MT MT - Barbara Bolick, 55, Corvallis, 18 Jul 2007

[Aphra]

I was thinking the same thing--that this Ramaker guy tried to hit on Barbara and shoved her off the mountain somewhere when she rebuffed him. Or he did tried to make advances on her on the way there, she said no and that she was going to tell her husband, he got violent, and they never got to the trail in the first place.

 

[HollywoodBound]

If something happened to her on the way there I am not sure how Ramaker's car could have already been parked there when the forest crew arrived.

Also, he then would have had to climb the mountain in order to walk out of the trail to approach the forest crew as they indicated he did...
That seems like a lot of planning IMO.

 

[gaia227]

The most likely motive seems to me to be sex as Peter pointed out. It is very possible he took her invitation to go hiking as an invitation for sex and when he tried to make a move on her she rebuffed him, he got angry, maybe he even raped her and then killed her. A good look into his past could be very beneficial. Does he have any violent history, what was his childhood like, did he have issues with women? He could be one of those men who have major control/ego issues mixed with insecurity when it comes to women and that is a deadly combo sometimes. He couldn't stand it that she didn't want him and the only way to overcome that humilation was to control her and make her do what she didn't want to. A way of regaining his dignity.

Of course, that is all speculation. He could be the nicest guy most stable guy in the world. Unfortunately we just don't seem to know much about him.

What time did the forest crew arrive again? Would he have had enough time to kill her and make it to the look-out point?

 

[HollywoodBound]

I wonder if he had any scratches or marks on him. She probably could have put up a bit of a fight.
I think she got lost personally.

 

[knitrocks]

Thanks to the link with the messages. It answered my question about what her children thought--she has none.

Leads to more questions

Any news on her husband's current situation ie new girlfriend. Were they having financial trouble? Was the marriage secure? Was she insured? I feel that she never made the hike. Maybe a tour of her yard with the cadaver dogs. Did the LE interview all three parties present in her home, separately? What is the background of the out of town visitors? Was a background check done? When/where was the last known contact with Mrs Bolick that didn't include the three people at the house?

random thoughts
Martha

 

[HollywoodBound]

Bumping this.

 

[Fuzzymuffin]

Visiting that Newwest website, I see there are many interesting comments.

I live in Montana and none of the women I talked to here in Helena were aware of any disappearances. Not much publicity for BB or the Anaconda woman.

 

[HollywoodBound]

Bumping again.

 

[gaia227]

Here is the link to the newwest article about Barbara. There are some interesting comments under the article including some from Barbara's 'dearest friend.'

The comments that are most interesting are from on of the members of the 1st SAR team. He claims that he was asked/told by the Sherriff to stop his search for Barabara and when he refused he was fired.

http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/where_is_barbara_bolick/C564/L564/

 

[HollywoodBound]

Bumping this one more time.

 

[bambi_sue]

Hi,
I have a question for those of you who live in the area; have the police ever checked the following in an effort to locate the two men who are potential witnesses?
1- Checked area/statewide rental agency’s to see if a vehicle that fit’s the description was rented in the general timeframe?
2- Checked area garages to find out if they may have given out a loner vehicle similar to the one described?
3- Checked to see if anyone living in the area may have lent a vehicle to a couple of friends/family members who were visiting at the time of the occurrence?

The reason for the above questions is because police felt the two men were local because of the license plate but if they were just passing through then they probably have no idea that LE is looking for them

I hadn't previously considered that the two witnesses were from out of town, but with a local vehicle for one of those reasons. I looked through some archives on events in the Missoula/Bitterroot area that might bring people through and stumbled across the Missoula Marathon which happened the weekend before, on 7/15. That was the first year for the marathon - there were 435 participants, and I'd estimate 1/3 to 1/2 of them were from out of state.

The witnesses were described in the 12/23/07 Missoulian article as:

The Forest Service crew was busy digging up the roadway when a pair of young men in their early 20s came strolling into the work site. One of the men was considerably darker-skinned than the other.

“They were well-tanned, average, fit young guys,” Johnson said. “They walked right through the construction site. They stopped and talked for a bit.”

The crew remembered the black collie-like dog with white markings that enjoyed a few moments in the creek. The morning was already turning hot.

The men walked off, seemingly without a care.

Young, athletic men that no one could find again in the area three days after a marathon? Maybe that's why they were in town.

The fourth annual marathon is coming up on July 11. It's grown quite a bit since the first, and was named the best overall marathon in the country last year. It might be worth putting up Barbara's missing posters with description of the witnesses in the area, in case the witnesses were runners, and they have returned. OR, people might remember the runners from 2007 or their dog.

