Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation Wildlife Technician Harold Coats died July 15, 2002 in a motor vehicle accident. While driving a dump truck with a load of gravel, a train struck his vehicle and he and two men from a prison work crew, Danny R. Swindler and Antonio G. Estrada, were killed.
Coats, age 52, began work with the Department in 1987 at the Durant State Fish Hatchery but spent the majority of his career at the Atoka and Stringtown Wildlife Management Areas.
Sources: Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation web site, accessed Sept. 13, 2026. “Truck-Train Accident in Atoka County Kills 3” Newson6.com, July 15, 2002.