CA CA - Barbara Thomas, 69, Bullhead City, hiking wearing bikini in Mojave desert, 12 July 2019

[Jax49]

I've only seen two videos of Mr. Thomas being interviewed, so if anyone has any video of Mr. Thomas saying that he wants people in Las Vegas to look for her or that he even thinks that she's in Las Vegas, I'd appreciate you sending me a link - thanks!.

As of now, the only person whom I've heard mentioning Las Vegas is a Las Vegas news reporter who said he thinks there's a chance she was taken to Las Vegas. If that's the case, here's how it likely went:

Las Vegas TV News Reporter: What do you think happened?
Thomas: I think she was taken (crossing the street, bikini, beer).
Las Vegas TV News Reporter: Where do you think she may have been taken?
Thomas: I have no idea.
Las Vegas TV News Reporter: Do you think there's a chance she was taken to Las Vegas?
Thomas: Yeah, sure, she could be anywhere. I just want my wife back . . .

Local news 101 is to tie the story back to your locale to get viewers intrigued.

bbm

Playing catch up. Did anyone find a link where Thomas brought up Vegas (instead of the reporter)?

TIA

 

[Snoopster]

With missing person cases it's always valuable to know what they were wearing last, and even if they were holding or carrying something. Anything could trigger someone's memory.

Have we heard whether she was wearing sunglasses? She was in the photo, but that wasn't likely taken the same day. If so, what style and brand were they? Was the red hat in the photo the same hat she was wearing the day she went missing? What is the emblem or what does it say on the front? These are things I would think people should be looking out for, particularly if she was taken from the area.

 

[Twistinginthewind]

Here is the article where they say RT mentioned Las Vegas:
"Robert said he believes his wife, who was wearing a bikini and carrying a beer in her hand, might have been picked up while crossing the road to get back to their trailer and taken to Las Vegas."
Arizona Woman, 69, Missing for 5 Days in the Mojave Desert After Going Hiking with Husband

 

[moonriverfarm]

Remember the man who said his wife died in Memphis, he took her to a hospital but could not remember which one? And turns out the woman never made it to Memphis. I see some similarities here.

 

[allboys]

One report upthread quoted him saying she was returning to the RV to use the restroom. Once accomplished, she may have been sitting outside (in the shade if camper has retractable roof from the side door), waiting for him to return. Doesn't mean much in the way of suspicion that he expected to see her sitting there.

He saw the camper looked deserted and checked the placement of the key, which confirms she never entered the camper when she returned...or she returned, left and replaced the key. Waving his arms was probably his attempt to get her attention if she was out of hearing distance but was somewhere she could see the camper, if she went on a bit farther to collect rocks or whatever..

These are statements he has given LE. I see nothing "guilty" about them. JMO

I’m trying to get an idea of the area here, after having only seen the Twitter video of dog search...

IF the one account was true about Barbara needing to use the restroom (ALWAYS the case when I drink beer)...if she decided she couldn’t wait to get back to the trailer, and stepped off trail for a minute, when back on trail could she get turned around and headed a wrong direction as Amanda Eller (Maui hiker who got lost during planned “short” hike).... WITHOUT Robert being able to see her?

In the brief video I saw, this scenario seems more unlikely, but after learning how Amanda Eller somehow got turned around and going in the opposite direction of her vehicle for miles and miles... I thought I would ask for input from anyone who may be familiar with this area/terrain.

I’m completely divided on what my suspicions are in this case. I see some red flags, but I’ve been fooled by what I interpret as red flags before.

* ETA When I stop to take pictures (with or without family) I get completely lost in it. I could easily see what seems like a brief moment, actually being quite a bit longer.

 

[Kapua]

What about accident?

Accident is in the top three, IMHO. However, it's been 7 days. Why haven't searchers found her if she's had an accident?

 

[MuddyTires]

We don't know that the reporter prompted him.

At the 1:22 mark, the reporter says, "He thinks there's a chance she was taken to the Las Vegas area so he's asking everyone to stay on high alert."

