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

[NoClouseau]

I was out there walking around today and took a couple pics.
Here's one from the paved parking area up the road a half mile or so north of the rock pile.

I walked south of the pile and took a pic of the foliage to show how dense it is in spots.
And tall, some of that greenery was 8, 10 feet tall.

Thank you so much for going out and taking these..... it all looks a lot different !

 

[Cherwell]

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 didn't imply that anyone lied. The piece I was referring to - I thought I made this quite clear - was not an "interview" but a report to camera by a male reporter.

And no, you wouldn't see any "shoehorning", because we didn't see this reporter with RT as far as I know, so we don't know what questions were asked and therefore whether any of them were leading questions.

Interviews are edited and leading questions are often asked, let's be under no illusions about that. I've experienced it myself. They will ask you a question in such a way that you say what they want to hear. What we see on the screen isn't always a complete representation of what was said by either party.

 

[Cherwell]

Thank you so much for going out and taking these..... it all looks a lot different !

Yes indeed. Seeing this shows how deceptive the satellite pictures can be.

 

[Nerissa]

Eh, RT strikes me as the used car salesman type

Bombastic, onery, over-the- top- show- man type

Not saying this explains his behavior - just saying this does seem to be his personality type....uber-extrovert

I don't know: not trying to be rude here...he just strikes me as a certain type...

JMO

 

[bronbaby]

and

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

ah brilliant and how about no actual water from the tear ducts

 

[Kittybunny]

I walked south of the pile and took a pic of the foliage to show how dense it is in spots.
And tall, some of that greenery was 8, 10 feet tall.

Thank you so much for posting this pic! Did you mean "not dense"? To me this looks like such open terrain that it is impossible for me that an experience SAR team with dogs and helicopters searching for 9 days could not find her if she was out there having gotten lost within minutes of separating from Robert.

(Compared with poor Aubree Corona who got lost in logging country. Now that is difficult mountainous dense forest terrain that I could believe someone would get lost in and never found.)

 

[al66pine]

Choking Up for the Camera?

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, [1] is he really choked up?'. Then I went back and watched the first interview again and thought [2] 'how'd I fall for this the first time?'.

@Tillicum Thanks for your post. bbm & rbm
[2] After following crime news and reading true crime books for years, I do not fault anyone watching/reading interviews like this for lapsing into ADM (Automatically Doubtful Mode).
[1] Sometimes such an interviewee lets head sink forward w face not visible to camera, covers eyes w hand(s), makes sad, unintelligible sounds. After a few moments, drops hand(s), resumes speaking, and inadvertently presents viewers with (what we in our household call) The Dry Cry.
jmo.

 

[10ofRods]

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?

I'm not speaking of that interview. The earliest interview is by a woman reporter (Pelozzi I believe). She reports what he tells her. You can say all you want about some later reporter prompting him, but I am not going to disparage the career of Ms. Pelozzi, who says that RT told her that he thought Barbara was in Vegas. She does not state it as if she made it up. She states it definitively "He says he thinks she may be in Vegas" or something like that as her closing remark

PommyMommy has it on the media thread and says it's the first evidence she can find (of husband speaking). He's also shown (initially) as sitting in a building of some kind. Okay, her name is Pezzetti. I think she gets credit for being first on the scene and one of the few people to interview RT. According to the story HE asks (the media) for help in finding Barbara in Vegas.

Man says police think he is a suspect in wife's disappearance

I can't tell you for certain when the second (also female) report takes place, but it's not in a room, it's in his driveway (as the third one is) and again, the reporter says HE SAYS HE THINKS his wife may have been taken to Vegas. Not "Do you think she's in Vegas, sir?" Now, if you think that all reporters lie as a routine matter, that's fine - but I don't think so. I think they strive to do their job in finding missing persons.

I'll have to check out many reporters total say that he said it, but it's at least one. And it's in print, too - so an editor looked it over. See above link (media thread).

 

[10ofRods]

I didn't imply that anyone lied. The piece I was referring to - I thought I made this quite clear - was not an "interview" but a report to camera by a male reporter.

And no, you wouldn't see any "shoehorning", because we didn't see this reporter with RT as far as I know, so we don't know what questions were asked and therefore whether any of them were leading questions.

Interviews are edited and leading questions are often asked, let's be under no illusions about that. I've experienced it myself. They will ask you a question in such a way that you say what they want to hear. What we see on the screen isn't always a complete representation of what was said by either party.

