Man Found Dead In Nevada After Vanishing With Wife On Motorhome Trip
A 72-year-old Indiana man who mysteriously disappeared in Nevada with his wife amid a cross-country RV trip, was found dead on a remote mountaintop, authorities said.
Ronnie Barker was found dead on Wednesday after disappearing with his 69-year-old wife Beverly Barker late last month, according to the Esmeralda County Sheriff’s Office. Beverly Barker, who survived the incident, has been hospitalized.
The couple vanished on March 27 after they’d been traveling in their RV on Highway 95 in western Nevada.
On April 5, search and rescue teams located their motorhome shortly before noon in an isolated mountain area of Esmeralda County near Silver Peak, Nevada.
“Due to the remote area where the motorhome was located it took several hours for these teams to reach it,” the Esmeralda County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release sent to Oxygen.com.
Investigators, who scoured the scene, found the RV abandoned and no traces of the elderly couple. The motorhome had gotten stuck, authorities determined. No signs of foul play were evident. The couple’s KIA SUV, however, which they’d been traveling with, was missing.
Ronnie And Beverly Barker's RV Photo: Nye County Sheriff’s Office
Rescue teams trailed the Kia’s tire tracks from the site and several hours later discovered the Indiana couple and their vehicle roughly two miles away from their motorhome. Ronnie Baker was found deceased at the scene. His wife was reported to be in stable condition and was later airlifted to Renown Medical Center in Reno.
“Beverly was alive and in good spirits considering what took place,” the sheriff’s statement added. “It was decided to request air support from NAS Fallon Search and Rescue to fly Beverly out.”
Authorities haven’t specified Ronnie Baker’s cause or manner of death.
“Everyone involved would like to give condolences to the family of Ronnie and Beverly Baker,” Esmeralda County Sheriff’s Office stated. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family during these trying times.”
The Indiana couple, who had set out on a cross-country road trip, were scheduled to return to their home in Indianapolis this week. The couple’s children said their father, who adored traveling, had recently retired.
“That’s the one thing Ronnie looked forward to when he retired,” his daughter Lynn Bledsoe previously told WTHR. “He wanted to be able to travel. He liked to travel,”
Prior to disappearing, Ronnie Barker and Beverly Barker planned to meet friends in Tuscon, Arizona, KTVK reported.
“They have vanished, literally, into thin air,” Jennifer Whaley, another daughter of the Barker’s, previously told WTHR, prior to her parents being found.
The exact chain of events leading to their disappearance, including how their RV managed to get stuck, haven’t yet been released.
“It’s all flat,” Whaley added. “It’s all desert. So where did they go? Where did they go? They’re out in the middle of the desert. You can see for miles and a 32-foot RV, towing a car, literally vanishes into thin air. Where did they go?”
The family added that the couple had both suffered from diabetes, per reports. Ronnie Barker was also a cancer survivor, according to the outlet.
The Esmeralda County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment further on the incident on Wednesday afternoon when contacted by Oxygen.com.
