• Two people from California die while crossing tracks.

A tragic accident has shaken the Cokeville community after two people died when their vehicle was hit by an oncoming train. The incident occurred at roughly 11:15 a.m. on Sunday, July 14 when a family from California was attempting to cross the tracks.

Captain Brian Andrews with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office said deputies had closed a portion of Highway 30 due to a previous, unrelated accident. Multiple vehicles attempted to bypass the closure by rerouting to a Union Pacific access road.

“Several individuals decided to bypass a temporary road closure and detour on the railroad right-of-way,” said Andrews. “During the course of one vehicle’s detour, their vehicle was struck by a north  moving train while attempting to cross the tracks from the west side to the east.” Four family members, all from Menifee, California, were in the vehicle when it was hit.

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Two of the family members were deceased when emergency responders arrived, including the mother, identified as Aulaiwon Culver, 47, and a child identified as Lily Culver, 12.  Two other family members in the car, including the father Eric Culver, 50, and son Logan Culver, 15, were both taken to the Cokeville Airport where they were life-flighted to Utah, one to Ogden and the other to Salt Lake City.

Nathan Anderson, Senior Director of Public Affairs for Union Pacific Railroad, said Union Pacific is still investigating the incident as well. “From a safety standpoint, I can’t emphasize enough the importance of look, listen, obey the traffic signs that are posted and make sure that when you’re crossing a railroad track that traffic is cleared and there’s not a train approaching.”