Since RT held off calling LE until 3:26 he must have been fairly satisfied that BT was safe since he did nothing after waving his arms and looking around for awhile or as you say you don’t think he thought she was lost at first.
CA CA - Barbara Thomas, 69, from Bullhead City AZ, disappeared in Mojave desert, 12 July 2019 #9
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10ofRods
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It gives context. In fact, if the awning was deployed, that supports RT's narrative. That's why it would have been good to get a BOLO out for Barbara right away and ask locals (especially from the southern side of Mojave NP) if they saw an RV parked there. Long shot, yes.
It supports RT's narrative because most couples would feel okay about one of them taking a 5 minute walk alone to a place that had shade. Even if the key had been disturbed or required getting down to look under the truck or was otherwise a bit difficult to grab, there would be shade.
If RT thought it was only a 5 minute walk or that he'd be only 2-3 minutes behind her, there's no reason for him to take the water out and have her carry it or drink some before setting out. If the awning was out and there were folding chairs, perhaps there was a bottle of water, too? Since he did not offer her the water or insist on her taking the remainder of it, he surely thought she would be safe and comfortable at the RV. If the awning was already out, it would be much less hot than if they waited to get back and open it.
If it really wasn't open, then he used that detail to convince family that he had planned well and the fact that she didn't make it across the road (to safety) was not his fault.
There was little to no shade cast by the RV at that time of day (it was about 2 pm-ish, almost high noon by the sun). There would be maybe about 1-1.5' of shade right at the base of the vehicle, requiring a person to sit in the dirt, very close to the RV (and the RV would be reflecting heat onto the top of the person's head, IMO). To really get into shade (if she needed to), she'd have to lie down next to the RV. In her bikini. In the gravel and dirt.
The awning is, in this case, a safety and comfort thing. If he insists it was open, then he had every reason to believe that his own actions (dawdling, taking longer than 1-2 minutes putting away his gear) would not affect her much. She would have shade while she searched for the key. She would be cooling down already and could sit and rest her head if she was feeling dizzy (most desert people know to sit and put their head down if feeling dizzy).
If you don't believe RT in the first place, then it doesn't matter much, that's for sure. But at the time he included that detail (to family), it would have given family the idea that they were not acting irresponsibly in the desert, they had planned, and would come back to their RV safely. Like normal people.
If you believe him, then it's very strange indeed that she never got across the road. No sign of her travel cup. What would her reaction be to a slowing car? To smile? The abductor(s) would have to get out of the car to put her inside it. Did they simply pause and act like good Samaritans? Grab her and her cup and thrust her inside their vehicle?
Most of us would be very unhappy if a panel van or other larger vehicle stopped in the road in the desert, when we were alone (male or female). Since she would be pausing on the west side of Kelbaker, the car would either have to be going southbound or it would have had to cross lanes (very suspicious) to pull up alongside her. If, as some have claimed, Barbara knew about shady business dealings, would she not have been immediately startled? Even if she couldn't cry out, I think she would have turned and tried to run, dropping the cup.
If it was a sedan and the people acted like they were lost, then she would not flee. Most people would be very wary of a single man, especially a young one, pulling over while we were waiting by the side of a desert highway.
But he or they still would have had to get out of their car - a very frightening moment if she was trying to help them.
All of this had to take place within about 5 minutes or less (according to RT, he was practically right behind her - only a couple of minutes behind on a 5-10 minute walk). Barbara did not cry out, did not drop her cup (or if she did, these fast-thinking abductors picked it up).
It could have been just one person, but unless they pulled over from the northbound lane, the driver would have been away from Barbara and she'd have had some time to react if the lone driver got out in the middle of the road. Which is a really dumb thing for an abductor to do, given that cars go by every couple of minutes. I think that requires two people.
During all of this, RT heard nothing. He doesn't seem hearing impaired during his interviews, but it's hard to say.
Sorry for the length. Hopefully it's helpful for someone just joining (but I do think every clue is important until this case is solved).
He didn't think that right away! In fact he even went to that cave area to see if she was there. It was afterwards, he surmised that.
Awning - Manual or Motorized? Remote?
Good question.
1) W ease of using motorized awning - esp'ly w a remote
, some ppl making a 1-2 hr stop, would put up awning to shade one side of RV, to keep interior cooler.
2) In fresh glow of having new RV, some ppl would put up awning, even if manual, even for 1-2 hrs.
