Missing couple camping on Padre Island confirmed dead

I shared their original posts and have been following this story. Did not hear the announcement you linked to. Very sad for the family. Hope they find out what happened, and catch the person(s) responsible. Their truck and trailer was seen crossing the border in Del Rio (plates on camera) and of course, the person driving was not James. I guess it's safe to assume the person(s) responsible are now in Mexico. Has made us think twice about boondocking where you are totally alone like that.

That’s terrible. Padre has been on my list of places in want to camp since I was in grade school in early ‘80’s

So sad and not trying to be insensitive BUT I’m surprised an American life is that valuable ($60K each). As easy and profitable as this one was...it will happen again. You can be killed for a lot less and one of the reasons I stopped going to or near Mexico 15+ years ago.

There are other warm areas you can drive to. Not saying boondocking is not safe as we dispersed camped 6 nights and dry camped another 30 nights this summer BUT there were other campers in the area.

Her bil is on another forum I frequent, the family is taking it very hard. There are no answers but I cannot fathom the mentality of some members of the human species. I won't call them people.

I had just watched one of the videos by Grand Adventure on You Tube, he was there a couple of weeks ago and had gone on the beach near the end of South Padre , showed the River there and people in the middle of the river apparently going back and forth. They didn't camp there for that reason.
Video
Gorgeous area, sad that it has become so hazardous. You have to feel for that family.

Some will take this as being insensitive, but all that has been reported about border violence, you just can't be naive and think you will be immune. I lived in Laredo and worked within 10 miles of the river on a very isolated 105,000 acre ranch. You had better have your head on a swivel, avoid being alone, and get back to home before dark. Many bad things happen there.

TxGearhead wrote:
Some will take this as being insensitive, but all that has been reported about border violence, you just can't be naive and think you will be immune. I lived in Laredo and worked within 10 miles of the river on a very isolated 105,000 acre ranch. You had better have your head on a swivel, avoid being alone, and get back to home before dark. Many bad things happen there.

Ed has a friend whose ranch property abuts the border in AZ. He said the same things.

I understand that there's lots of people who love boondocking, and I'll admit I've been jealous to see photos of their beautiful/remote camping spots. But there are questionable people *everywhere* who also like remoteness and might not hesitate to ruin your day (thinking of hikers shot because they stumbled onto "grow lots" in the wilderness, for example) Camping along a Trade Route is probably not a good idea, period.

This story was on national news last night - they have pretty good photos of the man and woman driving the truck/RV across the border

wanderingaimlessly wrote:
I had just watched one of the videos by Grand Adventure on You Tube, he was there a couple of weeks ago and had gone on the beach near the end of South Padre , showed the River there and people in the middle of the river apparently going back and forth. They didn't camp there for that reason.

The couple's bodies were found on Padre Island, not South Padre Island. They were camping 175 miles from the border in Brownsville.

The killer has been caught and is in custody!

The killer has been caught and is in custody!

The "people of interest" have been caught and have only been charged with the theft of the vehicle and trailer. The couple is from Utah so the border, other than a possible escape route, is irrelevant. Too many assumptions have been made without the facts.