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

[10ofRods]

MOO:

Getting away with the murder of someone close to you is becoming extremely difficult, to the point of it being almost impossible.

We leave trails that technology can pick up - from your cell phone pings to traffic/dash cams, not to mention emails, Internet searches and activity, etc.

You have to be perfect and incredibly lucky to not get caught, and all you need to do is make one mistake, get caught on a traffic camera in a place where you claimed not to be, leave a single fiber, whatever, for the police to get you.

And if you are close to a victim, you will be put under a microscope.

Good luck.

Aren't there 80,000 missing American adults?

Number of missing persons files in the U.S. by age and gender 2018 | Statista

Some of them are murdered. If you're a woman, the statistical probability is that you were murdered by someone you know. That is why people close to victims are (sometimes sadly) put under the microscope (and telescope, figuratively).

Let's not tiptoe around that stat. Women are less likely to be murdered than men, but when we are murdered, it's more likely to be a husband, SO or affair partner. Or a male stalker. I know you know that, but in the case of Barbara Thomas, many of us cannot help but consider this as a theory. Obviously, RT knows he's under suspicion. I feel terribly for him, if he's innocent, as it's a horrifying thing to have happen.

OTOH, if he thought she was in Vegas, why not try to organize at least a few missing person posters in Vegas? I feel he could have used his 5 minutes on InsideEdition to do that. He may not be mentally nimble enough for all this though. If he isn't, he needs to reach out to family and friends (and perhaps, forums like this one).

 

[LietKynes]

There's some good points @ his assumptions about Vegas - maybe there's something there, something he held back initially...hmmm....



This could be the case...but sometimes things that seem too good to be true, are. Lots of people though, also, have - let's say: 'feisty' relationships. The 'feist' goes both ways

My experience though of an abusive man was that if anyone was around - he would be very loving, affectionate, the image of 'perfect' etc. - got to the point when company left it would be just a matter of 'wait for it' then the explosion - over nothing, for nothing - the pent up need to shout, be angry, put me in my place etc.

So who knows? I sure hope that he is innocent & that whatever has occurred there was true love that will help him deal with, I'm sorry to say, her loss. Just seems unlikely she's alive. Hope I'm wrong.

I am still on the fence here.....

JMO

Emph. mine

True.
There was something off-putting about RT hauling out the love letters.
Why ?
This does not help find her.

My friend was in a bad relationship where her husband looked like he adored her.
In photos and in public everything looked picture perfect.
He left bruises where they couldn't be seen.

And the VI has a post on this thread where he says not to underestimate RT's intelligence.

 

[Lore Listener]

drinking a beer and driving a car, a boat, a motorcycle... that's not very wise either but yet, folks do it. All. The. Time.

Alcohol is very strongly linked to outdoor culture, especially here in Colorado, but I can imagine it is in AZ/CA as well. I am an avid runner, and after almost every race 10k and longer I've even been in, a free beer is given out at the finish line to all runners over 21. I don't drink alcohol, and even if I did, I think I'd pass out/throw up if I drank a beer after running a half marathon, but honesty most people drink it and love it. Some runners even consider it a recovery drink, like gatorade. All that to say, I doubt one beer made the difference via intoxication or dehydration between life and death for Barbara. I'm personally more interested in why she would still be clutching a warm beer after walking two miles in the summer desert, and why "holding a beer" was even part of her description, since all she would have had to do is set down the beer and it's no longer an identifying feature--unlike hat, clothes, hair, height, etc.

Skiing & Booze: Does Colorado Have A Drinking Problem? | 5280

 

[LietKynes]

They need something new. New photos of Barbara, an interview with a family member or friend, family statement, interview with a random PI, announcement about a Facebook "Find Barbara" group, a vigil or prayer service, a flyer distribution event, a volunteer search, anything... It's not likely they will write a follow-up without new information. MOO

Bolding mine

Esp. a member of Barbara's family or her son Matt.
We need to know more about the family dynamics from Barbara's side, in order to find out where she is.
And when exactly did she vanish ?
Did she text or call anyone on her side of the family before she went missing ?
I do not think she was abducted. MOO

 

[10ofRods]

BBM

Thanks for pointing this out, esp. the bolded portions.
Curious.
Also wondering what a 'few' marriages means ? 3 ? 4?
And how they ended.

I'm very curious as well.

