Found Deceased CA - Barbara Thomas, 69, from Bullhead City AZ, disappeared in Mojave desert, 12 July 2019 #13

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Meanwhile, what is RT up to these days?
As for as I recall, July 12, 2020 came and went without a word from RT about his wife that was missing for one year when she allegedly walked ahead of him when he stopped to take a photo of a plant on the trail.

Actually, I don't recall anything from RT since he told Inside Edition (*on video clip) that he failed a polygraph.

ETA: *
 
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IIRC, the only thing I read in MSM about RT after he spoke to a reporter about his polygraph results, was that he got a lawyer and the lawyer advised him not to speak to the media or anyone about his wife's disappearance anymore.

Can't find the link to that article anymore, though, so MOO MOO MOO
 
I hope Barbara is found soon, and the cause of her disappearance and possible death are discovered, including who was involved. It has been way too long, IMO, however I trust LE has good intel and are moving right along with their investigation.

Personally speaking, I have always suspected that she could have been abducted (with malice aforethought), held captive, then murdered, with her murderer(s) disposing of her body out there in the desert.

I hope the remains found recently are hers, and LE will be able to catch the person(s) who did this.

Bumping and praying for Barbara to be found soon, and if anyone was involved in her disappearance, that they be brought to justice. She should be walking her dog and reading bedtime stories to her grandchildren, not disappeared from the face of the earth with no trace and no public outcry.

All MOO
I'd like to believe that older, retired couples should feel relatively safe exercising on park trails, and/or frequenting the same desert stops while towing their travel trailer along.

It seems that they were less than half a mile from the road where their shelter was parked. Why abduct BT from the trail or road with her husband nearby and hold her captive? She had no money and there was no ransom. No signs of a struggle.

I'm reminded of the Holly Piirainen (1993 - MA) case that was recently in the news. Holly, 10, and her brother left their grandmother's house to go see some puppies nearby and like BT, Holly either walked ahead/behind when she was abducted but left one shoe behind in the struggle.

ETA: 27 years later, Holly's family is still offering $40,000 reward for information about her case.
 
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Personally I believe that if she was abducted, murdered, and disposed of in the desert... that it was by someone known to her.

So sorry, Barbara ! :(
Your life mattered !
Still hoping for justice.
Even with this time passage, any remains will likely reveal signs of foul play, if in fact that is the case. I still think the most likely scenario is that she will be found not too terribly far from where last seen.

Let us hope we will know someday.

Amateur opinion and speculation
 
I'd like to believe that older, retired couples should feel relatively safe exercising on park trails, and/or frequenting the same desert stops while towing their travel trailer along.

It seems that they were less than half a mile from the road where their shelter was parked. Why abduct BT from the trail or road with her husband nearby and hold her captive? She had no money and there was no ransom. No signs of a struggle.
Researcher Ann Burgess published an interesting report December 2006 entitled: Elderly Victims of Sexual Abuse and Their Offenders. Her research report is interesting to read through if only to see how prevalent and invisible elderly female sexual abuse is in our society. Fourteen years after Ann Burgess published her report most sexual abuse cases of elderly females (over age 65 ) still go unreported, and there is virtually no media focus on this dreadful reality. I think the mainstream assumption regarding senior females is that they are not viewed as sexual objects by anyone...their calling card is benevolent grandmother--a shroud of protection against rapists and sexual sadists. In the case of Barbara (69), she was allegedly wearing a bikini and carrying a can of beer out in the middle of nowhere near the side of a desolate highway in the desert. I know if I was driving by and saw Barbara standing by an empty desert highway wearing a bikini my first impression of her would present a lot questions. It is not something you see everyday...imo,a predator would instantly start assessing her vulnerability because of her lack of clothes, and the fact that she was alone. A possible thrill abduction comes to mind when I picture what might have happened to Barbara. I think if Barbara was 30 years younger the LE assumptions of what might have transpired to explain her disappearance would be entirely different. Investigators would take a closer look at the possibility of a sexually motivated abduction.
 
