Ron Barker Who Died on RV Trip with Wife Was a Mix of 'Indiana Jones and MacGyver,' Says Family
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Ron Barker's nephew Travis Peters is remembering his late uncle as a caring and resourceful man, after Barker died on Monday while stranded in the Nevada wilderness with his wife.
"My uncle Ronnie was a mixture of Indiana Jones and MacGyver," Peters, 49, tells PEOPLE of his U.S. Air Force veteran uncle, who was 72 at the time of his death.
Barker and his wife Beverly, 69, went missing while on an RV trip in Nevada at the end of last month after getting stuck off the side of a remote road, and spent over a week stranded in their vehicle, intermittently honking an "SOS" on the horn in hopes of being rescued.
"For him to think about not just honking the horn, but to actually put out an SOS is just — that's him," Peters says.
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Beverly survived the ordeal, and was rescued on Tuesday — a little over 24 hours after losing her husband. She was able to communicate with Peters and the rest of her family from a hospital in Reno where she described what had happened, saying that first their RV got stuck, and when they went out in their SUV to seek help, they got stuck again.
"There was never any panic," Peters says of what his aunt and uncle went through. "She said they never thought that they were doing something wrong, that they were on a road that they shouldn't be on."
He explains that they had seen other vehicles on that type of road, but that they nonetheless ran into trouble. Peters surmises that due to a problem with his uncle's peripheral vision, he tended to drive toward the right side of the road.
"I think in the case of the RV and the car, I think it just basically slid off the side of the road and into a ditch, and they were not able to free themselves from either situation."
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The Barkers spent nine days stranded, battling hunger, dehydration, and the cold, huddling in the back of their Kia SUV for warmth.
While Peters acknowledges that it was a miracle his aunt — a diabetic who turns 70 on Saturday — survived, he also marvels at the circumstances surrounding his uncle's death.
"It's a miracle that my uncle was able to experience such a peaceful passing," he says. "He was at peace, and Bev was at peace with what was going on. They had time to be together, and just lay and look up at the stars and the blue sky. It was so appropriate."
He goes on to say that his aunt, while recounting the experience, kept saying "how pretty it was."
Gofundme
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On Wednesday, Peters — a photographer, and editor at NBC's Indianapolis affiliate WTHR 13 — explained that the pair got stuck at the end of last month after following "bad GPS directions."
"It was one of those things where the GPS said, 'Go this way' and they went that way. They saw other vehicles and I think she said they saw other campers," Peters told the outlet of what his aunt explained about the incident.
They got lost on March 27 and their RV got stuck that night. The next morning, Beverly and Ron got into the KIA SUV they had been towing to go and look for help, her nephew explained.
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But about two miles from the RV, the Barkers' SUV got stuck again, west of Silver Peak in a remote part of Nevada.
Peters established a GoFundMe page to help mitigate costs associated with bringing Ron's remains back to his home state of Indiana, saying he will donate any remaining funds "to an organization to aid in the search and rescue of missing persons."
As of Thursday evening, Peters' GoFundMe has raised over $6,500 of a $25,000 goal.
