CA CA - Barbara Thomas, 69, Bullhead City, hiking wearing bikini in Mojave desert, 12 July 2019

[dbdb11]

A niece is also posting about Barbara on Facebook, her initials are LRR.
dbdb11 do you know who I'm speaking of?

i dont know who youre speaking of, and am also not on facebook for over a decade.

barb has two brothers, fairly estranged. have met my cousins once as a small child. i think my uncles side has divorced once lr twice and may have more cousins i dont even know about. on my dads side, we've been at home in hk for many years, and though i've visited rob and barb on trips back to states, have never tried to reach out to cousins.

can confirm barb and rob have been together since 2006 at least, though i dont know how long married.

on cellphone atm.. about to.call robs fam for any updates, but there are some questions i want to ask which just dont feel appropriate given my distance from everything.goin on abd the things they all must be going.through.

thanks again all

 

[Tillicum]

It's just so hard to figure how she could have vanished so quickly.

Even if she went out of eyesight, how did she go out of earshot that quickly?

The only thing I can think of is that she may have had a medical event like a massive heart attack or stroke on her way back to the camper, in which case she wouldn't have been able to call out or respond to others calling out to her.

But if that were the case, she would have fallen somewhere close to their camper, and one would think searchers have found her by now.

JMO.

I'm beginning to think if what he's telling is true, that his "few minutes" and "almost back" are not as accurate as it sounds. My hubby's few minutes can be as much as 10 or 15 and almost back from a 2 mile walk could be a quarter mile from the camper.

 

[MassGuy]

I don’t know what the hell to make of this whole thing.

Her being lost, is probably third on my list at this point. I can’t imagine she could have wandered far enough that she wouldn’t have been found by now.

Her being picked up by someone, is slightly more probable. I’ll include willingly, and unwillingly here, although I’d lean more towards her willingly getting in a vehicle, and then things being taken out of her control.

The most likely scenario as I see it, is that she was never there in the first place.

I think a bad ending is far more probable than not.

 

[Lilibet]

I'm beginning to think if what he's telling is true, that his "few minutes" and "almost back" are not as accurate as it sounds. My hubby's few minutes can be as much as 10 or 15 and almost back from a 2 mile walk could be a quarter mile from the camper.

Yes, time is so relative. I’ve been thinking that he may have taken his photo and then had to relieve himself. Many men at that age have BPH (enlarged prostate) which presses on the bladder and results in urgency...gotta go right NOW! But it can take awhile to finish. If this happened, it could explain taking longer to get back to the RV. It doesn’t explain where Barbara is though.

 

[PommyMommy]

Awesome, thanks, Mommy!

Have you seen anything in MSM saying anything about whether they were planning to stay there overnight or what their itinerary was for this trip?

OTOH, the fact that LE apparently told RT his poly results indicated he was being deceptive are really troubling.
OTOH, RT did consent to a polygraph, and it doesn't appear he's retained a lawyer, judging by his willingness to go on camera and announce he's LE's prime suspect.

Why does RT think somebody picking her up and taking her to Vegas is what happened, when LE still has searchers out using ATVs, dogs, helicopters, etc., in the area from which he reported she went missing?

JMO.

Nothing specific but to me, camping implies overnight.

I don't know what to make of RT's Vegas suggestion but someone immediately shifting attention from himself and onto others bothers me... MOO

 

[PaulR]

The only thing I can think of is that she may have had a medical event like a massive heart attack or stroke on her way back to the camper, in which case she wouldn't have been able to call out or respond to others calling out to her.

But if that were the case, she would have fallen somewhere close to their camper, and you'd expect searchers to have found her by now.

JMO.

The symptoms of heat stroke include odd or bizarre behavior, hallucinations, and delusions: Heat Stroke (Hyperthermia) - Harvard Health

I had mild heat stroke once and thankfully was hiking with someone who knew the symptoms.

 

[GordianKnot]

I don’t know what the hell to make of this whole thing.

Her being lost, is probably third on my list at this point. I can’t imagine she could have wandered far enough that she wouldn’t have been found by now.

Her being picked up by someone, is slightly more probable. I’ll include willingly, and unwillingly here, although I’d lean more towards her willingly getting in a vehicle, and then things being taken out of her control.

The most likely scenario as I see it, is that she was never there in the first place.

I think a bad ending is far more probable than not.

BBM:

Crud, Massy.

Meaning, I agree completely with you re: her never having been there being the most likely scenario.

Of course, we might both be wrong.

Even if there's a different explanation for her being missing, though, the likelihood is that we're looking at a negative outcome here.

JMO.

 

[PommyMommy]

Did he say the key to the camper was under a rock or the key to the truck? Because if they had only pulled over to hike and not set up to camp then she would want to get in the truck not the RV as it would not be cooling. I’m a bit confused on that. JMO

key to the camper was beneath a nearby rock, both Rob and Barb knew where it was. It being untouched was Robs first sign that something was amiss.

 

[GordianKnot]

The symptoms of heat stroke include odd or bizarre behavior, hallucinations, and delusions: Heat Stroke (Hyperthermia) - Harvard Health

I had mild heat stroke once and thankfully was hiking with someone who knew the symptoms.

Hey, Paul! Thanks for that info! Glad you recovered from your own experience w/ heat stroke.

O/T - if memory serves, you were active on the Mollie Tibbetts thread, is that right?

As I recall, you provided a lot of helpful info re: Fitbit data, cell phone pings, etc.

Do you have any thoughts about what technology might be used to assist LE in this case? Just curious.

JMO.

 

[PaulR]

Hey, Paul! Thanks for that info! Glad you recovered from your own experience w/ heat stroke.

O/T - if memory serves, you were active on the Mollie Tibbetts thread, is that right? As I recall, you provided a lot of helpful info re: Fitbit data, cell phone pings, etc.

