Found Deceased CA - Barbara Thomas, 69, from Bullhead City AZ, disappeared in Mojave desert, 12 July 2019 #13

[Razz]

I just want to know if she could have wandered there from where she set out from her husband? That is what I'm hoping, anyway. I hate the thought he would have hurt her.

 

[wary]

I just want to know if she could have wandered there from where she set out from her husband? That is what I'm hoping, anyway. I hate the thought he would have hurt her.

I know. We just don’t have the information yet, from an official source. I don’t think it’s been narrowed down yet from “in the desert near Essex” The problem is that that phrase could be used to describe the exact place where she supposedly was lost, but it could also describe places quite a distance away.

 

[anneg]

I just want to know if she could have wandered there from where she set out from her husband? That is what I'm hoping, anyway. I hate the thought he would have hurt her.

Can you please link to what you were reading yesterday? If not, can you place a pin on one of the maps below where you have determined Barbara was found? 17 miles in which direction?

This is what has been linked here so far:

1. Remains of woman lost in Mojave Desert last year found ... in the desert near Essex, California.
2. Today's News Herald on Twitter The coroner's office couldn't confirm her exact location in the desert ...
3. http://nixle.us/CE3JA ... in a field off Kelbaker Road ...

This is the pull out where the truck and 5th wheel were parked: 34°47'36.6"N 115°36'35.0"W - Google Maps

360 view of Kelbaker and Hidden Hill Rd: Google Maps

Red bolded text above by me. This convinces me she was found not too far off of Kelbaker Rd. My opinion is that she walked away from the camper (maybe because she couldn't find the key) and collapsed from heat stroke or another cause.

 

[wary]

Red bolded text above by me. This convinces me she was found not too far off of Kelbaker Rd. My opinion is that she walked away from the camper (maybe because she couldn't find the key) and collapsed from heat stroke or another cause.

One of the possible symptoms of heat stroke is euphoria. I wonder if she could have reached the camper, couldn’t find the key, and just decided that that was fine—she’d just go for another walk, and let him have to wait for her to get back.

Or, depending on where she ended up, maybe disorientation, (another heat stroke issue,) that led to her taking the wrong trail on the way back, and ‘losing’ the camper.

 

[Curiousobserver]

I know. We just don’t have the information yet, from an official source. I don’t think it’s been narrowed down yet from “in the desert near Essex” The problem is that that phrase could be used to describe the exact place where she supposedly was lost, but it could also describe places quite a distance away.

IMO only- I think given the attention of this case in that area and beyond, if they had found her 70 miles away they might have been more forthcoming about the location. I think they are being sensitive to her family, minimizing the information released, because she was very near to where they became separated. It gives them all time to go out there and pay their respects etc...

Nothing is preventing the "hikers" who found her from coming forward and they are strangely silent and unidentified.

 

[Catmommy]

Hikers: "We found some bones. That's all we got".

Only my opinion of what they might have to say.

 

[k-mac]

Not sure I can see that being the case in a marriage that was loving and healthy before she passed, since one would want to honor their beloved spouse, especially when they had no part in their death. Seems spiteful, and while we've seen that before in other cases, it probably doesn't apply here if her death was an accident. So I'm sure there's another reason, like just plain grief and maybe isolation.

The spouse definitely had odd suspicious behaviour even her son and her nephew had lingering questions.
It really wasn't/ isn't unreasonable for a sleuthing community to look at things equally with a suspicious eye. Mine certainly isn't switched off at this stage.
But in fairness to a critical balanced objective (and he is a victim until proven otherwise) It appears that slowly over time the Thomas's were becoming more and more isolated and glued at the hip.
If he is behind that, it is reasonable to think he isn't much of a people person and likes his privacy and would fit with no obituary along with no public pressers etc and wants to grieve privately which is perfectly normal for that type of person.

moo

 

[Vail]

She could have been buried and partially visible 18 months later. I find it hard to believe she collapsed anywhere near where she went missing and as missed by SAR. JMO.

 

[IceIce9]

She could have been buried and partially visible 18 months later. I find it hard to believe she collapsed anywhere near where she went missing and as missed by SAR. JMO.

My thought as well.

 

[wary]

She could have been buried and partially visible 18 months later. I find it hard to believe she collapsed anywhere near where she went missing and as missed by SAR. JMO.

