AZ - Barbara Thomas, 69, Timeline, Media, Maps, *NO DISCUSSION*

New Posts

AUG 7, Updated AUG 8, 2019
Search ongoing for woman missing in Mojave Desert
Nearly a month after the disappearance of a woman in San Bernardino County, and questions linger as to how and why Bullhead City resident Barbara Thomas, 69, became missing in the Mojave Desert.

[...]

Others following the case are attempting to resolve the mystery of Thomas’s disappearance, and offering theories of their own. One such group, “Barbara Thomas Missing – Case Discussion,” has already garnered more than 200 members. And they aren’t the only ones who have something to say.

According to Indiana-based WLFI News 18, Barbara Thomas’s son believes Robert may have some answers about her disappearance. Matthew Schellinkhout, of Lafayette, Indiana, first learned of his mother’s disappearance six days after it took place.

“It’s just that none of it adds up,” Schellinkhout told WLFI 18 News this week. “It’s angering and frustrating. I hope he just tells the truth about what happened.”

[...]

Robert Thomas later made statements to CBS Inside Edition journalists, expressing the possibility that his wife may have been abducted, and pleaded for his wife’s safe return.
 
MEDIA CONTACTS​

THOSE WHO HAVE REPORTED ON BARBARA

Today’s News-Herald, Havasu News: Email editor@havasunews.com
ABC 7, Los Angeles: Email pr@abc7.com, Press Releases Submit Press Releases
NBC 4, Los Angeles: Email tips@nbcla.com, Jonathan Lloyd Twitter Jonathan Gonzalez (@JonathanNBCLA) | Twitter
Los Angeles Times: Email tips@latimes.com, Email alexa.diaz@latimes.com, Everyone :) Newsroom Directory
KTLA 5: Email ktla@ktla.com, Cindy Von Quednow on Twitter Cindy Von Quednow (@Vonquizu) | Twitter
AZ Central: newstips@arizonarepublic.com
ABC 13, KTNV Las Vegas Email 13investigates@ktnv.com, Leah Pezzetti on Twitter Leah Pezzetti (@leahpezzetti) | Twitter
Mohave Daily News: Email bmcmillen@mohavedailynews.com, Breaking News breakingnews@mohavedailynews.com, needlesdesertstar@nwppub.com
San Bernardino Sun: Email jkeating@scng.com
Fox News: Email americasnewsroom@foxnews.com, Travis Fedschum on Twitter Travis Fedschun (@travfed) | Twitter
NTD News: Email Zack Stieber on Twitter https://twitter.com/zackstieber
Inside Edition: Email tips@insideedition.com
People: Email editor@people.com, Joelle Goldstein on Twitter https://twitter.com/joelleg0ldstein
Zach News: Email news.zachnews@gmail.com, Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ZachNews/
Victorville Daily Press: Email RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com
WLFI 18, Indiana: Email Jordan.Burrows@wlfi.com
Daily Miner: News Tips https://kdminer.com/contact/
SOME WHO HAVE NOT YET REPORTED ON BARBARA

The Bee: Email info@thebee.news, Website https://thebee.news/

Las Vegas Review Journal: jgerman@reviewjournal.com, Website https://www.reviewjournal.com/staff/jeff-german/

Heavy.com: jessica.mcbride@heavy.com
 
Barbara Thomas

MISSING PERSON
Barbara Thomas

Barbara-Thomas-149331.JPG


MISSING SINCE: 07/12/2019
SEX: Female
DOB: 06/11/1950
RACE: White
HEIGHT: 5' 9"
EYES: Green
WEIGHT: 130 lbs.
HAIR: Blonde
CLOTHING: Black bra and underwear, black tall socks, tan hiking boots, and a white hat
DENTAL X-RAYS AVAILABLE: No
Barbara was last seen on July 12, 2019.
Contact AGENCY: San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office
PHONE NUMBER: (909) 387-3695
CASE NUMBER: 101900230
 
New MISSING PERSONS flyer for areas around Bullhead, Laughlin, Needles, Las Vegas.
Please share and spread the word!
 

Attachments

  • NEW MISSING.jpg
    NEW MISSING.jpg
    131.4 KB · Views: 1,137
Photos of Barbara
dbdb11 said:
It was around this thread that I personally concluded Barbara did not get lost in the desert.

