County Worker Found Dead After 42 Days

Hunters found a terrible surprise on Thursday, Oct. 30. While they were out hunting on a relative's property they thought they had discovered an abandoned vehicle but on closer inspection they found that a body was inside. They made the call to dispatch just after 1 p.m.

The Valley County Sheriff's Office confirmed the vehicle was registered to a missing person. Kevin Coverdell, 52, was a seasonal county employee who had been working mowing ditches and the sides of the roadways. He had identification cards that also tied him to Rock Springs, Wyo., and Makoti, N.D. Coverdell ended his employment on Sept. 18 and was reported missing the next day.

Family members said it wasn't completely unusual for him to be out of contact for a small span of time, but the sheriff's office still searched for the vehicle, alerted other local law enforcement and asked pilots to watch for the vehicle.

Where the vehicle had been found, it was apparent that it wasn't easily seen from Gilbertson Road just off Highway 24. The vehicle had appeared to go straight off the road and hit some farm equipment causing it to flip down a steep embankment and land on the top.

Sheriff Glen Meier said that it appeared Coverdell died on impact. The GMC Suburban had to be extricated by the Long Run Fire Department to retrieve the body.

Meier said that the Montana Highway Patrol was called in to investigate the scene. The body had been trapped in the vehicle for 42 days before it was found.