A pair of U.S. veterinarians considered leading experts on chronic wasting disease were killed in an automobile accident in northern Colorado Dec. 29.
Husband-and-wife wildlife experts Tom Thorne and Beth Williams of Albany County, Wyoming, died when their pick-up truck collided with a jack-knifed semitrailer on a snow-packed highway near the Colorado-Wyoming border.
Colorado state troopers said the accident occurred after the semitrailer slid out of control and came to a stop across the oncoming lane.
Williams, 53, taught at the University of Wyoming and was widely recognized as one of North America’s leading experts on CWD.
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Thorne, 63, had served as acting director of the Wyoming Fish and Game Department before retiring in 2003. He was also considered a prominent researcher of CWD and brucellosis.
Williams studied zoology at the University of Maryland and later earned doctorate degrees in veterinary medicine and veterinary pathology from Purdue and Colorado State University.
Thorne held a variety of positions in the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, including assistant chief of the services division. He also served as branch chief of the state’s Wildlife Veterinary Research Service.
