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

[Leney]

The silence and apparent apathy is stunning.

To say that it is unusual, is the understatement to end all understatements.

Not for this LE agency.

Accusations from the family guarantee it will stay that way.

 

[Leney]

I do not know why they didn't have a cadaver dog out there toward the end of the search. I'm guessing budget reasons, the temporal window (8-9 days) seems about right, to me, to begin that kind of work.

I would be surprised if they did not use cadaver dogs, considering the amount of time they searched

 

[Leney]

Two earthquakes, one a 6.4- and the other a 7.1-magnitude, hit Trona, CA (epicenter) one week before BT went missing while walking near Kelbaker and Hidden Hill roads. Trona is 120 miles as the crow flies from that intersection.

BT and RT were exploring one of the large 'rock formations'; I'm wondering if some of those stacked-high huge boulders had loosened from their perches, wondering if it was possible that one fell completely just as BT was walking by? The boulders could have shifted during the earthquakes and many aftershocks and eventually gave way so many days later.

Given that "no evidence of Barbara Thomas was found" on each search day, and LE does not believe there was an abduction and they don't believe RT is good for this case, what's left other than maybe BT was crushed under a huge boulder as it fell? Many of those buggers are large enough to conceal a small vehicle.

Article dated July 10, 2019, two days before BT went missing:
Following earthquakes, no reports of missing adventurers in Mojave Desert – San Bernardino Sun

I as well have wondered whether the earthquakes could of been responsible for the telephone issues that the Colorado River SO had on July 12. This was posted to their twitter feed, and do not have the link handy ATM.

 

[PommyMommy]

I as well have wondered whether the earthquakes could of been responsible for the telephone issues that the Colorado River SO had on July 12. This was posted to their twitter feed, and do not have the link handy ATM.

San Bernardino County Sheriff on Twitter
Desert dispatch center is having issues with non-emergency & admin phone lines. Pls call (909)387-8313 for non-emergency services
7:14 PM · Jul 12, 2019

San Bernardino County Sheriff on Twitter
Desert Dispatch Center - all phone lines are back in service.
10:48 PM · Jul 12, 2019

 

[shanadk]

Looks like a nice home, though not massive. 2,000 sq ft, last sold for $354,000 (Edit to correct: $312,000) in 2008, per Zillow.
Are we allowed to discuss income, personal capital, etc on Websleuths?
Home mortgaged?
I'm wondering if Robert is/was still employed at the time of Barbara's disappearance.

 

[K9Enzo]

I would be surprised if they did not use cadaver dogs, considering the amount of time they searched

I absolutely agree with you. When they brought in certified cave searchers my first thought was HRD dogs rappelling with them. They were most likely part of the search towards the end.

 

[shanadk]

I'm wondering where Barbara is. Where Mr. Thomas is.
Peace to all this morning ~~

"God not only plays dice;
He also sometimes throws the dice where they cannot be seen."
~Steven Hawking​

 

[PommyMommy]

Looks like a nice home, though not massive. 2,000 sq ft, last sold for $354,000 (Edit to correct: $312,000) in 2008, per Zillow.
Are we allowed to discuss income, personal capital, etc on Websleuths?
Home mortgaged?
I'm wondering if Robert is/was still employed at the time of Barbara's disappearance.

We can discuss anything reported in MSM, as well as information provided by LE and our VI, but we cannot sleuth RT. MOO

 

[Kittybunny]

I haven't been here for awhile but have to admit that when I read the post from our VI that Barbara had inherited a substantial amount of money, my heart sank and it just pushed me further into the foul play camp.

I have to believe that LE is actively doing so much more than we are privy to. Continued prayers for her family.

 

[Cherwell]

"Only" recovery is a very big thing if someone you love is missing.

I'd like to respond to this comment, carried over from the previous thread.
I had said that searching would only be for recovery now. The point being that it is no longer as urgent as it would be if there was a chance of finding the missing person alive.
There's no disputing that recovery matters to the person's loved ones, but there can be NO comparison when it comes to the urgency.

 

[dbdb11]

@dbdb11. Thank you for your response.
Have you been able to locate any group(s) w training, gear, etc. and availability to conduct searches in the Kellbaker/HH area?
IIRC, someone posted that SBCSD said they would provide some records to you/new group of where they had already covered, so others/another group could use/start w that info. Yes/No?


((( Thinking of you and your family often. )))

yes and no.

user named cazador is the closest we have to an organized search at present. i have not heard from or followed up with groups like texasequasearch or swarm in weeks. sadly.

 

[dbdb11]

I don't believe that there is anything RT could say that would satisfy anyone at this point.

BT family members have flat out accused him of at least abduction, and probably murder.

The VI has even stated that there are legal avenues they are pursuing. I would not be saying anything publicly.

we are not pursuing legal avenues. i only mentioned it is promising there are legal avenues we can still pursue in the event LE come up blank.

unfortunately, robert has not been honest with us. i dont expect anything from him, though i would appreciate if he told us:

where is barbara?

 

[PaulR]

I haven't been here for awhile but have to admit that when I read the post from our VI that Barbara had inherited a substantial amount of money, my heart sank and it just pushed me further into the foul play camp.

What is "substantial"? I know people for whom "substantial" is $10K. That is not even close to substantial for me.

 

[Tillicum]

What is "substantial"? I know people for whom "substantial" is $10K. That is not even close to substantial for me.

