CA CA - Barbara Thomas, 69, from Bullhead City AZ, disappeared in Mojave desert, 12 July 2019 #8

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Han said:
I don’t imagine RT needing much preparation time or rehearsal. He’s probably an off-the-cuff speaker. Remember he’s a salesman.
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I would have to go back and watch the interviews again. However, IMO, the tell was that it didn't sound off-the-cuff at all; he said almost the exact same words, exact same emotional response at the exact same moment in each interview. And this was 3-4 days after Barbara was reported missing. When I first saw the interviews, it made me think, "huh, what up with that?" MOO
 
CSIDreamer said:
You have a good point. But I can't see him saying "because she was wearing jeans and drinking water".

JMO
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I've given this some thought - what he should have said was we cannot find her, so she must have been abducted. What she was wearing was irrelevant. However, I'm giving the benefit of doubt due to lack of sleep and stress. We shall see.

The most important thing is to find Barbara and/or evidence that leads us to a conclusion.
 
distracted said:
He could have taken that opportunity to appeal to the public to help find her. He could have been very specific about the details of how he lost sight of her. Instead, we heard "why" he thought she went missing.
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I wonder if the police asked him not to be too specific, so as not to encourage amateur searchers who might get lost or fall victim to the conditions themselves.

However ..........
He did give some details, and it struck me that IF he was making it up, and that Barbara was actually nowhere near that spot (as some people have theorised), then he has given a surprisingly small range of time and place. Why not say he spent another half-hour taking photos after she left, for instance? Or that she went off further along the dry wash looking for rocks?
 
Richmond said:
I would have to go back and watch the interviews again. However, IMO, the tell was that it didn't sound off-the-cuff at all; he said almost the exact same words, exact same emotional response at the exact same moment in each interview. And this was 3-4 days after Barbara was reported missing. When I first saw the interviews, it made me think, "huh, what up with that?" MOO
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I don't think there's anything up with that. I think he believes what he said, mainly because he thought, Barb, being an experienced hiker, would not have gotten lost.I on the other hand believe she did.
 
distracted said:
Respectfully, I think you outlined exactly why it sounds rehearsed - if not rehearsed, at least well thought out.
He could have taken that opportunity to appeal to the public to help find her. He could have been very specific about the details of how he lost sight of her. Instead, we heard "why" he thought she went missing.

I understand that he was edited by an oftentimes sensational television show but there should have been some hint from him that he is desperate to "find" her instead of explaining away her disappearance.

His inaction since has not helped either.
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Sure he could have, I've said that many times. And that's what I find troubling.

I'm not sure there were two entirely different interviews, anyway. I'll have to check the media thread. At any rate, he had from Friday until about Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning to "rehearse." Typically, reporters do a kind of dry run with people as well. Television is rarely spontaneous.

My criticism of him has always been that he could have used his television time differently. In fact, he could still do that. If he decided to reach out to media (it's true there's not much locally) there are eager reporters who would come out to interview him again).

I'm guessing the reporter may have prompted him in various ways. He needs to do a new appearance and take charge of finding Barbara. The fact that he does not, and that most people are unable to get past the fact that a loved one is still out there is really odd.

OTOH, if he truly believes she was abducted (and in the CBS interview, I think it is, the reporter says that he told her that he thinks she might be in Vegas - the reporter does not suggest it to him), then...why not go to Vegas media? Does he still think that? He needs to do a follow-up.
 
10ofRods said:
OTOH, if he truly believes she was abducted (and in the CBS interview, I think it is, the reporter says that he told her that he thinks she might be in Vegas - the reporter does not suggest it to him), then...why not go to Vegas media? Does he still think that? He needs to do a follow-up.
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Maybe so, but it could have been put into his head by another reporter.

Sorry, I can't find the media thread to refresh my memory, but in the piece where a male reporter is alone and speaking to camera, we don't know exactly what was said. He could easily have said to RT off-camera when the subject of abduction came up, wtte "Do you think she could have been taken to Vegas?"with RT replying, wtte "It's possible, yes."
That's how reporters shoehorn in a local angle. If he was reporting for that area, it's quite likely he might ask a leading question like that. And then the idea of Las Vegas gets repeated. It is the nearest large city, isn't it?
 
