Found Deceased CA - Barbara Thomas, 69, from Bullhead City AZ, disappeared in Mojave desert, 12 July 2019 #13

[Deleted member 39678]

The question about the odor of decomp is a good one. That is an odor impossible to ignore, impossible to miss. As would be the sight of carrion birds circling fresh remains. It's curious that these were missed, in my opinion. No theory, just curious.

So you're saying the searchers where incompetent with all of those things being "impossible to miss." Or are you trying to say something else?

 

[Midwestmom2019]

BBM - I must have missed something. What bizarre actions that lead you to conclude there is criminality involved?

Bizarre is used loosely. Actions that appeared as if he went on with life so very quickly. All posted here very early on. Too quickly, but maybe that’s how he just was? Maybe it was truly just tragic walking off without water and losing her way back. It happens often enough.

 

[calico3]

when my son went missing from Houston, TX, Rice U police said signs showed of suicidal tendencies, or foul play...Yes, this was indeed troublesome for me, but I did not give up. I went the distance and searched for my son for 8 solid months. From TX to CA. I walked the streets of Oakland, Berkeley, etc. every day, all day. I found him finally!! And no foul play! He was alive and healthy! Trying to satisfy the fantasies of relatives proved too much for my son. But but by the grace of Our Lord, I found him!

At first, I thought that Barbara's missing could really be foul play, but now all these months later, I am thinking it was a sad lost/missing case in the desert. Things like this happen in a desert. This may not be the fact as we don't know all the details yet...but this is the way I am thinking now. Nevertheless, it is still very sad! I/We wanted Barbara to be found alive, but that's not always the case. Still, I care and want the best and answers for her family.

‎

 

[wary]

The question about the odor of decomp is a good one. That is an odor impossible to ignore, impossible to miss. As would be the sight of carrion birds circling fresh remains. It's curious that these were missed, in my opinion. No theory, just curious.

Strangely enough, carrion birds don’t seem to help discover missing people very often.

I think the only case where I’ve even seen them mentioned was Hannah Graham’s disappearance—and I think in that case, they didn’t help to find her. It was more of a case that after she was found, someone said: “So that’s what those vultures down there were all about!”

 

[calico3]

I live on a Ponderosa in the South. I saw my uncle lying on the cold ground one cold January in the South...he had been murdered in a drunken brawl....nevertheless he was my uncle, and my Lord above, he was lying on that cold January ground for 10 hours, never moved, with his beloved dog sitting faithfully beside him...Now that was a memory I shall never forget...we want, we need justice in our world. We shall never forget, and should remain devoted to finding answers as to the cruelty injustice in our world. To continue to let us live and remain human and caring and law-abiding citizens of the USA.

 

[Catmommy]

So you're saying the searchers where incompetent with all of those things being "impossible to miss." Or are you trying to say something else?

Just to clarify, I would NEVER say that the searchers were incompetent in this or any other case. People who give their time and energy to try to find somebody, usually a stranger, deserve the utmost respect and support. Not being able to smell death is strange, that is what I said and what I meant. Curious.

 

[wary]

Just to clarify, I would NEVER say that the searchers were incompetent in this or any other case. People who give their time and energy to try to find somebody, usually a stranger, deserve the utmost respect and support. Not being able to smell death is strange, that is what I said and what I meant. Curious.

In the extreme desert temperatures of this case, do bodies rot, or simply desiccate? Always bearing in mind that reported temperatures are measured ‘in the shade’ and that temperatures in the sun on bare ground will be substantially higher.

 

[Catmommy]

And now I'm really curious, is there anyone here who hasn't smelled a decomposing body of some sort? The stench of death is pretty common with all dead mammals and pungent from some distance, in my experience. Is it different in the desert? I would think the odor would be even worse even quicker but I do not know and so I ask.

 

[wary]

I would answer desiccate, it would be hard to ‘rot’ in desert heat.

(Fixed broken quotes.)

That was my thought, so I’m not sure how much smell of decay there’d be. Also, if she died beyond the search pattern, smell might not have been an issue.

 

[Deleted member 39678]

And now I'm really curious, is there anyone here who hasn't smelled a decomposing body of some sort? The stench of death is pretty common with all dead mammals and pungent from some distance, in my experience. Is it different in the desert? I would think the odor would be even worse even quicker but I do not know and so I ask.

A couple of years ago I was raking leaves in the backyard and discovered a dried up dead squirrel about ten or twelve feet from the back door and never smelled it.

 

[calico3]

I would think that it would be a given that bodies in that heat would desiccate. To me, it would not be a temp to "rot". This seems to ugly to state. I'm sorry!

