A 34-year-old former Powell resident has died from injuries he suffered in a Wednesday afternoon crash on U.S. Highway 14-A outside of Cody.

Dylan Ray, of Cody, was a 2004 graduate of Powell High School.

According to information released by the Wyoming Highway Patrol, Ray had been driving west on U.S. Highway 14-A, toward Cody, when he lost control of his Nissan Xterra on the icy, snowy road.

The Xterra crossed into the eastbound lanes of the highway and collided with a semi-truck driven by 30-year-old Travis Cook of Riverton. 

The crash was reported at 1:14 p.m. Wednesday, roughly 2 miles outside of Cody.

Cook, who was wearing a seatbelt, was uninjured, but Ray suffered critical injuries. He was initially taken to Cody Regional Health and then airlifted to a Billings hospital, where he died early Friday morning.

Ray had been working at Eagle Recovery in Cody. The company’s co-owner, Carisa Wood, described him as “a hard working, kind and gentle soul.”

“He always had a smile and would give anyone the shirt off his back,” Wood wrote online, adding that Ray’s two sons were “the absolute light of his life.”

She has started a GoFundMe page for Ray’s family, hoping to raise funds to help pay medical bills “and give his boys a Christmas that he was working so hard towards.” The fundraiser is online at https://gf.me/u/zbac3u.

Wednesday’s crash was the 120th death on Wyoming’s highways in 2020.

Ray was not wearing a seatbelt and his speed is being investigated as a possible contributing factor to the crash, the patrol said.