CA CA - Barbara Thomas, 69, from Bullhead City AZ, disappeared in Mojave desert, 12 July 2019 #2

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I can't help but go back to the fact that there has been no evidence of Barbara being there per SBSD and their searches, therefore the searches have been suspended.

"No evidence of Barbara was located today."

July 22nd - The investigation continues into the whereabouts of missing person Barbara Thomas from SBSD - Colorado River Sheriffs Department : Nixle

@sroad , thank you so much for the photos of the area! They help a lot in visualizing the terrain and I'm surprised at how many places one could actually hide out in.

As I understand, the dogs have never picked up a scent or at least SAR is not making that public. Also, I would like to know if the ground surface is loose enough to show footprints? I see tire tracks in the photos but I'm curious if RT's footprints have been identified and there are no signs of Barbara's? If that is the case, then I would agree, Barbara was never there. MOO
 
Tillicum said:
Okay so here's another possibility I don't think we've considered. What if everything that RT said happened is true? Maybe BT was heading back and saw someone around the truck or camper? If I were in that situation alone, rather than confront them or yell for my husband, I would try to hide and sneak back to alert my husband without them seeing or hearing me. (I'm 61, 20 years ago I probably would've confronted them.) It's possible she could've been injured or overcome by the heat while hiding/sneaking back to RT and is still hidden somewhere between the camper and where RT was at when they separated. There would be no signs of an abduction or foul play and RT would still be telling the truth.
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From what I can tell- searches have been suspended and it appears the investigation is heading in a different direction. If she had fallen or hurt herself, I would imagine it would leave some kind of mark in that sand- footprints, an imprint from a fall. If injured, wouldn't they have found her travel mug? We don't know if the dogs picked up her scent or not, either.
 
What about dogs? Wouldn't they be able to pick up a scent and track her? In a case like this, you have to get the dogs ASAP.
I find it a bit dodgy. When she disappeared, didn't he run after her?
Who goes for a hike in a bikini in the desert with almost no shade, no water? In the Mojave desert where it's 120 degrees?
 
dbdb11 said:
Thank you deeply for going to these lengths. Based on what you're saying, it is highly unlikely that she was lost, unless medical issues forced aberrant behavior? The road's are easily referenced so one could maintain their sense of direction?
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You're most welcome, I hope she found safe soon. In my opinion, it would be hard to get lost IF you've got a good sense of direction. But I also know people close to me who still don't recognize a certain mountain landmark in the desert after 5 years of living in the desert, and could easily get lost in a place that I would never get lost, so it depends on how well Barbara's sense of direction is, and whether or not she was inebriated (Even one beer would knock me for a loop in that heat!) If they drank beer regularly and were functional drinkers and alternated that with water, then perhaps that would not have clouded her judgement. A heat stroke or other medical issue can really disorient someone, so that could also cause someone to wander off the trail in an irrational/confused way. I hope Robert can provide a much finer detailed timeline and specifics of this hike.
 
smarties said:
What about dogs? Wouldn't they be able to pick up a scent and track her? In a case like this, you have to get the dogs ASAP.
I find it a bit dodgy. When she disappeared, didn't he run after her?
Who goes for a hike in a bikini in the desert with almost no shade, no water? In the Mojave desert where it's 120 degrees?
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Please know I mean no disrespect to the darling search dogs- bless their little canine hearts. However, I have seen cases on here and elsewhere where they completely missed the victim, and there was definitely enough scent to pick them up. Perfect example is the Blaze Bernstein case- the dogs went over the area where he was killed and buried several times, and they didn't react.

Just like lie detector tests, dogs are a tools used in an investigation, but it doesn't mean that they are 100% accurate.
 
dbdb11 said:
These are the best photos the police dept could obtain of the missing person? Three people in one of the photos, and two in the other...
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Here's the thing:

If RT did take pictures of BT that day, wouldn't it make the most sense for LE to release those photos showing exactly what she was wearing and how she looked the day she went missing?

Again, rhetorical question.

Unless that one pic of her in the black bikini top and red hat was taken that day, which is entirely possible, then I question whether LE found any pics of her that were from the date RT reported her missing.

If no pics were taken of her that day, that's a problem.

JMO.
 
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Elliot_Alderson said:
My understanding was that they did have water, but that the water was in the possession of the husband so it wouldn't have been accessible to BT after their separation. MOO
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So, since according to the early reports RT said they were "almost back to the RV" when he paused and she continued on, how much of that gallon of water was remaining?

PommyMommy said:
BBM I don't think there had to be a compelling reason, necessarily.

