Family: Missing Indiana couple located in Nevada desert; man found dead
By Ashley Casper
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Nevada (KVVU) — UPDATE: Ronnie and Beverly Barker have been located, according to multiple family members.
Ronnie and Beverly’s nephew Travis Peters said that his aunt and uncle’s RV was located West of Silver Lake Tuesday afternoon.
Shortly after posting the update on Facebook, Peters said that his uncle and aunt were located. His uncle was found dead and his aunt was airlifted to Reno.
“Right now I’m just processing. We literally went on a rollercoaster,” Peters said about an hour after he learned that his aunt and uncle were found. “Ronnie no longer being alive in this family is a hole, and its never going to be filled…he’s just a bigger than life personality.”
Peters told FOX5 it’s still unclear to them what happened to the couple. He said the Mineral County undersheriff provided them with the information and only said that Beverly was “OK”.
“Thank god that Beverly is alive, because she will be able to fill in those blanks that we don’t know. Why did they go up the mountain? What happened?” Peters said.
A silver alert was issued in Nevada, Monday. Peters is frustrated with the amount of time it took for searches to begin. The family first contacted authorities on March 29, according to Peters.
“That area they were found – there was a lot of people up there, but there could have been a lot more [including] ATV clubs, drone groups that wanted to fly drones,” Peters said. “I’ve got a long list of grievances with how Nevada handles missing persons.”
However, Peters did want to thank the many Nevadans that spread the word online and helped with the search efforts.
“People logging hundreds of miles the last few days looking. That gives you a little hope in humanity that people would do that for complete strangers,” Peters said.
FOX5 reached out to the Esmeralda Sheriff’s Office. They have not provided any update on the case, as of Tuesday night.
ORIGINAL STORY
Police are searching for an Indiana couple reported missing in the Nevada desert in late March.
According to the Esmeralda County Sheriff’s Office, 72-year-old Ronnie Barker and 69-year-old Beverly Barker were on road trip on the west coast when they disappeared. Their trip took them from Albany, Oregon to Tucson, Arizona on March 26 to visit friends. Based on cellphone data, the two were near Dyer, Nevada, about 3.5 hours northwest of Las Vegas on March 27.
The ECSO said they may have also visited the Coaldale area on March 28, a mining town about 40 miles west of Tonopah, but a family member posted on social media that this account is unsubstantiated.
“They went dark the evening of Sunday the 27th,” their nephew, Travis Peters wrote on Facebook.
“After leaving Oregon they were going to stay in the Fallon, NV area however their cell signals/computer tablet signals last ‘pinged’ in an area near Dyer, NV which is nearly 170 miles farther south than where they were planning on staying. Their next planned stop was overnighting at Nellis, AFB outside Las Vegas, then they were continuing to meet their friends in Tucson on Tuesday evening,” Peters wrote.
Travis Peters
On April 2, Travis Peters, the couple’s nephew, said their vehicle was seen passing through Luning, Nevada on Sunday evening.
The Barkers were driving a white 2015 Sunseeker RV with black decals and Indiana plates: C128H. The vehicle was towing a white 2020 Kia Soul with Indiana plates: FL211A, police said.
“Both parties have medical issues,” police said in a Facebook post.
Authorities are asking anyone with information regarding their whereabouts to contact the Esmeralda County Sheriff’s Office at 775-485-6370.
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