 

[cazador]

I really wish the area across from the RV, the other side would be searched more.She came back to the RV before Robbie and I believe crossed the road looking for rocks to kill time before he came back

Google Maps

This is where I think they pulled over.. The map is a 360 view and you can also zoom out and go above the zone..
He wanted to hike out there to the rocks and take pics.. She decided to walk back.
This is what he called a highway that she would have to cross.. jmho

 

[k-mac]

I would gladly.
When thinking about the things he said and done I changed my mind.
Barbara leaving him love notes under his pillow, he cherishing them and having kept them all. Him thinking she is a striking beauty even at 69 in her bikini, thinking she would be kidnapped. He always has his arm around her, or she around him, even when people are standing in between them. He loved her, and was loved by her. This was no marriage gone sour or greatly disturbed in order for the husband to plan to murder her. IMO

i agree 100% Robbie loved barb dearly imo.

but …...
that doesn't mean we know what went on behind closed doors.

too many times family and friends of murdered loved ones will tell you but we didn't see it...she/they hid it. outward appearances can be deceiving.
that being anything, every relationship is different.

we have verified that barb was a tell it like it is no BS kinda lass.
we also have it verified that they bickered from time to time just like everybody else.

plenty of times a spouse gets murdered because someone 'loves them dearly" especially if there was the possibility of barb pulling away from him. happens every...single...day.
and we just do not have this information.

so Robbie loving barb and barb loving Robbie in pictures and notes that we don't know the dates of doesn't mean anything to the current climate of their relationship to me.

also murder doesn't have to be planned.
an accidental rage outburst would show deep regret and sorrow imo

respect your choice of interpretation micheline just wanted to share why I see the same thing totally differently.

moo

​

 

[10ofRods]

Alcohol is very strongly linked to outdoor culture, especially here in Colorado, but I can imagine it is in AZ/CA as well. I am an avid runner, and after almost every race 10k and longer I've even been in, a free beer is given out at the finish line to all runners over 21. I don't drink alcohol, and even if I did, I think I'd pass out/throw up if I drank a beer after running a half marathon, but honesty most people drink it and love it. Some runners even consider it a recovery drink, like gatorade. All that to say, I doubt one beer made the difference via intoxication or dehydration between life and death for Barbara. I'm personally more interested in why she would still be clutching a warm beer after walking two miles in the summer desert, and why "holding a beer" was even part of her description, since all she would have had to do is set down the beer and it's no longer an identifying feature--unlike hat, clothes, hair, height, etc.

Skiing & Booze: Does Colorado Have A Drinking Problem? | 5280

I think he meant to imply that Barbara was perhaps not entirely sober and/or in a very relaxed state of mind. A vulnerable older beauty with a dash of party girl still in her. It implies that if someone pulled over and tried to start a convo, perhaps she would have reacted with a smile. That's what I get from that, anyway. Her vulnerability.

(As opposed to someone going missing with their wilderness essentials and a fixed blade knife and pepper spray).

 

[kay74]

Google Maps

This is where I think they pulled over.. The map is a 360 view and you can also zoom out and go above the zone..
He wanted to hike out there to the rocks and take pics.. She decided to walk back.
This is what he called a highway that she would have to cross.. jmho

Thanks. So, could she be there? On the other side of the road somewhere yonder?!

 

[TristanP]

It strikes me as odd for him to say he wouldn’t press charges if Barbara was returned. As if she is a stolen car.

He has no authority to say that. It wouldn’t be his decision and it wouldn’t even be Barbara’s. If she had been kidnapped and police knew who it was, they’re being prosecuted.

 

[PaulR]

Aren't there 80,000 missing American adults?

Number of missing persons files in the U.S. by age and gender 2018 | Statista

Some of them are murdered. If you're a woman, the statistical probability is that you were murdered by someone you know. That is why people close to victims are (sometimes sadly) put under the microscope (and telescope, figuratively).

Let's not tiptoe around that stat. Women are less likely to be murdered than men, but when we are murdered, it's more likely to be a husband, SO or affair partner. Or a male stalker.

The problem is that we know data only if we catch the murderer. If we don't catch them - who killed them? Maybe someone close. Maybe a stranger. That's thousands of cases being excluded.

And in this case, we don't even know if BT is dead for certain - and if she is, how she died.

 

[Thelastleg]

Mystery lingers around woman's disappearance


This is a link to a 2007 article about ANOTHER missing hiker-this one in Montana. Her circumstances are eerily similar and I wonder if that event was used as inspiration for THIS event. Her first name is Barbara too! Here is an excerpt from that article:

The pair then enjoyed the mountain views for maybe a half-hour or 40 minutes before deciding to head back down the hill.

Ramaker said Barbara was only about 20 or 30 feet away when he turned to take one more look at the scenery. It was a short look - maybe 45 seconds, maybe a minute. When he turned around, Barbara was gone. It was the last time he saw her, he'd tell investigators later.

"This is really a tough one for me," Johnson said. "It's outside of my scope of experience. I haven't been able to find anyone else who's had a similar experience. We're talking about a minute and then you look back and she's gone."

