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

[1&2&3]

From the pictures we’ve seen, BT is a very attractive woman for 69. In a bikini, hat, and sunglasses, a passerbyer on the road would never expect her to be 69.

There are two ways an abduction may have happened. First, anyone seeing a woman alone in the desert by the road more than likely would stop to see if she needed help.
A Good Samaritan. The next scenario is someone with bad intentions would stop pretending to help, but abducts her.

Or, this is a made up story? The beer can is with BT as she was probably not one to litter the beautiful outdoors.

 

[Lilibet]

what could cause that?

She’s been found or she was never there? I did find her husband credible though.

 

[lonetraveler]

Scent dogs are on the case, i believe as I was told Robbie wasn't permitted in the search area so as to avoid throwing off the dogs.

I contacted law enforcement through one of the numbers at the bottom of a news article and left my info, hoped to ask some questions but the other end of the line wasn't having it.

I will try to get exact location, if not exact coordinates from Robbie or his family. Looked at google earth between hidden hills, kelbaker and I40... Lot of nothing. Not impossible Barb would get lost or disoriented, however based on report from Rob's fam about how familiar they were with this area in particular, it just doesn't seem likely. furthermore, if she was lost or disoriented and remained in the general area, unconscious or otherwise, the search and scent dogs probably would have turned her up.

I'd say safe to assume this was a walk for them; media pasting 'bikini' and 'hike' everywhere. Highly doubtful they were out for a hike with a beer.

Thank you so much for being on this site. Really appreciate your input and feedback.

 

[kay74]

Beer dehydrates! No one would drink a beer in that heat in the desert of all places

 

[Snoopster]

Also just read above that dbdb doubts this was a hike, but rather out for a walk with a beer. It makes sense--if this was an area very familiar to them that they might go on a short walk with a beer. It might explain why she had no water with her. MOO (Not that I consider a 2-mile walk in the desert short, especially with no water. But I'm not sure where the 2 miles came from.)

From here:

Woman missing from Mojave Desert

Barbara and Robert Thomas drove their camper to the area on Friday and then went on a short, two-mile hike.

And RT was quoted as saying they were almost back.

 

[Dawookie]

How busy is that road?
What are the chances of just the right timing for an abductor to see an older woman walking alone and not be worried about passerby vehicles seeing something?
This just doesn't fit for me. At least not yet.

I wouldn't say it's a busy road but busy is a relative term. I spent a few months working on that stretch of the 40 and Kelbaker Road was one of our staging areas. I would say around 5 cars an hour when we were there working. I will say that we were working a little later in the year than this when it was slightly cooler but I would imagine the traffic wouldn't be a higher amount being hotter

 

[kay74]

I live in this area and I'm also a avid camper and my family does lots of hunting through-out Arizona. I understand this is a common location for them but I find it odd to camp and or hike in this area this time of year. We camp up this way but it's always in November and during that time you can sleep comfy in the trailers with the windows open and wear shorts during the day. Once we camped at Needles Mountain rd. in July and it was the most miserable trip. The heat was awful so we now always head up north during the summer months. JMO

I know camping there in July is something I would never even consider. The heat is not only unbearable but dangerous.

 

[PommyMommy]

what could cause that?

Sorry, I started over on page one to re-read everything and the first nixle alert linked is gone but the updated one is still there. I should probably just give up today!

what is a nixle alert?

It's a notification system used by Police, Fire, schools, etc. for a variety of things such as severe weather events, missing persons,...

About Us - Nixle

 

[cryscrys]

Sorry, I started over on page one to re-read everything and the first nixle alert linked is gone but the updated one is still there. I should probably just give up today!

It's a notification system used by Police, Fire, schools, etc. for a variety of things such as severe weather events, missing persons,...

About Us - Nixle

Its been a particularly crazy week here at WS..give yourself a break Thank you!!

 

[Snoopster]

It seems an unfortunate coincidence that two women in their 60's arrived at a camping spot on Friday and disappeared shortly after they arrived. It's great news that Sheryl Powell was found. Now let's find Barbara!

 

[kkdj]

Beer dehydrates! No one would drink a beer in that heat in the desert of all places

BBM
This is incorrect. We go to the desert during the summer every year. Nearly every adult I know drinks ice cold beer in the scorching heat. Of course we always have plenty of water on hand too, but ice cold beer is a staple in our group.

 

[j_in_c]

Just wanted to add a few thoughts as I've explored this exact area.

I was initially thrown off by the media reports that they were 20 miles north of I-40, as there aren't really any campsites there and nothing to explore. So the info that it was actually near Hidden Hills (about 9 miles north of I-40) makes a lot more sense. There are a bunch of really great boondocking sites just past Granite Pass, off of dirt roads to the west of Kelbaker rd. I would bet that's where their trailer was, and the "highway" she had to cross to get back to the camper was Kelbaker rd. Kelbaker rd. is not very busy at all, so the likelihood of encountering a car would be small, but also if you did, there likely wouldn't be anyone else around to see you. Also, yes, camping in the desert might seem crazy to a lot of you, but to a desert rat it's nothing unusual, and Granite Pass is a great area to choose because it's at about 4000 ft elevation. And the campsites are nestled into the mountains such that the sun sets behind them pretty early, making them nice and cool (in the desert it cools off pretty quickly in the shade).

