Couple Found Dead At Coastal Sonoma County Campground

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — An elderly husband and wife who reportedly had health and financial challenges were found dead from gunshot wounds Wednesday in a camper trailer at a campground on the Sonoma County Coast, authorities said. The Sheriff’s Office Violent Crime Investigations Unit determined the husband, identified as Robert Wade, 71, shot his wife, identified as 72-year-old Maria Wade, and the couple's dog before taking his own life.

The sheriff's office responded to the trailer at the Ocean Cove Campground, 23150 state Highway 1, because the couple's daughter called police early Wednesday morning, sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Crum said.

At 5:10 a.m. Wednesday, the daughter reported that Robert had called her and said he'd shot Maria, Crum said.

Deputies arrived at the trailer in a remote area just north of Timber Cove at 5:49 a.m. and discovered the couple and their dog dead of apparent gunshot wounds, with a handgun found inside the camper, the sergeant said.

Detectives with the Sheriff’s Office Violent Crime Investigations Unit responded to the scene Wednesday and learned during their investigation that deputies had responded to the camper Feb. 25 when Maria, who has stage 4 cancer, was suicidal and had held a gun to her head, Crum said.

"Maria was taken for a mental health evaluation and two handguns were removed from their home and still remain in sheriff’s custody," Crum said.

Their daughter, who was not in town at the time of the murder-suicide, was interviewed and her cooperation was instrumental in determining what happened, Crum said.

The couple reportedly had extensive medical and financial issues that were getting worse, the sergeant said.

Everyone else whom sheriff's detectives spoke with Wednesday also corroborated what the sheriff's office believed was a murder-suicide, Crum said.

Anyone with further information about the deaths is asked to call the sheriff's office's violent crimes unit at 707-565-2185.

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24/7 at 800-273-8255.