Yep - we don’t know the reporter prompted him. But we also don’t know that he brought up Las Vegas. TV/newspaper reporters often use leading questions to frame a story. And the reporter who did this interview was from Las Vegas so she had an interest in connecting the story there.

Just think people should be more cautious about blowing up the Las Vegas thing and the words “high alert” and basing opinions on those words given those words were said by the reporter, they weren’t a direct quote from RT.

 

[wary]

Here is the article where they say RT mentioned Las Vegas:
"Robert said he believes his wife, who was wearing a bikini and carrying a beer in her hand, might have been picked up while crossing the road to get back to their trailer and taken to Las Vegas."
Arizona Woman, 69, Missing for 5 Days in the Mojave Desert After Going Hiking with Husband

Once again, the reporter is not quoting directly, and we have no context to the interview, to know who brought up the subject of Las Vegas first.

(I have personal experience of the way that reporters can ask leading questions to get the story that they think will be interesting. And it’s easy for someone in mental shock to just agree that yes, that’s possible. MOO.)

Interesting to see the dogs working. I assume they were given something of hers to sniff? Does anyone who knows about tracking dogs know if that’s how they’d be behaving if she’d never been in the area?

 

[MuddyTires]

Here is the article where they say RT mentioned Las Vegas:
"Robert said he believes his wife, who was wearing a bikini and carrying a beer in her hand, might have been picked up while crossing the road to get back to their trailer and taken to Las Vegas."
Arizona Woman, 69, Missing for 5 Days in the Mojave Desert After Going Hiking with Husband

Yes but what is the article’s source for that?

The Las Vegas tv story. They even linked to it. It’s just recycled, not independent reporting.

Speaking to KNTV Las Vegas on Monday, Robert explained that he and his wife drove their trailer to the area on Friday and expected to go on a short, two-mile hike.

 

[PommyMommy]

Can someone please post a link to Barbara needing to use the restroom? I've searched here and Google using "restroom," "rest room," "bathroom," and "toilet" and I get nothing. I'd appreciate it! TIA

 

[PaulR]

Accident is in the top three, IMHO. However, it's been 7 days. Why haven't searchers found her if she's had an accident?

I'm not familiar with the terrain out there. I do know from my friends in SAR that people can move faster and farther than we think, and it's easier to miss things than you'd think. SAR does an incredible job but they are not perfect and they will be the first to admit that.

In this case with the time pressure, they may be trying to cover area but missing coverage within that area, if that makes sense.

 

[Twistinginthewind]

I’m trying to get an idea of the area here, after having only seen the Twitter video of dog search...

IF the one account was true about Barbara needing to use the restroom (ALWAYS the case when I drink beer)...if she decided she couldn’t wait to get back to the trailer, and stepped off trail for a minute, when back on trail could she get turned around and headed a wrong direction as Amanda Eller (Maui hiker who got lost during planned “short” hike).... WITHOUT Robert being able to see her?

In the brief video I saw, this scenario seems more unlikely, but after learning how Amanda Eller somehow got turned around and going in the opposite direction of her vehicle for miles and miles... I thought I would ask for input from anyone who may be familiar with this area/terrain.

I’m completely divided on what my suspicions are in this case. I see some red flags, but I’ve been fooled by what I interpret as red flags before.

* ETA When I stop to take pictures (with or without family) I get completely lost in it. I could easily see what seems like a brief moment, actually being quite a bit longer.

Where is there an account that BT needed to use the restroom? It hasn't been described in any MSM articles or posts on WS that I've read.

Anyway, regarding her getting turned around, according to RT, they were experienced desert hikers, and did this type of short hike in the desert heat all the time. She was less than a mile from their camper when she went around a corner, according to RT, and he never saw her again. They were not on a trail, but had just pulled off on the side of the road to take a short 2 mile hike into the desert wilderness to check out some rock formations. Based on these circumstances as described by her husband to MSM and LE, it doesn't seem like it would be easy to get lost. IMO.