3) if RT and/or BT planned to make snack, eat lunch, or take nap in RV, etc. after their 1-2 hr walk/hike, they may have put up awning.
Personally, I almost certainly would not do it, for 1-2 hr stay. jmo.
@bronbabybizarre. as i thought it was only a stop off. why go to the bother of setting up the awning? hmmm....
Good question. 1) W ease of using motorized awning - esp'ly w a remote
, some ppl making a 1-2 hr stop, would put up awning to shade one side of RV, to keep interior cooler.2) In fresh glow of having new RV, some ppl would put up awning, even if manual, even for 1-2 hrs.
3) if RT and/or BT planned to make snack, eat lunch, or take nap in RV, etc. after their 1-2 hr walk/hike, they may have put up awning.
Personally, I almost certainly would not do it, for 1-2 hr stay. jmo.
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MimosaMornings
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1&2&3
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However, the beer was in some kind of cup, so how would anyone know what she was drinking??
Chairs, Why Sit Outside?
Thanks for post. Good question.
Ridiculous? If, after walk, they planned to immed'ly jump in truck, turn on a/c, & drive, yes, but ----
no, not ridiculous if plan was having a bev, sitting in chairs outside in shade from RV itself or w more shade from awning. Likely to be cooler than immed'ly going into RV that has been battened down for 1-2 hrs in ~100F temp. Outside may be cooler, esp if there is any breeze at all.
Think of hot cars deaths of infants. Closed-up RVs get hot like that too. Possibly they planned to crank up generator, turn on RV A/C, sit outside for 30-60 min while the rig cooled down, then have snack, etc.
jmo, ymmv.
@Blondie in Spokane
Thanks for post. Good question.Ridiculous? If, after walk, they planned to immed'ly jump in truck, turn on a/c, & drive, yes, but ----
no, not ridiculous if plan was having a bev, sitting in chairs outside in shade from RV itself or w more shade from awning. Likely to be cooler than immed'ly going into RV that has been battened down for 1-2 hrs in ~100F temp. Outside may be cooler, esp if there is any breeze at all.
Think of hot cars deaths of infants. Closed-up RVs get hot like that too. Possibly they planned to crank up generator, turn on RV A/C, sit outside for 30-60 min while the rig cooled down, then have snack, etc.
jmo, ymmv.
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@deugirtni
Some ppl w extensive RV experience would say, because a closed, parked RV in 100F temp, gets hotter than you-know-what. So if they plan to be gone for 1-2 hrs, then put up the awning, etc., that is, if they also plan to be back in RV after walk.
{{{ETA: If, upon return to RV, they decide otherwise, then they can retract awning & drive off. No harm, no foul.}}}
jmo, ymmv.
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MsBetsy
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Right. I doubt it's as if he got back to the RV, saw she wasnt there, and thought, 'she's been abducted since she was in her bikini and drinking a beer!'
I'm sure there were some other thought processes involved, such as the process of elimination. For example, she would not have run off and left him the way she was dressed. She was nowhere to be found after he went back and looked for her. The searchers had not found any trace of her so far. She disappeared very soon after he last saw her. He thought it was unlikely that she made a wrong turn and got lost. She must have been near the road.
How many explanations are there?!
If he had said, I think she fell into a crevice, that would be even more ominous because it might mean she was injured or dead.
If he said he thought she got lost there would be just as much suspicion.
What could he have said that would not raise suspicion? In terms of what he believed had happened to her? I can't think of anything. No matter what he said there are always ways to look at it suspiciously. Imo
10ofRods
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They wouldn't. There are neurological and personality disorders/issues in which a person believes that everyone else pretty much knows/believes what they know and believe.
It's a huge critical thinking error (so how good are his other reasoning abilities?) Or does he think he can get this to fly past the "cute little blonde reporter," who is (in his mind) another "sale" to be made. Heck, that kind of thing has worked for him in the past. No one called him out, just privately thought he was silly or dumb.
If instead, this is RT code for "she was visibly drunk" (which is how some would take it), then it's just RT being a gentleman? But if that was the case, then she ought not to have been trying to cross a road alone, right?
I'm going with "critical thinking error." If they parted ways after some kind of tiff, which he wishes to omit from his narrative, this may also be code for "she wasn't acting right." That would be his view on it. In which case, he's lying by omission.