If she had been buried, that’ll be obvious to LE, and certainly would explain LE’s silence.

However, I find it incredibly easy to believe that she collapsed one to two miles from where she went missing, and was completely missed by SAR. It happens all the time.

 

[Cherwell]

It's by far the likeliest explanation that she went beyond the search area and collapsed there. There are numerous ways in which it could have happened quite naturally. <modsnip>

 

[RANCH]

I doubt hikers dug up a buried body.

Why would they be digging and if they had a reason how would they know where to dig? JMO

 

[K9Enzo]

I honestly believed from the beginning that BT either got lost, had a medical emergency or a combination of both. IMO

IMO, some believe foul play, but what action led to that? A 70 something elderly man, in high heat, killing, then disposing of a body in the desert, even burying the body? Then making it back, to deal with SAR & LE without stroking out himself?

I will gladly eat crow if this turns out to be foul play.

 

[Kapua]

If she had been buried, that’ll be obvious to LE, and certainly would explain LE’s silence.

However, I find it incredibly easy to believe that she collapsed one to two miles from where she went missing, and was completely missed by SAR. It happens all the time.

I would find it easier to believe that she simply collapsed and was missed by SAR if it were not for the pictures we have of the particular area (see media thread) in which she allegedly went for a short walk and the massive search effort, with dogs and off-road vehicles, that ensued shortly after. She was allegedly on a short walk on a clear path back to where the RV was parked. There was no reason to veer off the path, particularly because there was cholla cactus and nothing particularly interesting to the sides of the path. Maybe she was actually walking in a different location outside of the search area.

 

[Cherwell]

I would find it easier to believe that she simply collapsed and was missed by SAR if it were not for the pictures we have of the particular area (see media thread) in which she allegedly went for a short walk and the massive search effort, with dogs and off-road vehicles, that ensued shortly after. She was allegedly on a short walk on a clear path back to where the RV was parked. There was no reason to veer off the path, particularly because there was cholla cactus and nothing particularly interesting to the sides of the path. Maybe she was actually walking in a different location outside of the search area.

Well, there are two very plausible theories as to why she might have been outside the search area.
One, she took the wrong path at the trail junction. This is feasible if heatstroke was affecting her perceptions.
Two, she arrived back at the RV and couldn't get inside, so perhaps went further away on that side of the road to relieve herself.

 

[HongKongPhooey]

Wasnt there something about the RV key being left under a rock? I may be mis-remembering.

 

[anneg]

Wasnt there something about the RV key being left under a rock? I may be mis-remembering.

Yes, IIRC, RT said they left the key under a rock and they both knew where it was. But if she was getting into trouble from the heat, for example, she might have had difficulty finding the key. I think she could easily have ended up outside the search area...

 

[LAhiker]

I doubt hikers dug up a buried body.

Why would they be digging and if they had a reason how would they know where to dig? JMO

I don't think people are suggesting that hikers dug up Barbara's body, if she indeed was buried. I think the idea is that if someone is buried in a shallow grave, sometimes some of the remains may come to the surface due to animals digging, water currents, etc. But of course we don't know whether she was buried or whether she simply collapsed in an obscure location.

JMO

 

[MsBetsy]

Well, there are two very plausible theories as to why she might have been outside the search area.
One, she took the wrong path at the trail junction. This is feasible if heatstroke was affecting her perceptions.
Two, she arrived back at the RV and couldn't get inside, so perhaps went further away on that side of the road to relieve herself.

I wonder if she could have intentionally gone off the trail in an attempt to take a shorter route to the RV. She may have been in a rush to get back if she wasn't feeling well.

Or, maybe she decided to turn back to find her husband and then made a wrong turn. Imo

 

[RANCH]

I don't think people are suggesting that hikers dug up Barbara's body, if she indeed was buried. I think the idea is that if someone is buried in a shallow grave, sometimes some of the remains may come to the surface due to animals digging, water currents, etc. But of course we don't know whether she was buried or whether she simply collapsed in an obscure location.

JMO

I guess it's possible that a coyote could have dug up buried remains.

That would mean that the murderer did a real good job in disguising the grave so the searchers never spotted the disturbed soil. I still doubt it. JMO.