America's new 'death valley': Inside the rural town where the suicide rate has mysteriously exploded to become 'the fourth highest in the world'

The suicide rate in a rural area of Wyoming has skyrocketed to become the fourth highest in the world, one coroner has claimed.

The unnatural deaths in Natrona County began last fall, and have continued into the new year.

Coroner Jim Whipps on Tuesday urged county commissioners to address the issue, after 12 people, mostly young adults, killed themselves over the past four months.

'If you extrapolate that out, that is like 36 to 40 suicides that I can expect this year,' five-year vet Whipps said. That would break a record set in 2019, he pointed out - when 28 people in Natrona County committed suicide.

The root cause, he said, remains unknown -  leaving citizens of county seat Casper concerned. The town is where a 14-year-old boy was stabbed to death as he tried to protect his girlfriend from two teens at a mall - a blow to the tight-knit community.

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The suicide rate in a rural Natrona County has skyrocketed to become the fourth highest in the entire world, one coroner has claimed. Pictured, county seat Casper, in Central Wyoming

Coroner Jim Whipps on Tuesday urged county commissioners to address the issue, after 12 people, mostly young adults, killed themselves over the past four months

'This has been a different kind of year,' Whipps told attendees at the Natrona County School District Board of Trustees.

'It kind of started last fall, but case count is going way up on unnatural deaths.'

Citing overdoses as a fueling factor, he said the suicides are 'through the roof.'

The county's suicide rate, meanwhile,  is 'on pace for another record year in this county,' he added. 

'Our record setter for this county was a couple years ago at 32 or 33.' 

'So far this year we are sitting on 12 in four months,' Whipps said of the recent suicides. 

'If you extrapolate that out, that is like 36 to 40 suicides that I can expect this year.

'[It] is going way up.'

The words of caution come a couple weeks after Whipps aired similar concerns at Natrona County School District 1  in Casper, where he told staffers he believes the problems stem from the school system.

'It's like I was telling the school board when I look at these kids in their 20s and 30s, I can almost always pinpoint that a big part of their problem that led to that suicide started in their adolescent years,' he said. 

He is seen here airing similar concerns to the county's school district last month, citing how several of the dozen suicides seen in the past four months involved young adults. He slammed the district for what he viewed as inaction on their part

Also speaking was Anni Dundas, a resident who categorized herself as a suicide survivor 

In his five years as coroner, Whipps said he has investigated eight adolescent suicides - none of them coming this year. 

Slamming the district for what he views as inaction on their part, he said: 'We don't need to worry about whether we're opening Pandora's box, because I'm going to tell you right now that it's already open and has been for a long time.'

 'Per capita, Natrona County has one of the highest suicide rates in the state, in the nation and, believe it or not, in the world.' 

Whipps aired similar concerns in a recent documentary honing in on the county's outsized amount of suicides, 

Wyoming - which for years had the highest suicide rate of any state - is part of the 'suicide belt' running the swath of mountainous land from the tip of Montana down to New Mexico.

He said in the 2023 film: 'There’s been more research done on what’s going on around here from the altitude to the wind to the cowboy-up attitude that’s been prevalent in the state since its inception. 

'And nothing has panned out. There’s got to be something that’s different in the way that we think and formulate conclusions than a lot of the rest of the world, and I just don’t know what that is.

'That’s probably one of the more frustrating things, because you can’t generalize it,' Whipps went on of why people take their lives. 'Each case that I go out on is unique.'

Casper is a city in central Wyoming. It offers breathtaking landscapes and scenery, is the second-most populous city after Cheyenne. It has about 6,000 residents. The surrounding county has about 20,000 more

Publicly available statistics support his claims, though it is unknown how he arrived at the conclusion that Natrona sports the fourth highest suicide rate in the world.

The county recorded 27 suicides last month, a slight dip from the 18 seen the year prior.

According to the coroner’s office, there were 28 suicides in the county in 2019. There were 19 in 2020, a 33 percent drop. The average from 2012-2019 was almost 24. 