Researcher Ann Burgess published an interesting report December 2006 entitled: Elderly Victims of Sexual Abuse and Their Offenders. Her research report is interesting to read through if only to see how prevalent and invisible elderly female sexual abuse is in our society. Fourteen years after Ann Burgess published her report most sexual abuse cases of elderly females (over age 65 ) still go unreported, and there is virtually no media focus on this dreadful reality. I think the mainstream assumption regarding senior females is that they are not viewed as sexual objects by anyone...their calling card is benevolent grandmother--a shroud of protection against rapists and sexual sadists. In the case of Barbara (69), she was allegedly wearing a bikini and carrying a can of beer out in the middle of nowhere near the side of a desolate highway in the desert. I know if I was driving by and saw Barbara standing by an empty desert highway wearing a bikini my first impression of her would present a lot questions. It is not something you see everyday...imo,a predator would instantly start assessing her vulnerability because of her lack of clothes, and the fact that she was alone. A possible thrill abduction comes to mind when I picture what might have happened to Barbara. I think if Barbara was 30 years younger the LE assumptions of what might have transpired to explain her disappearance would be entirely different. Investigators would take a closer look at the possibility of a sexually motivated abduction.

I think we've discussed this. Would RT have been aware of a vehicle traveling the road at his location? Jmo
 
I think we've discussed this. Would RT have been aware of a vehicle traveling the road at his location? Jmo
If he were preoccupied with photo taking and rock hunting, probably not. Unless of course, vehicles passing by in that area are so infrequent that he would look up. I never notice things like this myself, but that doesn't mean others don't.

Amateur opinion and speculation
 
I think we've discussed this. Would RT have been aware of a vehicle traveling the road at his location? Jmo
From what I can recall from the news articles posted on this case, and the great DD of an earlier WS poster who made the effort to go on location and upload several detailed videos of where Barbara went missing and the area where RT was taking pictures when Barbara left to go back to where their truck and 5th wheel was parked, etc...it does not seem likely that RT could have seen or heard a vehicle traveling on the highway or BT calling for help for that matter.
 
One thing that always came back to me with this case, is when the VI made the below statement. I don't believe it got much attention here and was really discussed. The VI also kind of shut the discussion down as soon as making the statement.

there is a scenario i will not mention again, where robbie helps her disappear.
(From post 171, thread 3.)

While I think it's very unlikely at this point, that BT and RT conspired together for her to disappear (she was alive in this scenario) - it was still an interesting comment for the nephew to make.

IMO
 
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Barbara, circa 2019
  • Missing Since 07/12/2019
  • Missing From San Bernardino County, California
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Sex Female
  • Race White
  • Date of Birth0 6/11/1950 (70)
  • Age 69 years old
  • Height and Weight 5'9, 130 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry Description A black bikini, tall black socks, tan hiking boots and a red and white baseball cap.
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Blonde hair, green eyes. Barbara's ears are pierced.
Details of Disappearance
Barbara was last seen in San Bernardino County, California on July 12, 2019. She was hiking in the Mojave Desert with her husband of fourteen years, Robert Thomas, when she disappeared. A photo of Robert is posted with this case summary. The couple is from Bullhead City, Arizona and had taken a short trip in their camper when they parked off Kelbaker Road and went for a two-mile hike to explore rock formations.

They only had a backpack, beer and a gallon of water with them, and Barbara was wearing a bikini due to the extreme heat. Temperatures that day were over 100 degrees. According to Robert, they were on the way back to their camper when he stopped to take a photo and his wife walked on ahead of him and vanished. He assumed he would find her when he arrived at the camper in a few minutes, but she wasn't there and the door was still locked. After calling for Barbara and searching the area for her, he called 911 and the police launched a search.

An extensive search turned up no indication of Barbara's whereabouts. She had no supplies, identification or cellular phone with her when she disappeared. Robert speculated that someone picked her up after he lost sight of her. In an interview with the media he stated he had failed a polygraph test and investigators viewed him as the prime suspect in her case. Barbara's relatives characterized Robert's story as "highly improbable" and said she had no history of illness and no reason to leave of her own accord.

