Kansas Newlyweds Killed In Crash Just A Day After Marrying

CLEARWATER, KS — A Kansas couple was married for just one day before a crash near their home tragically ended both their lives.

South African native Austin Wesson, 19, was driving a pickup Saturday evening that left a dirt roadway and crashed into a tree near their Clearwater home, The Wichita Eagle reported. Wesson was declared dead at the scene, and his wife, Rebekah Bouma, 19, died early Monday at Via Christi Hospital St. Francis.

Bouma attended Trinity Academy in Wichita for her sophomore and junior year of high school, the newspaper reported. The two met in February while performing mission work in South Africa and persuaded friends and relatives their devotion to each other was real — not just puppy love. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

The couple married on Friday, partly to help expedite Wesson’s immigration process, and planned a larger ceremony and celebration for next month, the newspaper reported.

The area saw storms at the time of the crash, Sedgwick County sheriff’s Lt. Lin Dehning said, but investigators believe speed — not weather — contributed to the crash.

Bouma's sister, Rachel, said in a Facebook message that though the family isn't ready to talk publicly yet, they want everyone to know that Rebekah and Austin "loved the Lord Jesus more than anything" and wanted to "live out their faith in and through service to others."

"Their love for others was an extension of their love for Jesus," she said.

Patch has reached out to the Sedgwick County sheriff’s office.

Photos credit: Rachel Byker Bouma