A young Kansas couple died in a car crash just a day after pledging to spend the rest of their lives with each other.
Austin Wesson and Rebekah Bouma, 19-year-olds who fell in love on a Christian mission trip to South Africa six months ago, were married on Friday, though their joy turned to tragedy only hours later.
The lovebirds’ Ford F-150 left a road south of Wichita and smashed into a tree on Saturday evening, the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office told the Daily News.
Wesson was pronounced dead at the scene of the rural road, with Bouma surviving at a local hospital until Monday morning.
Sedgwick County’s Lt. Lin Dehning told The News that investigators are looking at reasons Wesson could have lost control of his pickup truck, including possible mechanical problems with the vehicle.
He said it is not known how long the pair had been on the side of the road before another driver found and reported the crash.