The clues aren't even in the desert. They're in televised interviews, statements of relevant law enforcement, and in decades past.

If playing through scenarios of Barb getting lost keeps this thread alive I can't be opposed to it.

<modsnip> Where is Barbara?

new-missing-jpg.198669
BARBset7.jpg
Click to expand...
 
AUG 20, 2019
Missing Bullhead City woman sought
Barbara Thomas, the subject of an intensive hunt by San Bernardino County Sheriff Deputies, search and rescue units, aviators and tracking dogs between July 12 and 22 in the Kelbaker-Hidden Hills area of the Mojave National Preserve, remains missing.

Family members are circulating posters of the 69-year-old Bullhead City woman, described as being five feet nine inches tall, about 130 lbs., with white-blonde hair and green eyes.

[...]
 
AUG 30, 2019 - Statement from the Family of Barbara Thomas
dbdb11 said:
anyone emailing media, thank you! Please feel free to include the following:

Statement to Media by the Family of Barbara Thomas Aug 30, 2019

The Hong Kong based family of Barbara Thomas would like to issue the following statement: On July 12th, 2019, Barbara Thomas was reported to police as missing. Following a walk in the Mojave desert with her husband Robert Thomas, 69 year old Barbara vanished without a trace. Barbara is a mother of one son, and has two young grandchildren, as well as her puppy Lexi. On July 16th Barbara’s brother, sister in-law, two nephews, and niece in Hong Kong were informed of her disappearance.

At this time we are working with case detectives to locate Barbara, though they report they cannot release any information to us or the public, as the investigation is ongoing.

Barbara and her husband were avid and regular desert explorers, and the chances she became lost or disoriented in the five minutes between her husband reporting last seeing her, and him realising she was missing, are highly improbable. Though police do not suspect she was abducted, husband Robert does. An exhaustive nine day search in blistering Mojave heat, including Search and Rescue specialists, search dogs and helicopters, turned up no sign of her.

Barbara was scheduled to visit her ailing brother in Hong Kong, arriving on July 23rd. Her family here are devastated at her disappearance, and especially the lack of any new information regarding the investigation. Her brother, who has been in hospital, is extremely distressed at the unbelievable nature of her disappearance.

We would like to express extreme gratitude to multiple online communities of amateur detectives who have been instrumental in helping us better understand the nature of this disappearance. Despite long stretches of media and law enforcement silence, those dedicated groups of complete strangers have been keeping Barbara’s story and our hopes alive. We would also like to express our sincere appreciation to all Search and Rescue members who offered their time to look for Barbara under such difficult conditions.

Barbara does not have a history of any illness that we know of. We have no reason to believe Barbara would walk away from her husband, or disappear in the manner she has. Especially not so near to a trip to Hong Kong to visit her younger brother in hospital.

We appeal to the public to please take a look at the pictures of Barbara included. If you have seen Barbara, or know ANYTHING which could help us find her, please contact San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office, Special Investigations Division, Homicide Detail, Detective Nicholas Clark at 909-387-3572, or the anonymous we-tip hotline at 1-800-78-CRIME.

To Barbara, we love you and will never give up in searching to find you. There are hundreds of people actively working to help us. We miss you dearly and remain hopeful you will be found soon.
​
Click to expand...
 
sroad said:
(Robert, if you end up reading this and Barbara was lost in this area and you've changed mind about the abduction scenario, I would urge you to provide more details, a detailed timeline, and photos from your hike with the public. As a volunteer, I would have gone out there again IF I had something else to work with like a photo showing she was there in that environment, or a map of your hike (the mornings and evenings are quite doable for hiking in the desert as the temps drop nicely up there at close to 4000 feet elevation for those of us who are used to the desert. If LE or your lawyer won't let you share information, then share that info with the VI @dbdb11, so they can share it here).

