Cody Couple Perishes in ATV Accident
Written by Andrew-Rossi on August 7, 2017
Funeral services have been set for a Cody couple that died Friday in a tragic ATV accident.
69 year old Allen Phillips, a former Cody Middle School teacher, and his wife Annette, who was 66, were ascending the Morrison Jeep trail, which is a steep set of narrow switchbacks that ascends some 5,700 feet to the Beartooth Plateau from the Clarks Fork Canyon. They were with a group of friends when the crash occurred at approximately 2:00 p.m.
Multiple first responder units were dispatched to the site, including a Park County deputy, the county’s Search and Rescue Unit, Clark Fire, Clark First Responders, an ambulance from Powell Valley Hospital and a helicopter from REACH Air Medical Services.
Statements from the Phillips’ companions and evidence at the scene indicated that the couple had attempted to negotiate a hairpin turn in the trail and took the switchback too wide. They then attempted to back up to get a better angle on the turn but in doing so, accidentally backed over the edge and tumbled down four levels of the trail before the ATV came to rest on its top in the middle of the trail below.
The Morrison Jeep Trail has been closed by the US Forest service until further notice. Services for Allen and Annette will be at First Presbyterian Church on Friday, August 11, at 2:00pm. A GoFundMe account has been set up by the couple’s daughters to help with final expenses.
