A 26-year-old Bismarck man died Saturday of injuries he sustained in a Friday morning car crash 38 miles east of Rock Springs, Wyo.

Joshua Cates was the passenger in a vehicle driven by his 17-year-old sister, Lea Cates. She was attempting to pass a semi while traveling west on Interstate 80 at about 8 a.m. when she lost visibility due to the icy and snowy conditions, Wyoming Highway Patrol Sgt. Stephen Townsend said.

Cates slowed the 1986 Audi to a near stop and was rear ended by a 2000 Freightliner truck driven by Alex Trujillo, 45, of Santa Carita, Calif. Trujillo told the patrol that he saw the slow-moving vehicle and attempted to swerve, but was unable to avoid it. Trujillo wasn't charged in connection with the accident, Townsend said.

Joshua Cates, who was in the back seat, was taken to a hospital in Salt Lake City for a head injury where he was pronounced dead the next day. Lisa Cates was treated and released. Trujillo was not hurt in the crash. All three were wearing seatbelts.

Joshua's father, Steven Cates, said his son and daughter were going to Palo Alto, Calif., where Joshua was working as a computer programmer. Joshua was a 1995 graduate of Bismarck High School and was taking a break from school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Steven Cates described his son as kind and brilliant.

"I'll never ever in the rest in my life see anything so perfect as Josh," he said. "I've never known anybody like him. I think everybody that knew him would say the same thing. He just went around loving people."

Steven Cates said after the accident he called the more than 20 people programmed into Joshua's cell phone to tell them about the car crash.

"They all started crying and said that Josh was their best friend," he said.

A memorial service is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday at Word of Faith Church, Bismarck.

(Reach reporter Mike Albrecht at 250-8261 or cops@ndonline.com.)