CA CA - Barbara Thomas, 69, from Bullhead City AZ, disappeared in Mojave desert, 12 July 2019 #11

[al66pine]

Heat, A Rugged Condition?

....But in that heat (or cold), she likely wouldn't lived long enough to have starved. And like many people with an outdoor ethic, I tend to expect that one who routinely enters rugged conditions may also die in those conditions, and that's all part of the risk that goes with the lifestyle.

@Reasonable & Just bbm sbm Thanks for the post, prompting me to think about 'rugged conditions.' Is BH City's summer heat itself a rugged condition? Is a person living/spending summers there, walking dog and being outdoors for other ordinary activities, routinely entering rugged conditions? Did BT ever suffer heat-related illness there?
A few posters here noted BH City temps are usu. several degrees higher, IIRC, than at the higher-elevation turnout.
Being acclimatized to higher temps, is it possible/likely BT could have succumbed to heat at the turnout in cooler temps that day - if that is what happened?
Just wondering.

 

[LietKynes]

An interesting video of the consequences of wandering (or in this article -- falling from a bicycle !) or stepping off a path into Cholla cactus.
Ouch !
Biker lands face-first into a CACTUS in Arizona desert as male rider tries to pluck spines out | Daily Mail Online

I do not believe Barbara ever became 'lost'.
Not with her wearing only a bikini and socks & hiking shoes.
She would've known what these cactus plants do to your body.

Even if dehydrated or feeling dizzy... she'd have possibly sat herself down carefully on the sandy path.
And stayed put and waited for RT to catch up.

Now that temps are cooler, they need to send some searchers or at least drones out to look for her.

 

[LietKynes]

One set of reasons would be that some of the tips they got came from Barbara's son, who alleges there was a crime. Since he did this publicly on facebook, and participated in getting the "foul play" press release out, one can be pretty certain that when LE talked to him, he mentioned his suspicions.

Further, RT himself alleges that she was kidnapped. While LE said they had no evidence of kidnapping, it's possible that leads came in nevertheless, since RT had alerted the region about a possible kidnapping.

Snipped for focus ; LBM

Why not put up a reward ? If someone took her ?
Even now-- what could it possibly hurt ?
Only help and bring her case new life.
Or at least a plea to the abductor.
Anything that would help.
MOO

 

[Jo in Calif]

So BT and son were estranged, and therefore she did not meet his children -- her grandchildren?

It's still not clear as I think son has been divorced for awhile, and birth mom has re-tweeted all missing person detail for BT, acknowledging BT was her children's grandmother.

I don't think I'll be satisfied until hearing from BT herself!!

Yes BT is her children’s Grandmother because their father is BT’s son. Doesn’t matter if they have met or not, BT is those children’s Grandmother.

 

[LietKynes]

Yes BT is her children’s Grandmother because their father is BT’s son. Doesn’t matter if they have met or not, BT is those children’s Grandmother.

Yes.
And their "grandma Barbie" was taken away from them too soon.

 

[MsBetsy]

So BT and son were estranged, and therefore she did not meet his children -- her grandchildren?

It's still not clear as I think son has been divorced for awhile, and birth mom has re-tweeted all missing person detail for BT, acknowledging BT was her children's grandmother.

I don't think I'll be satisfied until hearing from BT herself!!

Well, I'm just going by what the VI stated. He seemed pretty sure.
He said that "Barb has never met her granchildren," and he knows that Matt was in contact with her at least once in the months before she disappeared.
He said he never could get an answer out of Matt as to how they were communicating.
But he did say that Matt has turned out to be an unreliable source of information, so as far as we know it may not be true. Maybe they did meet and for some reason Matt did not tell the rest of the family.
Imo

 

[Seattle1]

Yes BT is her children’s Grandmother because their father is BT’s son. Doesn’t matter if they have met or not, BT is those children’s Grandmother.

Yes, and more important is that both mother and father of kids have publicly acknowledged that she is Grandma Barbie which to me makes the "never meeting" different. MOO

 

[MsBetsy]

An interesting video of the consequences of wandering (or in this article -- falling from a bicycle !) or stepping off a path into Cholla cactus.
Ouch !
Biker lands face-first into a CACTUS in Arizona desert as male rider tries to pluck spines out | Daily Mail Online

I do not believe Barbara ever became 'lost'.
Not with her wearing only a bikini and socks & hiking shoes.
She would've known what these cactus plants do to your body.

Even if dehydrated or feeling dizzy... she'd have possibly sat herself down carefully on the sandy path.
And stayed put and waited for RT to catch up.

Now that temps are cooler, they need to send some searchers or at least drones out to look for her.

Yes, I really hope there will be some sort of search again.
LE apparently said they are not going to search unless they uncover new evidence.
I know many people have said there are companies that search and even use drones but it's very expensive.
Didn't someone here say they had a drone and might search at one point?
I think the VI stated awhile back he was planning on going to the area in the coming months, too.

Imo

 

[Seattle1]

Snipped for focus ; LBM

Why not put up a reward ? If someone took her ?
Even now-- what could it possibly hurt ?
Only help and bring her case new life.
Or at least a plea to the abductor.
Anything that would help.
MOO

I agree. I think most understand that rewards are offered to keep the missing's name in news.

 

[al66pine]

BT and BT's Son?

