CA CA - Barbara Thomas, 69, from Bullhead City AZ, disappeared in Mojave desert, 12 July 2019 #9

[Leney]

Excellent point. It does pop up again. The "turning over rocks" statement after Barbara has been missing for about 3 days is another case of saying something odd that the listener is supposed to figure out on their own. He does make him sound like a he-man in the desert though. We have to assume these are smallish rocks (so...why is he looking under them?)

BBM

"Turning over rocks" is a figure of speech.
Nothing more nothing less.

 

[Leney]

But someone who goes out there often should be discussing what to do in an emergency in the area where they're at. It's a really good idea to do this if going to any national park or preserve, they are all areas where people go missing or die from misadventure. People who don't go often, though, rarely are as prepared as those who go frequently (this was not RT and Barbara's first RV, apparently, and of course, they lived in the desert).

SBM

There is simply too little of a highly edited interview in which no one has a baseline in which to start from.
RT felt comfortable enough to invite the reporter into their home.
That is indicative of a much longer period of time which the reporter spent with him.

The reporter may be very good, but it is the producer that edits "sound bites" in which to air.

 

[Stripehaven]

Excellent point. It does pop up again. The "turning over rocks" statement after Barbara has been missing for about 3 days is another case of saying something odd that the listener is supposed to figure out on their own. He does make him sound like a he-man in the desert though. We have to assume these are smallish rocks (so...why is he looking under them?)

I sort of wonder if he meant it metaphorically but even that puzzles me.

 

[Leney]

I guess that I'm not as prepared to do the right thing as you are during a crisis. JMO.

I see these entire lists of things people "would" do in a similar situation.
Yet they never state what they would do if their was "no response" to any or all of them.

You can blow a whistle, wave your arms, hop on an RV, but if the other party does not respond, they would be then forced to do what RT did and that is to call 911.

This is what is being omitted from every single scenario that to date has been presented.

 

[Leney]

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.

If someone is outside of the area, or confused as to the direction the horn is coming from, it could conceivably "create" a situation which would be worse for the individual that is confused.

They could think the sound is from a different direction, and proceed in the direction it appears to be.

 

[Leney]

RV's have ladders to the roof.
RT is still in shape to get up there to look out over the area for his wife.
Does not seem like he did.

Some do but others do not have a ladder.

RT stated he went to look for her, thus was not at the RV.
That does not mean he did not go to higher ground to see if he could see BT.

Does everyone think he remained at the RV the entire time to "honk horns", "climb ladders", or whatever else has been opined on here ?

Seriously ?

 

[Leney]

He’s never thought she was lost.
He feels somebody out there has her.

Or he was trying to seek answers which could explain why she had not been found.

Sometimes, when you try to fill in the blanks, understand a situation that sounds like it should be straightforward, the mind will seek alternatives.

This is REPEATEDLY seen in missing person cases, as it gives an option in which the individual is "alive".

 

[Jim_M]

I see these entire lists of things people "would" do in a similar situation.
Yet they never state what they would do if their was "no response" to any or all of them.

You can blow a whistle, wave your arms, hop on an RV, but if the other party does not respond, they would be then forced to do what RT did and that is to call 911.

This is what is being omitted from every single scenario that to date has been presented.

What is being omitted, discussions about the 911 call? I know we know the time it came through to the call center. 3:26pm that very day. (Hmmm, did they confirm their timestamp was correct?) Okay, not to go anywhere O/T. Was anything ever released with the 911 call? Or that hasn't happened yet?

 

[Leney]

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).

BBM SBM

Where did the 1-2 minutes originate from?

Could they have not been somewhat separated, looking at rocks/driftwood, while he was taking pictures?

Has it ever been stated that they were side-by-side the entire time ?
I don't believe it has been.

In point of fact, they COULD have been a distance apart.
MOO

 

[Leney]

Apparently there was only a brief period of time when RT may have thought BT was missing. He soon reached the conclusion she had been abducted. It is not clear to me exactly when he reached that conclusion.

BBM

How and when was this determined ?

 

[MsBetsy]

Well it’s hard not to be suspicious when the only person on this entire thread who knows these people (our VI) is suspicious and does NOT think Barbara got lost. MOO.

Well, not thinking something is not the same as knowing or not knowing.
We have not had the advantage of hearing from Roberts relatives, two of which are apparently close friends of Barbara's.
In fact we don't have the advantage of hearing from anybody that has actually seen this couple in person for a significant length of time, especially in recent years. Imo

 

[MsBetsy]

Or he was trying to seek answers which could explain why she had not been found.

Sometimes, when you try to fill in the blanks, understand a situation that sounds like it should be straightforward, the mind will seek alternatives.

