Stranded man survives 10 days in Nevada desert, but friend dies

In this Aug. 11, 2011 photo provided by Julie Good is James Klemovich who was recently found after being stranded in a Nevada desert. (AP)

LAS VEGAS – A 76-year-old diabetic Colorado man survived 10 days in the remote Nevada desert by melting snow and using skills he learned as a Boy Scout, but a friend who was with him and ventured away to get help died.

James Klemovich and Laszlo Szabo, 75, went to scope out some mines in the state when their car became stuck on a lonely road with no cell phone service, Klemovich's wife, Joanne, said Thursday.

The men tried unsuccessfully to dislodge the car, and lit flares and started fires in hopes somebody would see them in northwestern Nevada's Pershing County, an area where less than 7,000 people are spread over 6,000 square miles.

They used a towel in the car to strain ditch water and snow into water bottles, but, after four or five days, Szabo left to get help. Joanne Klemovich began to worry when several days passed without a phone call from her husband.

"I figured maybe they'd had an accident and they were stranded," she said. "I thought maybe they were in a mine shaft. All kinds of things were going through my head."

Joanne Klemovich said she was expecting the worst when authorities called Tuesday night to say her husband had been found by military personnel who were holding training exercises in the area.

"I thought it was bad news, but it was very good news," she said by telephone from the couple's home in Littleton, Colo. "I didn't know what to even do or say."

James Klemovich has diabetes, wears a pacemaker and had a triple bypass heart surgery, his wife said.

He told her he wasn't panicking while he sat for days waiting for Szabo's return, she said. He kept a journal, noting how much water he drank and what he did each day. And he wrote a letter each day for her.

The military personnel found the Lincoln Town Car with Klemovich inside. They gave him a banana, two mandarin oranges and three boiled eggs, he told his wife. He was treated and released from a hospital.

Szabo, of Lovelock, Nev., was found dead about a mile and a half away. An autopsy is being performed.

Klemovich said her husband hasn't been talking much about his friend and that she doesn't know whether Szabo has any close relatives.

"When I first talked to him I could tell he'd been through an ordeal," she said. "When he called back, he sounded pretty good."

James Klemovich is still in Nevada, waiting for the car to be recovered before returning home.

Joanne Klemovich said she knows what she's going to say when she first sees the man she has been married to for 48 years as of Wednesday: "Happy belated anniversary," she said.