehicle when the accident occurred.

According to a source who has seen the video, the suspect vehicle continued to weave across the centerline and possibly clipped Moore's pickup truck, which was traveling about 55 mph at the time. No evidence of paint-transfer from the suspect vehicle has been found on the pickup truck.

Moore may have lost control of his vehicle, which partially slid off the roadway, but he might have been trying to avoid hitting the suspect vehicle or pulling over because of the rapidly approaching patrol car with emergency lights flashing.

There is no shoulder on the highway on this section of U.S. 2, and the roadway there has a curve and a hill. This section of U.S. 2 is not as narrow, winding and shaded as in Bad Rock Canyon, but House of Mystery owner Joe Hauser told the Daily Inter Lake that accidents near his place are commonplace, and that he has erected signs warning drivers of the hazards.

A printout from Schneider's video camera shown to the Whitefish Pilot was taken seconds before Moore's pickup collided head-on with Schneider's patrol car. The pickup's rear wheels are off the roadway in the printout, and the vehicle is positioned at a 45-degree angle heading back onto the highway.

The suspect vehicle is seen in the distance, continuing on down the highway. The image is very grainy and blurry, and it's nearly impossible to discern the make, model or year of the vehicle. The video was sent to the FBI for further analysis.

Flathead County Undersheriff Pete Wingert told the Daily Inter Lake that it was unclear if the light-colored vehicle in the video is the same as the vehicle Schneider was pursuing.

Schneider, a former Marine who would have turned 30 in September, is survived by his wife Carrie and his brother James, a Highway Patrol trooper based in Libby. Schneider joined the Highway Patrol in January 2004.

His death marks the second time in less than a year that a trooper was killed in a highway accident in Flathead County. David Graham, 36, was killed Oct. 9, 2007, when his patrol car was struck head-on by a pickup truck on U.S. 2 in Evergreen. The driver of that pickup truck was distracted and had crossed the centerline.

Schneider was the sixth trooper to die since the Highway Patrol was founded in 1935. Memorial services for him took place Sept. 2 at the Christian Center Assembly of God, in Kalispell, followed by a procession along U.S. Highway 93 to Glacier Memorial Gardens.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer ordered flags in Montana to be lowered to half-mast on Sept. 2, and members of Schneider's former Marine battalion traveled from Spokane to attend the memorial service.

"Trooper Evan Schneider was a highly intelligent and dedicated man whose quick wit and sense of humor will be deeply missed," Highway Patrol District VI Commander Capt. Clancy King said in a formal statement. "When you enter in public service, you give up something that is not required of other careers. A career in law enforcement requires an even higher level of commitment and unselfishness.

"A peace officer's family realizes their family member no longer belongs to them exclusively, but belongs to the entire community. The inherent risks are obvious. Fortunately, most peace officers complete their career unharmed."