CA CA - Barbara Thomas, 69, from Bullhead City AZ, disappeared in Mojave desert, 12 July 2019 #4

[Kapua]

RT's story is that he hid the key under a rock, they went for a ~2 mile walk in the desert (1 mile out, 1 mile back), and they were on their way back and within ~1/2 mile of the road and their truck/RV. He stopped to take a photo, and she walked on. He lost sight of her when she rounded a corner and she disappeared in the length of time it took him to take that photo and also start back toward the vehicle. Little of the story makes sense to me. The key hiding part does not make sense. Neither does stopping to take a short walk in 100+ degree heat, her separating herself from her husband in the middle of nowhere, him taking a photo of a very boring (IMHO) part of the Mojave desert, her disappearing in a place where you can see clear to the road for quite a distance, and him taking so much time to take a photo or two that there was no sign of BT when he decided to start back to the RV. MOO.

 

[Thelastleg]

RT's story is that he hid the key under a rock, they went for a ~2 mile walk in the desert (1 mile out, 1 mile back), and they were on their way back and within ~1/2 mile of the road and their truck/RV. He stopped to take a photo, and she walked on. He lost sight of her when she rounded a corner and she disappeared in the length of time it took him to take that photo and also start back toward the vehicle. Little of the story makes sense to me. The key hiding part does not make sense. Neither does stopping to take a short walk in 100+ degree heat, her separating herself from her husband in the middle of nowhere, him taking a photo of a very boring (IMHO) part of the Mojave desert, her disappearing in a place where you can see clear to the road for quite a distance, and him taking so much time to take a photo or two that there was no sign of BT when he decided to start back to the RV. MOO.

I also wonder why not park where the other vehicles were parked, unless there vehicle was too big. Surely it would be safer within in sight of other people. Sounds like a spur of the moment, here's a layby. No one around, won't be long, no one will see etc

 

[Twistinginthewind]

connecting back to my original post about this, I see the key under the rock as part of the justification why she is completely exposed and vulnerable out there.
no key
no water
no protective clothing (practically nude)
but she does have alcohol...….


moo

Exactly. And in the middle of the desert in the heat of the day midsummer at the age of 69 years old and being an 'experienced desert hiker'. I haven't ever heard of any other set of circumstances under which someone could be more vulnerable to something 'going wrong' in the years I've been following missing persons cases here on WS. And for LE and SAR to have searched so thoroughly and have found no evidence of her being there (where RT said she went missing). It's so sad and heartbreaking BT is missing this long under these circumstances IMO. It all feels like the 'stuff of fantasy' or a 'perfect storm' of terrible circumstances. It's so hard to swallow, I mean follow. MOO

 

[Micheline]

-double-

 

[k-mac]

Exactly. And in the middle of the desert in the heat of the day midsummer at the age of 69 years old and being an 'experienced desert hiker'. I haven't ever heard of any other set of circumstances under which someone could be more vulnerable to something 'going wrong' in the years I've been following missing persons cases here on WS. And for LE and SAR to have searched so thoroughly and have found no evidence of her being there (where RT said she went missing). It's so sad and heartbreaking BT is missing this long under these circumstances IMO. It all feels like the 'stuff of fantasy' or a 'perfect storm' of terrible circumstances. It's so hard to swallow, I mean follow. MOO

I added to my post. she had no phone out there either TINW
just a "totally vulnerable picture painted"...….

but RT had all these things at HIS fingertips. what a sensible chap. not like his lady or anything.


MOO

 

[Auntie Cipation]

I also wonder why not park where the other vehicles were parked, unless there vehicle was too big. Surely it would be safer within in sight of other people. Sounds like a spur of the moment, here's a layby. No one around, won't be long, no one will see etc

I don't think we know where the supposed other nearby vehicles were parked, including whether they were parked at the same turnout as BT and RT. IMO

Also, if the other vehicles were only seen from BT's 360-degree photo taken from atop a hill, they could actually be quite far off, like a mile or more, which would make parking near them impractical for where they wanted to walk.

Lastly, people out enjoying nature often want to avoid other people -- that is IMO often one of the fundamental aspects of the experience.

 

[alucardsdream]

Exactly. And in the middle of the desert in the heat of the day midsummer at the age of 69 years old and being an 'experienced desert hiker'. I haven't ever heard of any other set of circumstances under which someone could be more vulnerable to something 'going wrong' in the years I've been following missing persons cases here on WS. And for LE and SAR to have searched so thoroughly and have found no evidence of her being there (where RT said she went missing). It's so sad and heartbreaking BT is missing this long under these circumstances IMO. It all feels like the 'stuff of fantasy' or a 'perfect storm' of terrible circumstances. It's so hard to swallow, I mean follow. MOO

Exactly! They weren't typical tourists...they lived in Arizona, where we're all pretty skilled at surviving in extreme temps. We sometimes joke about it, but usually when search and rescue has to get involved in looking for a lost hiker, the person is from out of the state and wasn't prepared for the desert. BT would have known the desert well, and unless she had way more to drink that RT indicated, I just can't see her wandering around long. But the abduction scenario is hard to understand as well, unless RT was much further behind her than he realized. This whole situation is just so sad.