Wyoming, meanwhile, sports an abnormally high suicide rate, with some attributing that to its few and far between landscape and lack of suicide prevention programs.

For the first time since 2017, Wyoming dropped from  No. 1 in the country in terms of suicides last year, but has since reassumed the dubious distinction from also rural Montana.

As of writing, the state sports a 32.3 percent suicide rate out of all its deaths, fueled by 155 suicide deaths last year, according to the state Department of Health. 

That's down from 190 the year before, but Casper and the surrounding region has now surfaced as a hotspot, Whipps said. Suicides have also been seen in neighboring Mills and Evansville, where life is decidedly slow.    

'It's time for a top-down approach through policy and implementing programs in the schools such as Sources of Strength, which is a broader-base proven program of resiliency,' Whipps said this week, demanding the district  do something 'now' to help students dealing with mental health issues.

In his five years as coroner, Whipps said he has never before seen a suicide spike like this one. He believes the suicides stem from the state of Casper's school system

He asked they implement programs that address those issues as they are occurring, so that the county does not follow the example of suicide strongholds like South Korea and Russia, which have rates of 28 and 25 percent respectively. South Korean city Seoul is seen here

He asked they implement programs that would address those issues as they are occurring, so that the county does not follow the example of notorious suicide strongholds like South Korea and Russia, which have suicide rates of 28 and 25 percent, respectively.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Whipps for clarification on his 'fourth-highest' assertion. 

 'I got to tell you from the outside looking in, it looks as though there is a lot of turning the heads, hiding the heads in the sand, passing the buck, and dragging the feet from school district, the board,' he said during the public comment period. 

'I am willing to make myself available (to) assist. … Something needs to be done now, not five years from now, something needs to be done now.'

Also tapped to speak was Anni Dundas, a Casper resident who categorized herself as a suicide survivor. 

Speaking of the community climate and recent events like the stabbing death of a teen by two other minors at a local mall, Dundas said it was time to admit there is and issue.

'It is known across the state that the Natrona County School District does not have this kind of collaboration with the community and with the resources in the community,' Dundas claimed, citing how she's already spoken to district officials in an effort to make youth mental health a priority. 

Student Elora Nations, a member of the Youth Empowerment Council, also took the podium, telling those in attendance: 'This year has been incredibly hard on Natrona County students.'

Robert Dean Maher, a 14-year-old high school student, was stabbed to death last month at a local mall

An emotional vigil was held for the teen on Thursday at the Eastridge Mall where he was stabbed by two fellow students, both aged 15

'We know from our extensive research that kids as well as adults are at a higher risk of suicide when they have been just impacted by a heavy loss.'

She urged the trustees and administration to monitor the schools to see if there has been an uptick in suicidal students since, telling attendees: 'We don't want to lose any more students this school year and we fear that we might,' she said. 

Robert Dean Maher, 14, died after he was stabbed twice in the stomach with a stolen kitchen knife at Eastridge Mall in Casper on April 7th at around 1.40pm. 

Dominique Antonio Richard Harris and Jarreth Joseflee Sabastian Plunkett, both 15, were arrested the same day near the mall.

They were allegedly seeking revenge after Maher, who had called them 'freaks' a week earlier. 

They are charged as adults with felonious conspiracy to commit murder, felonious aggravated assault and battery and a misdemeanor theft

After the board meeting, district spokesperson Tanya Southerland did not allow Superintendent Michael Jennings to respond to Whipps's and the others' chidings.

She said the district would answer questions the following week, after which Whipps made his second attempt.

County Commission Chairman Peter Nicolaysen thanked Whipps on Tuesday for again going to the school board and raising the issue of youth suicide, saying: 'I personally would say keep up the effort and the pressure.'

Casper is a city in central Wyoming. It offers breathtaking landscapes and scenery, is the second-most populous city after Cheyenne. It has some 60,000 residents. The surrounding county has about 20,000 more.