I hate to point this out, but the way Robbie, Barbara's husband, has handled his approach to finding Barbara, makes me very uncomfortable as a family member.
In my opinion, he should have alerted the authorities of her disappearance, alerted her son of her disappearance, alerted my family of her disappearance. In that order. And not long after a search has yielded nothing we should've all been contacted... not four days later. In the case of Barb's son, Robbie did not even reach out.
If Robbie had reasonably reached out in a sincere effort to create OPEN COMMUNICATION between all of us who would want to help, coordinating his family and our family, the suspicions I harbour would be much harder to believe.
Instead we have seen a scripted publicity event. A public appeal to kidnappers to release Barbara unharmed. No questions asked. No charges.
With a lawyer I wonder if we will hear from Robbie again, even though he was so active those first few days. I hope that we do. And I hope that Robbie offers some more guidance on how we should all aid in his search for those kidnappers and for Barbara. Some further insight into what he is doing to look for her.
He claims there is someone, maybe more, who know where Barbara is. He lives very close to Las Vegas. I hope he is helping put up flyers if he truly believes she has been abducted by some perverts who lucked on a lone hiker in a bikini, and took her to Las Vegas or worse.
To complicate matters, Barb's son made some very strong accusations. No wonder Robbie didn't reach out to her son. They obviously don't get along. Still... if you were truly afraid your wife had been abducted by criminals, wouldn't you want some help? Don't you think Matt would want to help find his mother? Can Robbie explain why he didn't inform Matt?
It is the nature of her son's claims that has left the rest of us with the most questions.
I know Robbie has family on this forum and in other public groups discussing this, and I apologise that our families never had the time to meet and get to know one another. I feel terrible this is how we are being introduced. I did get to spend time with Robbie and Barbara together, and they made for a beautiful and loving pair. I always felt they were natural compliments.
I would like to make an appeal to Robbie's family to help explain the man better.
We all need to know more about both Barbara and Robbie to keep this valuable dialogue from descending into mere speculation.
I also hope that Barb's son Matt can speak to the media and share his perspective in a more reputable venue.
Perhaps then we can begin to discuss what motivations a kidnapper or kidnappers might have had in abducting Barbara, besides her wearing a bikini and holding a beer, stranded on a desert highway.
Also, does Robbie's family have any reason to believe Barb may have been distancing herself from their relationship? I know Robbie has had a few marriages and wonder if they all ended amicably?
I ask these questions in pursuit of one thing. Where is Barbara?
Thank you again to everyone who is helping in the search to find her.