 

[MimosaMornings]

It's worth noting IMO, in this case:
(1) The VI said early on in this thread that BT's family knew of the 5 wheeler being recently purchased (in the month or so before their camping trip during which BT went missing).
(2) That type of new 5 wheeler costs between $60 - $90k, and the truck pulling it in MSM videos also looks new. So, the combined worth of the "entire rig (truck and new 5 wheeler)" has got to be close to $100,000, which seems like a very valuable asset to leave a key to under a rock on the side of the road.

All JMO.

They have been referred to as experienced in being in the desert - camping and exploring. The truck and fifth wheel are new, wonder what their previous camper was like? Perhaps they traded up!

 

[Bethan]

Apologies if this has already been discussed & dissected.....I’ve not followed this thread closely, until now.

My initial & over-riding ‘gut feeling’ about this situation is this.....WHY does the husband make such a big thing over the ‘bottle of beer in her hand’?

It would make sense if he was saying
“she did not have any water with her”
as in
“I am very worried about my wife, as she had no water with her & therefore is likely to have succumbed to dehydration...”

but no...the emphasis is on the ‘bottle of beer in her hand’ and ‘only wearing a bikini’.....which immediately smacks of ‘victim shaming’ & not the description of a worried loving husband would give.

As if he’s very publicly trying to give the impression that his wife had a drink problem & was inappropriately dressed & therefore ‘brought it on herself’ whatever ‘it’ is.

Perhaps as an ‘alcoholic in recovery’ I’m just overly sensitive to this, but it sounds like the sort of slur my husband ( now ex) would make about me, at any & every opportunity, as our marriage crumbled & we approached divorce ( ie ‘it’s not my fault...look at HER’)

All my opinion only.

 

[MassGuy]

Apologies if this has already been discussed & dissected.....I’ve not followed this thread closely, until now.

My initial & over-riding ‘gut feeling’ about this situation is this.....WHY does the husband make such a big thing over the ‘bottle of beer in her hand’?

It would make sense if he was saying
“she did not have any water with her”
as in
“I am very worried about my wife, as she had no water with her & therefore is likely to have succumbed to dehydration...”

but no...the emphasis is on the ‘bottle of beer in her hand’ and ‘only wearing a bikini’.....which immediately smacks of ‘victim shaming’ & not the description of a worried loving husband would give.

As if he’s very publicly trying to give the impression that his wife had a drink problem & was inappropriately dressed & therefore ‘brought it on herself’ whatever ‘it’ is.

Perhaps as an ‘alcoholic in recovery’ I’m just overly sensitive to this, but it sounds like the sort of slur my husband ( now ex) would make about me, at any & every opportunity, as our marriage crumbled & we approached divorce ( ie ‘it’s not my fault...look at HER’)

All my opinion only.

I don’t see it as “shaming,” I see it as a transparent attempt to sell a false narrative.

So she’s drinking, and she’s provocatively dressed.

Therefore, some individual with nefarious intent must have come across her, and kidnapped her because he just couldn’t help himself.

I think that’s the angle, and I think it’s absurd.

So she has a run in with a potential abductor, which is rare enough. But this abductor also gets super lucky, in that there’s this attractive woman walking around in the middle of nowhere, wearing very little and drinking alcohol.

And amazingly, he’s afforded this opportunity because she happens to turn a corner, while her husband is behind her taking pictures.

I ain’t buying what he’s selling.

 

[Twistinginthewind]

I don't think we know where the supposed other nearby vehicles were parked, including whether they were parked at the same turnout as BT and RT. IMO

Also, if the other vehicles were only seen from BT's 360-degree photo taken from atop a hill, they could actually be quite far off, like a mile or more, which would make parking near them impractical for where they wanted to walk.

Lastly, people out enjoying nature often want to avoid other people -- that is IMO often one of the fundamental aspects of the experience.

BBM: It's true nothing has been verified regarding what the layout was, because nothing has been confirmed by LE to date other than their statement after the search concluded that there was no evidence of BT being there and no evidence of foul play (paraphrasing, but it's all been posted multiple times with MSM and LE links here on BT's thread).

According to RT, they pulled off to the side of the highway to go check out some rock formations in that area, just the two of them, going on a 2 mile walk, and there were no other people or vehicles nearby.

There are many maps and aerial photos and ground photos here on BT's thread that posters have put considerable effort into that show the place where RT said he and BT parked their RV and went walking and where he called 911 to come to near the site of BT's disappearance and LE and SAR staged their search from.