 

[oviedo]

Here is the article where they say RT mentioned Las Vegas:
"Robert said he believes his wife, who was wearing a bikini and carrying a beer in her hand, might have been picked up while crossing the road to get back to their trailer and taken to Las Vegas."
Arizona Woman, 69, Missing for 5 Days in the Mojave Desert After Going Hiking with Husband

I think this has been posted numerous times but people still ask - now I suppose the reporter could be making this up? I don't think so though. Thanks for posting.

 

[GordianKnot]

Can someone please post a link to Barbara needing to use the restroom? I've searched here and Google using "restroom," "rest room," "bathroom," and "toilet" and I get nothing. I'd appreciate it! TIA

Haaaaa. Alternatively, Pommy, you can always try using the following search words:

• Can
• Head
• Loo
• Potty
• Ladies Room
• John

To say nothing of the unmentionables, which I won't mention here.
On account of they're, you know. Unmentionable.

 

[PommyMommy]

Yep - we don’t know the reporter prompted him. But we also don’t know that he brought up Las Vegas. TV/newspaper reporters often use leading questions to frame a story. And the reporter who did this interview was from Las Vegas so she had an interest in connecting the story there.

Just think people should be more cautious about blowing up the Las Vegas thing and the words “high alert” and basing opinions on those words given those words were said by the reporter, they weren’t a direct quote from RT.

Oh, how well aware I am that reporters get things wrong and sometimes sensationalize, lol! I don't have any reason not to believe that he said this, however, since it's in line with his own words that he believes she may have been abducted. Not blowing up anything, just sayin... MOO

 

[lonetraveler]

Oh no problem at all!

It cd well be that I’m mistaken, of course.

I swore I saw him standing by a white dually with a tan trailer.

A-HA! I grabbed a still from the video. Easy to confuse all of these cases and pics. Here you go!

Keystone Cougar.

 

[bellesnwhistles]

This case is so strange. How does she just disappear in that short of a time from? I don’t know what to think..

 

[oviedo]

We don't know that the reporter prompted him.

At the 1:22 mark, the reporter says, "He thinks there's a chance she was taken to the Las Vegas area so he's asking everyone to stay on high alert."

I think the reporter is simply repeating what he told her off camera IMO- otherwise why would she even mention Las Vegas?

 

[BayouBelle_LA]

BBM:

^Great post right here.

I'm reminded of that Rousseau case recently out of NC where the wife and daughter went missing.
The husband/dad gave a press conference where he came across as being very "quirky."
He made several comments that struck a lot of us as being extremely odd/suspicious-sounding, and like RT here in this case, he, too, voiced his belief that they had been abducted.
Turns out, they had gone voluntarily missing.

That case serves as a cautionary tale that it's wise not to reach conclusions based upon public appearances by private individuals unaccustomed to being in the spotlight.

It's hard not to view these cases through a jaundiced eye, but here's the thing:

Appearances can be deceiving.
The guilty can appear innocent.
The innocent can appear guilty.

Short of alien abduction, anything is possible here, including but not limited to:

• Voluntarily Missing
• Lost/Disoriented
• Accident/Major Medical Event
• Animal Attack
• Stranger Abduction
• Foul Play at the hands of someone she knows

While all of these scenarios are possible, they're not all equally probable.

My main man, William of Occam, is a great one to consult in situations like this.

JMO.

I’ll add self harm to the list even though I don’t think it’s likely.

I remember the case of the family visiting Scotland. The husband and wife argue and the woman walks off. Husband reports her missing and says she walks sometimes to clear her head. She was found several months later in some underbrush in a wooded area. Her death wasn’t suspicious and LE suspected suicide.

 

[oviedo]

Can someone please post a link to Barbara needing to use the restroom? I've searched here and Google using "restroom," "rest room," "bathroom," and "toilet" and I get nothing. I'd appreciate it! TIA

We don't know that the reporter prompted him.

At the 1:22 mark, the reporter says, "He thinks there's a chance she was taken to the Las Vegas area so he's asking everyone to stay on high alert."

At the 43 second mark (I think) he says she wanted to use the RV - it sounds muddled to me but that could be a reference to using the bathroom in the RV?