This thread has taken some interesting twists and turns, and there is certainly a group sentiment towards RT.
I'm trying to look at this factually, without my own personal filters that obscure logic and reason.
What I know (which is little):
-Two senior citizens living in the desert, seemingly happy and living a good life
-Wife is about to go see ailing brother in China; but disappears while on a hike with husband prior to her trip.
-Hiking excursions were normal for the couple
-Wife disappeared wearing a bikini, carrying a beer, and wearing a red ball cap.
-Husband did not call her son to inform she was missing
-Husband cancelled her flight to China
-Husband says he took a polygraph and LE said he was being deceptive
-Husband states he has nothing to do with BT's disappearance and that he believes she was abducted while crossing the highway to get back to the RV
So where does this leave us?
A husband stating innocence, and a missing BT, likely deceased. (Although we always hold out hope).
The burning questions for me are what were the actions the day or two before they went hiking? Did the neighbors hear any arguing, did anyone see or talk to BT and was she in distress? Was there any indication the husband was not in favor of the China trip? What did her life insurance look like, and when was it applied for? Is the husband on any type of meds? Did he go to the hardware store and buy any shovels/ropes/tarps, duct tape, etc? Bleach?
These are some of the questions that must be addressed.
Until I hear answers on the above, I am treating the husband as a Victim. It's hard for me to believe that an elderly (albeit vigorous looking) 72 year old is capable of the nefarious act some are speculating he committed.
I remain on the fence, but Victim friendly until/if such time as LE changes the Victim status.
I will also ask....what if you are wrong in your accusatory speculations? What harm have your posts created? How would you feel in his shoes if he is innocent? I ask myself these questions every time before I post.
Amateur opinion and speculation
You have made a lot of good points!
After all, there has been no evidence that a crime has even been committed.
Only speculation based on behavior and actions that may or may not be true.
Concerning him not notifying Barbara's son right away, there may be a reasonable explanation for that.
Earlier it was mentioned that LE had possession of Robert's phone in the beginning of the investigation. Do we know if he even knew Barbaras son's number? Maybe the wrong number that was given was the number he thought it was, but LE had to search through his phone to ultimately find it.
Or maybe he was just so overwhelmed with what was going on that he assumed another family member had contacted Barbara's son.
Apparently they didn't get along , and for all we know Barbara hadn't seen her son for years so he just didn't think about it right away. He must have been overwhelmed between talking to investigators, notifying family members, and trying to figure out what happened to his wife. Not to mention dealing with his grief.
As for him hanging out in certain places and staying in his RV, or leaving the dog at the kennel, I'm not sure if any of that has been verified either. And if true, we don't know the reasons for it. Maybe he finds comfort in the people who he is hanging out with at the casino (if true) and he can't stand being alone in his house because Barbara is not there.
Maybe he feels as if he can't take care of the dog right now. Or maybe it's just a painful reminder of his wife.
Considering that he is a victim, he has been getting a lot of criticism and accusations that he has committed a crime when there has been absolutely no evidence that a crime even occurred.
In fact LE has stated from the beginning that they do not suspect foul play and as far as I know that has not changed.
Of course if there is evidence of a crime that points to him I certainly wouldn't have a hard time believing it. After all, we don't know these people at all and don't know what evidence LE has or if they have had any success following up on leads.
We just don't know yet.
I just hope they can find out what happened to Barbara, and if it does turn out someone is responsible, that justice is served. The family at least deserves to know what happened, if that's even possible at this point. Imo
So I think we can leave RT’s age out of it...and quit calling him “elderly”! From where I sit 80 is elderly and it won’t feel elderly when I get there!
MOO