Well, I'm just going by what the VI stated. He seemed pretty sure.
He said that "Barb has never met her granchildren," and he knows that Matt was in contact with her at least once in the months before she disappeared.
He said he never could get an answer out of Matt as to how they were communicating.
But he did say that Matt has turned out to be an unreliable source of information, so as far as we know it may not be true. Maybe they did meet and for some reason Matt did not tell the rest of the family. Imo

@MsBetsy bbm
From VI @dbdb11, that's how I recall it too: "at least once" in recent mo's.
Not sure exactly how to reconcile this ^ w what IIRC son Matt said: "spoke often."

So did BT & son Matt have radio silence for a while, before that "at least once" in recent months?
That is, in addition to their estrangement for, well, however long?

Also what did son Matt say about BT's disappearance - my paraphrasing - this would not have happened if ______? Anybody have a link? TiA.
And what did he mean by that?
jmo

 

[1&2&3]

I don’t recall that it was directly said, however, my impression was that Matt did not care for RT. JMO.

 

[MsBetsy]

BT and BT's Son?
@MsBetsy bbm
From VI @dbdb11, that's how I recall it too: "at least once" in recent mo's.
Not sure exactly how to reconcile this ^ w what IIRC son Matt said: "spoke often."

So did BT & son Matt have radio silence for a while, before that "at least once" in recent months?
That is, in addition to their estrangement for, well, however long?

Also what did son Matt say about BT's disappearance - my paraphrasing - this would not have happened if ______? Anybody have a link? TiA.
And what did he mean by that?
jmo

In regard to the last question, I think he said, this would not have happened if I was there? Maybe he feels he could have protected Barbara. I'm not sure because I haven't read the interview in awhile.
Anyway, I'm not sure how credible any of what he says is.
The VI said he was an unreliable source, LE told him directly that he has been a liability to them which I'm guessing means he wasn't much of a help. Maybe all the leads he provided to them didn't turn up anything valuable. He said he was working very closely with LE and they had many leads back in August, I think.

I'm sure he means well and is trying to help but I'm not sure he has any useful information to provide the investigation.

Although I do think the family believes there are some very powerful and dangerous people involved, and maybe that's true and LE just can't find any evidence of that.

The VI did say that the family may pursue other avenues in order to find out what happened. Maybe they have already begun that process.

Imo

 

[Jo in Calif]

BT and BT's Son?
@MsBetsy bbm
From VI @dbdb11, that's how I recall it too: "at least once" in recent mo's.
Not sure exactly how to reconcile this ^ w what IIRC son Matt said: "spoke often."

So did BT & son Matt have radio silence for a while, before that "at least once" in recent months?
That is, in addition to their estrangement for, well, however long?

Also what did son Matt say about BT's disappearance - my paraphrasing - this would not have happened if ______? Anybody have a link? TiA.
And what did he mean by that?
jmo

"My mother and I were close. ... (We) spoke on the phone often (and) she loved my children, C,13, and N, 11. ... I wish my children and I lived out there. (Her disappearance) would not have happened," he added.

Family suspects foul play in disappearance of Bullhead City woman

 

[La Louve]

IMO Barbara would have died of the effects of dehydration (typically 3 days) long before starving to death (three weeks typically).

I keep wondering, if she simply got turned around when heading back to the RV then why didn't she call out to RT when she realized she was lost. IIRC (according to RT) she was five minutes ahead of him.

 

[MimosaMornings]

About 97 miles from McCarren Airport(LAS) to Bullhead City. Several shuttles that provide van transportation from the airport to Laughlin/Bullhead City.

Frontier one way from IND to LAS direct $28. Spirit is cheap too, about $58.

 

[La Louve]

I agree. I think most understand that rewards are offered to keep the missing's name in news.

I've read that rewards are often used for incentivizing tips from people who are reticent for a variety of personal reasons to share information with LE.

 

[Seattle1]

I've read that rewards are often used for incentivizing tips from people who are reticent for a variety of personal reasons to share information with LE.

Investigators will tell you that's the downside of pubic rewards -- they can also be the motivation for many false, to the extreme tips -- all which have to be investigated.

Do Cash Rewards For Crime Tips Work?

 

[gossheather77]

I suggest alerting on your post and asking a moderator. (click on the "report" link at the bottom of your post.) We're not allowed to sleuth family members, who are considered victims.

Thank you as I don't want to break rules and was just a suggestion as to why the estrangement but i will do what you said thank you

 

[al66pine]

Cactus & Outdoor Recreation

An interesting video of the consequences of wandering (or in this article -- falling from a bicycle !) or stepping off a path into Cholla cactus. Ouch ! Biker lands face-first into a CACTUS in Arizona desert as male rider tries to pluck spines out | Daily Mail Online....

@LietKynes sbm
For those who have never had Close-Encounters-of-the-Cholla-Kind, lemme tell ya.

W fleshy parts of cholla 'flicked off' unfortunately the worst is not over. Vid ^ shown on larger-than-phone screen shows big spines still protruding from the bicycler's skin. They get embedded but can be pulled out. After that there still remain almost invisible hairy barbs that try the patience of Job to remove, or at least bright light, magnifier, and tweezers. Usu some swearing too. Then the Lanocaine to treat the residual rashy, itchy, scratchy feeling.

Having lived in SW'ern desert for several yrs, seems likely BT had some exposure to cactus. Maybe from prior swimwear-clad walks, she knew hiking boots were sufficient, if she was careful about where she walked and if the trail/path was wide its whole length. IDK, I just can't imagine. All jmo.

 

[La Louve]

Thank you as I don't want to break rules and was just a suggestion as to why the estrangement but i will do what you said thank you

No worries! We don't want to get the thread shut down