On November 7, 1978, 29-year-old Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Ray Lynn Pierson was shot and killed while on duty near Panguitch. Trooper Pierson had pulled over a pickup on Highway 20 for a traffic violation when the driver, later identified as 18-year-old Brian Keith Stack, produced a .357 Magnum and fired a single fatal shot that struck Pierson in the heart. Despite his wound, Pierson drew his service weapon and fired six rounds at the fleeing truck before collapsing; a passing motorist discovered him and summoned help.

Stack fled but was pursued in a high-speed chase that ended near Beaver when he tried to crash through a police roadblock. He survived officers’ gunfire and was taken into custody; he later admitted to the killing, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder to avoid the death penalty, and was sentenced to life in prison. Pierson, a U.S. Navy veteran who had followed his father into the Utah Highway Patrol, was survived by his pregnant wife, two sons, and a daughter; his wife gave birth to a fourth child three months after his death.

Did anyone in the Panguitch or Beaver areas at the time have memories or information about Trooper Pierson’s last patrol?