‘They are together forever’: B.C. couple with off-roading YouTube channel killed in rollover crash

They lived life to the fullest—that’s how a couple from Nanaimo is being remembered.

An adventurous B.C. couple who ran a popular YouTube channel about off-roading died last week in a rollover crash in the Purcell Mountains.

Search crews found Matthew Yeomans and Stacey Tourout after responding to a 911 call on a remote service road Thursday.

In a social media post, Tourout’s mother expressed the “unimaginable heartache” of their grieving families.

“Please keep us and them in your thoughts and prayers as we navigate this devastating end to an amazing love story,” Colleen Tourout wrote. “They are together forever as we knew they would always be.”

Yeomans and Tourout documented their off-roading expeditions on the Toyota World Runners YouTube channel, which amassed a following of 203,000 subscribers.

Their adventures included a 16-month trek across South America, during which Yeomans proposed to Tourout in front of Mount Fitz Roy, located on the border between Argentina and Chile.

“After our first date I knew I could spend my life with this girl,” he wrote in an engagement announcement. “Driving the length of the Americas in a rig that we built has made us into a remarkable team.”

Kaslo Search and Rescue said the couple’s vehicle was found approximately 200 metres down a slope in the Purcells, located west of the Rocky Mountains in the Columbia Valley.

“It was very clear that there had been a vehicle rollover,” said search manager Mark Jennings-Bates. “There was an ejection, and that person had no vital signs.”

Crews found Tourout alive but critically injured. She died after being airlifted off the mountain in a helicopter.

News of the tragedy sent shockwaves across the off-roading community, and prompted a wave of online condolences.

Friend and fellow YouTube content creator Nate Pickel shared a tribute to the couple on his Dirt Lifestyle channel, describing them as “amazing people” who were deeply in love.

“Wherever Matt and Stacey are now, I know they’re exploring it together,” he said. “Rest in peace, my sweet friends. I hope to see you again someday.”

With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Shannon Paterson