CA CA - Barbara Thomas, 69, from Bullhead City AZ, disappeared in Mojave desert, 12 July 2019 #3

[Micheline]

I think that depends on the situation.
I once got upset after my ex threw away little notes I left for him so he made sure he never did it again.
So it's hard to say whether or not keeping the notes was his own decision. Imo

I think that in general we can assume if someone keeps little love notes from his/her partner that is of their own choice.

I also think if a woman always puts little love notes on her husband's pillow, that that is of her own choice, because of her being in a loving reciprocal relationship.

Roberts calls her the love of his life, not many man say this about their wife, not even when are a suspect in their disappearance.
He thinks she is so beautiful that someone would want to kidnap her.

In every picture he has his hand around her, or she around him, even if there are people standing in between them.

Robert: We tell each other how much we love each other every night before we go to sleep.

I think this is genuine. IMO

 

[GordianKnot]

I’m not sure what I think about the way RT said “Absolutely not,” but I will note that virtually every guilty person on Dateline, etc. says exactly the same thing - some more emphatically than others.

Here's what I noticed when RT responded with an emphatic, "Absolutely not!" when the reporter asked him the question re: whether or not he had anything to do with his wife's disappearance:

He gave a nod of the head when he made that statement.

Not a shake of the head. A nod.

So, my read on that is: his lips said one thing, his body language said another.

Here's the link. Question is asked at the 1:50 mark:
Husband of Woman Who Vanished During Mojave Desert Hike: 'I Just Want Her Back'

JMO.

 

[Micheline]

True, but it also may be that she was making an attempt to assure him of her love for him.
Those notes may have been from several years ago, or something she wrote as a result of an argument, so it's hard to read anything from them. Imo

Maybe he forged them.

 

[lonetraveler]

This is what I don't understand at all.

No photos have been released as to where he was when taking the photos, versus where she was when she turned the corner, and how far apart they were. That awesome new member that posted all of the photos a couple of nights ago- I didn't see any corner that she could have turned, but perhaps I was looking at the photos wrong.

I just wish that LE had been a tiny bit more forthcoming about how far apart the two were allegedly when he last saw her. Do we know from RT's account as to how far behind, in terms of minutes, he was, when he noticed she was missing? He said she turned a corner and that was the last time he saw her. When he turned the corner, should he have seen Barbara still walking? If so, if she was abducted, wouldn't the vehicle have gone past him, or wouldn't he have seen or heard another vehicle nearby when he realized she was gone?

I do recall from one of the interviews that he stated he was 10 - 15 minutes behind her. I don't have the link and don't have time to find it right now but FWIW that is my recollection.

 

[Micheline]

What does that have to do with the video surveillance footage and how can you be so sure this is true?
A couple of minutes of an interview does not tell us how much someone loves their spouse, but video footage would tell us even less, I would think.
It may give us some clues as to what has happened, though, if it exists.

It's hard to tell by his words or mannerisms whether or not he is being deceptive in his interviews.

What is more significant to me are the discrepancies in what the media has reported and what he apparently told the VI.

For example, him telling his family he called 911 around noon as it was getting hot and he was not able to find her, and that they had never been there before when the family says that they have. Imo

Everything.
"The street cameras when Barbara was last seen will lead LE to her", is a suggestion that Robert lies about everything and murdered his wife.

Therefor I just wanted to insert his IMO feelings for his wife.

 

[Stripehaven]

Not to pick everything apart but I’ll just note that “love of my life” is another thing a lot of perps say when interviewed on Dateline and such.

 

[mjp1228]

Question to all, where do you think Barbara is?

I still don’t think she ever made it to the desert. Or, if she did, it’s a completely different area than where the husband is saying. That might be husbands final destination. But I don’t think it was Barbara’s.

 

[kkdj]

What does that have to do with the video surveillance footage and how can you be so sure this is true?
A couple of minutes of an interview does not tell us how much someone loves their spouse, but video footage would tell us even less, I would think.
It may give us some clues as to what has happened, though, if it exists.

It's hard to tell by his words or mannerisms whether or not he is being deceptive in his interviews.

What is more significant to me are the discrepancies in what the media has reported and what he apparently told the VI.

For example, him telling his family he called 911 around noon as it was getting hot and he was not able to find her, and that they had never been there before when the family says that they have. Imo

iirc, RT said he called 911 and it took them a couple of hours to get there. Dispatch has 3:26 for when a missing person call came in....or is that when they sent someone out?
ETA
I think it's when they sent someone out.

dis·patch
/dəˈspaCH/
verb

• 1.send off to a destination or for a purpose:"he dispatched messages back to base"synonyms:send, send off, mail, ship, freight, forward, transmit, consign, remit, convey, post
• 2.deal with (a task, problem, or opponent) quickly and efficiently:"they dispatched the opposition"synonyms:deal with, finish, dispose of, conclude, settle, sort out, discharge, execute, perform, expedite, push through, accelerate, hasten, speed up, hurry on, make short work of

noun

• 1.the sending of someone or something to a destination or for a purpose:"a resolution authorizing the dispatch of a peacekeeping force"synonyms:sending, mailing, shipping, transmittal, consignment, posting
• 2.an official report on state or military affairs:"in his battle dispatch he described the gunner's bravery"synonyms:communication, communiqué, bulletin, release, report, account, announcement, statement, missive, letter, epistle, message, instruction, news, intelligence, memo, info, lowdown, dope, tidings

So, we need to know when that 911 call came in. I doubt it was noon because I don't think they would wait until 3:26 to send someone out on a missing person emergency call. I'll bet that 911 call was made closer to 3:25. So, how long were they out there if they were seen by the neighbors leaving at 8:15 a.m?

