Woman survives 10-day stranding ordeal that claims elderly husband

By MARK BABINECK
Associated Press

An elderly woman stranded 10 days on a sprawling West Texas ranch after making a wrong turn was released from the hospital Friday following an ordeal that claimed the life of her 88-year-old husband.

The Rev. Allie Everage and his wife, Barbara, were returning from New Mexico when they made a wrong turn near Paducah, about 35 miles southwest of their hometown of Quanah, authorities said.

Rather than turn around, Mrs. Everage followed another dirt road on the Triangle Ranch. Then, the couple's van became stuck in the mud.

A ranch hand discovered Everage's decaying body Thursday lying face down near his walker and wheelchair.

Mrs. Everage, 65, who suffered from dehydration and exhaustion, caught the eye of search crews in a helicopter by waving a white cloth.

She had kept a log, including notes about what to do with her husband's body and other details about their travails, said Kent Clark, an Oregon State intern working on the 130,000-acre spread.

"We read it before we found her," Clark said. "We kind of had things pieced together already, but the last entry was four days old, so were kind of convinced she wasn't alive still, either."

She wrote that her husband, who was a diabetic, died last Sunday after six days of isolation.

Clark said he radioed ranch manager Matt Swan after finding Everage's body, which has been sent to the Dallas County medical examiner's office for autopsy.

"It really startled me," Swan said. "We immediately involved the authorities. We found the van stuck about 200 to 300 yards from where the body was, and there we found the woman's purse and other clothing and tracks going in different directions."

As nightfall approached, Clark and another man began tracking the woman. A Texas Department of Public Safety helicopter sent to aid in the search spotted Mrs. Everage about two hours before dusk, Swan said.

She returned to her home Friday, where her daughter-in-law, Aurora Corsey of Albuquerque, N.M., said Mrs. Everage was faring better physically than emotionally.

Everage had served as the pastor of Macedonia Baptist Church for about two years in Quanah, about 60 miles northwest of Wichita Falls and just south of the Oklahoma border.

"He was very attentive and active in his church services," said church member Annie May Railback.
She also said the Everages moved to New Mexico for a few years before returning to Quanah.

Since then, the Everages had been fixtures at Sunday services, she said.

"When he came back he never missed Sunday school or church unless he was out of town," Mrs. Railback said.

Clark had been searching for some stray bulls on a drought-stricken stretch of land that the ranch was taking out of use when he came across the grisly scene.

"I guess I was relieved that some good came out of it," Clark said.