It's not clear whether Barbara became lost in the desert or if there were other factors involved in her disappearance. Her case remains unsolved.
 
From what I can recall from the news articles posted on this case, and the great DD of an earlier WS poster who made the effort to go on location and upload several detailed videos of where Barbara went missing and the area where RT was taking pictures when Barbara left to go back to where their truck and 5th wheel was parked, etc...it does not seem likely that RT could have seen or heard a vehicle traveling on the highway or BT calling for help for that matter.
BBM

@cazador reported that when they were there he had his wife call out to him and could hear her in most areas. He also said that traffic could be heard from almost all positions, the parking area could be seen from just about everywhere, etc.

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

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

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

@cazador reported that when they were there he had his wife call out to him and could hear her in most areas. He also said that traffic could be heard from almost all positions, the parking area could be seen from just about everywhere, etc.

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

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

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

1,000 "Likes", PommyMommy !
Thank you for clarifying this !

The other member sroad also said that from where the rock formation was RT could see the top of Barbara's head and also that the RV if parked where RT claimed it was, was also within view.

She did not 'get lost' if they were where RT said they were , due to the short distance !
ALSO -- and this was of importance -- the road was not desolate.
The WS member said there was a fair amount of traffic and that was not necessarily during the busy season. (When they were there.)

RT tried to make it look like it was an abandoned and little-travelled road when in actuality it's a busy thoroughfare.
As far as someone kidnapping her-- RT should've heard her yelling for help and witnessed a car or truck speeding away from the RV.

The nephew, dbbd11 ; said that he was shown a photo that proved Barbara was in the desert that day.
A photo provided by RT.
We have not seen that photo so it could have been taken anywhere, anytime.
My own camera has accidentally shown photos taken on the correct day but shown the wrong time/date as the settings were off.

We have not been told by LE if the photo was proven to have been taken on the day in question, nor have we been told by LE that it was by the exact rock formation that RT claims they were by.

I believe if her remains are ever found and if there's clothing as in a bikini-- she did die in that outfit. :(
One news site described her apparel as undergarments --and if so, I think she was ambushed while she was changing clothes.

I wish so much that LE had inspected the fifth wheel !
If they were 'hiking' from 10 am-ish, was there any trash or beverage containers in the garbage ?
Was there evidence of any kind at all in the fifth wheel ?

When you're camping or 'glamping', your RV is essentially your 'home' for a while.
I find it odd that they were out walking in the heat until the 911 call at 3:45; or even until noon or 1pm.

Something so "off" about that day.

The dog Lexie was dropped off around 8:35 am.


Early on in a previous Barbara thread a WS-er calculated that RT and Barbara should have arrived at the hiking area about 10 am or sooner.
That is a long time to be out in 101- 105 F degree heat.
The fact that he waited until 3:45 pm to call 911 is problematic.

There's also the gas station sighting of only RT where he said his wife was with him to help establish ... that she was with him.
And that the attendant said that RT parked out of sight of the convenience store and seemed 'naggy'.
Many more discrepancies but I'm going to check back on the older threads.
Everyone, thanks for your great sleuthing and comments here !

Something was rotten in the state of CA and AZ that day.
Something evil.
IMO
 
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One thing that always came back to me with this case, is when the VI made the below statement. I don't believe it got much attention here and was really discussed. The VI also kind of shut the discussion down as soon as making the statement.

there is a scenario i will not mention again, where robbie helps her disappear.
(From post 171, thread 3.)

While I think it's very unlikely at this point, that BT and RT conspired together for her to disappear (she was alive in this scenario) - it was still an interesting comment for the nephew to make.

IMO
A little bit o/t, but has the nephew been back to post lately? I believe he said he lives in HK. I hope he's ok. Hoping Barbara is found soon too.
 
A little bit o/t, but has the nephew been back to post lately? I believe he said he lives in HK. I hope he's ok. Hoping Barbara is found soon too.

