An elderly couple tragically met their fate in a chilling end after disappearing on Thanksgiving. Linda, 81, and Gary Lightfoot, 82, were found days after they vanished, apparently frozen to death in their car, far from their home.
Having spent the holiday with family in Panhandle, Texas, the Lightfoots embarked on their journey back to Lubbock. The day was filled with warmth and joy as they attended church in the morning and enjoyed lunch, capturing moments with family in photographs.
With a few belongings and a plate of Thanksgiving leftovers, the couple set off around 3 p.m., hoping to complete the three-hour drive before nightfall. Unfortunately, they never reached their destination.
Concern arose when Linda’s sister, Barbara Scheller, attempted to reach her around 6:30 p.m. Texts to Linda’s phone went unanswered, signaling the beginning of a worrying mystery.
They hoped to complete the roughly three-hour drive before dark, but never made it.
Around 6:30pm, Barbara Scheller began texting her sister Linda’s phone, but she wasn’t replying.
‘Hey, did you make it? We didn’t hear back that you made it home,’ she recalled sending to Linda, she told Wave 3 News.
Eventually, she got in contact with their son, Greg, who confirmed the elderly couple never made it back to Lubbock. The family reported them missing.
Linda and Gary Lightfoot, aged 81 and 82, had traveled to Panhandle, Texas, to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with family, but they never returned home after the celebration. Five days later, they were found dead
The next day, their vehicle was spotted in New Mexico on a camera. Cellular data detected from the vehicle was last picked up around 11am near Santa Rosa, New Mexico, according to News Channel 10.
The family believed they made a wrong turn and headed West toward New Mexico instead of South to Lubbock.
Five days later, on December 2, a farmer called police after spotting the couple’s vehicle on his property in Tucumcari while he was attending to his cattle.
Officers responded to the scene, finding the Lightfoots’ dead bodies lying in the back of the car, which was located roughly three house away from Lubbock.
Linda’s body had a ‘fur-like jacket’ placed over her face according to a police report viewed by the Daily Mail.
The vehicle had a flat tire, the trunk was open, and it was still shifted into drive, according to News Channel 10. The car’s battery was also drained.
Police do not suspect foul play, as neither body had signs of trauma and there was $311 in cash and a loaded firearm inside, the police report said.
Neither had a phone on them as Linda had forgotten hers at home, Greg told People.
Their official cause of death has not been revealed, but temperatures were in the low 20s the nights they were missing.
‘It was certainly a shock and unexpected,’ their son, 53, said of his parents’ death. ‘We’re handling it one day at a time, basically. We’re just trying to get through it as best we can.’
Greg, who lived with his parents, said he and the couple had made the trip to Panhandle several times with no issue. He had not attended Thanksgiving as he was ill.
‘My theory now is that they went to Amarillo after leaving Panhandle to get to I-27 to come back home,’ he told the magazine.
The couple’s silver car’s license plate was picked up in Groom, Texas, around 7pm – roughly an hour after they should have already been home, Greg said. It was later picked up in New Mexico.
He also speculated that his mother suffered a medical complication, despite having no major health problems. He also noted that his father no longer drives, therefore, his mother was behind the wheel.
‘I don’t know if she was having mini-strokes or something on the way west toward Amarillo,’ he told the magazine. ‘They either got lost or they got overwhelmed.’
The couple had even been pulled over by police in New Mexico, Greg said. They allegedly told the police they were lost and trying to get back to Lubbock.
Their son, Greg, suspects the couple died from the cold after getting lost on their way home
Neither had a phone on them. Greg also suspects his mother may have had a medical episode as the car was found still shifted into gear after it plowed through a gate and a cattle deterrent
‘The officer was a little mystified, I guess, as to why they had ended up where they were. But he gave them directions,’ Greg told People.
The couple eventually deviated from the officer’s directions. The officer did not know the pair had been reported missing as the bulletin had yet to be sent out, Greg said.
Around 2am, the car’s plates were picked up near Tecumcari and they were headed in the right direction.
‘If they had kept on going east, they would’ve at least made it back to Texas, either to Amarillo or to Panhandle,’ Greg said.
Days later, the farmer found their car. It had blown through a gate and cattle deterrent and stopped in a mess of trees.
Greg suspects his parents froze to death, he told People.
An autopsy report is expected to be ready in two to three months.
Greg remembers his parents as ‘interesting, fun people’ who were ‘very personable’.
‘They liked to travel. They liked to help people out when they could, whether it was coworkers or friends or people they just met,’ he told the magazine.
Linda and Gary had been married for 62 years before their deaths
Gary also served in the military before working in law enforcement. His wife worked in banking. They were married for 62 years.
A GoFundMe has been set up to pay pay for their funeral expenses.
As of Wednesday afternoon, more than $18,000 has been raised for the couple.
