Missing US hikers have been found dead in apparent murder-suicide

A Californian couple who went missing last July have been found dead in an apparent murder-suicide pact.

The bodies of Rachel Nguyen, 20 and Joseph Orbeso, 22, were discovered on 15 October by a search and rescue team. The bodies were found in an embrace under a tree.  

Police have said that the couple had been rationing their food and had no water. They were both found with gunshot wounds.

It is believed that Orbeso shot Nguyen before turning the gun on himself.

"The circumstances are really like no other search operation that we've been involved in," San Bernardino sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Bachman said "But there is no evidence that leads [investigators] to believe that he was intending to harm her".

Mr Orbeso’s father said that he wishes his son "to be remembered as a kind, caring and thoughtful person".

"The way he was found beside Rachel holding her as they were seeking shade under the brush says everything you need to know about him as a man and as a human being," Mr Orbeso said.

San Bernardino Sheriff’s department have however stated that Orbeso’s actions are still under investigation.