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

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deugirtni said:
Is this area near Essex? (from quoted article)

she and her husband Robert were hiking in the Mohave Desert approximately 20 miles north of the Interstate 40 east of Kelbaker Road.
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Not really. But since there are few towns out there (none at all in the preserve and you can't really call Amboy a town), they usually use a place that has a post office and some form of LE office.

Essex is about 40 miles away, but at least it has a population and one gas station!
 
It all comes down to distance at this point. If she was within walking distance of where they were allegedly hiking (couple miles or so), then I’m comfortable with this being an unfortunate accident.

If we’re talking substantially more than that, then it’s a game changer.
 
10ofRods said:
Not really. But since there are few towns out there (none at all in the preserve and you can't really call Amboy a town), they usually use a place that has a post office and some form of LE office.

Essex is about 40 miles away, but at least it has a population and one gas station!
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The article does say, "in the desert near Essex, California."

Thinking of you, @dbdb11. (((Hugs)))
 
Cherwell said:
That's what I thought.
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Late to the party, but I think this east/west Kelbaker Rd. division is important. It's the demarcation line for the SBSO stations; Colorado River office runs west to Kelbaker and covers a HUGE territory.

I don't know how (or if) these administrative units are allocated personnel or funding in different ways, but this administrative boundary could have influenced the lines of sight prioritized in the initial searches.

Lastly, I'm glad she's been found. I wish more overhead searches could have been made with those with airborne resources. Crowd-sourced reviews of aerial photography have proved useful in previous instances (criminal and non-criminal alike).

EDIT: the quote system isn't working well for me. My initial comment here is in response to the conversation about searching east vs. west of Kelbaker Rd. from a few days back.
 
MassGuy said:
It all comes down to distance at this point. If she was within walking distance of where they were allegedly hiking (couple miles or so), then I’m comfortable with this being an unfortunate accident.

If we’re talking substantially more than that, then it’s a game changer.
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Abso-blooming-lutely
 
deugirtni said:
Is this area near Essex? (from quoted article)

she and her husband Robert were hiking in the Mohave Desert approximately 20 miles north of the Interstate 40 east of Kelbaker Road.
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I think initial media reports repeated the 20 miles bit, which I believe comes from the initial dispatch call log report. Not sure why that initial location was given -- maybe some inaccurate cell phone localization??

But the search was conducted from where the RV was said to be, which was on Kelbaker where Hidden Hill Road comes from the east and ends on it. As far as I can tell, that's around 5 miles north of the I-40.

I believe the search focused mostly on the area west of Kelbaker where RT said they had walked, but searching may also have been done east of Kelbaker along Hidden Hill Road. I think Hidden Hill Road is a dirt road.

JMO
 
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LAhiker said:
I think initial media reports repeated the 20 miles bit, which I believe comes from the initial dispatch call log report. Not sure why that initial location was given -- maybe some inaccurate cell phone location??

But the search was conducted from where the RV was said to be, which on Kelbaker where Hidden Hill Road comes from the east and ends on it. I believe the search focused mostly on the area west of Kelbaker where RT said they had walked, but searching may also have been done east of Kelbaker along Hidden Hill Road. I think Hidden Hill Road is a dirt road.

JMO
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Do we know how large of a radius from RV they searched?
 
My condolences to Barb's family and friends and hope you'll find comfort by finally putting her to rest.

Searched twitter including SBCSD Colorado River Station that provided frequent updates about the search and no reports of any unidentified remains located in late November 2020.

Seems LE not very eager to talk about this case, still. MOO
 
Early search efforts (from media thread):

JUL 20, 2019
News Update!!: Essex, CA: Search for hiker Barbara Thomas continues Saturday as a week goes by since becoming missing.
[...]

Eighty (80) Search and Rescue members from throughout the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department were deployed into the field this morning just after sunrise. Off-road vehicles, K9 units, certified in cave searches, rope climbing and desert terrain ground hikers are being utilized today. Aviation will be assisting throughout the search operation.

There has been no evidence of Barbara Thomas located on previous days.

[...]
 
LAhiker said:
I think initial media reports repeated the 20 miles bit, which I believe comes from the initial dispatch call log report. Not sure why that initial location was given -- maybe some inaccurate cell phone localization??

But the search was conducted from where the RV was said to be, which was on Kelbaker where Hidden Hill Road comes from the east and ends on it. As far as I can tell, that's around 5 miles north of the I-40.

I believe the search focused mostly on the area west of Kelbaker where RT said they had walked, but searching may also have been done east of Kelbaker along Hidden Hill Road. I think Hidden Hill Road is a dirt road.

JMO
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The 20 miles came from the Nixle reports. See summary at the end.

“July 21st - The search for Barbara Thomas, age 69, is continuing in the area of Kelbaker/ Hidden Hills near the I-40 ” from SBSD - Colorado River Sheriffs Department : Nixle
 
Excerpt from an observer's post during the search efforts:

I confirmed on Saturday with the Sheriff the precise location where the Thompsons had parked their 5th Wheel, the same location they had set up. I'll try posting Google Earth pics and pics of the environment if anyone is interested. It was NOT 20 miles north of I40 like the reports says and like the speculation on this thread and all over social media goes, (the media everywhere repeated or regurgitated this over 10 days without fact checking). The location is 6.3 miles north of the I-40 in a large turnout that can accommodate a Dually and 5th Wheel. There is a nonmotorized trail directly opposite of that turnout that leads to the closest rock formations which contain lots of nooks and crannies which you can see were searched by the SARS folks.

AZ - AZ - Barbara Thomas, 69, Timeline, Media, Maps, *NO DISCUSSION*
 
deugirtni said:
Today's article says her body was discovered November 27th though..... so seemingly perhaps time to come up with a COD?
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What I mean is that the body itself probably isn’t going to tell you her cause of death, if there are no signs of trauma (a year in the desert).

It’ll be the circumstances as a whole, which will depend on no physical damage to the body, and where she was found in relation to where she was alleged to be.

So close by and no apparent injuries, I could see them going with exposure or whatever. If she’s some distance away with no injuries, then that’s way more complicated.
 
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