Do you have any thoughts about what technology might be used to assist LE in this case? Just curious.

JMO.

Technology can be used for all sorts of things, but in the end it's just a tool.

I'm guessing "cell phone pings" out in the Mojave wouldn't be very useful. Assuming there is only one cell phone tower, you can't triangulate a signal. At best you have a rough estimate of distance, and you can see how much ground Tom Mahood and company have covered with their search for Bill Ewasko only to turn up empty handed.

I will say on hiking (referencing the beer): one time I was coming back from a hike with my hydration bladder (like a Camelbak), and a guy was starting off his hike carrying a gallon of water in his hand. A literal gallon of water, those plastic jugs from the grocery store. That someone would be on the trail with beer would be the last thing that surprised me, ever.

 

[Tripod]

For all of the skeptics here (myself included), I wanted to bring forward @drama_farmer 's excellent post. Great points made.
This reminds me that I must always remain balanced and considerate and keep an open mind.

I'm in the same corner as drama farmer is in, for the time being. I came on the thread very late ( or early, as it were) thinking for sure she would have been found. Abduction was my least likely thought, but it's heading towards being my most likely scenario. This reminds me also of the Paul Miller case, when a search was started soon after he'd last been seen by his wife, relatively speaking.
It really is amazing how quickly a human being can vanish!

 

[PaulR]

I'm in the same corner as drama farmer is in, for the time being. I came on the thread very late ( or early, as it were) thinking for sure she would have been found. Abduction was my least likely thought, but it's heading towards being my most likely scenario. This reminds me also of the Paul Miller case, when a search was started soon after he'd last been seen by his wife, relatively speaking.
It really is amazing how quickly a human being can vanish!

I once attended an informational class on SAR; humans can move faster and in stranger directions than you'd ever give them credit for. Sometimes it seems like they head in the exact opposite direction where "common sense" tells you they would go. Not that common sense isn't common, but people lost/frightened/disoriented don't think like someone sitting in a comfortable chair reading posts on the Internet.

 

[cuffem]

Nothing specific but to me, camping implies overnight.

I don't know what to make of RT's Vegas suggestion but someone immediately shifting attention from himself and onto others bothers me... MOO

Misdirection, look over there not here.

 

[Twistinginthewind]

BT's disappearance to begin with is odd, IMO. She had plans to go to Hong Kong to visit her sick brother the week after she went missing (this week) according to family member posting here.

Her husband is the only witness and the only person who besides BT has/had knowledge of their plans last week. and he says they pulled off the road in the desert in 90 going on 100 degree heat for a '2 mile hike', and they did this all the time.

Oh, but this time, she got ahead of him and disappeared in a few short minutes without a trace, without her cell phone, water, food or other supplies, but, you know, she may have been abducted because she was wearing a bikini and had a can of beer in her hand, and she would have had to cross a road to get back to their camper, and that's why he thinks someone must have just 'snatched' her up off the road their camper was parked off and took her to Vegas. Just please bring her back.

IMO, it's just a matter of time before LE gives up on searching for BT in rough terrain in 90-100 degree heat in the desert because there's been no sign of her at all in that locale. Though they would continue on forever regardless of the conditions if they had anything to go on, for sure. JMO.

 

[PaulR]

Why does RT think somebody picking her up and taking her to Vegas is what happened, when LE still has searchers out using ATVs, dogs, helicopters, etc., in the area from which he reported she went missing?

If someone picked her up, she could still be alive.

If she's still in the desert, she's almost certainly not alive.

When it's your loved one, you want to believe whatever offers the best chance of survival.

 

[cuffem]

If someone picked her up, she could still be alive.

If she's still in the desert, she's almost certainly not alive.

When it's your loved one, you want to believe whatever offers the best chance of survival.

It would also explain if she was found in another location than where she was last seen.

 

[PaulR]

It would also explain if she was found in another location than where she was last seen.

Maybe, but I think a lot of what people are reading into his statements aren't necessarily him trying to frame her as a victim of something. Stating that she was drinking beer, for instance; prohibition ended a long time ago, and a lot of people drink alcohol in the outdoors. Go car camping sometime. It's not like he said that she was mainlining H.

 

[Tripod]

I once attended an informational class on SAR; humans can move faster and in stranger directions than you'd ever give them credit for. Sometimes it seems like they head in the exact opposite direction where "common sense" tells you they would go. Not that common sense isn't common, but people lost/frightened/disoriented don't think like someone sitting in a comfortable chair reading posts on the Internet.

That certainly seems to happen a lot, doesn't it? Just from cases on WS over the years. I probably shouldn't be at all surprised because my husband has a habit of vanishing when he's in or around our own home and barn, or when we're together one minute in a store and the next minute, poof! Once I actually had him called over a big box store's speaker system Other times I've gone round and round our small house in circles, while he's going in and out doors. Those instances are funny, but this one and so many similar cases are not.
Prayers continue for Barb, her family and the SAR and LE pros searching for her!

 

[cuffem]

Maybe, but I think a lot of what people are reading into his statements aren't necessarily him trying to frame her as a victim of something. Stating that she was drinking beer, for instance; prohibition ended a long time ago, and a lot of people drink alcohol in the outdoors. Go car camping sometime. It's not like he said that she was mainlining H.

Sorry,I misunderstood.

 

[iscaremyself]

Very true. Also, unless that camper was hooked to electricity, then I have no clue why she would be going in there. I know from experience it can take a few minutes for ours to cool down after it’s hooked up. JMO

their rig I would call hi-end.. probably carries an instant on generator to run AC and such.
And I wouldn't be bouncing that rig down a dirt road..just pulling over beside the highway seems logical to me.