Fullerton man found dead on Indian reservation remembered as 'wonderful'

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KABC) -- The elderly Fullerton man who died after being stranded on an Indian reservation for two weeks with his wife was laid to rest on Friday.

"He was a wonderful husband," his widow Dianna Bedwell said.

Cecil "Paul" Knutson, 79, and Bedwell went missing on Mother's Day after spending time at a San Diego area casino. The couple was found two weeks later in their car. They survived on fruit, pie and rain water.

Knutson was already dead when the couple was found. Bedwell, 68, says the two talked about the possibility that they both wouldn't make it.

"He knew, I didn't want to believe it, but he knew about an hour before he passed. He went so peacefully, just like he fell asleep and I thank God for that," Bedwell said.

Knutson was a former U.S. Marine and was buried with full military honors at Riverside National Cemetery. His stepson wore his Marine uniform to honor his father.

"This was my chance to pay you back for everything that you have given to me, but I just couldn't find you," his son Robert Acosta said. "You are proof that there is a God, that there are wonderful people that God sends our way."