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
personally endeavor to remain objective. it is not easy with all the information on the table in front of me.
your summary is correct, but there is substantial additional information which all 'tips' the scale, imho.
despite all information, i remain hopeful that Barb is alive.
that is an indication, on its own, that my views on this disappearance have a very strong bias.
regarding whether or not robert is innocent, i am also hopeful. all of my speculations have been confined to this medium (websleuths). i am not out to publicly shame Rob or ruin his reputation. yes this is public, no i am not trying to spread it around the internet.
from the first day i learned about barbs disappearance i have been on websleuths sharing what i've learned. my first call to Rob and Barbs house on the night i learned of her disappearance, Roberts family told me their plan is to share any and all information across all media etc, spread wherever there are ears to listen, and since that point i have been sharing what i learned here, mostly unfiltered, and also learning from members with lots of experience here on WS ways that i can be useful to Barb.
the times i began using more discretion were after speaking to Barb's son, and realizing this all could be far more dangerous than a surface examination suggests. my family over here agrees the entire situation feels very wrong, and have asked me to limit my involvement out of concern for MY SAFETY.
i have been in contact with law enforcement in AZ and CA, with robbie, with robbies family, with matt, with independent investigators, with many other relevant persons whose relation to rob and barb mean they should be in direct contact with case detectives. many of the means of contact were provided through ws, from members who are very busy trying to help find my aunt. i have two independent sources who saw Barb on the morning of the 12th, one who expressed she was visibly aggravated and not her normal self.
i have scoured all correspondence between barb and my family trying to get a better idea of what could have happened.
i stopped commenting when it got messy on here, but continued in private chats. i resumed posting publicly because i determined it was more helpful for this group to be more informed and updated, mainly because the resources this group of people active on this ws thread have access to are immense and humbling! we are going to find Barbara.
I included very personal pictures Barb sent to us in the hopes you all get a better feel for who she was. she and rob have always been an inspiration to me, and their house is one of the stops i made on my own backpacking journey through the desert regions, and other national parks up and down the west coast in 2007.
i will be the first to formally apologise for any accusations or hurtful speculations. to deny them or defer them or ignore facts before me would be extremely counter productive, imo.
nothing i have learned has been taken lightly. everything i have shared has been shared after careful consideration that it will help in the search for barbara. the gravity of the situation is not any less than the day i first learned she had disappeared.
at this moment i have no reason to think other than what you have seen me suggest. unfortunately due to TOS, and my instinctual feeling that not all relevant information should be shared publicly, or openly for that matter, i can not ammend your summary of events with what i consider crucial information.
and yes, i still consider details surrounding Barbs disappearance imply the situation could be very dangerous; sinister even.
thank you all for being here and keeping Barb in your thoughts.