(ThePatriotWire)- A longtime California musician and his wife were found dead last week in the Mojave Desert.
According to KGET, the bodies of Larry Petree and his wife Betty were discovered on Sunday, August 21 on a dirt road just east of California City in the middle of the Mohave Desert. Petree’s body was found in the driver’s seat of the couple’s car and Betty was found outside leaning against the rear tire.
It is unclear where the Petrees were headed when their car broke down in the Mojave. The Kern County Sheriff’s Office does not suspect foul play in the couple’s death and no detectives were called to the scene. It is believed their car may have simply run out of gas and become stranded.
The Petrees had been married for more than 60 years.
Larry, 88, was a longtime musician of the Bakersfield Sound era of the 1950s playing the pedal steel guitar. He had recently performed with the band the Soda Crackers on July 20 at the Bakersfield Music Hall of Fame benefit concert. At the time, it was noted that Larry, known for always being meticulously punctual, appeared to be slowing down and somewhat disoriented.
Larry Petree was born in Oklahoma in 1933. In 1942, at the age of nine, his family moved to Bakersfield, California.
For years, Petree worked with Tommy Hays and the Western Swingsters, often turning down offers to play for well-known artists except for occasional gigs. Instead, Petree kept his day job with the fire department for 30 years.
The Kern County Sheriff’s Office plans to release the couple’s cause of death at a later date.