Why would a reporter introduce a question like “do you think she was taken to Las Vegas”? Unless there was already a suggestion or evidence of this, that seems highly irresponsible. Why would a reporter want to turn attention to some random location when a missing person is probably elsewhere? I can’t buy that it was to give the story a local twist.

Maybe they would do it to see if RT would eagerly embrace an obvious red herring. I dunno.
 
Stripehaven said:
Why would a reporter introduce a question like “do you think she was taken to Las Vegas”? Unless there was already a suggestion or evidence of this, that seems highly irresponsible. Why would a reporter want to turn attention to some random location when a missing person is probably elsewhere? I can’t buy that it was to give the story a local twist.

Maybe they would do it to see if RT would eagerly embrace an obvious red herring. I dunno.
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If the reporter was from a Las Vegas media outlet and RT had already said he thought BT had been abducted, given that many people apparently drive through the Mojave National Preserve to get to Las Vegas, the reporter may indeed have mentioned it as a possible destination and to give the story more local relevance. Or RT may have mentioned Las Vegas. We don't know. JMO
 
10ofRods said:
Sure he could have, I've said that many times. And that's what I find troubling.

I'm not sure there were two entirely different interviews, anyway. I'll have to check the media thread. At any rate, he had from Friday until about Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning to "rehearse." Typically, reporters do a kind of dry run with people as well. Television is rarely spontaneous.

My criticism of him has always been that he could have used his television time differently. In fact, he could still do that. If he decided to reach out to media (it's true there's not much locally) there are eager reporters who would come out to interview him again).

I'm guessing the reporter may have prompted him in various ways. He needs to do a new appearance and take charge of finding Barbara. The fact that he does not, and that most people are unable to get past the fact that a loved one is still out there is really odd.

OTOH, if he truly believes she was abducted (and in the CBS interview, I think it is, the reporter says that he told her that he thinks she might be in Vegas - the reporter does not suggest it to him), then...why not go to Vegas media? Does he still think that? He needs to do a follow-up.
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BBM:

There were definitely 2 different television interviews. One was with a local female reporter, Leah Pezzetti, and the other was with Inside Edition.

@Richmond made an incredibly sharp observation when he/she noted that RT demonstrated virtually identical emotional responses at almost the exact same moments in his comments to both reporters.

What I also find interesting is that there are zero comments made by RT pertaining to BT's mood or her conversation that day as they were taking their stroll through the desert. What were the last words BT said to him before they parted ways out there? Did she appear to be in a good mood/happy that day? These are things that people almost always recollect and relate in their reporting of events.

RT has not commented publicly on either of those things.

Instead, there was a vague comment about her going ahead because she needed/wanted to get back to the RV (insinuating that she was the one who decided to split up out there, not him).

I'd love to know whether it was RT's idea to show off the love notes she stuck under his pillow or if the reporter suggested it.

I do not for one moment believe the reporter randomly thought to ask RT if he happened to have any love notes she'd written him that they could display on his coffee table.

JMO.
 
I don't think the reporter suggested the love notes either but IMO they probably did ask him if there was anything he could share about Barbara so the audience could relate to her as an individual. Maybe to him the love notes represented what type of woman she was. I still think the interviews were hinky though.
 
So a question I've had since the search is even though the dogs found no trace of Barbara, did they find any trace of RT? I wonder if that was even done since this was SAR and they were looking for Barbara. Mostly I'm wondering this not to prove he was there, because I believe he was, but more so if the dogs weren't able to pick up RT's scent, that could just mean the conditions weren't ideal enough for them to pick up Barbara's either.
 
CatsMeoww said:
So a question I've had since the search is even though the dogs found no trace of Barbara, did they find any trace of RT? I wonder if that was even done since this was SAR and they were looking for Barbara. Mostly I'm wondering this not to prove he was there, because I believe he was, but more so if the dogs weren't able to pick up RT's scent, that could just mean the conditions weren't ideal enough for them to pick up Barbara's either.
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BBM:

I'm wondering if LE used dogs to track RT's scent out there at that location as well.
I'm wondering about this for a different reason, though:

If neither RT's nor BT's scent was picked up along the route RT reports they reportedly took a walk, then it's entirely possible they didn't take a walk.

