anyone emailing media, thank you! Please feel free to include the following:
Statement to Media by the Family of Barbara Thomas Aug 30, 2019
The Hong Kong based family of Barbara Thomas would like to issue the following statement: On July 12th, 2019, Barbara Thomas was reported to police as missing. Following a walk in the Mojave desert with her husband Robert Thomas, 69 year old Barbara vanished without a trace. Barbara is a mother of one son, and has two young grandchildren, as well as her puppy Lexi. On July 16th Barbara’s brother, sister in-law, two nephews, and niece in Hong Kong were informed of her disappearance.
At this time we are working with case detectives to locate Barbara, though they report they cannot release any information to us or the public, as the investigation is ongoing.
Barbara and her husband were avid and regular desert explorers, and the chances she became lost or disoriented in the five minutes between her husband reporting last seeing her, and him realising she was missing, are highly improbable. Though police do not suspect she was abducted, husband Robert does. An exhaustive nine day search in blistering Mojave heat, including Search and Rescue specialists, search dogs and helicopters, turned up no sign of her.
Barbara was scheduled to visit her ailing brother in Hong Kong, arriving on July 23rd. Her family here are devastated at her disappearance, and especially the lack of any new information regarding the investigation. Her brother, who has been in hospital, is extremely distressed at the unbelievable nature of her disappearance.
We would like to express extreme gratitude to multiple online communities of amateur detectives who have been instrumental in helping us better understand the nature of this disappearance. Despite long stretches of media and law enforcement silence, those dedicated groups of complete strangers have been keeping Barbara’s story and our hopes alive. We would also like to express our sincere appreciation to all Search and Rescue members who offered their time to look for Barbara under such difficult conditions.
Barbara does not have a history of any illness that we know of. We have no reason to believe Barbara would walk away from her husband, or disappear in the manner she has. Especially not so near to a trip to Hong Kong to visit her younger brother in hospital.
We appeal to the public to please take a look at the pictures of Barbara included. If you have seen Barbara, or know ANYTHING which could help us find her, please contact San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office, Special Investigations Division, Homicide Detail, Detective Nicolas Clark at 909-387-3572, or the anonymous we-tip hotline at 1-800-78-CRIME.
To Barbara, we love you and will never give up in searching to find you. There are hundreds of people actively working to help us. We miss you dearly and remain hopeful you will be found soon.
