Death in the desert

No idea what happened to the vehicle? breakdown?
Is this the same couple as the earlier post?

A real tragedy = Were they european or indigenous?

There is a story behind this somewhere

Old car in poor disrepair
Not enough water
Not enough petrol
Car broken down
Flat tyres
9K from water and they did not know it
Lived in the general area but were not missed and did not tell anyone where they were going.
Two dead
Dead dog

Verrrrrrry strannnnnnnnnnnnge

If you are going into the desert, then you need to know what you are doing.
Lots of planningis required. And when you think you have it all worked out, do some more resaerch and planning. It is a beautiful part of our country and I really love it. BUT it will bite you hard if you make a mistake.
Rule No 1. NEVER travel alone.
Rule No 2. Go to rule !
Bigbear

'Disaster waiting to happen' did
By Tim Clarke
April 12, 2005
From: AAP

On the trail ... few vehicles are using the Gibson desert at this time of year / File TWO men who perished in the scorching West Australian desert made a desperate 14km trek to find water but went the wrong way and died just 9km from a well.

Without a detailed map, they had no way of knowing they were so close to the water hole that would have saved their lives after their dilapidated Land-Rover broke down.
The victims are yet to be formally identified, but police believe they are Bradley John Richards, 40, and his 21-year-old nephew Mac Bevan Cody, formerly of Warilla in New South Wales but who had both been living in Carnarvon, 905km north of Perth.

The men died on the fringe of the Great Sandy Desert, on the remote Talawana Track, 51km east of Cotton Creek in the Pilbara, after setting out without enough petrol and water.

They had failed to tell anybody of their plans to follow the unforgiving Canning Stock Route north to Kununurra to go fruit picking, and no one knew they were missing, police said.

They also set off without a map showing the location of more than 50 wells along the route, and carried only a mobile phone, so had no way to call for help.

A station hand found their bodies and that of their dog beside their stricken vehicle last Friday, but the remote location meant it took until today to recover them.

Forensic tests are expected to confirm their identities in the next few days.

The pair left the Pilbara town of Newman on March 28, passing through Cotton Creek, where they refuelled.

That was the last time they were seen alive and police today suggested the pair had no chance of making the journey safely.

Their four-wheel-drive did not even have enough fuel to reach the next petrol stop, and they had no more than 15 litres of water between them when they set out.

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Investigations have shown the men set off on a desperate trek – in temperatures pushing 40C – to find water, walking west for 7km before giving up and returning to their vehicle.

Police have described the incident as a "disaster waiting to happen".

"Without wanting to pre-empt inquiries on behalf of the coroner it appears these men ventured into one of the most remote parts of WA in an unreliable vehicle without enough fuel or water," WA Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan said.

"And to make matters worse, it seems they didn't tell anyone where they were going so no one knew they were overdue.

"It's just a disaster waiting to happen and it did."

Despite the distance they intended to travel, through some of Australia's most unforgiving terrain, the men's vehicle was not fitted with a two-way radio.

The tragedy showed how vital it was to follow basic procedures when travelling in remote and rugged terrain, Mr O'Callaghan said.

With planning, the men could have found the nearby Georgia bore and survived until they were found, he said.

"Only 9km from where they had broken down was a bore ... where they could have got plenty of water and would have survived for some days," Mr O'Callaghan said.

"They (the bodies) were found by someone travelling on the track so they would have eventually been located.

"The key is for more education for people who go out there. Let someone know you are going, plan your route and have a good look and make sure you have got the right equipment and the resources to do the job.

"Our officers shake their heads all the time at the stupidity of some things."

The family of the victims meanwhile urged all travellers to prepare for outback travel.

Mr Richards was close to his sister's eldest son, 21-year-old Mac, who was bright, single-minded and had the travel bug from a young age, his brother Guy Richards said from his hom in Tasmania.

"Even as a little boy he wanted to know were the road ended," Mr Richards said.

The pair were experienced travellers, and Mr Richards could not understand why they had set out with insufficient water and fuel, and no map.

"What possessed them to go where they've gone, the way they've gone, we can't second guess," he said.

"We're astounded and horrified – just bleep tered."

The family, including Mac's parents and 18-year-old brother, wanted to stress to other outback travellers the importance of properly preparing for their journey, Mr Richards said.

"Prepare yourselves for Australia," he said.

"Australia is a vicious place and that's not to be underestimated.

"It is very unforgiving as plenty of people have found."