Thank you to the person who fixed my 'link.'

Was she ever found? I can't open the link as I'm outside USA

 

[Sillybilly]

as is my understanding, non verified members should not be discussing these points. but verified insiders are invited to share more personal details because they have direct knowledge of people involved.

hence a verification process.

this is why i appealed to Robbie's family, and not to everyone else here, for answers to my latest questions.

There is a difference between stating something as fact or expressing an opinion based on an interpretation of those facts.

Sharing personal details / fact is fine (i.e. RT cancelled a flight or RT said such and such or BT used to work at blah blah). No links required there. VIs are not required to provide links to information they state as fact.

In most other respects VIs are required to post as all regular members do. This includes keeping our opinion victim friendly. Victims include family members and loved ones, so we ask that members not express opinions that include insinuations or inferences that a loved one is responsible for the missing person's disappearance. IOW, no direct or indirect accusations / inferences against a person who LE has not officially designated a POI / suspect.

Imagine how any one of us would feel to make such inferences only to find those inferences were simply wrong. Nothing worse than re-victimizing someone who is already a victim and nobody wants to have to eat their words.

Sometimes what seems so apparent is just plain wrong. We've seen it happen before and it's not pleasant. First case that brought me to WS, I knew darn well whodunnit and I think everybody else agreed with me on my whodunnit. We were 110% wrong !!

Any further questions in this regard, members can PM a Mod or Admin and if we don't have an answer, we holler for Tricia to find one.

 

[cazador]

It strikes me as odd for him to say he wouldn’t press charges if Barbara was returned. As if she is a stolen car.

He has no authority to say that. It wouldn’t be his decision and it wouldn’t even be Barbara’s. If she had been kidnapped and police knew who it was, they’re being prosecuted.

You are Correct

 

[MsBetsy]

So, RT has a plane ?
Did Barbara's family know this ?
Is it possible they flew somewhere, on the day she went missing ?

I doubt it, if they left the house at 8:15 that morning.
I would think LE would have included that information, if they had taken a plane ride that morning. Imo

 

[PaulR]

I doubt it, if they left the house at 8:15 that morning.
I would think LE would have included that information, if they had taken a plane ride that morning. Imo

General aviation is tracked with flight plans and air traffic controllers (and RADAR) anyway.

 

[MsBetsy]

Alcohol is very strongly linked to outdoor culture, especially here in Colorado, but I can imagine it is in AZ/CA as well. I am an avid runner, and after almost every race 10k and longer I've even been in, a free beer is given out at the finish line to all runners over 21. I don't drink alcohol, and even if I did, I think I'd pass out/throw up if I drank a beer after running a half marathon, but honesty most people drink it and love it. Some runners even consider it a recovery drink, like gatorade. All that to say, I doubt one beer made the difference via intoxication or dehydration between life and death for Barbara. I'm personally more interested in why she would still be clutching a warm beer after walking two miles in the summer desert, and why "holding a beer" was even part of her description, since all she would have had to do is set down the beer and it's no longer an identifying feature--unlike hat, clothes, hair, height, etc.

Skiing & Booze: Does Colorado Have A Drinking Problem? | 5280

Where would she have set the beer down?

 

[oceanstarryeyes]

Google Maps

This is where I think they pulled over.. The map is a 360 view and you can also zoom out and go above the zone..
He wanted to hike out there to the rocks and take pics.. She decided to walk back.
This is what he called a highway that she would have to cross.. jmho

I think that road looks very scary for a woman to be seen all alone by the highway.

 

[MsBetsy]

General aviation is tracked with flight plans and air traffic controllers (and RADAR) anyway.

Right, so if LE had that information, I would think they would have mentioned it.

 

[bradfordsleuth]

JMO

The silence from R.T. and Barbara's son Matt is really deafening.

Whenever I read the facts on a case here at Websleuths, I always try to put myself in the shoes of the family member(s) who are looking for a missing loved one. I know I would be utilizing any and all available resources to help me find the person I was trying to find! Nothing would stop me.

Could R.T. have stopped doing interviews and/or making appeals because of a fear of being ripped apart by the public? Did a lawyer suggest he stop talking due to showing 'deception' on the polygraph?

Why not appoint a spokesperson (a trusted friend or family member) to field inquiries or speak on his/their behalf?

Why is Barb's son not using his voice to gain msm traction in any places other than social media? Call Dateline, Inside Edition... anyone to get his mom's face and name out there!!

@dbdb11 I cannot imagine how frustrated and helpless you and your family must feel right now being so far away without any information being made available from the only two people readily in a position to help spread the word about Barbara's disappearance!

Again...JMO