RT said they parked their RV (truck and 5 wheeler) on a pulloff space (turnout) just off the highway that was not near (within several miles of) the place where other vehicles were purported to have been parked (at a separate trailhead) based on what RT said was visible from the hill that they took a 360 degree photo from earlier in the day.

I can't imagine how upsetting and heartbreaking it must be for BT's family for there to be 'no word' since Barbara's disappearance on July 12th on anything concrete, and to have nothing to go on besides what her husband RT has said, and nothing confirmed by LE!!

Dear Barbara, we may not know you, but we're not going to give up on finding you!!

All JMO. MOO MOO.

 

[Curiousobserver]

Yes, it would fit in with his theory of someone abducting her.

Its not completely out of the question that she may have been abducted. Someone posted earlier that if she took one of the spur trails on her way back she would end up about a mile away from her camper at a turn-around that looked a lot like the one she was expecting. If she thought the camper had been stolen or realized she was lost she might have flagged someone down while her husband was looking for her.

MOO that is not what happened but its also not completely ridiculous

 

[Stragnet]

Those are my thoughts exactly. ETA and I *thought* that he had a backpack, too. But I am not going to look for a link right now, so MOO.

I’m glad you mentioned the backpack; one or two initial reports stated he had a backpack in which he carried BT’s cell phone, but those reports seemed to have disappeared. I’m guessing the initial reports of a backpack were incorrect, explaining why I can’t find those initial news blurbs about it.

 

[distracted]

This case is an upsetting one.

First, the story doesn't ring true to me. Two, the search has been called off. And, three, there haven't been any real updates in two weeks. I really think if she had been lost in the area, they would have found her because she couldn't have gone that far in a few hours.

Maybe I've watched this scenario play out one too many times on Dateline but I don't think she got lost and I don't think she was abducted or ran off.

It really bothers me that RT cancelled her flight before much time had passed, yet he didn't think it important to tell her family she was missing. Why cancel the flight at all? It wasn't necessary. The only reason I can think of is because he wanted at least some of the money back.

He knew she wasn't coming back. IMO, he didn't want to talk to her family because he didn't want the scrutiny.

As usual, I think his phone and/or computer will tell LE a lot. That said, I do wish we knew more about their relationship. Were they really the happy couple they seemed to be? Was he afraid she would go to HK and not return? Did she have a life insurance policy? Were they having financial problems?

So many questions...

 

[NoClouseau]

okay - so now you guys have me obsessing on this mountain lion speculation. God forbid the poor woman was attacked by a mountain lion - wouldn't RT have heard it?

Barbara wasn't taken by any mountain lion IMO. Also aren't you on their territory when you go off hiking? Was completely unimpressed by a media story of a man killing a mountain lion when it attacked him...I'm firmly on the lion's side sorry ...you go there, you take your chances. JMO

 

[alucardsdream]

Barbara wasn't taken by any mountain lion IMO. Also aren't you on their territory when you go off hiking? Was completely unimpressed by a media story of a man killing a mountain lion when it attacked him...I'm firmly on the lion's side sorry ...you go there, you take your chances. JMO

If a mountain lion was involved, there would have been some kind of evidence left behind...blood, or drag marks or paw prints, something. I don't they usually hang out in the desert much, either, since there aren't many deer for them to eat.

 

[oviedo]

I’m curious if LE had a re-enactment done ? Her turning the corner and being out of sight, etc . Of course we wouldn’t know about it since they’ve released nothing but the time of the 911 call- by now, if they were investigating I would think they would have some video taken from their route, neighbors video, phone and computer records and gps data. 3 weeks tomorrow and we know nothing IMO

 

[oceanstarryeyes]

This case is an upsetting one.

First, the story doesn't ring true to me. Two, the search has been called off. And, three, there haven't been any real updates in two weeks. I really think if she had been lost in the area, they would have found her because she couldn't have gone that far in a few hours.

Maybe I've watched this scenario play out one too many times on Dateline but I don't think she got lost and I don't think she was abducted or ran off.

It really bothers me that RT cancelled her flight before much time had passed, yet he didn't think it important to tell her family she was missing. Why cancel the flight at all? It wasn't necessary. The only reason I can think of is because he wanted at least some of the money back.

He knew she wasn't coming back. IMO, he didn't want to talk to her family because he didn't want the scrutiny.

As usual, I think his phone and/or computer will tell LE a lot. That said, I do wish we knew more about their relationship. Were they really the happy couple they seemed to be? Was he afraid she would go to HK and not return? Did she have a life insurance policy? Were they having financial problems?

So many questions...

Why cancel the flight at all? It wasn't necessary. The only reason I can think of is because he wanted at least some of the money back

That is the one thing I’ve seen RT do that makes him look guilty.

 

[rainwaterstill]

Have the abandoned mine shafts been searched?

 

[rosesfromangels]

Have the abandoned mine shafts been searched?

That’s where Erin Corwin ended up. Good thinking!