Think about taking a walk. You walk...at some point you're done and decide to go home. Not necessarily because you're ill, overheated, have to pee, or you had an argument. You're just finished walking and ready to go home. Or, in Barbara's case, ready to go back to the camper. MOO
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Oh I agree. But if it were me there would be a calculation based on how badly I needed to just "be done" versus the distance left to cover and risks involved, if my partner had the water and the phone. The closer back to the vehicle the more easily I would feel ok going on ahead.
 
The photo of her with the red hat on looks cropped to me. I don’t think I’m articulating this well but it doesn’t seem like a natural looking photo that one would take. If it is cropped, I’d like to see the uncropped version of it. MOO
 
Tillicum said:
Do you know if your aunt had a driver's license? Seems odd they didn't use the pic from that.

ETA It seems they would use a picture from her license before using pictures with others in them.
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BBM

It depends on when the license photo was taken. She could have changed a lot. I don’t know how often AZ retakes drivers license photos, but in Oregon it’s every 8 years. By the time I got my most recent photo taken in 2016 (age 70), I looked a lot different than I had looked in 2008 (age 62...thinner and different hairstyle back then) and I expect my photo when I renew in 2024 (age 78) will show even more changes. So Barbara’s current license photo might have been useless.
 
I figured there would be plenty of pics since they had a boat and were avid campers.
But with Robbie with the only cell phone, I guess it’s up to him what pictures are taken.

When was the last time a family member (other than her husband) actually saw Barb in person?
 
Micheline said:
IMO it does mean she wasn't.
What would the purpose be for LE to tell the media no indication she was kidnapped, why this info?
This avenue was never explored to begin with IMO, going by what I have read.
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LE has also said there's been no evidence of Barbara located in the desert. So, using the same logic you're applying here, does that mean that she was never there? MOO
 
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dbdb11 said:
These are the best photos the police dept could obtain of the missing person? Three people in one of the photos, and two in the other...
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Do you have any photos of Barb alone that you could give them? It is a little unusual for LE to release a family photo first without cropping out the other people, but perhaps that's what they were given and got it out as fast as possible (no time for photo editing). LE also may have hoped that by releasing a photo of Barb and Rob together that anyone who saw them together that day would come forward. We have not heard yet if they stopped for gas or went to the visitor's center or had lunch somewhere. Police may have hoped some witnesses would come forward and give a time they were seen. Since cell phone coverage is spotty in the area LE may not be able to track all of their movements that morning with cell pings. JMO.
 
PommyMommy said:
They have also said there's been no evidence of Barbara located in the desert. So, using the same logic you're applying here, does this mean that she was never there? MOO
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I have been kind of wondering - when they say there's no evidence of Barbara located in the desert, does that mean NONE whatsoever? Were there footprints or things in the trailer that she had been there but there's no evidence elsewhere in the desert? Or did they mean no evidence ANYWHERE? That would certainly call into question if she was ever really there. Sorry for the weirdly worded question, PM :)

JMO
 
GordianKnot said:
Here's the thing:

If RT did take pictures of BT that day, wouldn't it make the most sense for LE to release those photos showing exactly what she was wearing and how she looked the day she went missing?

Again, rhetorical question.

Unless that one pic of her in the black bikini top and red hat was taken that day, which is entirely possible, then I question whether LE found any pics of her that were from the date RT reported her missing.

If that's true, that's a problem.

JMO.
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BBM

Hmmm... sorry if I missed this; but did RT say he took any photos that day at all ?
And were any of them of her ?
Wouldn't LE have taken a look through his phone by now ?
 
My question which I'm betting someone knows the answer to is regard location of the crime IF one was committed. At first I thought that IF a crime was done in San Bernardino County, (think C.Merritt and the McStays), then there is a good chance it will be solved however IF a crime was done (say for example) in Arizona near Kingman, then what? Does the Sheriff's office there in that particular County get hold of it? What is their solve rate?
 
mrstfs said:
The photo of her with the red hat on looks cropped to me. I don’t think I’m articulating this well but it doesn’t seem like a natural looking photo that one would take. If it is cropped, I’d like to see the uncropped version of it. MOO
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I agree. It looks like a photo taken from far away to me too because of the lower resolution. I think that poor photo quality/distance may be adding to the perception she appears younger in that photo. Perhaps she was standing in front of a rock formation and the entire rock formation was in the photo with her? Or it may have been a group photo from a prior trip?

MOO.
 
LietKynes said:
BBM

Hmmm... sorry if I missed this; but did RT say he took any photos that day at all ?
And were any of them of her ?
Wouldn't LE have taken a look through his phone by now ?
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RT definitely indicated he took pictures that day. At least one, for sure.

The reason BT and RT became separated was purportedly b/c he wanted to stop to take a picture and she went on ahead of him.

Whether he took any pictures of BT is an open question.

I'm guessing not. It's hard to take a picture of someone when they aren't even there.

I don't think she was ever at that location that day.

JMO.
 
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