Lost hikers decided to die to end their suffering, friends and family believe

Family and friends reacted with shock and grief to the discovery that missing hikers found in Joshua Tree National Park died of gunshots, but expressed confidence that it was a mutual decision to end their suffering.

Searchers found Joseph Orbeso, 22, and Rachel Nguyen, 20, both of Orange County, Calif., dead in each other’s arms Oct. 15 in a remote part of the national park east of Los Angeles. On Friday, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department revealed that Orbeso appeared to have shot Nguyen, then himself.

Sheriff’s department spokeswoman Cindy Bachman told KABC that the hikers appeared to be in a “very dire” situation. They had arranged clothing to shade themselves and seemed to be rationing food, but had no water, she said.

“They were lost, they were in a bad area there, and their resources were either almost gone or gone, again, they were in a very desperate situation,” Bachman told the station.

In another interview, Bachman told USA Today that the evidence did not suggest Orbeso had planned the killings in advance. “There is no indication that he wanted to harm her; that there was any plan for something like this,” Bachman told the newspaper.

A handgun found with the bodies was registered to Orbeso, Bachman said. Authorities did not initially release the information about the gun or gunshot wounds because the bodies still awaited autopsies and final identification, the department’s statement said.

A statement from Nguyen’s family called the situation “very difficult for the family,” according to The Orange County Register.

“It was explained to us by the investigators on scene, with the circumstances and positioning of the bodies, that they believe this was a sympathetic murder-suicide. We hold no grudges against Joseph or the Orbeso Family. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the Orbeso Family, and that they will remain in our prayers. We thank God that we’ll be able to give Rachel a proper burial and lay her to rest,” the statement said.

“They had a choice of a slow and painful death or a quick death,” Austin Young, a friend of Orbeso, told The Long Beach Press-Telegram. “And they made the choice of a quick death.”

Young said Nguyen and Orbeso had dated in the past but had recently been just friends. He told the paper they had gone to Joshua Tree National Park to celebrate Nguyen’s birthday.

Nguyen and Orbeso had set out for a hike at Joshua Tree National Park east of Los Angeles on July 27, when temperatures in the park hit 100 degrees. A ping from Joseph Orbeso’s cellphone was recorded in the park that day. The owner of the AirBnB where they had been staying notified authorities when they didn’t check out the next day.

Searchers found their car at the head of the Maze Loop trail in the park but few other clues. Volunteer searchers scoured the park for days, using search dogs, helicopters and airplanes. Some searchers and dogs required rescue themselves after becoming injured or dehydrated in the harsh terrain, reported Joshua Tree Search and Rescue volunteers.

Volunteers donated more than 2,100 hours in the search efforts, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said.

The bodies of Nguyen and Orbeso were found in a remote area of the park at 11:30 a.m. Oct. 15, according to a National Park Service press release.

Gilbert Orbeso, Joseph’s father, was part of the search party that found the bodies, reported KABC. Gilbert Orbeso had continued searching for the hikers on weekends, aided by friends and volunteers, after the official search was called off.

On Oct. 15, he found pieces of clothing, water bottles and food wrappers in a wash two miles from the Maze Loop. Searchers followed the trail to the two bodies, found embracing each other.

“I feel that we have closure and we know we found them. That was our main goal, to find them,” Gilbert Orbeso told KESQ Oct. 15.

Joshua Tree National Park, in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, covers 792,000 acres, an area slightly larger than the state of Rhode Island, according to the National Park Service. A large part of the park is a designated wilderness area. About 1.4 million people visit the park each year.

The volunteer Joshua Tree Search & Rescue team said in a reply to a comment on Facebook that it’s “surprisingly easy” to become lost in the park.

“You can take a short hike and lose sight of the road, and, if you didn’t pay attention to what the landmarks look like, in the opposite direction, you could start wandering,” a volunteer wrote. “People even get lost a short distance from a trail.”

This story was originally published October 22, 2017 at 7:40 AM with the headline "Lost hikers decided to die to end their suffering, friends and family believe."