Missing couple found after two days

VERNAL — Police said a missing couple appears to have spent nearly two days in their crumpled van after crashing on U.S. 40 near Daniels Canyon in rural Wasatch County.

When a family friend found them Wednesday afternoon, 58-year-old Parley Alexander was dead and his wife, Deborah, was suffering from serious injuries.

"We do have information he was alive for a couple of hours after the crash," said Brian Hyer, a spokesman with the Utah Department of Public Safety.

The Utah Highway Patrol said the couple's 2005 Saturn Relay van apparently went off the road Monday evening and plunged 30 feet down a ravine where it landed upside down in a creek. It was not visible from the road. Troopers said there were no skid marks or anything that would indicate a cause of the crash, which remains under investigation.

Family friends told the Deseret Morning News that Deborah Alexander, 56, had recently undergone hip-replacement surgery and was unable to crawl for help.

"She'd eaten some apples that were in the vehicle," he said.

Vernal police said the Alexanders traveled to Utah County early Monday morning to have their car worked on at the Saturn dealership in Orem while they went to a doctor's appointment in Salt Lake City. At about 4 p.m. Monday, the Alexanders phoned their daughter to say they were heading back to Vernal, said Lt. Dylan Rooks.

When the couple didn't return home by Tuesday, family members reported them missing.

Police had tried to locate the couple's van through the OnStar tracking service but were unable to find it because there was no power to the van, Rooks said.

Family and friends began searching frantically for the couple, going over their route on U.S. 40. When one man began searching areas on foot, he spotted their upside-down van in the creek and called for help. There was less than a foot of water in the creek, Hyer said.

Deborah Alexander was flown by helicopter to University Hospital, where she was reported to be in serious condition Wednesday.

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com; geoff@ubstandard.com