An elderly Texas couple who disappeared just after visiting friends for Thanksgiving have been found dead in New Mexico, according to authorities in both states.
The remains of 82-year-old Charles “Gary” Lightfoot and Linda Eppers Lightfoot, 81, were discovered Tuesday morning in a pasture near Tucumcari, Carson County Sheriff Tam Terry in Texas told ABC 7 Amarillo.
The Carson County Sheriff’s Office announced their discovery “in a very rural area,” saying their vehicle was also found.
Gary, a former police chief who required supplemental oxygen, and Linda, who was believed to be driving, were discovered around 10:30 a.m. by a local rancher, Quay County Sheriff Dennis Garcia told The Eastern New Mexico News.
An unopened bottle of oxygen was discovered in their vehicle, which is believed to have gotten stuck on a ravine within the pasture, whose gates seem closed, Garcia said.
The couple is believed to have succumbed to hypothermia and foul play is not suspected.
It remains unclear how and when they made it onto the property.
The Lightfoots, who spent the holiday with friends in Panhandle, Texas, were found about 180 miles east of Albuquerque and roughly as many miles northwest of their home in Lubbock, Texas.
They left Panhandle for home on Thursday and their vehicle traveled 200 miles “back and forth” on Interstate 40 between Santa Rosa, N.M. and Groom, Texas an unknown number of times. A helicopter and drones searched for the Lightfoots on Friday and Saturday, per ABC 7 News.
Though it’s unclear whether they continued their travels over the weekend, a Santa Rosa police officer reportedly gave them directions to Lubbock on Friday — the same day they were reported missing.