IIRC according to our VI it was at least 10 times that.

CA - CA - Barbara Thomas, 69, from Bullhead City AZ, disappeared in Mojave desert, 12 July 2019 #10
"a chunk of potential motive, i don't recall if it made it to the pub thread or not, but i know from my dad barb was the sole inheritor in my grandma's will.

according to my fathers estranged brother, barb inherited few million(s)? no confirmation on exact amount, but he made it sound like she was set for life after my grandma died. was the first hint i ever had that barb had substantial assets. she lived very modestly, imo.

also some potential insight into matthews mindset re barbs estate?"

ETA I found VI's post and it's substantially more than I remembered.

 

[Auntie Cipation]

Just to keep it accurate, a million is 100 times 10k, not just ten times...

Also, I don't see or understand where the insight re Matthew's mindset is being taken from dbdb11's comment quoted? Matthew is not mentioned at all. Thanks if you can clarify.

 

[Tillicum]

Just to keep it accurate, a million is 100 times 10k, not just ten times...

Also, I don't see or understand where the insight re Matthew's mindset is being taken from dbdb11's comment quoted? Matthew is not mentioned at all. Thanks if you can clarify.

I wasn't sure how much it was which is why I said IIRC. Then I went back and found VI's post with the amount. I copied VI's post with the link to it. I didn't add anything to the quote.

I edited my post explaining it was more than I remembered.

 

[10ofRods]

An idea that someone mentioned to me:

Easy enough for someone to take a cell phone to Kelbaker/HH and hide it, then drive off somewhere else.

Come back, pick it up, go walking about, call police.

This idea (and the body found near Lancaster in the past couple of days) made my heart sink. The Lancaster body is, apparently, male.

Still, LE has said they have what they believe to be firm evidence that Barbara was alive at Kelbaker Road that afternoon. But the missing time issue might or might not be solved by phone records. If only LE would share that one.

I would be surprised if they did not use cadaver dogs, considering the amount of time they searched

There's no word or evidence that they did (and they do mention in their NIXLE reports each resource they called in). I'd be surprised if they did use cadaver dogs (highly specialized, expensive). If they did use them, they kept that on the down low. It's clearly sniffer dogs they're using in the one video posted by SAR.

IMO, they should use cadaver dogs and do another search, unless they now have new information that place Barbara at a different location. Or perhaps, since no body was found within, say, 1 mile of the place RT says Barbara was last seen, that widens the cadaver search area to at least a 2 mile radius (4 miles on each edge of the grid - 16 square miles. That's a lot of time and there was no initial scent of a live Barbara to direct them to a smaller portion of the area.

I'd like to respond to this comment, carried over from the previous thread.
I had said that searching would only be for recovery now. The point being that it is no longer as urgent as it would be if there was a chance of finding the missing person alive.
There's no disputing that recovery matters to the person's loved ones, but there can be NO comparison when it comes to the urgency.

Very true. But, I think the urgency had lessened by the end of 24 hours and by 72 hours, it was already a recovery mission. So, SBCSO did take the recovery phase seriously. Of course, it's now entirely recovery search.

I personally doubt that they had cadaver dogs rappelling from the top of those (low) boulders. Dogs would be very capable of climbing all over that pile of boulders shown in the final search days (our dogs are fairly small, but the younger one can easily do a climb like that). The use of ropes was so that humans could go down into some of the bigger cracks (on the theory, I think, that Barbara could have been seeking deep shade and that a lady that age couldn't have gone very far; also on the theory that RT was telling the truth).

I do not believe they "inspected" the interior of the RV, at all. And I have seen no evidence that they had his phone records during the days of the search (although surely, they must have them now, or LE would not have gone to the convenience store in Needles - unless, of course, the clerk is the one who called in a tip, which is possible).

 

[rosesfromangels]

we are not pursuing legal avenues. i only mentioned it is promising there are legal avenues we can still pursue in the event LE come up blank.

unfortunately, robert has not been honest with us. i dont expect anything from him, though i would appreciate if he told us:

where is barbara?

What has he not been honest about?
I’m so sorry for this horrific situation your family is facing.

 

[Chingaling]

IIRC according to our VI it was at least 10 times that.

CA - CA - Barbara Thomas, 69, from Bullhead City AZ, disappeared in Mojave desert, 12 July 2019 #10
"a chunk of potential motive, i don't recall if it made it to the pub thread or not, but i know from my dad barb was the sole inheritor in my grandma's will.

according to my fathers estranged brother, barb inherited few million(s)? no confirmation on exact amount, but he made it sound like she was set for life after my grandma died. was the first hint i ever had that barb had substantial assets. she lived very modestly, imo.

also some potential insight into matthews mindset re barbs estate?"

ETA I found VI's post and it's substantially more than I remembered.

I don't know about the rest of you but a 350,000 dollar house and over a 100,00 in a truck a fifth wheel camper is not living modestly in my book.I'm sure they couldn't survive on my modest income.

 

[Curiousobserver]

An idea that someone mentioned to me:

Easy enough for someone to take a cell phone to Kelbaker/HH and hide it, then drive off somewhere else.

Come back, pick it up, go walking about, call police.

Respectfully snipped by me to save space-

I think it is entirely possible both physically and technologically that RT was able to commit a crime.

Right now however there is no evidence in his actions, or lack or actions, that he did.

More evidence? I'll change my mind.

The problem here is that there is almost no evidence at all. She was there, now she's not.