 

[Beluci]

Let me first say, the husband is a retired USAF colonel, who went on to manage bank physical security at large banks on the east coast. His net income in his retirement afforded a comfortable way of life. He would not have had any need for financial gain by the disappearance of Barbara.

Barbara was at the time of her disappearance a very attractive woman looking much younger her age due to her petite and athletic built. Also, she was a smart and wise woman.

She has been known for taking out-of-town visitors for a hike, perhaps on the same route, perhaps tailored to the age and physical condition of them.

What I find of most importance is that the fellow climber had so little to say about the incidence. I would bet if there was an abduction, he caved, perhaps at knife or gun point, and he was too scared to respond, and later to admit to the fact.

Now, let us say Barbara staged the event to get away from her husband. A divorce would have been a better away. In my opinion, the husband would not have objected.

Let's now consider the possibility that Barbara wanted to get away in a different scenario. Perhaps she had a friend, male or female, who guaranteed her disappearance. As we know, without personal identity, drivers license, or social security card, one cannot go very far. No medical coverage. She would have had to submit herself to a very special person for the rest of her life. Does one person in her life fit that category?

The mountain has been searched for her body without results. I like to believe she is still alive, but if she is, she is either fully protected by a cleaver friend, or hidden and subjugated by people of evil will.

If I were the law, I would go after the fellow climber. In my opinion he knows more than what he admits.

 

[Beluci]

I do not understand. Were the young athletic men coming to the sight, or were they leaving. If they were arriving, were they ever seen leaving? If they were dark skinned, one more so than the other, did either speak with an accent, and if so, of what kind? They seemed to be rather social.

Rental car agencies do not rent old cars, at least not more than two or three years old. With the University of Montana at Missoula being only short miles to the north, there are a lot of candidates who would meet the description.

Furthermore, the casual visitor to the area would not have known of the existance of this trail.

With the car bearing a local county license plate, and knowing where the trail was, in my opinion at least one of the two young man was indeed from Missoula. Hamilton is out of question. The town is lovely, but small, and I believe most everyone knows everyone.

I for one believe she still is alive. She is a lovely person, and hope she will soon return from her captivity.

 

[Fuzzymuffin]

You never know what transpires in a marriage. And noone has anything to say about any suspicious behavior by the husband before or after Barbara disappeared. It is odd that the man she hiked with said she disappeared so quickly and that the searchers found nothing. Perhaps the visiting man she hiked with is lying and she was never there but if he were the murdering type wouldn't there be some indication that he had done something "off" with/to women before or since? I do wonder if Barbara slipped away from the scene and ran away. OTOH, other people have disappeared in recent years. Maybe a wily killer is on the loose? http://www.doj.mt.gov/enforcement/missingpersons/searchlist.aspx?showPhotos=on

 

[doc_j]

Furthermore, the casual visitor to the area would not have known of the existance of this trail.

I agree 100%. I have lived in the Victor/ Stevensville area twice, and my wife grew up there. The first place she took me in the 'Root was the Bear Creek Overlook. That's a place that locals go and hike. Out of town folks go hike in Blodgett Creek or to St Mary's Peak. I also don't see how anyone, especially someone familiar with the area could get lost there. The terrain is very steep, and all the drainages into the main valley run due East-West. That coupled with the relatively thin vegetation just makes getting lost unlikely. The terrain is VERY steep and cliffy, so a fall would not be outside the realm of possibility, but I don't see how LE and SAR wouldn't have found someone's remains lying on top of all that bare rock at the base of the cliffs. Throw in the fact that dogs smelled nothing, and it seems plausible that she never made it to the trailhead. The two hikers were probably college students, or locals who just don't want to get involved with LE. There is a lot of that kind of mentality in the area. People can be very distrustful of the authorities in that neck of the woods. My guess would be that the husband, cousin, and friend were all involved, and her remains are probably on the east side of the valley. Just a guess though.

 

[HollywoodBound]

There is active discussion regarding Barbara's disappearance on New West:
http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/where_is_barbara_bolick/C564/L564/

I wonder if Barabra and her hiking partner would have passed security cameras (traffic lights, lodge(s) with cameras outside) on their way to bear creek overlook. If they did, the footage from those camera's could show either both of them in the car or her hiking partner alone?

 

[Richard]

I have just read this thread for the first time. A few thoughts come to my mind about the case.

