Ralph Gibbs, 80, dies in Bruce Highway crash just days after his kidnapped lover dies

A moving twist to an elderly couple’s love affair has been revealed after an elderly man died in a horror smash on the Bruce Highway near Bowen, with a timeline of events revealing the reason he masterminded a daring heist on a West Australian nursing home.

A heartbreaking twist to an elderly couple’s love affair has been revealed after a horror smash on the Bruce Highway near Bowen.

Ralph ‘Terry’ Gibbs, 80, was returning to his home in Cairns when he was involved in a head-on collision which took his life.

While the crash is tragic in itself, the events leading up to the collision add a devastating twist to Mr Gibbs’ death.

On January 2, 2022, Mr Gibbs masterminded a daring heist on a nursing home to take his partner of 15 years back to Cairns.

Ralph Gibbs and Carol Lisle were together for 15 years before their separate deaths in February, 2022.

Mr Gibbs took Carol Lisle, an 84 year old with dementia, from a nursing home in Mandurah.

Police found the pair near Warakurna, just two hours from the Northern Territory border and in the harsh depths of the Western Australian desert.

After two days of driving in 43C heat, the wheelchair-bound Ms Lisle was found reportedly distressed and in the same clothes she was wearing at the nursing home.

She needed urgent medical attention and was taken to a nursing post in Warakurna, before being flown to Perth by the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Mr Gibbs was arrested and charged with deprivation of liberty and endangering Ms Lisle’s life, but he pleaded guilty to unlawful detention when he faced Perth Magistrates Court on February 18, 2022.

18/2/2022 Ralph Gibbs arrives at the Magistrates court this morning. Pic Colin Murty

The court heard witnesses suggested Mr Gibbs take Lisle to hospital when he stopped for supplies in Kalgoorlie, about seven hours east of Mandurah.

Mr Gibbs reportedly told the witnesses that Ms Lisle was happy and he had plenty of food, water, medication and fuel for the trip in a recently purchased Mazda ute.

He was sentenced to seven months in jail, to be suspended for 12 months, and a two-year restraining order was imposed.

During the sentence, Magistrate Raelene Johnston said Mr Gibbs was “acting out of love”.

This is the photo police media supplied to media after they intercepted Carol Lisle and Ralph Gibbs near Warakurna on January 4.

“I accept that you believe you were acting out of love and that you were acting out of care for your partner and you wanted to be with her, and you believed that she wanted to be with you,” Ms Johnston said.

“But objectively your conduct was extremely dangerous, and the objective seriousness of your offending was made clear by the reactions of those people who observed you.”

Outside of court, Mr Gibbs said he feared he would not see Ms Lisle again.

“I fear that I might never see my little girl again, she is fading quickly,” he said on February 9, 2022.

“All day every day she says, ‘please take me out of here, please take me out of here’, and when I would leave to go home she would say, ‘can I come with you?’”

Mr Gibbs’ fears came true, with Ms Lisle passing away in her Mandurah nursing home in the early hours of February 22, 2022.

It is unclear if Mr Gibbs knew of Ms Lisle’s death.

Just 24 hours later, Mr Gibbs was killed in the horrific head-on crash on the Bruce Highway about 5.15am, which shut the road near Bowen for several hours.

A chopper was tasked to help a second person, a 60-year-old Bowen man, who was flown to Mackay Base Hospital in a serious condition.

Mackay Forensic Crash Unit’s Senior Constable Michael Parker said initial reports indicated Mr Gibbs’ Mazda ute was headed north on the highway when it crossed into the oncoming traffic lane and collided with a Toyota ute travelling south.

Inspector Ian Haughton said it was unclear what caused the crash.

“That’s all subject to investigation at this point, we have the forensic crash unit conducting some inquiries and investigations into it,” he said.

“Road crashes are all avoidable, we’re well aware of the ‘Fatal Five’ … and we’re just asking members of the public they exhibit responsible behaviours.”

It was the third fatal traffic crash for the Mackay district in 2022.