From News Reports:
Two men who perished in the scorching West Australian desert made a desperate 14km trek to find water but went the wrong way and died just 9km from a well.
Without a detailed map, they had no way of knowing they were so close to the water hole that would have saved their lives after their dilapidated Land-Rover broke down.
The victims are yet to be formally identified, but police believe they are Bradley John Richards, 40, and his 21-year-old nephew Mac Bevan Cody, formerly of Warilla in New South Wales but who had both been living in Carnarvon, 905km north of Perth.
The men died on the fringe of the Great Sandy Desert, on the remote Talawana Track, 51km east of Cotton Creek in the Pilbara, after setting out without enough petrol and water.
They had failed to tell anybody of their plans to follow the unforgiving Canning Stock Route north to Kununurra to go fruit picking, and no one knew they were missing, police said.
They also set off without a map showing the location of more than 50 wells along the route, and carried only a mobile phone, so had no way to call for help.
A station hand found their bodies and that of their dog beside their stricken vehicle last Friday, but the remote location meant it took until today to recover them.
Forensic tests are expected to confirm their identities in the next few days.
The pair left the Pilbara town of Newman on March 28, passing through Cotton Creek, where they refuelled.
That was the last time they were seen alive and police today suggested the pair had no chance of making the journey safely.
Their four-wheel-drive did not even have enough fuel to reach the next petrol stop, and they had no more than 15 litres of water between them when they set out.
Investigations have shown the men set off on a desperate trek – in temperatures pushing 40C – to find water, walking west for 7km before giving up and returning to their vehicle.
Police have described the incident as a "disaster waiting to happen".
"Without wanting to pre-empt inquiries on behalf of the coroner it appears these men ventured into one of the most remote parts of WA in an unreliable vehicle without enough fuel or water," WA Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan said.
"And to make matters worse, it seems they didn't tell anyone where they were going so no one knew they were overdue.
"It's just a disaster waiting to happen and it did."
Despite the distance they intended to travel, through some of Australia's most unforgiving terrain, the men's vehicle was not fitted with a two-way radio.
The tragedy showed how vital it was to follow basic procedures when travelling in remote and rugged terrain, Mr O'Callaghan said.
With planning, the men could have found the nearby Georgia bore and survived until they were found, he said.
"Only 9km from where they had broken down was a bore ... where they could have got plenty of water and would have survived for some days," Mr O'Callaghan said.
"They (the bodies) were found by someone travelling on the track so they would have eventually been located.
"The key is for more education for people who go out there. Let someone know you are going, plan your route and have a good look and make sure you have got the right equipment and the resources to do the job.
"Our officers shake their heads all the time at the stupidity of some things."
"The Talawana Track goes on the Canning Stock Route and then they would have turned left and headed north and the vehicle wasn't up to that sort of journey."
The 2000km Canning Stock Route is described as the longest and most remote stock route in the world, and it is the longest heritage trail in Australia.
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WEST Australian police believe the two men who died when their vehicle broke down in the West Australian desert were a 40-year-old NSW man and his 21-year-old nephew.
While the bodies of the two men found last Friday have yet to be formally identified, they are believed to be Bradley John Richards, formerly of Warilla on the NSW south coast, and his nephew Mac Bevan Cody, from the same township, police said.
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