I'm speaking about the first two interviews (with Lisa Pezzetti), that have been reused by media outlets across the world.

I don't know where this male reporter got his "report" but Lisa specifically says, after talking more than once directly to RT, that he said he thought she was in Vegas. Lisa quotes him, in essence. She does so immediately after and during her reports (written and video) on her talks with him.

Sure, lots of people pretend they've gotten good interviews but in fact do not directly quote the source. If you can provide the name of the reporter (is it on Inside Edition?) I'll look again. I'll contact him. If he makes it sounds like it's his own idea that Barbara is in Vegas, I think he's got to show that RT didn't say that. Earlier reporter definitely says he said it.

 

[10ofRods]

Quote from Lisa P goes like this:

He says he thinks that there's a chance that she was taken to the Las Vegas area and so he's asking everyone to stay on high alert.

(That's at 1:20-1:29 or so of this link:

)

Also the second video posted on the media thread (July 15, I think).

What's the name of the male reporter? Did he actually go talk to RT? When was his interview? I'm trying to locate it.

 

[10ofRods]

Fox News, btw, plays RT's first interview with Lisa where he's sitting indoors and says they found him deceptive. He may well be sitting in some kind of LE lobby, who knows? That would be a good place for a report to go and snag an interview.

That's before Inside Edition. But the Fox News playing of the interview is days after it occurs (and they do not credit Lisa, a man is presenting). They, IMO, purchased the footage from Lisa or from her news agency.

So, for the first few days, there are two interviews (both by a woman).

On or before July 20th, Lisa's interview is replayed yet again (she's mentioned, but the date of the interview is not mentioned). First it's replayed by NVLAS (apparently the first time it spread there - but I think it's great it got to a wider audience).

And Inside Edition has some possibly new footage as well (July 20)

 

[10ofRods]

What's new in the Inside Edition piece:

We see a view down a Mojave Road (unnamed but probably HH), possibly provided by SBCSO, but possibly taken by an actual reporter with at least one camera person.

Then after some stills, we see RT. RV in front of house Is this actually IE's footage? I think not because...

Next scene is a man talking over previously recorded footage, released by Lisa P - and it's the first interview (inside the building) not the RV-in-driveway interview. It's the one where RT says he's the prime suspect.

But the main talking isn't Lisa and that's not his "interview." Rt didn't say anything to him - he said that to Lisa, sitting in a chair, in a particular room, with particular clothing.

Then Reporter from IE goes out and stands...maybe in the Mojave? Possibly - hard to say. Doesn't look like Kelbaker/HH road in any case.

Then cut back to RT walking by his RV in his driveway, looks to be about the same time of day as Lisa's interview. Then cut back to Lisa's first interview. Then they show a couple of brief shots from Lisa's second interview (RV in driveway). No evidence at all that RT ever speaks to this reporter, who is just splicing footage (Lisa's) and has (maybe) made a trip to Mojave. Or Joshua Tree. Maybe Calabasas.

So, since I know IE is an aggregator and since I know Lisa is a reporter and she filed those bits of film first, someone is going to have to convince me that Lisa is not the main reporter, and that the repeated showings of RT's footage is making people RT was interviewed more than twice. He was interviewed, AFAIK, twice, both times by Lisa and he does not repeat himself all that much. He's in a different setting. He does sort of cry on cue both times (MOO) but...I hope people aren't thinking the IE piece was new (except for showing some pictures of what the Mojave may look like).

IE *does* have an interview with stepdaughter Tracy (but...is that by that male reporter or who is it by? Looks like dashcam footage to me.)

Then more from SAR and SBCSO interspliced with more of Lisa's interview...

 

[PommyMommy]

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?

Link to the media thread:

https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...-69-timeline-media-maps-no-discussion.460858/

I will ask again if it can be added to post #1 of each thread. MOO

 

[PommyMommy]

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.

You can also add her name to the list of things he didn't say. MOO

 

[Yvettea]

Ha

You can also add her name to the list of things he didn't say. MOO

Hah! I thought so.

 

[JerseyGirl]

This thread has reached it's limit. I have created a new thread and will move today's posts over and close this one. Please continue here:

CA - CA - Barbara Thomas, 69, from Bullhead City AZ, disappeared in Mojave desert, 12 July 2019 #9