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Forty years ago, Patricia and Bruce Wright promised to love each other until death do them part at the Friendship United Methodist Church in Punta Gorda, Florida. In a tragic tale, the couple, who had most recently lived in Las Vegas, returned to the church on Sunday and killed themselves in what appears to be a suicide pact.
The church’s pastor found Bruce, 60, and Patricia, 57, slumped over underneath a tree outside the building with a rifle and shotgun near their bodies. Bruce died on the scene, while Patricia died two days later in the hospital from a gunshot wound to her head.
The couple did not leave behind a note, but police surmise that the dual deaths were likely a result of a suicide pact.
The couple had no children and rarely contacted other family members.
“It was a romantic tragedy,” Mr. Wright’s nephew Daniel Johnston told the media. “Life started for the two of them there, and that’s officially where life ended for them.'”
The couple had been living and working in Las Vegas for years, but last family members heard they were planning a move to California. Though, the couple still owned a home near the church. Neighbors say it has sat empty for years.
“For us, it was a situation where we thought some things had gone bad in their lives. Maybe they went into debt, or the stock market kicked them around,” Johnson told a Las Vegas paper. “But in reality, we have no idea about their financial situation.”
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