Couple found dead hours from home on their drive after Thanksgiving: Family (EXCLUSIVE)

Need to know

• Linda and Gary Lightfoot were reported missing last week after not returning home after celebrating Thanksgiving in Lubbock, Texas.

• Five days later, authorities found their bodies and vehicle in Quay County, NM

• Relative Barbara Scheller tells PEOPLE that the family believes the couple “someone turned them around” during their drive home and disappeared.

A married couple in their 80s who were found dead after leaving a family Thanksgiving celebration in Texas somehow got lost while driving home, their family believes, although more details about the tragedy are pending investigation.

Linda and Gary Lightfoot were returning home to Lubbock, Texas after spending Thanksgiving with their family in the Panhandle, but disappeared after failing to return home. Five days later, their bodies were found in rural Quay County, New Mexico, according to the Carson County (Texas) Sheriff’s Office and the Quay County (New Mexico) Sheriff’s Office.

“We don’t have a lot more information about what happened other than what law enforcement has shared,” relative Barbara Scheller told PEOPLE on Thursday, Dec. 4.

“They’ve driven the road to the Panhandle many times,” adds Shaler. “Somehow they flipped and lost. Their cell phones were left at home.”

The Quay County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were dispatched to a field west of Tucumcari, NM, on Tuesday, December 2, after receiving a report of a possible sighting of Lightfoots vehicle.

When they arrived at the scene, they found a disabled vehicle parked at the tree line at the end of the pasture, which was later confirmed to belong to Linda, 81, and Gary, 82.

“Unfortunately, both individuals were pronounced dead at the scene,” the Quay County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement, adding that the investigation is ongoing.

It takes about three hours to travel from Tucumcari to Lubbock.

In an email to PEOPLE, a spokesperson for the New Mexico Office of the Medical Examiner confirmed that the department has the couple’s remains, but that their autopsy reports — which will include the cause and manner of their deaths — could take about 3 months to be finalized.

People contacted the Carson County Sheriff’s Office and the Quay County Sheriff’s Office for more information on the case but did not immediately receive a response.

Scheller, who tells PEOPLE that Linda is her husband’s aunt, also shared a statement from the family, which remembered the couple as “true and kind people” who left a “legacy of love and devotion.”

Gary, a military veteran, served as a law enforcement officer for the Lamb County Sheriff’s Office and later as the Littlefield Police Chief from 1993 to 2003, according to the family.

“Gary wasn’t the only one [a] A highly respected retired law enforcement officer, he was a self-taught wood craftsman. “He could do anything with a scroll saw,” the family tribute read. “He carved wood-carved farm animals, crosses and created annual carvings for wedding anniversaries.”

Meanwhile, Linda worked in Abilene for an oil and gas company and then in banking.

“Linda enjoyed giving cards and gifts for Easter, Christmas, birthdays and Valentine’s,” the family wrote, adding that she kept her fireplace “burning year-round no matter the temperature outside” and “counted every blessing and every day as ‘wonderful.’ “

Loved ones also said Linda and Gary attended church and “showed great love to neighbors, friends and family.”

The couple survives their son, Greg, Linda’s sister, Barbara, and Barbara’s husband, Waylon, as well as nieces and nephews. The family expressed their gratitude to the authorities involved in the search – and “underscored the importance of being prepared when traveling, even short distances, which could save lives in the future.”

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“Although it wasn’t the outcome we were hoping for, it’s clear that everything that could be done was done,” Linda and Gary’s family said. “We were encouraged by the outpouring of love and support from so many people in Texas, NM and many other states. Thank you for your love and prayers. We will cherish the memories we shared.”

Read the original article on People