Abduction does seem farfetched to me at first thought, as it seems more likely to me that she got lost on her way back, or possibly while looking for shade to cool off on her way. That area with the campsites is nestled up against the Granite Mountains, which are literally just piles of boulders strewn everywhere, like a maze of rocks, so it would be quite easy to get lost. The campsites are set back quite a ways from the road, and though one could just walk down the dirt roads towards them, in that heat I know I would be tempted to take a shortcut across the boulders.

BUT that said, I could also see another possibility : she reached Kelbaker rd, where a car was passing. Maybe that person stopped and offered her a ride back to her camper, which would be tempting to anyone in that heat, especially since as I said, the campsites are still quite a ways from the road (the closest site is about 1/2 mile). In that case, abduction becomes a possibility. I don't know Barbara personally at all, but I've also found that older people tend to be more trusting of strangers than I would be. I know I (30-something woman) would NEVER accept a ride, even from a seemingly kind person, but I bet my 60-something mom would. It's scary to think about.

You've summed up all my thoughts exactly. The fact that it isn't a high traffic road means both that the likelihood of encountering a bad actor is very low AND that there would be no witnesses if you did I am assuming that their trailer was off-road enough that if another car had approached, there would be tracks of some sort.

I still lean towards misadventure of some sort, but if the searchers keep coming up empty, then I hope they at least look into the possibility of an abduction.

On google earth, granite pass looks to have more interesting terrain than the area around Kelso which unfortunately means more places to end up off route and possibly hidden from view.

 

[lonetraveler]

Also just read above that dbdb doubts this was a hike, but rather out for a walk with a beer. It makes sense--if this was an area very familiar to them that they might go on a short walk with a beer. It might explain why she had no water with her. MOO (Not that I consider a 2-mile walk in the desert short, especially with no water. But I'm not sure where the 2 miles came from.)

Not trying to be facetious but a two mile walk would be a two beer walk for me.

 

[lonetraveler]

BBM
This is incorrect. We go to the desert during the summer every year. Nearly every adult I know drinks ice cold beer in the scorching heat. Of course we always have plenty of water on hand too, but ice cold beer is a staple in our group.

I agree, it's never too hot to drink cold beer.

 

[kay74]

BBM
This is incorrect. We go to the desert during the summer every year. Nearly every adult I know drinks ice cold beer in the scorching heat. Of course we always have plenty of water on hand too, but ice cold beer is a staple in our group.

But the fact is it, it does dehydrate. You have water so that makes a difference. Did she go out with a beer and n0 water, yikes!

 

[TristanP]

I am such a wimp when it comes to heat. Being in intense heat for even 10 min can bring on a migraine for me. I live in the Midwest and we’re in an Excessive Heat Warning tomorrow through Saturday for temps of mid-90s to 100 with heat indices of 103 - 110...and I’m seriously considering asking to work from home Thursday and Friday just so I don’t have to leave the house!

It makes me so freaked out to think of someone lost out in heat like this with no water. Last summer and the summer before I remember there being missing people at Joshua Tree National Park and freaking out about that.

I’m sending good vibes out into the world for this lady and for all the searchers trying so hard to find her.

 

[kkdj]

You've summed up all my thoughts exactly. The fact that it isn't a high traffic road means both that the likelihood of encountering a bad actor is very low AND that there would be no witnesses if you did I am assuming that their trailer was off-road enough that if another car had approached, there would be tracks of some sort.

I still lean towards misadventure of some sort, but if the searchers keep coming up empty, then I hope they at least look into the possibility of an abduction.

On google earth, granite pass looks to have more interesting terrain than the area around Kelso which unfortunately means more places to end up off route and possibly hidden from view.

BBM
My thoughts exactly!
I'm having a difficult time going with the abduction theory. I would say that's the lowest of my suspicions of what happened. Not out of the realm of possibilities but highly unlikely imo.

 

[kkdj]

But the fact is it, it does dehydrate. You have water so that makes a difference. Did she go out with a beer and n0 water, yikes!

Yes it dehydrates, that's why i didn't bold that part in my response with the BBM.
But I'm telling you lots of people drink beer out there in the hot desert. So I don't find it unusual she had a beer on their hike and that is one of the items being searched for.

 

[MsFacetious]

I agree, it's never too hot to drink cold beer.

Dad? Is that you?

My dad literally said that to me last night. I am the one weirdo that disagrees with everyone on this. I get warm when I drink even one beer. I quit drinking when I lived in Arizona!

However, if that reaction didn't happen I could certainly see myself hiking with a beer. If I hiked in the heat. Or went outside.

Definitely don't find that odd at all. Just out there living her best life. I drink 90% soda. That doesn't hydrate either but it's what I drink.

 

[kkdj]

Dad? Is that you?

My dad literally said that to me last night. I am the one weirdo that disagrees with everyone on this. I get warm when I drink even one beer. I quit drinking when I lived in Arizona!

However, if that reaction didn't happen I could certainly see myself hiking with a beer. If I hiked in the heat. Or went outside.

Definitely don't find that odd at all. Just out there living her best life. I drink 90% soda. That doesn't hydrate either but it's what I drink.

Lol! I'm such an ice water person in any weather!
But an ice cold beer in the dry heat does me good! No sweets for me basically.