Why a lovestruck elderly couple are still on the run from their nursing home – and refusing to budge from motel they fled to: ‘Dad just doesn’t want to be without mum’

The elderly couple, who ran away after running away from the house they were living in, are still hiding in a motel as their families say this is not the first time this has happened and it may not be the last.

Colin Geraghty, 89, and his wife Claudette, 83, eloped on Saturday, just four days after moving from the Ryman Nellie Melba Retirement Village in Melbourne’s south-east.

After the pair drove 200km across the state, their anxious family finally found them 32 hours later in Maryborough, 191km northwest of Melbourne.

But the smitten couple are still staying in motel rooms and refusing to return to care homes, the Daily Mail has revealed.

“My father doesn’t want to be without a mother and my mother is in the military,” daughter Linda McKelvie told the Daily Mail.

‘People say it’s a great love story, and it is. In many ways, I’m proud of them for looking out for each other.

‘I don’t know how they did it, to be honest with you; It was not an easy task.

‘It’s a bit unclear what happens next – I’m sure they’d like to have another fling!’

When Colin’s parents said he didn’t want to be without Claudette, they took them out.

Ms McKelvie said the couple had been together for 65 years and had a history of escaping from aged care homes, with a previous ‘prison escape’ occurring ‘not too long ago’.

He said he attributed this to his father being a very talented problem solver.

‘He’s a very smart, intelligent man who has had a career investigating small plane crashes and before that served in the air force,’ he said.

Colin first set his sights on Claudette, the ‘social butterfly’ on the dance floor, in 1961 and asked her for a spin.

Sixty years later, the couple now share three children and a growing list of grandchildren, with a fifth great-granddaughter soon to join the family.

But the couple were transferred to aged care facilities after Claudette’s medical doctors said she now needed 24-hour care.

‘They don’t really want change, which is understandable, but my dad can’t look after him,’ Ms McKelvie said. ‘It’s a tough job.

‘He had been in a routine for years. ‘He’s quite fit and capable and can handle daily tasks, but he has Alzheimer’s and forgets what he was doing 30 seconds ago.’

Colin first set his sights on social butterfly Claudette from across the dance floor 65 years ago and asked her for a spin.

Daughter Linda McKelvie makes desperate appeal to track down parents

When the couple arrived at the new care home last Tuesday, they were placed in adjoining rooms and staff wheeled Colin’s bed into his wife’s room to keep them together.

But Colin, who was still driving, was unhappy with the new arrangement and checked the pair off on a road trip across the state.

The couple visited the Glen Shopping Center on Springvale Road, took their daily medication and visited their favorite café.

They were last seen leaving around noon in their white 2015 Mazda 2.

The alarm was raised when their neighbor, Sharon Jeikishore, checked on them in the afternoon and received no response.

The resort alerted police earlier in the week after the Geraghtys’ first unsuccessful attempt to leave.

Ms McKelvie also revealed her father sent her a reassuring message on the day they disappeared.

It said ‘Don’t worry, thank you for your help.’ ‘I’ll make sure to keep an eye on him.’

They were last seen leaving a shopping mall around noon in their white 2015 Mazda 2.

The couple has not yet returned to Nellie Melba Nursing Home Village

But Ms McKelvie responded out of concern for the safety of her parents, who have Alzheimer’s and dementia and need daily medication.

‘Please come home mom and dad, we are all very worried,’ he texted. ‘Even the grandchildren. We’re all very worried about you.’

Ms McKelvie explained that the situation was particularly stressful because her mother suffers from seizures and has vascular dementia.

‘She’s had some health issues that have been going on for a while and all this has really taken its toll on her, poor thing,’ he said.

‘We had to get him checked at the medical centre. I’m not quite sure what happens next for them anymore.

‘My father does not want to be without my mother. I want to take them somewhere if I can; I’d love to be able to do that.’