 

[Deleted member 39678]

Several years ago my brother and I killed a couple rattlesnakes at the ranch and tossed them about 50-60 yards down from the cabin.

A full week later I watched a turkey buzzard finally eating them. It took a lot longer than I expected for the buzzards to find and eat them.

 

[Seattle1]

Bizarre is used loosely. Actions that appeared as if he went on with life so very quickly. All posted here very early on. Too quickly, but maybe that’s how he just was? Maybe it was truly just tragic walking off without water and losing her way back. It happens often enough.

It seems to me that it was LE, not WS members that investigated and found reasons to believe that RT's behavior warranted him suspicious and deceptive when his wife disappeared -- in RT's own words. And I doubt it had anything to do with his describing what BT was wearing when he last saw her.

Until LE tells us differently, I for one prefer to keep an open mind about what actually happened to BT while also rejoicing that her remains were recovered for RT, her family, and all that loved and cherished BT.

LE is the party with all the information, and the last information I recall from them is that this is still an active investigation. I'm in no rush for the answers from LE.

The husband of a woman who disappeared while hiking in the California desert a week ago insisted he is innocent after failing a lie detector test

July 19, 2019

The husband of a 69-year-old woman who disappeared while hiking in California's Mojave Desert on July 12 has insisted he's innocent after he reportedly failed a polygraph test organized by investigators.

Robert Thomas, from Bullhead City, Arizona, told Inside Edition on Wednesday that authorities see him as the prime suspect in the disappearance of his wife, Barbara Thomas.

The couple got separated while hiking in the Mojave Desert near San Bernardino on July 12.

 

[wary]

I apologize for the gruesomeness of my comments. But it just seems to me that there are so many cases where no one sees vultures, and no one smells the smell of death, and the searchers walk right past the body, and the dogs are totally confused, and there’s really no conclusions to be drawn from any of this, because it’s just the way things are.

 

[calico3]

I am thinking presently that Barbara's missing and departure was a terrible accident, on no account of another,,,, just terrible conciquences of the desert... ????

 

[Deleted member 39678]

I think some here are using the alleged results of a polygraph to come to a conclusion that RT is guilty of killing Barbara.

He went for a polygraph test and authorities told him he was being deceptive, but Thomas said he had not had any sleep when he took the test.

A common police tactic is to lie about polygraph results to see if they will confess. It's legal. And I think that it may have happen in this case.

Although police have long been prohibited from using physical force, they are able to use a variety of powerful psychological ploys to extract confessions from criminal suspects, including the use of deception during interrogation.

So if members wish to use this to accuse RT of killing Barbara I think they should reconsider. JMO

Deception in the interrogation room

Husband of Woman Who Vanished During Mojave Desert Hike: 'I Just Want Her Back'

 

[Kemug]

I am thinking presently that Barbara's missing and departure was a terrible accident, on no account of another,,,, just terrible conciquences of the desert... ????

Yes, I think it most likely was just a terrible accident. We can all take comfort in the fact that Barbara has at last been found, and can be properly laid to rest. She is now at peace, and her family (and us) can start to remember all the good things she had in her life, and the many happy times.

 

[LAhiker]

I am thinking presently that Barbara's missing and departure was a terrible accident, on no account of another,,,, just terrible conciquences of the desert... ????

Many here are coming to the conclusion that this was a terrible accident. Personally, I will refrain from coming to any conclusion until there is more information. My guess is that at some point we'll hear more, whether from LE or from her family members.

But as some have noted, it may not be possible to determine the cause of death or exactly what happened. Or even if they determine it, the information might not be publicly known. In that case, I will simply regard it as an unknown.

I don't know how long it will take them to determine the cause of death (or decide that they can't do so), but I doubt that the pandemic and holidays are helping.

In any event, it's good (though sad) that her remains have been found. RIP Barbara. My condolences to those who loved her.

JMO

 

[Deleted member 39678]

Many here are coming to the conclusion that this was a terrible accident. Personally, I will refrain from coming to any conclusion until there is more information. My guess is that at some point we'll hear more, whether from LE or from her family members.

But as some have noted, it may not be possible to determine the cause of death or exactly what happened. Or even if they determine it, the information might not be publicly known. In that case, I will simply regard it as an unknown.

I don't know how long it will take them to determine the cause of death (or decide that they can't do so), but I doubt that the pandemic and holidays are helping.

In any event, it's good (though sad) that her remains have been found. RIP Barbara. My condolences to those who loved her.

JMO

Well said.

While I have an opinion of what may have happened to Barbara I also cannot come to a conclusion at this point in time.

Hopefully we all will find the truth soon.

 

[HongKongPhooey]

Did we ever find out what happened to Lexie? I worried for her, losing her "mum" like that.