INDIANAPOLIS — Family and friends gathered Thursday at services to remember and celebrate the life of U.S. Air Force veteran Ronnie Barker.
The 72-year-old died of dehydration on April 4 in the Nevada mountains after his wife, Beverly, and he got stuck in a remote area for more than a week.
Beverly sat down to talk with 13News a few days after she returned to Indianapolis without her longtime partner.
"He meant the world to me," Beverly said, adding that the ordeal deepened her faith. "We knew God was there."
Rescue and recovery teams posted videos of the scene on YouTube that have garnered more than 1 million views. The images reveal a remote spot with rocky and rough terrain.
The disappearance
Beverly said her husband and she relied on GPS to navigate their way from Oregon to Arizona. On Sunday, March 27, they bought gasoline and then followed the route off the highway.
"It looked perfectly fine to us. It looked like all the other dirt roads, and so we didn't think anything about it," Beverly said. "And then all of a sudden, the road wasn't there anymore, and the camper sunk in the back."
After the RV got stuck, the couple spent the night and planned to retrace their tracks in their trailing car in the morning. But the route down wasn't clear.
"We'd head down the mountain, then all of a sudden be taking us back up again. And it kept doing that," Beverly said.
Eventually, the car got stuck, too, settling at an angle that made it hard to get in and out. That's where Ron and Beverly sat for days without cell service, food, water or supplies.
"We knew we were in trouble," Beverly said.
And soon, their family did, too. Ron and Beverly never showed up to meet friends in Arizona as planned. They weren't answering their phone.
Back in Indianapolis, their daughters traced the gasoline purchase and days later, their cellphone location around Dyer and Silver Peak. They called and asked state and county authorities for help. But day after day passed, and the Barkers were still missing.
Beverly's survival
"We were thirsty, but we weren't ever hungry," Beverly said. "I was in no pain. He was in no pain, except he was breathing hard because ... he basically had one lung. Where we got stuck was over 7,700 feet."
The couple focused on honking the horn, conserving the gasoline and battery, and saw overnight snow as a gift.
"We were comforted in so many ways by what God did," Beverly said.
The snow that came overnight turned into a water source for the couple. At first, Ronnie would leave the car to collect the snow. He'd collect the snow in plastic and N95 masks they had, take it back to the car, and they ate it.
The nights were cold, and during the day, it warmed to 55 degrees. The couple passed time by watching the clouds and reading the Bible.
"During the day, it was the most beautiful place in the world," Beverly said.
It's the last place Ronnie would see.
"I knew he was gonna die," Beverly said. "He knew Wednesday after we got stuck. He told me, 'Bev, I'm dying.' And I said, 'I know you are.'"
Beverly said she didn't think she'd ever be able to live without Ronnie. But in some ways, his death brought relief. She knew he was no longer in pain.
"If you heard him trying to breathe, it was almost a relief when he did die because his breathing calmed down so much," Beverly said.
By the fifth day, Beverly, who relies on a walker and wheelchair, knew it was up to her to collect the snow to fight dehydration.
"It was a miracle I could walk down there every day," Beverly said.
Their final days
In their last days together, the couple talked about their family, their faith and their affection for one another.
"He said, 'I love you,' and I said, 'I love you, too,'" Beverly said. 'And I said, 'I know it's time,' and he said, 'Yeah, it's time.'"
Beverly said Ronnie was "seeing the light" and knew there were others with him, but he was unsure if they were angels. She said Ananias, a disciple of Jesus, told him the camper would be found.
Beverly said they were huddled in the backseat when Ronnie took his last breath at 3:12 p.m. on April 4. His last words about Ananias gave Beverly renewed hope.
"I never felt like I was going to die after what Ronnie told me, and I just knew it was time for them to find us," Beverly said.
The rescue
She said she climbed to the front seat and kept honking the horn with the base of her cane. Nearly 26 hours after Ronnie's death, rescuers found the stranded RV on April 5.
"They are miracle workers," Beverly said.
The crews backtracked and found the car a few miles away.
"They heard the horn … and they said, 'Is that you?' and I thought 'Yeah, come and get me!" Beverly said.
It was a rescue and recovery.
A team of workers, including HeavyDSparks and Mike Patey, used specialized equipment to dig out the vehicles and head back down the mountain.
Beverly has no plans to return to the scene and doesn't blame the authorities for failing to find them sooner.
"I think what happened, happened the way it's supposed to happen," she said. "We were really comforted a lot. We knew God was there. We knew He was going to take Ronnie, but it was OK then because I knew where Ronnie was going."
Ronnie and Beverly would have celebrated 40 years of marriage this November.