 

[debbiegarcia36]

BBM
And there is that "deceptive" reading of that lie detector test in the beginning.

Absolutely! That is so curious!

 

[MsBetsy]

I think that in general we can assume if someone keeps little love notes from his/her partner that is of their own choice.

I also think if a woman always puts little love notes on her husband's pillow, that that is of her own choice, because of her being in a loving reciprocal relationship.

Roberts calls her the love of his life, not many man say this about their wife, not even when are a suspect in their disappearance.
He thinks she is so beautiful that someone would want to kidnap her.

In every picture he has his hand around her, or she around him, even if there are people standing in between them.

Robert: We tell each other how much we love each other every night before we go to sleep.

I think this is genuine. IMO

It could be genuine, but it's never really that easy to tell when you are on the outside of a relationship, especially from a few pictures.

What might look like love can actually be more like obsession or control.
The fact that he always has an arm around her in pictures can also be a sign that he is possessive of her.

Her love notes to him may have been her own choice, but that doesn't mean she could not have been trying to reassure him of her love for him.

We really don't have enough information to say one way or another, but just because he showed the media evidence of their love for one another does not mean that she truly was the love of his life.

We also don't know what his idea of "love" is.

 

[artsy1]

What about neighbors with security cameras? Bet LE has already verified she left that morning.

I'd be curious to know what time they left home that morning. According to Google maps, if they went the most direct way via I-40, the trip to Kelbaker/Hidden Hill Roads, with normal traffic, should have taken just over an hour and a half.

So, for example, if he said they left at 7 am, only stopped to go for their 2 mile walk, and discovered her gone either noon or 2:30, then what happened in the span of all those hours between?

And if the rv was caught on the only I-40 traffic camera at Havasu, was the amount of time between seen on that camera and departing home consistent with what it should have been?

ETA: And, referring to the Havasu camera, if too much time had elapsed, then was there another stop he didn't admit to before he even got to Kelbaker?

 

[dbdb11]

I think that in general we can assume if someone keeps little love notes from his/her partner that is of their own choice.

I also think if a woman always puts little love notes on her husband's pillow, that that is of her own choice, because of her being in a loving reciprocal relationship.

Roberts calls her the love of his life, not many man say this about their wife, not even when are a suspect in their disappearance.
He thinks she is so beautiful that someone would want to kidnap her.

In every picture he has his hand around her, or she around him, even if there are people standing in between them.

Robert: We tell each other how much we love each other every night before we go to sleep.

I think this is genuine. IMO

I never had any reason to suspect they weren't completely in love with one another. I also had very little interaction with them in the grand scheme. The few day trip adventures I shared with them are amazing memories and I always felt inspired that they 'lived' in the desert for leisure.

Sadly, in more recent years it's only been bad news, passing of my grandmother, sickness of my father, that has brought me together with them. At this stage I am praying for Barb's safety and hoping I am wrong in probing her husband's account of events.

 

[oceanstarryeyes]

.

 

[whatizzinit]

I think that in general we can assume if someone keeps little love notes from his/her partner that is of their own choice.

I also think if a woman always puts little love notes on her husband's pillow, that that is of her own choice, because of her being in a loving reciprocal relationship.

Roberts calls her the love of his life, not many man say this about their wife, not even when are a suspect in their disappearance.
He thinks she is so beautiful that someone would want to kidnap her.

In every picture he has his hand around her, or she around him, even if there are people standing in between them.

Robert: We tell each other how much we love each other every night before we go to sleep.

I think this is genuine. IMO

“Not many men say this about their wife”. Where are these statistics. I have been married 30+ years and my husband tells me that I am the ONLY woman he has truly loved and definitely his soul mate. Add to this We have given each other notes over the years. It is not exclusive to RT.

 

[fabvab]

For this man to save the little love notes his wife puts on his pillow, it is very telling.

In order for Barbara to have the feeling to always make such a gesture her man has to be very loving to her. IMO

Another angle...Perhaps she was placing those notes under his pillow because she was trying to repair and get a rocky relationship back on track. I'm a little younger than Barbara...and my love notes to my hubby would say..."thank you for not snoring so loud".

 

[Claudius]

Maybe he forged them.

To me, the notes are a red flag. IMHO, in an abusive relationship, where the man is extremely insecure, a woman might do this as self-preservation. I don't know anything about them or their relationship, but his showing those notes gave me a sense of her unease. **I hope that doesn't offend anybody.

 

[whatizzinit]

Curious about the “cave” RT mentioned. If they discovered it on this trip, since there is no confirmation they had been here previously, and were also headed BACK to the camper - would she not have had to pass him to go back to the cave? Seems odd he went and looked there. JMO

 

[whatizzinit]

Another angle...Perhaps she was placing those notes under his pillow because she was trying to repair and get a rocky relationship back on track. I'm a little younger than Barbara...and my love notes to my hubby would say..."thank you for not snoring so loud".

Good thought. I too am younger but very longer married. I have both written and shredded love notes in different seasons over time. Just how relationships go.

 

[fabvab]

To me, the notes are a red flag. IMHO, in an abusive relationship, where the man is extremely insecure, a woman might do this as self-preservation. I don't know anything about them or their relationship, but his showing those notes gave me a sense of her unease. **I hope that doesn't offend anybody.

That was my gut reaction and first thought about the "love notes under the pillow". It seemed like a desperate act on her part.

 

[whatizzinit]

To me, the notes are a red flag. IMHO, in an abusive relationship, where the man is extremely insecure, a woman might do this as self-preservation. I don't know anything about them or their relationship, but his showing those notes gave me a sense of her unease. **I hope that doesn't offend anybody.

Same for me. Why immediately show off these notes? What is the intention- if you love someone truly, no need to try to prove it. Who knows.