Potential heir’s body found under overpass

EVANSTON, Wyo. – It could take weeks for final autopsy results on a man who was a potential heir to a disputed copper fortune and whose body was found under a railroad overpass in western Wyoming, police said Wednesday.

Lt. Bill Jeffers of the Evanston Police Department said a toxicology report on Timothy Gray could take weeks. Gray’s body was found last Thursday in Evanston, near the Utah border, by children who were sledding.

It appears Gray, 60, died of exposure and his death didn’t appear to be suspicious, Jeffers has said.

Gray was a great-nephew of the late Huguette Clark, heiress to a Montana copper fortune.

Gray possibly stood to inherit millions as Clark’s estate is being disputed in court.

Clark died at 104 in 2011. About 20 great-nieces and great-nephews are challenging her last will that apparently left the bulk of her $400 million estate to charity. A previous will had left it to her relatives.

Clark was the daughter of William A. Clark, a Montana senator who amassed a fortune mining copper, building railroads and founding Las Vegas. Clark, who was childless and only briefly married, had owned mansions in California and Connecticut.

Gray was listed among 21 relatives challenging Clark’s will.

He had been the only potential heir courts and attorneys hadn’t been able to find despite more than a yearlong search.

John R. Morken, a lawyer who represents Gray’s three siblings and several other Clark relatives in challenging Clark’s will, said Gray’s siblings had lost touch with him in about 1990. He said they were notified of his death the day after his body was found, carrying an expired driver’s license that identified him.

“It’s extremely sad” for the family, Morken said. He said it’s possible that a Wyoming court could appoint a person to represent Gray’s interests in the legal challenge to Clark’s will.