Two Months After Pine Bluffs Crop Duster Killed, Investigation Continues

More than two months after a Pine Bluffs crop duster was shot to death, the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office reports that it’s still investigating.

The incident that left Kevin Hefley, 52, dead in the 1200 block of County Road 157 on the afternoon of June 24 is still mostly a mystery to the public.

Other than reporting that a “shooter has been located” in its initial report of the shooting that day, no other details have been released.

But that doesn’t mean people have forgotten about the fatal incident.

The Laramie County Sheriff’s Office issued a short update on the investigation Friday, which says the probe is “complex” and ongoing.

It also acknowledges receiving “multiple inquiries regarding the shooting incident … which resulted in the death of Kevin Hefley.”

“Our detectives are actively working on this complex case,” the agency says in the Friday statement. “We appreciate your patience and understanding as the investigation continues.

“An update will be shared once the case has been forwarded to the Laramie County District Attorney’s Office.”

That’s standard procedure, the sheriff’s office reports, adding that the DA’s office will make the final determination “if any further legal action is necessary.”

‘Level-Headed Guy’

Hefley was a local pilot and owner of Airtime Aerial out of Pine Bluffs, and his sudden death came as a shock to friends and family.

Mark Clark of Stonewall, Oklahoma, was Hefley’s friend during their time attending Kansas State University, where they both were on the rodeo team.

He told Cowboy State Daily shortly after the shooting that Hefley’s death has been hard to contemplate.

“We were on the K State rodeo team together and Kevin was a bareback rider,” Clark said. “We just kind of kept in contact with one another. He hails from Walsh, Colorado, where he is originally from.”

Clark, a commodities broker in Stonewall, Oklahoma, said Hefley was a successful rancher with his brother and father in Walsh.

He also said Hefley always had a passion for flying and after his divorce got into a crop-dusting career.

That business took Hefley to spraying jobs in Wyoming, as well as Arizona, Texas, and other states.

“He got to where he really enjoyed it,” Clark said.

He said Hefley remarried in 2015 and moved to Wyoming, but he did not know much about his second wife, Christy, a professional barrel racer.

Clark said Hefley would reach out to him from time to time because he had bought a few cattle just to check on the markets. He characterized him as a “level-headed guy.”

“He was not one to fly off the handle or anything like that ever,” he said. “In all the years that I knew him, I never saw him do that.”

Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.