CA CA - Barbara Thomas, 69, from Bullhead City AZ, disappeared in Mojave desert, 12 July 2019 #6

[fictionisbetter]

Barbara Thomas was hiking with her husband in the Mojave Desert and they became separated. She has not been seen since.

Search underway for lost hiker in Mojave Desert

"Thomas does not have supplies or a cell phone, and she was last seen wearing a black bikini, red baseball cap and tan hiking boots with black socks."

"She is a resident of Bullhead City, and she is 5 feet and 9 inches tall, weighing about 130 pounds, with blonde hair and green eyes."

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Thread #5 - CA - CA - Barbara Thomas, 69, from Bullhead City AZ, disappeared in Mojave desert, 12 July 2019 #5

 

[whoizzit]

Maybe he is doing everything in his power. JMO

Well, he certainly is mighty quiet about it!

Silent to the point that I doubt he’s pulled out all of the stops.

Plus, I don’t get the feeling that he’s that inept.

All moo, of course.

 

[Midwestmom2019]

I don't mean physically active I mean pro-active on finding her. Reward, interviews, talk shows, etc., but I really don't think that's his thing. He is a man of few words like his nephew said, so I guess he wants to stay out of the fray. If he posted a reward and something came up that would take care of it.

Then his lawyer should be talking. And hire a pr person to spread the word.

 

[RANCH]

Sure, 5th wheels can go down unpaved roads. I'm very familiar with one that does it often! (Several times a year)

It would never make the 4 mile unpaved road into my family's ranch.

 

[broadviewren]

It would never make the 4 mile unpaved road into my family's ranch.

I have family that live in the desert in southern Arizona and have to go down a couple of unpaved roads to get there (it's a combination of paved and unpaved roads in their area). They take their fairly high-end 5th wheel in and out of there on trips several times a year without any issues.

But of course not everyone's situation is the same.

 

[Lilibet]

What about Barbara's friends or family? Maybe they can start a Facebook? I feel weird even saying that. I can't say what victims of a missing loved one should or shouldn't do. I couldn't even imagine being in such a situation. When something traumatic happens, some people paralyze and become useless, others become possibly better than LE... and so on and so forth.

Whoever starts the FB page has to be someone who has the time and ability to administer it. Surely there is someone in RT or BT’s family or friend circle who could take this on if they were asked. Or maybe not?

In the Stephanie Warner case I’ve mentioned so often, it ended up being a WS member who knew friends of Stephanie’s who started the page. It ended up being WSers seeking and getting the media involved. But we didn’t step in until it became clear after about three months that her family across the country was not able to do it.

If my husband disappeared, I’d do everything that has been described here in several posts because of my experience in WS and my personality. I’m part pit bull. But if I disappeared, my husband would initially shut down. Fortunately, our very organized daughter and his sister would step in along with our friends, and he would then dive in and do what was needed.

A month has gone by. Pretty much crickets. Is there no one close to RT who will guide him and help him if he needs and wants help?

 

[gsleuth]

Yes I find it weird that he would say that.

I also find it weird that a women of BT's age would dress that way and carry a beer like that.

But the VI said that's normal for her. So what's the problem with her husband reporting what appears to be the truth? JMO

The bikini and a beer (in a travel cup) reference..an abducter would not have been aware it was beer. It paints a picture of disrespect..her attire coupled with a beer.

 

[ChuckMaureen]

So it maybe closer to a 1/4 or 1/2 mile maybe?

I doubt it was less than ~850 feet given the distance from the closest side of the nearest rock formation to the turnout and I also doubt it was more than 1500 feet, assuming once again the nearest rock formation. If it was the farthest rock formation we're still less than 2000 feet so I would dispute a distance greater than 1/2 mile.

Going beyond that, we have a cave that RT mentioned that he returned to, to search for BT because after he got back to the RV and realized she was no where in sight he thought of other places to where she might have walked. I dismiss the cave theory because why would BT walk to a cave when she wanted to get to the RV. I do not know the location of the cave but I suspect walking to it would introduce much farther distances for BT to walk (unless the cave was located within the same rock formation) before she could arrive back to the RV. The cave search was just RT attempting to be thorough in his searching for BT before eventually contacting 911. Understandable.

I find the "abducted" when she "crossed that road" theory a possibility, albeit a remote possibility, and I also find that LE's "no evidence of Barbara was found" at the general location quite plausible, meaning, given the sparse attire and no backpack there wasn't much to leave behind. I suspect BT's cap could have fallen off during a struggle but such caps are usually stable if fitted correctly, perhaps a pony-tail/bunched hair was threaded through the adjustment band.

As for footprints, struggle disturbances, I don't expect such 'evidence' to be easily detected on dry, hard desert earth. The variance in makeup and disbursement (wind erosion) of surface material in such an environment makes detecting 'disturbances' somewhat difficult but, it should be easier to detect something that would be 'out-of'place' in such an environment, such as chips bags and candy wrappers.

