CA CA - Barbara Thomas, 69, from Bullhead City AZ, disappeared in Mojave desert, 12 July 2019 #4

[Gigi3]

Exactly. Recently, in the Mackenzie Lueck case, law enforcement conducted a large scale search that recovered her body.

We had absolutely no idea this occurred, until a couple days later when law enforcement announced it.

Likewise, the same could be happening here.

Yes! Also, in the Mollie Tibbits case, for the first week or so LE said no foul play, and many people became convinced she had just up and ran off for whatever reason (I never believed that).

Then all of a sudden LE was swarming a pig farm. As it turned out had nothing to do with it, but it just proved to me they were diligently working behind the scene. I’m hoping the same is happening here. MOO

 

[Liwthe]

The public doesn't know if other areas have been searched by LE (such as their RV, their home, any places they made possible stops at on their way to the place she disappeared).

LE continues to actively investigate BT's disappearance, and said when they ended the 'active daily search' where RT said she disappeared, that they would return to search again in that area if their investigation led them to information the area should be searched more.

They have not given any updates or statements on the status of their investigation since the search ended about what they've been doing or whether they're searching for her elsewhere -- they're just not searching there anymore at this point. They very well could have been / are searching in other places, IMO, and are not saying.

I think it’s obvious those places get searched. Especially the RV. What I’m saying is that they searched the area where RT said she was missing for the full amount of time anyone could have possibly survived. After that, these searches are called off because it’s for body retrieval, and expense/safety issues become more prevalent. This was explained earlier by someone who does these searches.

At the level of investment of resources we really can’t infer they didn’t believe there was some possibility she was there and didn’t have enough suspicion or evidence not to search there.

Whether that’s changed and new info had come to light we don’t know. But hopefully they inform the public before more resources are wasted, or lives risked in the heat.

 

[MassGuy]

I think it’s obvious those places get searched. Especially the RV. What I’m saying is that they searched the area where RT said she was missing for the full amount of time anyone could have possibly survived. After that, these searches are called off because it’s for body retrieval, and expense/safety issues become more prevalent. This was explained earlier by someone who does these searches.

At the level of investment of resources we really can’t infer they didn’t believe there was a very strong possibility she was there. Whether murdered or lost, it seems very likely they had some strong suspicions she was out there. At least that’s what I get from it.

Whether that’s changed and new info had come to light we don’t know. But hopefully they inform the public before more resources are wasted, or lives risked in the heat.

They do their due diligence, regardless of what they think may have happened.

Even with suspicion, and evidence of foul play below a certain threshold, they would search that area thoroughly.

You simply cannot take a chance when someone’s life is on the line.

Searching that area is not an indication that they do not believe foul play occurred.

 

[AnnaGrace]

Exactly. Recently, in the Mackenzie Lueck case, law enforcement conducted a large scale search that recovered her body.

We had absolutely no idea this occurred, until a couple days later when law enforcement announced it.

Likewise, the same could be happening here.

Yes, exactly! Many cases we've seen, LE says no foul play suspected, and then boom! An arrest is made. We don't know at all what may be going on behind the scene. Not saying that's happening here, but it very well could be. Jmo

 

[kiwi50]

I don't think she was abducted either. From one of our members on the media thread - a car goes by "every few minutes". I always base "few" on a minimum of 3 to start. With RT even being 5 - 10 minutes behind her that's a fair guess that 2 or 3 cars may have passed by. That's like saying 33-50% of all vehicles on the road are driven by criminals poised to kidnap someone.

Ah that’s just what I was trying to find out, how busy the road, How unlucky would you have to be that one of those few cars carried someone wanting to kidnap you.
It’s certainly not “Occams Razor” for me

 

[Liwthe]

Searchers risk their lives frequently on searches in all kinds of terrain. They continue until they're sure they've exhausted every effort to find the missing person.

That’s not actually correct as per the active searcher earlier in the thread. They have a time on what is biologically survivable in the environment/temps, and stop when that level is reached according to him. 9 days is typical for the desert.

 

[Gigi3]

Yes, exactly! Many cases we've seen, LE says no foul play suspected, and then boom! An arrest is made. We don't know at all what may be going on behind the scene. Not saying that's happening here, but it very well could be. Jmo

Agreed. I wonder why, by now, we haven’t heard any statements from LE saying he is cleared? IIRC they were very quick to do that in the Sheryl Powell case, and in some other cases I’ve followed.
Here... nothing! MOO

 

[Kapua]

I don't think she was abducted either. From one of our members on the media thread - a car goes by "every few minutes". I always base "few" on a minimum of 3 to start. With RT even being 5 - 10 minutes behind her that's a fair guess that 2 or 3 cars may have passed by. That's like saying 33-50% of all vehicles on the road are driven by criminals poised to kidnap someone.

And… those criminals are fast, leave behind no sign of a struggle or even a tire mark, and have no interest whatsoever in a nice truck and RV. Hmmm. I consider that possibility extremely remote. MOO

 

[Liwthe]

Ah that’s just what I was trying to find out, how busy the road, How unlucky would you have to be that one of those few cars carried someone wanting to kidnap you.
It’s certainly not “Occams Razor” for me

I guess a lot of kidnaps aren’t very occam friendly. I’m not saying I think there’s a high probability at all. But the facts are, the cases we talk about are the bizarre, not the common.

 

[kay74]

Neighbors saw them leave (on surveillance cameras) LE saw RT's photos he took. RT went back to the RV, no Barbara, he then shouted and waved his arms, then he went to the cave they are familiar with thinking she was cooling off there, came back and then called 911. Is it no wonder he thought she was abducted. I'm sure he is as baffled as we are.

