CA CA - Barbara Thomas, 69, from Bullhead City AZ, disappeared in Mojave desert, 12 July 2019 #2

[Daisyeve]

I don’t know the exact details about the trip to Hong Kong and what I have read is a little confusing. The first thing that crossed my mind was that maybe she tried to purchase a ticket and there happened to be a negative account balance. Now tonight with the talk about Las Vegas maybe too much money went there. Everything is usually connected to money somehow. MOO

 

[RANCH]

Members shouldn't try to moderate the thread.

If you think a post is against TOS hit the "report" button.

 

[PaulR]

I don’t know the exact details about the trip to Hong Kong and what I have read is a little confusing. The first thing that crossed my mind was that maybe she tried to purchase a ticket and there happened to be a negative account balance. Now tonight with the talk about Las Vegas maybe too much money went there. Everything is usually connected to money somehow. MOO

FWIW, I just checked on Expedia, and RT tickets from Las Vegas to Hong Kong, leaving Wednesday (tomorrow!) and returning in a bit over a week (August 5th) - simulating a last-minute fare - gives me prices of $849.

Also it's very unlikely there would be a negative account balance. Nearly all air travel is purchased using credit cards.

 

[GordianKnot]

Let’s just keep thinking happy thoughts.

That’ll change the outcome.

Holy Crud, Massy.

This sounds like a line pulled straight out of a self-help motivational book.

Wait a second....don't tell me, let me guess:

You're a life coach, aren't you?

Anyway, thoughts, happy or otherwise, aren't going to change the past.

Nothing changes what's happened in the past.

Whatever happened to BT that day, is a fait accompli.

There's no redo button.

JMO.

 

[MassGuy]

Holy Crud, Massy.

This sounds like a line pulled straight out of a self-help motivational book.

Wait a second....don't tell me, let me guess:

You're a life coach, aren't you?

Anyway, thoughts, happy or otherwise, aren't going to change the past.

Nothing changes what's happened in the past.

Whatever happened to BT that day, is a fait accompli.

There's no redo button.

JMO.

Precisely my point.

 

[Kapua]

It seems like if it was an abduction or robbery that camper and truck would be gone too.

Burglars burgle. IMHO

 

[whoizzit]

Let’s just keep thinking happy thoughts.

That’ll change the outcome.

Ooohhhmmmm. Ooohhhmmmm.

I’m not feeling better about Barb already!

 

[Steelslady]

......

 

[sorrell skye]

So you genuinely believe that Barbara is out there in the desert, sustaining herself off of some oasis of puddle water?

What is your alternate theory?

 

[MassGuy]

What is your alternate theory?

That she was murdered, and was never there to begin with.

 

[sorrell skye]

That she was murdered, and was never there to begin with.

What do you make of the VI's claims that RT provided LE with date/timestamped photos?

 

[TrinityAlps]

I am not familiar with how close the Mitchell caves are to the area she disappeared from, but is it possible there are underground caves that she might have fallen into? I know that sometimes caves natural openings are not very visible until developed by people opening them out.

 

[MassGuy]

What do you make of the VI's claims that RT provided LE with date/timestamped photos"?

Until I hear it from law enforcement, I’m not taking anything at face value.

If he did supply those things, and they were deemed to be genuine, then the polygraph wouldn’t be necessary.

 

[wary]

What do you make of the VI's claims that RT provided LE with date/timestamped photos"?

Well, one glaring problem is that our VI got that information from RT.

MOO

 

[wary]

I am not familiar with how close the Mitchell caves are to the area she disappeared from, but is it possible there are underground caves that she might have fallen into? I know that sometimes caves natural openings are not very visible until developed by people opening them out.

I don’t know about caves, but the area supposedly has quite a number of mine shafts—very dangerous.

 

[Micheline]

What do you make of the VI's claims that RT provided LE with date/timestamped photos?

VI did not claim such occurred, but assumed it.

 

[GordianKnot]

That she was murdered, and was never there to begin with.

This is actually my working theory right now based on the known facts, too.

It would be so much nicer to think otherwise, and to entertain the notion that she ran off to start a new life, or that she is alive somewhere in that desert.

Unfortunately, both of those scenarios fly in the face of reason.

JMO.

 

[sorrell skye]

I find it comical that members support or reject the info that has been provided, based on whose narrative they wish to believe.

Here's the thing: Barbara needs to be heard.

Who is telling Barbara's story?

 

[MassGuy]

I find it comical that members support or reject the info that has been provided, based on whose narrative they wish to believe.

Here's the thing: Barbara needs to be heard.

Who is telling Barbara's story?

I’m not the one hinging my opinion on hope.

If she was out there, she almost certainly would have been found by now.

Logic trumps wishful thinking.

And what do you mean by “who is telling Barbara’s story?”

The investigators are trying to do just that.

 

[ChuckMaureen]

My thoughts:

Drinking beer.
Many of us know what effect beer has, in essense: beer in, p@@ out. Maybe BT needed a bathroom break, stopped along the way, maybe next to or under desert brush she encountered a poisonous snake or other?

Hiker Curiosity.
While hiking, one may encounter interesting elements along the way, such as unusual rock formations or desert plants. Maybe BT climbed a rock formation to get a better view of the surrounding area and she slipped and fell between separations in the formation?

I suspect BT couldn't have traveled far from where she was last seen, I'd expect LE to have concentrated their search in the immediate area, as opposed to spreading resources in a larger circumference fan-out. If not, why not?

Unfortunately, it's a desert, 100 degree temps, no water or other supplies... I'm willing to bet BT is found within 500 yards of where she was last seen.

Of course, there is that always-lingering possibility this case turns out to be a spouse-on-spouse crime but as of yet, the only 'indication' of that is RT's admission that he submitted to a polygraph and LE claimed the result indicated he was being 'deceptive'.

How often did the couple go hiking? In the desert? Elsewhere? Did RT always take photographs on their hikes? Did the couple hike for the scenery, to exercise, both? Why was that location chosen?

RT claimed to have stopped to "take a photograph." How many times did he stop to take a photograph during that two-mile hike? Two? Twenty? Two-hundred? What was it that he last photographed? Are the photos consistent as to subject, interest? What if he stopped to take only one photograph?