According to his (dbdb11) profile, he last posted 2/2020. IIRC, in the early days of this case, RT had a unverified female family member on the board. The VI interacted with her and she appeared to be legit. My guess, both sides figured it was best to remain silent publicly on the case. I don't see a scenario where Christmas cards are being exchanged between the families anymore. IMO
 
thomas_barbara.jpg
thomas_barbara2.jpg
thomas_barbara3.jpg
thomas_barbara4.jpg
thomas_barbara6.jpg

Barbara, circa 2019
  • Missing Since 07/12/2019
  • Missing From San Bernardino County, California
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Sex Female
  • Race White
  • Date of Birth0 6/11/1950 (70)
  • Age 69 years old
  • Height and Weight 5'9, 130 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry Description A black bikini, tall black socks, tan hiking boots and a red and white baseball cap.
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Blonde hair, green eyes. Barbara's ears are pierced.
Details of Disappearance
Barbara was last seen in San Bernardino County, California on July 12, 2019. She was hiking in the Mojave Desert with her husband of fourteen years, Robert Thomas, when she disappeared. A photo of Robert is posted with this case summary. The couple is from Bullhead City, Arizona and had taken a short trip in their camper when they parked off Kelbaker Road and went for a two-mile hike to explore rock formations.

They only had a backpack, beer and a gallon of water with them, and Barbara was wearing a bikini due to the extreme heat. Temperatures that day were over 100 degrees. According to Robert, they were on the way back to their camper when he stopped to take a photo and his wife walked on ahead of him and vanished. He assumed he would find her when he arrived at the camper in a few minutes, but she wasn't there and the door was still locked. After calling for Barbara and searching the area for her, he called 911 and the police launched a search.

An extensive search turned up no indication of Barbara's whereabouts. She had no supplies, identification or cellular phone with her when she disappeared. Robert speculated that someone picked her up after he lost sight of her. In an interview with the media he stated he had failed a polygraph test and investigators viewed him as the prime suspect in her case. Barbara's relatives characterized Robert's story as "highly improbable" and said she had no history of illness and no reason to leave of her own accord.

It's not clear whether Barbara became lost in the desert or if there were other factors involved in her disappearance. Her case remains unsolved.
Thank you for your work keeping her media thread updated. I think of Barb often and hope she will be found some day.
JMO
 
BBM

@cazador reported that when they were there he had his wife call out to him and could hear her in most areas. He also said that traffic could be heard from almost all positions, the parking area could be seen from just about everywhere, etc.

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

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

CA - CA - Barbara Thomas, 69, from Bullhead City AZ, disappeared in Mojave desert, 12 July 2019 #12
Regarding how isolated or desolate Kelbaker Road is off I 40--one only needs to drive it, along with other desert back roads at different times of the day/night and year for several years to form an opinion. Having lived in Mohave County, AZ for 12 years and driven to 29 Palms through Joshua National Park numerous times on the desert back roads, imho, Kelbaker Road is usually not teeming with ongoing traffic. In fact, there have been times I haven't seen a vehicle for miles on end while motoring off the California/Arizona/Nevada interstate highways. This brief article written by a cyclist "Amboy to Baker via Kelbaker Road" gives a nice glimpse of what it is like to be rolling along on Kelbaker Road pedaling a bicycle.
Day 7: Amboy to Baker via Kelbaker Road - Touring the Mojave National Preserve by Bicycle
 
Regarding how isolated or desolate Kelbaker Road is off I 40--one only needs to drive it, along with other desert back roads at different times of the day/night and year for several years to form an opinion. Having lived in Mohave County, AZ for 12 years and driven to 29 Palms through Joshua National Park numerous times on the desert back roads, imho, Kelbaker Road is usually not teeming with ongoing traffic. In fact, there have been times I haven't seen a vehicle for miles on end while motoring off the California/Arizona/Nevada interstate highways. This brief article written by a cyclist "Amboy to Baker via Kelbaker Road" gives a nice glimpse of what it is like to be rolling along on Kelbaker Road pedaling a bicycle.
Day 7: Amboy to Baker via Kelbaker Road - Touring the Mojave National Preserve by Bicycle
Yes, IIRC, @cazador said he saw/heard a vehicle about every 5-10 minutes.

Thank you for the link. :) MOO
 
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