 

[AnnaGrace]

That’s not actually correct as per the active searcher earlier in the thread. They have a time on what is biologically survivable in the environment/temps, and stop when that level is reached according to him. 9 days is typical for the desert.

I think circumstances would apply. If they felt it likely the person may be there, I don't think they would stop just because nine days are up. They found no evidence of Barbara in those nine days, so they called off the search.

 

[Steelslady]

I think it’s obvious those places get searched. Especially the RV. What I’m saying is that they searched the area where RT said she was missing for the full amount of time anyone could have possibly survived. After that, these searches are called off because it’s for body retrieval, and expense/safety issues become more prevalent. This was explained earlier by someone who does these searches.

At the level of investment of resources we really can’t infer they didn’t believe there was some possibility she was there and didn’t have enough suspicion or evidence not to search there.

Whether that’s changed and new info had come to light we don’t know. But hopefully they inform the public before more resources are wasted, or lives risked in the heat.

Resources are wasted?

 

[PommyMommy]

Reposting from July 19, 2019

Cops insist they're examining 'all possibilities' after missing hiker's husband claimed he's suspect | Daily Mail Online
[...]

Despite the 72-year-old failing a lie detector test, the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department tells DailyMail.com they're focused on finding her using the details he provided about the grandmother's disappearance.

'At this time, our search efforts are directed on locating Mrs. Thomas in the area last witnessed by Mr. Thomas,' San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department Public Information Officer, Jodi Miller told DailyMail.com Thursday when asked about his claim he was a 'prime suspect'.

[...]

Miller added to DailyMail.com: 'As with all of missing person cases we examine all possibilities with the desired outcome of locating the missing person.'

[...]

'The personnel searching for Mrs. Thomas reassess their past search efforts each and every day, throughout the day, and plan their target areas to deploy available resources,' Miller added to DailyMail.com.

[...]

Video: Husband of missing 69-year-old hiker says police consider him a suspect

• Authorities also say they have no evidence the woman was abducted nor have they found any trace of her.
• Authorities are unaware of how long RT and BT were separated before she disappeared nor do they know how far she was from the RV at the time.

 

[SDHELPS]

I sadly have made the decision to only lurk here rather than comment anymore. Yes...this thread is dedicated to do whatever we can do to help find Barbara and support her family.

With that being said can we not continue to send the missing poster as @Knox and @PommyMommy have shared to all media and LE Facebook pages we can find?

To @dbdb11 , I understand you are logistically removed from the area and the family connections between yourselves and LE are limited. That being said is there ANY way a "Help Find Barbara" can be set up by the family? I know there are other FB sites that include her but IMO one needs to be set up by the family and made public to share wide and far.

Signing off for now but I'm certainly praying for Barbara to be found and her family to be embraced by all in this horrible journey.

 

[kay74]

I think RT told everyone the poly said he was a suspect because that was absurd to him!

 

[bradfordsleuth]

This article is from today and it has some good info. <modsnip>

Barbara is mentioned in it.

Lost on the hiking trail? 6 ways to improve your chances of getting found

"Barbara Thomas, 69, vanished during a short hike with her husband in the Mojave Desert northeast of Joshua Tree. She was last seen wearing a bikini and walking on a blazingly hot trail without any supplies, officials told the media. The search for her was called off after eight days."

 

[LietKynes]

NBC Dateline's FB page-- they feature quite a few cases.

I myself look over there now and then, and I have quite a few friends who watch their true crime program.

For some reason-- they haven't featured Barbara.
But I think they should !
Maybe I can email them ?
With some outside links from msm sources.

 

[Twistinginthewind]

I wonder if BT is a faster walker / hiker than her husband, in general, and he is more of a dawdler. Hence, why she "pulled ahead" of him when he stopped to take a photo(s). If that's the case, maybe this happened often, that they would be separated by a bit of distance sometimes because she liked to go faster. Or was she just more eager to get back to the RV than he was that day? RT said on the MSM video that she "wanted to go back to the RV".

Just pondering how they 'matched up' as hikers, and how their patience levels compare in terms of being willing to wait for each other.

If there were differences in their speed and / or patience levels, hiding the key to their rig under the rock nearby seems a likely compromise so they didn't always have to be neck and neck, and either of them could get in without waiting for the other to catch up.

The only drawback of being flexible about staying together in this case being the desert heat, and only one of them carrying water and a phone. Just don't know what to make of that aspect, whether they did this all the time or not. JMO.

 

[PommyMommy]

NBC Dateline's FB page-- they feature quite a few cases.

I myself look over there now and then, and I have quite a few friends who watch their true crime program.

For some reason-- they haven't featured Barbara.
But I think they should !
Maybe I can email them ?
With some outside links from msm sources.

Maybe try one of these? The volunteer drone site linked directly to our media thread!

Contact us

How can I help?

 

[Liwthe]

Great post! It’s so hard to not be cynical and jaded after the outcomes of some cases. I was thinking just the other day about the Laura Wallen case when the perp was at the press conference holding hands with Laura’s mother begging for her safe return. Knowing he had murdered her and their unborn child all along. Or the Katrina Smith case where her husband talked to the press on four different occasions begging for information all the while thinking he had outsmarted LE. In the end he was guilty of murdering her. I could go on and on.

My point is sometimes you really have to look at the red flags and the totality of the case. MOO

You know, I was thinking about this too. I fall asleep every night to a crime podcast (embarrassing!). But the difference is that man, most of those perps (not all, granted, and hindsight is always such a great thing) are so sketchy. It’s, I came home and my wife was gone, but stuff in the house and car have been cleaned furiously, or other implausible stories. This one, doesn’t go there yet for me. Until we get more info, of course.