Missing Indiana couple stranded in Nevada desert for a week; one died, the other saved
A single desperate plea for help was sent to family members too late to save a woman’s husband after the Indiana couple were lost in the Nevada desert for over a week.” 37.757753, -117.809568 delayed text with GPS coordinates of Beverly Barker, 69, who survived the ordeal and was reported to be in good shape at a Reno hospital on Wednesday, the day after rescuers found her as well as the body of her husband, Ronnie, 72. Their nephew, Travis Peters, said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that he could only assume that as his aunt was airlifted to hospital — or maybe his stuff had come down the mountain – his phone came into cell range and the message was sent late on Tuesday. I know it came too late,” wrote Peters, who sharply criticized the law enforcement for what he says is too little too late in terms of finding the Barkers s. The couple were found on Tuesday in the mountainous and forested high desert of remote Silver Peak ar ea of Esmeralda County about 177 miles northwest of Las Vegas, west of Goldfield and east of the California line. The two were with the Kia passenger car which they towed behind a 32ft motorhome before the motorhome got stuck in the mud. They apparently decided to try to continue in the car before it also got stuck. She had melted the snow to get water and the car was providing shelter from temperatures dropping into the 30s overnight, he said on Wednesday. “She would go out and take little walks.” Family members who reported the Barkers missing said in numerous social media posts that they left on a cross-country trip last month and were due to return home this week to Indianapolis. They said the couple left Albany, Oregon on March 27 and planned to meet friends in Tucson, Arizona on March 29. noon Tuesday. “Due to the remote area where the RV was located, it took (search and rescue) crews several hours to reach it,” the Esmeralda County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Wednesday. . “After a search of the motorhome, it was determined that there was no foul play,” he said. He said teams then found tire tracks which they were able to follow to the Kia about 3km away. Esmeralda County Sheriff’s officials did not respond to requests for additional information. “What led them down this path, I don’t know. I don’t know if it was GPS or Google. I don’t know why they were there,” Ferguson said. “It was just one bad decision after another,” he said. “At some point I would have thought they would have pulled over earlier and disconnected the car. They probably lost direction, took a wrong turn and then the car got stuck.” Ferguson said the couple had video indicating they had been in the state-of-the-art Silver Zone since March 27, but he had no information about Ronnie Barker’s death or the cause of his death. Patrick Donnelly of the Center for Biological Diversity, who has been to the area several times as his group protested a planned lithium mine where an extremely rare desert wildflower grows, said only one level road crosses the mountain range in this area from west of Silver Peak. said Wednesday. Peters, the couple’s nephew who lives in Indiana, directed most of his criticism of the raid’s handling at Esmeralda County Sheriff Kenneth Elgan, who did not immediately return phone calls or calls on Wednesday. emails asking how. Peters said in his social media posts that “my sadness is just overshadowed by the fact that they didn’t arrive in time.” He said his uncle might still be alive “if a search had been started sooner (no more than 3 days after we reported them missing).” Peters told KVVU-TV in Las Vegas that the Death creates a hole in the family that will never be filled. “It’s just a larger-than-life personality,” he said. said. “Thank goodness Beverly is alive because she can fill in those gaps that we don’t know about. Why did they go up the mountain? What happened? She’s going to be able to tell us.”
A single desperate plea for help has been sent to family members too late to save a woman’s husband after the Indiana couple were lost in the Nevada desert for more than a week.
“37.757753, -117.809568. Help.”
It was a delayed text with the GPS coordinates of Beverly Barker, 69, who survived the ordeal and was reported in good shape at a Reno hospital on Wednesday, the day after rescuers found her with the body of her husband, Ronnie, 72.
Their nephew, Travis Peters, said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that he could only assume his aunt was being airlifted to hospital – or maybe her things had come down the mountain – his phone came in in cell range and the message was sent late Tuesday.
“Now we know he came too late,” wrote Peters, who strongly criticized law enforcement for what he said was too little too late in terms of the search for Barkers.
The pair were found Tuesday in the mountainous, forested high desert of the remote Silver Peak area of Esmeralda County, about 177 miles northwest of Las Vegas, west of Goldfield and east of the California border.
Both were with the Kia passenger car which they were towing behind a 32ft motorhome before the motorhome got stuck in the mud. They apparently decided to try to continue in the car before it got stuck.
Due to rough roads in the area, authorities elected to have Beverly Barker airlifted to a hospital in Reno for examination, Mineral County Deputy Sheriff Bill Ferguson told The Associated Press.
She had melted snow to get water and the car was providing shelter from temperatures dropping into the 30s at night, he said on Wednesday. “She would go out and take little walks.”
Family members who reported the Barkers missing said in numerous social media posts that they left on a cross-country trip last month and were due to return home this week to Indianapolis. They said the couple left Albany, Oregon on March 27 and planned to meet friends in Tucson, Arizona on March 29.
One of four planes searching for the pair with the Civil Air Patrol spotted the motorhome from the air around noon on Tuesday.
“Due to the remote area where the RV was located, it took (search and rescue) crews several hours to reach it,” the Esmeralda County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Wednesday. .
“After a search of the motorhome, it was determined that there was no foul play,” he said. He said teams then found tire tracks which they were able to follow to the Kia about 3km away.
Esmeralda County Sheriff’s officials did not respond to requests for additional information.
Ferguson said he had no idea how the couple ended up where he did.
“What led them down this path, I don’t know. I don’t know if it was GPS or Google. I don’t know why they were there,” Ferguson said.
“It was just one bad decision after another,” he said. “At some point I would have thought they would have stopped earlier and unplugged the car. They probably lost direction, took a wrong turn, and then the car got stuck.
Ferguson said the couple had video indicating they had been in the Silver Peak area since March 27, but he had no information about when Ronnie Barker died or the cause of his death.
Patrick Donnelly of the Center for Biological Diversity, who has traveled to the area several times as his group protested a planned lithium mine where an extremely rare desert wildflower grows, said only one level road crosses the mountain range in this area coming west from Silver Peak.
“Having a motorhome tow a vehicle on this road would be insane, but within the realm of possibility,” he said on Wednesday.
Peters, the couple’s nephew who lives in Indiana, directed most of his criticism of the raid’s handling at Esmeralda County Sheriff Kenneth Elgan, who did not immediately return phone calls or calls on Wednesday. emails requesting feedback.
Peters said in his social media posts that “my grief is just overshadowed by the fact that they didn’t arrive in time.”
He said his uncle might still be alive “if a search had been started sooner (no more than 3 days after we reported them missing).”
Peters told KVVU-TV in Las Vegas that death creates a hole in the family that will never be filled.
“He’s just a larger-than-life personality,” he said. “Thank goodness Beverly is alive because she can fill in those gaps that we don’t know about. Why did they go up the mountain? What happened? She’s going to be able to tell us.”