The visitor appeared at the base of the mountain and led LE back up to where he stated that he had last seen Barbara. Clearly, he had been up the mountain and knew the trail. If he had come to the area for the first time, how would he have known the trail if Barbara had not brought him up it to begin with? In my mind, a scenario where he did something to/with Barbara BEFORE going up the mountain is much less likely than other theories.

An animal attack is possible, since Bears and Mountain Cats exist in the area. But such an attack would most certainly have left evidence behind. Clothing, personal articles, blood, hair, signs of struggle, screams, etc. Also, the fact that this was a well traveled trail and the fact that they would have gotten there quite late in the morning would make an encounter with an animal less likely.

The statements in previous posts which indicate that there was a lot of loose shale and that the terrain was very steep lead me to believe that a slip and fall is a very likely possibility. Going DOWNHILL is much harder than going up, especially in these conditions. When you go uphill, you can see more clearly where you will be stepping - and if you slip, you usually fall forward and can catch yourself with your hands and your toes. If you are walking down hill, and slip, the fall is backward, and you have nothing to break your fall with. Your heels have nowhere near the flexibility and traction that your toes and feet do. Loose shale makes going down hill very treacherous.

A few years ago, the body of a soldier was found in Adak, Alaska. He had been missing since World War II when he had failed to return from sentry duty. He had actually fallen into a crevice and remained unseen and unheard, in spite of the large scale search which was made for him. I wonder if Barbara may have met a similar fate.

Scenting Dogs have been mentioned. I have trained a number of dogs in both tracking and in searching for objects and persons. You cannot come to any conclusions based on the very sketchy information provided in the articles posted.

There are a number of factors which enter into a dog search. First is the ability, experience, and training of the dog and the handler. Tracking or Search and Rescue are skills which take a lot of teamwork and training between dog and handler. A run-of-the-mill K9 patrol dog going into the area may or may not be able to find anything. A fully trained and qualified tracking dog, GIVEN THE SCENT, would take you right to the subject.

I can state from personal experience that sometimes you arrive at a search scene and those running the search have no idea of the capabilities of tracking dogs or their optimum deployment. They may simply order you and your dog to a sector with a lot of other people and give you no starting scent at all. (Given nothing, do everything!)

We do not know the experience level of these dogs/handlers, or whether they were given any scent, or where they started looking, or how long it took to get them into the area, or what the weather, temperature, wind, and rainfall was. All these factors play a part in any search.

Furthermore, the ABSENCE of evidence - in this case the statement that the dogs did not find anything - cannot be used to prove or disprove anything.

Barbara's revolver could possibly provide a clue. If the make, model, caliber, and serial number were to be entered into the national stolen gun registry, it might turn up at some time. IF this were to occur, then it would be obvious that she was murdered and her handgun stolen.

 

[HollywoodBound]

I have just read this thread for the first time. A few thoughts come to my mind about the case.

The visitor appeared at the base of the mountain and led LE back up to where he stated that he had last seen Barbara. Clearly, he had been up the mountain and knew the trail. If he had come to the area for the first time, how would he have known the trail if Barbara had not brought him up it to begin with? In my mind, a scenario where he did something to/with Barbara BEFORE going up the mountain is much less likely than other theories.

Barbara and the out of town hiker went hiking on the same trail to Bear Creek Overlook the day before. They go again on the day she went missing so it would have been his second time there.

On Flickr there are pictures of Bear Creek overlook. The ground looks mostly bare in a lot of spots which makes it seem very unlikely she fell and vanished out of site.

 

[HollywoodBound]

I also thought it was a little suspicious that the hiking partner did not notice that the 2 other hikers had a dog with them. According to the comments on newwest he spoke to them briefly at the top of the mountain. The search crew also saw them and gave descriptions of them and their dog but Barbara's hiking partner did not notice a dog.

 

[Richard]

Barbara and the out of town hiker went hiking on the same trail to Bear Creek Overlook the day before. They go again on the day she went missing so it would have been his second time there....

This does not make much sense. Why would anyone want to hike the same trail two days in a row? Certainly, there are other trails to hike which would provide a new experience and view.

Reminds me of the Irishman who caught a Leprechan and was granted three wishes if he would set the little guy free. His first wish was for a tall glass of cold beer that would never be empty. No sooner said than done - and before him was a tall glass of the Irishman's favorite beer. He downed it and immediately the glass filled up again. He drank it down and again the glass filled. The Leprechan said, "You know, you still have two more wishes." The Irishman said, "Oh, in that case, I'll have two more of these."