Chiming in to clarify a few more things. The inaccurate description of, "dry lake bed" that someone mentioned is really a dry wash that runs north around the main rock formation that they allegedly walked up to, see attached photo. I walked the wash several times east (downhill) towards the location where the 5th wheel was parked and even double checked the culverts under the road that come out of the wash and then parallel HH dirt road. SAR also extensively walked that wash east and west of Kelbaker rd with the dogs as I observed those last two days before they suspended their search. Also, as I mentioned before, I chatted with the sheriff on site at their incident command 5th wheel, and he confirmed that that was the exact location that Robert allegedly was parked. So that is where they conducted their search operations from.

Sweeney Granite Mountains Desert Research Center is not visible from the hike, as there is a ridge that comes from the Granite mountains that blocks that view. If one were to hike to the rock formations, and then skirt around the Granite Mountains towards the research center, it would take about 3.7 miles to get there one way and uphill, so quite a ways from the turnout.

The parking lot many folks have mentioned is just a little ways up the road, near the pass, and is like a scenic view parking area. This is the most plausible parking area for cars making a brief stop. Google Maps You can use the scroll wheel on your mouse to zoom in towards the rock formations and see the pole line. I noted this in my observation from having been there not just driving through, but on my hikes. I was able to see the cars with the naked eye from most of the locations in the attached Google Earth snapshot. So again that 360 degree shot that is mentioned as showing cars would be very helpful to see, so we can see where it was taken from. You'd occasionally see a car or two stopped there for a small break and then they'd be off again.

There have also been many weather numbers thrown around over all these pages. If you want the most accurate temps, the weather station at the UC reserve and research center is the most accurate, as it is a scientifically calibrated weather station. Attached are the daily highs for the day they went hiking. It didn't quite reach the triple digits but still hot. Due to it's elevation, it is not so hot as the surrounding valleys. Sweeney Granite Mountains California

And also regarding vegetation and "corners", Robert was not clear about this corner, but from walking there, while the trail looks straight on Google Earth, it actually is meandering enough to loose someone out of sight every 100-150 feet or so. And while the cholla vegetation is only 3-4 feet tall, the creosote and other vegetation can be as high as 6 feet or a bit more at times. So she would have gone out of sight pretty fast after "rounding a corner" so to speak. The 5th wheel would have been visible at most times however, due to it being bright and about 12-14 feet tall would be my guess.

9-1-2019-8-55-18-pm-jpg.201740
temp-jpg.201741
9-1-2019-8-53-02-pm-png.201745
Click to expand...
 
Photos from the area
iscaremyself said:
I was out there walking around today and took a couple pics.
Here's one from the paved parking area up the road a half mile or so north of the rock pile.
search-1.jpg
Click to expand...
iscaremyself said:
I walked south of the pile and took a pic of the foliage to show how dense it is in spots.
And tall, some of that greenery was 8, 10 feet tall.
search-3.jpg
Click to expand...
 
SEP 10, 2019
Family suspects foul play in disappearance of Bullhead City woman
[...]

Family members suspect foul play and are seeking answers.

[...]

Cindy Bachman, a sheriff's spokeswoman, said that investigators were looking into all leads.

[...]

The Sheriff's Department declined The Arizona Republic's request for public records, including an initial police report and 911 recording, stating that they are considered investigatory documents and are exempt from disclosure under California law.

Robert Thomas declined to comment to The Republic. On July 15, he told KTNV-TV, a Las Vegas TV station, that he believes his wife was abducted after rounding a corner during their hike while he stopped to a take a photo. He believes she may have been taken to Las Vegas.

[...]

In a statement written by several members of Barbara Thomas' family based in Hong Kong, she is described as an avid and regular desert explorer along with her husband, Robert.

"The chances she became lost or disoriented in the five minutes between her husband reporting last seeing her, and him (realizing) she was missing, are highly improbable," the family said in the statement shared with The Republic.

[...]

"Barbara does not have a history of any illness that we know of. We have no reason to believe Barbara would walk away from her husband, or disappear in the manner she has. Especially not so near to a trip to Hong Kong to visit her younger brother in (the) hospital," the family's statement reads.

[...]

Initial search efforts were conducted in the area east of Kelbaker and Hidden Hill roads — where officials say she was last seen — with numerous search and rescue members, deputies, K9s, park rangers, a sheriff's helicopter and off-road vehicles, according to the agency's Nixle webpage.

