There's just nothing whatsoever to support her ever having been there, except the word of a man who went on national tv and told the world he flunked his polygraph and he was the prime suspect. This, despite the fact that LE has never said there was a crime being investigated.
I keep looking to what LE has and hasn't said r/t BT's disappearance for some guidance.
It may be helpful for us to focus solely on what LE is and isn't telling us.
I've been reviewing everything we have and haven't gotten from LE's corner.
Here's what we have:
Husband of missing 69-year-old hiker says police consider him a suspect
- Statements re: No evidence that BT was abducted (directly refuting RB's theory)
- Statements re: Not a single trace of BT having been found.
- Statement that LE is "unaware" of how long RT and BT were separated before she disappeared.
- Statement that LE "doesn't know" how far BT was from the RV at the time they became separated.
One logical explanation for the first 3 bullet points would be that BT was never at that location.
There is NO logical explanation for the last 2 bolded bullet points...if one assumes LE believes RT's version of events is true, at least.
The last 2 bullet points do make perfect sense if one assumes LE does not believe RT's account of what happened that day.
_____________________________
Then, there's this intriguing shift in LE's language, and the equally intriguing timing of it:
July 22nd - The investigation continues into the whereabouts of missing person Barbara Thomas from SBSD - Colorado River Sheriffs Department : Nixle
Through July 16th, LE's language is that there had been "no sightings" of BT.
RT gives his interview to Inside Edition on July 17th, gives his bikini and beer explanation for her disappearance, and oh, yeah, LE told him his polygraph showed he was being deceptive, but not to worry, on account of he "knows they aren't 100%" and he "hadn't slept the night before."
On the 17th and 18th, LE doesn't include their usual sentence r/t there being "no sightings" of BT in their daily update.
Then, on July 19th, the language from LE changes from "no sightings" of BT to, "no evidence of Barbara" being found in that desert.
Also noting: July 15th is the last date that LE includes the statement that "Barbara was last seen in the area of Kelbaker/Hidden Hills near the 1-40."
After that, LE merely states that they're searching in that area.
They do NOT state that it's the area where she "was last seen" in any updates after July 15.
The timing of their introduction of the word "evidence" into the status of their search is interesting, as is their dropping of the language after July 15th that she was "last seen" there.
________________________________
We also have this more recently from LE:
https://www.wlfi.com/content/news/Lafayette-mans-mother-still-missing-after-hiking-
in-the-Mojave-Desert-with-husband-524401511.html
RSABBM:
Sgt. Allison with the San Bernardino's County Sheriff's Department said they exhausted all resources looking for the 69-year-old.
"We utilized department-wide resources which includes search and rescue," said Allison. "We have hundreds of volunteers across the county that volunteer specifically for search and rescue."
Helicopters and tracking K-9's were also used in the search, but it wasn't enough.
The sheriff's department stopped looking for Barbara Thomas July 22nd. They're pursuing other leads
____________________________
I absolutely read this as LE stating they conducted a comprehensive search and satisfied themselves that she is not out there.
Why would LE go on the record with the statement that they are "pursuing other leads" if they believed she had gone lost in that location?
Rhetorical question.
I'm just pulling all these loosely-knit threads from LE, and to me, it's all leading to a rather obvious conclusion.
One which, unfortunately, we can't fully explore or discuss here.
I'm having to content myself with ongoing and spirited discussions with my main man, William of Occam.
William's thoughts fall entirely outside of WS TOS, so he's informed me that it's probably best that doesn't join our group right now.
I explained to him that's perfectly fine, because we don't need him to tell us what we already know, anyway.
Besides, he charges really outrageous consultation fees.
Dude's like a total scam artist.
JMO.