Personally, I think it's likely that they weren't right where he says they were, when he last saw her.
RV-related Actions as Clue to Plans?
Thanks for your post. bbm
Some sleuthers would say - deploying awning at this given time is a hint to RT's plans after walk, and if their interp is accurate, then it may help find BT. But this presupposes that RT played a role in BT's disappearance.
Some ppl say, doing this (whatever) re RV does not make sense (to non-RVer), so there must be something nefarious about the person doing it, and bingo, there's the perp. Imo some of these questioned actions make perfect sense to RVers. But even different RVers - full-timers, week-enders only, big rig, little trailer, teardrop, Class A, all kinds - have different patterns of behavior re RVs.
Like you, I'd like to understand what happened to BT. jmo.
@RANCH
Thanks for your post. bbmSome sleuthers would say - deploying awning at this given time is a hint to RT's plans after walk, and if their interp is accurate, then it may help find BT. But this presupposes that RT played a role in BT's disappearance.
Some ppl say, doing this (whatever) re RV does not make sense (to non-RVer), so there must be something nefarious about the person doing it, and bingo, there's the perp. Imo some of these questioned actions make perfect sense to RVers. But even different RVers - full-timers, week-enders only, big rig, little trailer, teardrop, Class A, all kinds - have different patterns of behavior re RVs.
Like you, I'd like to understand what happened to BT. jmo.
CSIDreamer
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I misrecalled (is that a word?) the awning was an assumption.
Hello again @kay74
After you exited store and started looking for him, and before you saw him----
- Did he walk away from car, toward you, in your gen direction?
- Did you walk further away from the store, toward him, in his gen direction?
If neither of you walked toward ea other, then he was within your eyesight the entire time, but you did not 'notice' him initially. I'm going to leave it at that. jmo.
happyday
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I’ve been in a very similar situation to this where I got separated from my husband in the desert. We were almost back to truck but somehow I was hopelessly lost and panicking. No cell service. Him honking the horn repeatedly saved the day and kept me from wandering the wrong direction until we found each other about 30 minutes later.
I have no idea if he waved his arms during that time but I doubt it because he didn’t know where I was. That would have been weird! Lol.
MsBetsy
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Although if you had caught sight of him because he was waving his arms it may not have been so weird. It still would have been a relief, no matter how you found each other. Imo
BeachSky
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happyday
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Oh of course. And honestly I think some people would wave their arms in that situation and some wouldn’t, so it probably doesn’t matter.
I think his saying that in the interview struck some people as odd just because it might not seem like a logical thing to do first. When you don’t see the person who is lost they probably can’t see you, so making noise makes more sense. IDK.
BeachSky
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That was sweet.
10ofRods
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Well it might have been better for him to guess horses, rather than zebras, when he heard those hooves run by.
If he had acted as if she were lost, she might be found by now. So many things he could help with. She was an active woman, apparently, and could have walked quite a distance if it were more than 5 minutes.
If he truly was just 1-2 minutes behind her, then when he got to the truck and yelled, she should have heard him (would surely have heard the horn). To go directly to abduction (with no beer container on the road or anywhere near by) is another one of his odd thinking errors (using "she had a beer" as an explanation for her abduction is, as @1&2&3 pointed out, a thinking error since no one could have known what was in her cup). Was he himself experiencing confusion that day? If a person does experience heat-related confusion, they won't notice it at the time and may never notice their odd thinking (although seeing oneself on video might make a person cringe at what they said, once they're back to a normal state).
If he never thought she was lost, then surely he didn't search as thoroughly as he might have. If he was unaware that she was angry at him for some reason (and lord knows that can happen between marital partners), then her actions might have been mysterious to him.
He ought to have tried flagging people down to help in the search. People that I know who are out that way (including ourselves) would certainly have helped. Someone could have stayed at the RV while others covered east and west, and then north and south a bit more.
Because once it is dark, there really are issues with animal predation...and if she was still out there and truly lost and scared and dehydrated, she could have walked quite a distance before collapsing. I would assume my partner was still alive and lost as the first hypothesis. Go to abduction later, once LE is consulted.
AFAIK, no cadaver dogs went out. AFAIK, sniffer dogs were used in a standard search protocol (where the handlers take them to a place where the missing person was known to have been). RT made no mention of the dogs or of discussing how to best use them. He was asked to leave the area, in fact...he said.
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