On July 20 and 21, among the search and rescue members were some "certified in cave searches, rope climbing and desert terrain ground hikers," the webpage states.

[...]
 
@sroad ’s valuable post with IMO the closest and most accurate weather information

WEATHER link included in this post from Sweeney Granite Mountains Reseach Center that you can open and enter the date to get results for time and location of Barbara’s reported disappearance

CA - CA - Barbara Thomas, 69, from Bullhead City AZ, disappeared in Mojave desert, 12 July 2019 #9

sroad wrote: “The Sweeney Granite Mountains Desert Research Center is scientifically calibrated yearly (and used by researchers who come to this reserve) and located just 2.6 miles (as the crow flies) from the turnout and hike. The turnout is at 3840 feet, and the hike would have gone up to about 3900 feet. The research center is at 4279 feet above sea level, so only a few hundred feet higher, so you could perhaps add a degree or so to the temperature results from the official UC Natural Reserve weather station.”

MOO: much more accurate than accuweather from Kelso or Baker

Edited bc it took me a while to figure out how to actually get sroad’s valuable post over here to the media thread and to thank @PommyMommy for letting me know we could
 
Last edited:
WEATHER

Added complete link to WEATHER bc just tested the link above; here is the correct link where you can add the date for weather stats on the day you are looking for:

Sweeney Granite Mountains California

firstsleuth said:
@sroad ’s valuable post with IMO the closest and most accurate weather information

WEATHER link included in this post from Sweeney Granite Mountains Reseach Center that you can open and enter the date to get results for time and location of Barbara’s reported disappearance

CA - CA - Barbara Thomas, 69, from Bullhead City AZ, disappeared in Mojave desert, 12 July 2019 #9

sroad wrote: “The Sweeney Granite Mountains Desert Research Center is scientifically calibrated yearly (and used by researchers who come to this reserve) and located just 2.6 miles (as the crow flies) from the turnout and hike. The turnout is at 3840 feet, and the hike would have gone up to about 3900 feet. The research center is at 4279 feet above sea level, so only a few hundred feet higher, so you could perhaps add a degree or so to the temperature results from the official UC Natural Reserve weather station.”

MOO: much more accurate than accuweather from Kelso or Baker

Edited bc it took me a while to figure out how to actually get sroad’s valuable post over here to the media thread and to thank @PommyMommy for letting me know we could
Click to expand...
 
SEP 24, 2019
Professor uses coverage of missing woman as case study
[...]

At the time, 13 Action News spoke with Bob Thomas about the search for his wife. Now, an anthropology professor at Oxnard College in Ventura, California is using that news coverage as a case study in her class.

[...]

She says she first has them watch the coverage with no sound.

[...]

Then she has them watch with the sound on.

Kama’ila says the students tend to point out how calm Bob Thomas is during the interview.

“He sort of breaks down but everybody notices there’s no real tears or real sobbing, so it just seemed really suspicious to most of the people in the class,” she says.

[...]

Kama’ila says the overall feeling of sadness is noted.

“It could just be that he feels guilty, he lost his wife in the desert. It was his idea to go and now she’s missing and everyone is going to blame him, it doesn’t mean he actually did something to her,” says Kama’ila.

[...]
 
West Valley SAR on Twitter
One of our WVSAR team members, Margo Machen, is dual trained and also serves our county as a K9 Search Dog Handler. Here she is shown in video with other highly trained search personnel.
San Bernardino County Sheriff on Twitter (Video)
5:13 PM · Jul 17, 2019

https://twitter.com/WestValleySAR/status/1151672351420903424
OUTSTANDING article about one of the most elite Search & Rescue K-9 teams in the county, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Search Dog Team. We are proud that Dr. Margo Machen, Commander of SBCSD Search Dog Team also serves with WVSAR
https://www.platinumperformance.com/articles/canine-heroes
9:57 PM - 17 Jul 2019​
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

DNASolves

Who is Escambia County John Doe (1989)?

Members online

... and 98 more.
Total: 4,244 (members: 99, guests: 4,145)

Online statistics

Members online
99
Guests online
4,145
Total visitors
4,244
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
592,617
Messages
17,971,974
Members
228,846
Latest member
butiwantedthatname
Back
Top