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

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anneg said:
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...
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That’s what I’ve mostly felt all along, except when I’m in a suspicious mood. We need to remember that it was several hours before a professional search began. She could have gotten outside the search area in that time IMO. If she was upset, she may not have responded to her husband calling her name, if she heard him, and just kept walking (Humph! I’ll show him!). But we all know of cases in which the dogs didn’t find a body initially and it was found later in an area said to have been searched. To me this is the simplest explanation.
JMO
 
Kapua said:
I went to the Media thread to refresh my memory. Our own websleuther @cazador actually went to the area and searched w/his wife and dog. He posted several pics. I am going to try adding a link to page 4 of the tread for those of you who also need to refresh your memory.
AZ - Barbara Thomas, 69, Timeline, Media, Maps, *NO DISCUSSION* | Page 4 (websleuths.com)
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Thank you so much for providing the link to @cazador's comments, pictures, and videos from his search of the area

One thing that stuck out to me, is how many times he says you could not get lost there
 
dmac55 said:
Thank you so much for providing the link to @cazador's comments, pictures, and videos from his search of the area

One thing that stuck out to me, is how many times he says you could not get lost there
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What if a person is suffering from heatstroke? Could that affect a persons potential to get lost?
Symptoms
Heatstroke signs and symptoms include:

Altered mental state or behavior. Confusion, agitation, slurred speech, irritability, delirium, seizures and coma can all result from heatstroke.
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Heatstroke - Symptoms and causes
 
dmac55 said:
One thing that stuck out to me, is how many times he says you could not get lost there
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That's assuming you have all your senses working as they should. Might be different if your brain was scrambled by the heat.

One thing I've wondered. Are there ever mirages in the Mojave? Could she have thought she'd seen something interesting and headed towards something illusory?
 
Cherwell said:
That's assuming you have all your senses working as they should. Might be different if your brain was scrambled by the heat.

One thing I've wondered. Are there ever mirages in the Mojave? Could she have thought she'd seen something interesting and headed towards something illusory?
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We also don't how much beer she drank or whether she had anything to eat or drink that morning.
Extreme heat and alcohol can be a dangerous combination. Imo
 
Barbara may not have “gotten lost,” in that terrain, but she could have walked far enough to get outside the search area before succumbing to the heat without being “lost” (i.e. she would have been able to find her way back had the heat not gotten to her). If the location of her remains is ever released, and we can compare it to the search area if that is known, we will know if that’s a possibility. Does anyone remember the “circumference” of the search area offhand? I remember thinking at the time they stopped searching that she could have gotten further in the time before they started searching.
 
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MsBetsy said:
We also don't how much beer she drank or whether she had anything to eat or drink that morning.
Extreme heat and alcohol can be a dangerous combination. Imo
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Alcohol could have been a contributing factor. Along with her age.
In either type of heatstroke, your condition can be brought on by:
Drinking alcohol, which can affect your body's ability to regulate your temperature.

Anyone can develop heatstroke, but several factors increase your risk:

  • Age. Your ability to cope with extreme heat depends on the strength of your central nervous system. In the very young, the central nervous system is not fully developed, and in adults over 65, the central nervous system begins to deteriorate, which makes your body less able to cope with changes in body temperature. Both age groups usually have difficulty remaining hydrated, which also increases risk.
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Heatstroke - Symptoms and causes
 
Reasonable & Just said:
Thanks for this. Still so many questions. Don't know that we'll ever get answers.
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I totally agree. I went back again and read the Media thread from the beginning. I know that several of you think it's easy to miss a person, but this was allegedly a short walk on a clear path with no tall trees. "Dozens of Search & Rescue volunteers from San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department continued the search today. Search K9s, Helicopter, side-by-side OHV and ground teams scoured the desert in the Mojave." (This is from post #13 on the Media thread; I will provide link below.) So my biggest question is where exactly was she found? Because I personally have a hard time believing that the SAR team missed her. JMHO.
AZ - Barbara Thomas, 69, Timeline, Media, Maps, *NO DISCUSSION* (websleuths.com)
 
Kapua said:
I totally agree. I went back again and read the Media thread from the beginning. I know that several of you think it's easy to miss a person, but this was allegedly a short walk on a clear path with no tall trees. "Dozens of Search & Rescue volunteers from San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department continued the search today. Search K9s, Helicopter, side-by-side OHV and ground teams scoured the desert in the Mojave." (This is from post #13 on the Media thread; I will provide link below.) So my biggest question is where exactly was she found? Because I personally have a hard time believing that the SAR team missed her. JMHO.
AZ - Barbara Thomas, 69, Timeline, Media, Maps, *NO DISCUSSION* (websleuths.com)
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If Barbara was suffering from heatstroke she may have walked more than a short distance before succumbing from it's effects.

I'm not so sure that it's easy to find someone in the rocky terrain that she disappeared in. Especially when we don't know how far she may have traveled. JMO
 
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A sad but interesting story about a German family who died in Death Valley who were not found after an extensive search until hikers found them 13 years later.
No tracks that could have been made by the missing tourists were found. No passports or personal effects such as keys, a purse or wallet were found.A team of 45 searchers, eight horses and four helicopters from California and Nevada law enforcement agencies combed the area but found nothing more.

Two hikers discovered the bones Thursday in a remote area of the famous Mojave Desert park.The remains were found southeast of Goler Wash, a rugged area accessible only by four-wheel-drive vehicles. The area is several miles south of the spot where an abandoned minivan the tourists had rented was found months after they were reported missing.
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Death Valley bones linked to German tourists
 
RANCH said:
If Barbara was suffering from heatstroke she may have walked more than a short distance before succumbing from it's effects.

I'm not so sure that it's easy to find someone in the rocky terrain that she disappeared in. Especially when we don't know how far she may have traveled. JMO
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There were no rocks between where RT allegedly last saw her and the road where the RV was parked. She was allegedly on a path and attempting to get back to the RV, so she had no reason to leave the path. The vegetation is low and the cholla cactus provides an incentive to stay on the path. They searched for days with helicopters, K9s, OHVs and ground crews. So we will agree to disagree. I don't see how they could have missed her in this particular location. Here's a pic of the trail taken by a poster early on.
 

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Kapua said:
There were no rocks between where RT allegedly last saw her and the road where the RV was parked. She was allegedly on a path and attempting to get back to the RV, so she had no reason to leave the path. The vegetation is low and the cholla cactus provides an incentive to stay on the path. They searched for days with helicopters, K9s, OHVs and ground crews. So we will agree to disagree. I don't see how they could have missed her in this particular location. Here's a pic of the trail taken by a poster early on.
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Check out the link above about the Death Valley Germans. There was a major search for them that also was unsuccessful.

Their remains were found several miles away from the disabled car. No one thought they could have walked all those miles away from the car in the extreme desert heat but they did.

It's something to consider. JMO
 
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