Husband and wife were stranded in Nevada wilderness. He died before rescuers came

An Indiana couple who went missing in the Nevada wilderness have been found, authorities say, but one of them didn’t survive.

Ron and Beverly Barker, of Indianapolis, were on an RV trip when they seemingly vanished on the way to Tucson, where they were supposed to meet with friends on March 29, outlets report.

Family reported Ron, 72, and Beverly, 70, missing. But three days went by before authorities began searching, nephew Travis Peters said in a Facebook post.

Search crews located the couple’s RV on the morning of April 5, “stuck in the mud” near Silver Peak, Peters said. They weren’t inside.

By the end of the day, searchers found the Barkers, according to the Nye County Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff’s office didn’t say much more, but Peters shared the news, good and bad.

“I’m very sorry to say that rescue teams have located my Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Beverly. My Uncle Ronnie I am sad to say has passed away,” he wrote. “Beverly is ‘doing ok’ and is being airlifted to Reno as I type this.”

It’s not clear, either from authorities or from family members, what exactly happened leading up to the couple’s disappearance or in the hours and days following.

“I don’t know what Beverly will be able to tell us all.... I’m certain there are things that she might not ever be able to talk about,” Peters said.

The Barkers loved to travel, crisscrossing the country in their RV, family told TV station WTHR. “That’s the one thing Ronnie looked forward to when he retired. He wanted to be able to travel. He liked to travel,” his daughter Lynn Bledsoe said.

Though rescue didn’t reach Ron in time, Peters said he is grateful to the volunteers and first responders who went looking.

“I know I speak for all of my family. We want to express our gratitude for all of the Search and Rescue Teams, all the strangers that jumped in their vehicles when gas is insanely high, all the pilots that risked their lives to look for Ron and Bev … You are pouring so much love into our souls right now,” he wrote. “You are now our family.”

This story was originally published April 6, 2022 at 12:48 PM with the headline "Husband and wife were stranded in Nevada wilderness. He died before rescuers came."