HEARTBREAKING

Indiana Woman Recalls Hubby’s Slow Death in Roadtrip Nightmare

Beverly and Ron Barker spent several days trapped in the remote wilderness after their vehicle got stuck, and rescuers arrived too late to save Ron.

An Indiana woman who vanished along with her husband while roadtripping across the country has described a harrowing survival effort while the pair was trapped in the wilderness. Beverly, 69, and Ron Barker, 72, were found on a remote mountain in Nevada on Tuesday, nine days after they were last seen in public. Ron Barker was already dead by the time rescuers arrived. In an interview with WTHR on Thursday, the couple’s nephew said his aunt had told family members they were simply not prepared to deal with the emergency after their vehicle got stuck in the mud in an isolated area. “They didn’t think about bringing food, or water or blankets. They just made this route, ‘We’ll just go back the same way’ they came,” said the nephew, Travis Peters. At first, Ron Barker “started tapping SOS on the horn every ten minutes,” but after that didn’t work, and with no cell service, they just started “to huddle together and stay warm.” Although Beverly Barker needs a walker to get around, she ventured out to gather snow for the two to eat out of N-95 masks. But Ron Barker’s condition worsened as he became more and more dehydrated, and he passed away alongside her a short time later, Peters said. His wife kept beeping the SOS signal until rescuers finally located the couple the next day.