I don't know that LE would have used any dogs to track RT's scent, though.
It would sure be interesting to know where his scent trail went cold, if they did use dogs.

It wouldn't surprise me if the dogs lost his scent at the spot where he says he stopped to take a picture on the way back from their walk.

JMO.
 
Tillicum said:
I don't think the reporter suggested the love notes either but IMO they probably did ask him if there was anything he could share about Barbara so the audience could relate to her as an individual. Maybe to him the love notes represented what type of woman she was. I still think the interviews were hinky though.
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Yes, it's hard to know what they asked him or what else he may have said that was edited out.
I doubt they ever show an entire interview.

Speaking of the media, wasn't there important information that was shared with them that was considered "breaking news?"
I wonder why we still haven't heard anything? Imo
 
Chingaling said:
I saw both interviews.Personally I thought it was a put on.I wouldn't trust him to the front door with my dog.MOO of course
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When I watched the first interview I thought 'that poor man, I hope they find his wife'. Then I watched the second interview and thought 'wait a minute, is he really choked up?'. Then I went back and watched the first interview again and thought 'how'd I fall for this the first time?'.
 
ITA. Plus we have no clue if those handful of love notes were recent or from years past. We can only use our own judgment based on the known facts provided and coupled with information from our wonderful VI on this thread!
GordianKnot said:
BBM:

There were definitely 2 different television interviews. One was with a local female reporter, Leah Pezzetti, and the other was with Inside Edition.

@Richmond made an incredibly sharp observation when he/she noted that RT demonstrated virtually identical emotional responses at almost the exact same moments in his comments to both reporters.

What I also find interesting is that there are zero comments made by RT pertaining to BT's mood or her conversation that day as they were taking their stroll through the desert. What were the last words BT said to him before they parted ways out there? Did she appear to be in a good mood/happy that day? These are things that people almost always recollect and relate in their reporting of events.

RT has not commented publicly on either of those things.

Instead, there was a vague comment about her going ahead because she needed/wanted to get back to the RV (insinuating that she was the one who decided to split up out there, not him).

I'd love to know whether it was RT's idea to show off the love notes she stuck under his pillow or if the reporter suggested it.

I do not for one moment believe the reporter randomly thought to ask RT if he happened to have any love notes she'd written him that they could display on his coffee table.

JMO.
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TS
 
Cherwell said:
Maybe so, but it could have been put into his head by another reporter.

Sorry, I can't find the media thread to refresh my memory, but in the piece where a male reporter is alone and speaking to camera, we don't know exactly what was said. He could easily have said to RT off-camera when the subject of abduction came up, wtte "Do you think she could have been taken to Vegas?"with RT replying, wtte "It's possible, yes."
That's how reporters shoehorn in a local angle. If he was reporting for that area, it's quite likely he might ask a leading question like that. And then the idea of Las Vegas gets repeated. It is the nearest large city, isn't it?
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Well, I do believe it was his first interview. It certainly was the first one broadcast. I'm going to go with the reporter is correct. I have more respect for that reporter and do not believe she would say that he said it, unless he did.

I'm not sure it's in the second interview (but I do need to go and rewatch, will do that soon).

There was no shoehorning, that I could see, nor did I watch on local news (there was local news coverage, briefly, on KCAL and KTLA, but I don't see it on their website).

It was a she, btw. And she is probably with a local affiliate, but she was aiming for local news. I really don't think she was lying, I think she's got a great career ahead of her and wouldn't ruin it for that angle. I think implying that she lied and that somehow RT isn't responsible for what he says...kind of backwards day for me.
 
I just rewatched the “Lies that Bind” ep about Lori and Mark Hacking. He made a plea for his missing wife that actually did ask for people to keep looking for Lori, etc. But he also did the “choke up, no-tear cry” that I’ve seen elsewhere. A detective on the case said a dead giveaway is when someone’s nose doesn’t run when they “cry.” She said look for the snot
 
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