Now, down to this: I find the "carrying a beer" aspect just a bit troubling in that, why would BT hang on to a beer or anything else not usable as a weapon if she were being abducted by force? It is possible the beer (container) could have landed on the floor of an opened-door vehicle during a struggle but for that to occur I expect BT would have had to have been very close to the vehicle before the abduction action had begun; I can't imagine BT holding on to it while being dragged even a short distance to a vehicle. Heck, drop that beer, claw the abductor's face, etc.

The fact that RT emphasized the beer is the key element causing me concern. You state it as fact that the person had a beer in their hand, to ponder why it wasn't found at what you believe to be an abduction scene but not that it was part of the enticement for someone to abduct, which is how it sounded coming from RT during the interviews; his presentation of that supposed fact (carrying a beer) did not waiver. He never stated 'I didn't even find the beer she was carrying'.

 

[Razz]

Yep.

You saying that triggered a thought that hadn't occurred to me before now:

If your wife went missing, and she had an adult son, would you or would you not contact her son on the off-chance that she may have gotten in touch with him somehow since then or maybe even communicated something to him prior to her going missing about her planning to leave?

I'm wondering if when RT first contacted db's family after she went missing whether or not he asked them if any of them had heard from her.

JMO.

Good old Scott Peterson called Lacy's family to ask if they'd seen or heard from her after he'd come home and found her "missing".

And half jesting here, but RT "truly thought" BT had been abducted.

 

[Midwestmom2019]

Maybe he's trying the best that he can with no support because everyone looks at the statistics and say's he's probably guilty, don't help him. JMO

Not helping him. We’re helping to find Barbara.

 

[RANCH]

Then his lawyer should be talking. And hire a pr person to spread the word.

Maybe there's no money for a PR person.

I've seen posts that say RT should sell this or that to post a big reward.

Does anybody know if those things are paid for? For all we know they are upside down on the house, truck and RV and selling them would gain nothing.

The ideas based on zero facts on this thread amaze me.

Hell for all we know they are in such financial straights that it could be a motive for murder. JMO

 

[RANCH]

The bikini and a beer (in a travel cup) reference..an abducter would not have been aware it was beer. It paints a picture of disrespect..her attire coupled with a beer.

I don't have any issues with beer drinkers or wine drinkers or distilled spirit drinkers so I don't understand the disrespect. JMO

 

[Handsome Sailor]

the whole premise of a mid afternoon hike in the Mojave in midsummer by driving a brand new rv to an isolated wide bend in a desert road is just so "out-there" that I find it hard to believe...

 

[LaborDayRN]

Yep.

You saying that triggered a thought that hadn't occurred to me before now:

If your wife went missing, and she had an adult son, would you or would you not contact her son on the off-chance that she may have gotten in touch with him somehow since then or maybe even communicated something to him prior to her going missing about her planning to leave?

I'm wondering if when RT first contacted db's family after she went missing whether or not he asked them if any of them had heard from her.

JMO.

Her adult son would have been the first person I would have called.....

 

[whoizzit]

Her adult son would have been the first person I would have called.....

Absolutely!

Like a normal, concerned person would do, imho!

 

[RANCH]

the whole premise of a mid afternoon hike in the Mojave in midsummer by driving a brand new rv to an isolated wide bend in a desert road is just so "out-there" that I find it hard to believe...

Yes, that's a trend I'm finding on this thread.

I found it unbelievable that my 81 year old mother would insist on walking across the London Bridge in Lake Havasu City when it was 112 degrees a few years ago.

That was the temp at 12:00 PM. It got up to 124 degrees that day, by far the hottest I've experienced in my life.

ETA. We were driving a 2001 Ford Taurus and I didn't want to drive across the Mojave in 120 plus degree temps so we stopped at Lake Havasu City at noon.

 

[gsleuth]

I don't have any issues with beer drinkers or wine drinkers or distilled spirit drinkers so I don't understand the disrespect. JMO

emphasis on a beer in media (RT did not say a travel mug with a beer, is what RT said to VI) and a bikini. Watch the media for reference.

RT's Interviews

At the 1:13 mark - 1st interview
"My feeling is that she was picked up. Because she had to cross the highway. She was wearing a bikini and she had a beer in her hand."

At the 1:12 mark - 2nd interview
"I feel that, uh, somebody picked her up, uh, because she was wearing a bikini, she had a beer in her hand, and she was ahead of me and she had to cross that road."

 

[LaborDayRN]

Yes, that's a trend I'm finding on this thread.

I found it unbelievable that my 81 year old mother would insist on walking across the London Bridge in Lake Havasu City when it was 112 degrees a few years ago.

That was the temp at 12:00 PM. It got up to 124 degrees that day, by far the hottest I've experienced in my life.

BBM: Bless her heart! I hope we all have that kind of energy and drive at 81!!

 

[whoizzit]

BBM: Bless her heart! I hope we all have that kind of energy and drive at 81!!

Shooot.

I’d like to have it at my age (way younger but still old enough to wilt if temps are above 80).

 

[RANCH]

emphasis on a beer in media (RT did not say a travel mug with a beer, is what RT said to VI) and a bikini. Watch the media for reference.

Okay thanks. I still don't get it.