This is REPEATEDLY seen in missing person cases, as it gives an option in which the individual is "alive".

Yes, Mollie Tibbetts family believed she was alive, and that someone was responsible for taking her, right up until they found her body.
They never gave up hope. Imo

 

[bronbaby]

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.

BINGO xo

 

[Leney]

BINGO xo

If someone is out in the desert, gone to higher ground, how else would one attract attention ?

Perhaps some assume RT was waving his arms standing beside the RV ?
Maybe he was.
Then again maybe his was waving them as he was looking for her ?

 

[Tssiemer]

Are there like sink holes in the desert? Like in my head I’m imagining a quick sand type thing that just swallowed her up.

 

[slowpoke]

BBM

"Turning over rocks" is a figure of speech.
Nothing more nothing less.

MOO is it sounded literal when dbdb11’s sister wrote:
“he said he keeps returning to the spot where he lost her and overturning rocks and searching and searching hoping to find something.”

CA - CA - Barbara Thomas, 69, Bullhead City, hiking wearing bikini in Mojave desert, 12 July 2019

 

[Leney]

MOO is it sounded literal when dbdb11’s sister wrote:
“he said he keeps returning to the spot where he lost her and overturning rocks and searching and searching hoping to find something.”

CA - CA - Barbara Thomas, 69, Bullhead City, hiking wearing bikini in Mojave desert, 12 July 2019

It is a conversation that has been repeated. Those are the sisters words used. We don't know if those are the words RT used.
Numerous posts have dissected this phrase and we don't know if those were the words actually used.

That alone bothers me.

 

[10ofRods]

BBM

"Turning over rocks" is a figure of speech.
Nothing more nothing less.

I respectfully disagree. He is explaining to the world what he did once she went missing. "Hollered, waved my arms, turned over rocks."

I've never heard "turning over rocks" as a figure of speech. If you can show an example where someone else has used it as a figure of speech, I'd be grateful.

He also states he walked to a "cave" which it's possible he did (it's pictured in the SAR photos). Why would he stick a metaphor into this? And what does this metaphor refer to? What was he actually doing for the three hours between the time he last saw her and when LE showed up?

I suppose it could be his metaphor (his personal metaphor) for "looking everywhere" but again, the real information that he needed to get out would be "I looked up HH Road for a while, shouting and hollering; then I went back to where I last saw her and then I went to that little cave we'd seen earlier; she wasn't in any of those places, so I went back to HH Road again.) Etc.

Some do but others do not have a ladder.

RT stated he went to look for her, thus was not at the RV.
That does not mean he did not go to higher ground to see if he could see BT.

Does everyone think he remained at the RV the entire time to "honk horns", "climb ladders", or whatever else has been opined on here ?

Seriously ?

Absolutely not. And one of the clues we have about dissembling/deception is that actual information is left out and empty metaphors are used instead. So he sounds busy, right? But it's three hours and he doesn't try to wave down help, doesn't use his phone to call the visitor center at Kelso Depot, doesn't go north and south on the road to the other parking areas that he knows are there (all the while leaving the RV open and cooled in case she comes back, right?)

Terrible decision making, but also very strange explanations afterwards, compared to other speeches of families of missing persons. Typically, families will talk to whoever will listen and try really hard to give facts that will aid in locating the person (or the perps who took them, if they think that's the case). The fact that no one could have known beer was in her cup (pointed out by a WS post on this thread) is just another example. But more important, he doesn't give time of day (if your spouse is abducted and you want to find her, you want witnesses to come forward, right?)

 

[Leney]

I respectfully disagree. He is explaining to the world what he did once she went missing. "Hollered, waved my arms, turned over rocks."

I've never heard "turning over rocks" as a figure of speech. If you can show an example where someone else has used it as a figure of speech, I'd be grateful.

SBM

leave no stone unturned

Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Financial, Encyclopedia.
leave no stone unturned
1. To look for something in every possible place.We left no stone unturned looking for that earring, but we still couldn't find it. I'm thinking it got thrown out.Police vowed to leave no stone unturned trying to track down the fugitive.
2. To do all that one can or use every available resource to complete a task.I left no stone unturned when I was researching my thesis topic. I think I checked out every book on it that the library had!

leave no stone unturned

 

[Cherwell]

But it's three hours and he doesn't try to wave down help, doesn't use his phone to call the visitor center at Kelso Depot, doesn't go north and south on the road to the other parking areas that he knows are there (all the while leaving the RV open and cooled in case she comes back, right?)

You don't know that. You don't know what he did or didn't do.
You are basing your assumptions on a couple of edited interviews. Others besides me have made the point that he may have said a lot more that wasn't included. He will also have given a fuller account to the police.