CA CA - Barbara Thomas, 69, from Bullhead City AZ, disappeared in Mojave desert, 12 July 2019 #3

[wary]

BBM. for real? since when do we want to silence family members/next of kin (AKA VICTIMS!??) I find this preposterous...

JMO

I suspect that her son has talked to LE, and they certainly know who he is and what he has to say. (I’m assuming that they have some rudimentary competence, and probably much more competence than that.) Question is, will his talking to the media help LE in their task, or will it simply provide more entertainment for us.

If it’s the latter, and I think it probably is, then he shouldn’t be talking.

All this MOO

 

[Midwestmom2019]

Excellent points and my thoughts exactly. I noticed that he had dyed his hair. In older pics it is gray and now it's blondish. Older man trying to look young spells one thing to me.

I also read somewhere that the truck was new?

Dyed hair? Like women who purchase new lingerie.
Interesting. Velleee intelesting...

 

[Midwestmom2019]

BBM. for real? since when do we want to silence family members/next of kin (AKA VICTIMS!??) I find this preposterous...

JMO

Loose lips sink ships. Ever heard that?

Talk all he wants unless it hinders LE work. What’s more important?

 

[EmilyVan]

I suspect that her son has talked to LE, and they certainly know who he is and what he has to say. (I’m assuming that they have some rudimentary competence, and probably much more competence than that.) Question is, will his talking to the media help LE in their task, or will it simply provide more entertainment for us.

BBM.
no one here is questioning LE's competence. Not even KINDA.

If he wants to talk to media he has that right. It's not ours to say whether he SHOULD or not. That is all.

Did LE say they aren't allowing him to speak to media? If so... I respect that. 100%

JMO

 

[kkdj]

Kind of late now.

i doubt it actually. I'm just amazed at what statements made freely get thrown out of court.

 

[cherrymeg]

Kind of late now.

I wasn't sure if he had someone guiding him or if he was just winging it.

 

[LietKynes]

This is what I don't understand at all.

No photos have been released as to where he was when taking the photos, versus where she was when she turned the corner, and how far apart they were. That awesome new member that posted all of the photos a couple of nights ago- I didn't see any corner that she could have turned, but perhaps I was looking at the photos wrong.

I just wish that LE had been a tiny bit more forthcoming about how far apart the two were allegedly when he last saw her. Do we know from RT's account as to how far behind, in terms of minutes, he was, when he noticed she was missing? He said she turned a corner and that was the last time he saw her. When he turned the corner, should he have seen Barbara still walking? If so, if she was abducted, wouldn't the vehicle have gone past him, or wouldn't he have seen or heard another vehicle nearby when he realized she was gone?

BBM

Agreed.
I didn't see any 'corners' , nor did I see where she could have gotten herself lost.
No large hills/cliffs.
Quite flat except a few low rising slopes.

 

[Tillicum]

BBM:

Bumping this old video clip:

Husband of missing 69-year-old hiker says police consider him a suspect

Per the reporter in that vid, authorities have said:

• They are "unaware" of how long RT and BT were separated before she disappeared.
• They "don't know" how far BT was from the RV at the time they became separated.

That LE said both of those things is both utterly stunning, and completely revealing.

LE has also said they don't believe BT was abducted, i.e., they don't believe the theory RT's putting out there.

I mean, really.

C'mon, now.

LE could not be telegraphing any more clearly their outright disbelief of whatever it is RT has told them.

It's as plain as the nose on Pinocchio's face.

JMO.

What if he was drunk?

 

[cherrymeg]

What if he was drunk?

You would hope he would have mentioned that to LE. That would make more sense.

 

[Kapua]

But he chose to take it and tell.
And tell it was deceptive to boot!
Why?

I don't know, but RT reminds me a lot of Steven Capobianco:

https://mauinow.com/2016/08/06/tv-reporter-testifies-at-capobianco-murder-trial/
Mileka: “Have they officially questioned you? Sometimes they make people take a lie detector test.”

Steven: “I volunteered for all of that. I went down there as soon as I could. I let them interrogate me. I let them polygraph me. I did everything.”

Mileka: “How’d the polygraph go?”

Steven: “To the best of my knowledge, it went ok.”

Mileka: “Did you pass, fail?”

Steven: “The Police told me I failed.”

And:

Mileka: “So what do police tell you?”

Steven: “They’ve just been questioning me. They haven’t really told me anything.” “I mean, it’s undeniable that I’m probably the prime suspect, so they’re not going to tell me any details.”

To quote Yogi Berra, it was like "deja vu all over again" to read RT's words:

https://www.heraldsun.com/news/nation-world/national/article232832967.html
…"investigators have told him he’s a “prime suspect” because the two were alone in the desert and have accused him of being “deceptive” on a polygraph test, which he blames on lack of sleep..."

I could be wrong, but this feels very familiar. MOO

 

[leomoon]

BBM

Agreed.
I didn't see any 'corners' , nor did I see where she could have gotten herself lost.
No large hills/cliffs.
Quite flat except a few low rising slopes.

This link shows 3 photos which are clearly the opposite of that description.... Lots of places a body or bones could hide:

California police say missing hiker who vanished 'in her bikini' was NOT abducted | Daily Mail Online

 

[LAhiker]

BBM

Agreed.
I didn't see any 'corners' , nor did I see where she could have gotten herself lost.
No large hills/cliffs.
Quite flat except a few low rising slopes.

@sroad went to the search area -- see link below to one of his posts; he also made several subsequent posts with more photos. Though it's not completely clear what RT meant by "the corner," there are rock formations that one could easily turn a corner around.

CA - CA - Barbara Thomas, 69, from Bullhead City AZ, disappeared in Mojave desert, 12 July 2019 #2

 

[Tillicum]

This is what I don't understand at all.

No photos have been released as to where he was when taking the photos, versus where she was when she turned the corner, and how far apart they were. That awesome new member that posted all of the photos a couple of nights ago- I didn't see any corner that she could have turned, but perhaps I was looking at the photos wrong.

I just wish that LE had been a tiny bit more forthcoming about how far apart the two were allegedly when he last saw her. Do we know from RT's account as to how far behind, in terms of minutes, he was, when he noticed she was missing? He said she turned a corner and that was the last time he saw her. When he turned the corner, should he have seen Barbara still walking? If so, if she was abducted, wouldn't the vehicle have gone past him, or wouldn't he have seen or heard another vehicle nearby when he realized she was gone?

That new member posted before that post with pictures. We need to go back and find their first post. They explained it well and did 2 maps, 1 overhead, that showed where the path and rock formation was located. You can see the corner in the path he marked. It looked to me like the rocks would obscure the view.

 

[Tillicum]

@sroad went to the search area -- see link below to one of his posts; he also made several subsequent posts with more photos. Though it's not completely clear what RT meant by "the corner," there are rock formations that one could easily turn a corner around.

CA - CA - Barbara Thomas, 69, from Bullhead City AZ, disappeared in Mojave desert, 12 July 2019 #2

Thank you!

 

[helpfulcharlie]

I hadn't heard of SAR being used as a diversion tactic; can you provide an example? Would SAR and local volunteers been used as a diversion in the extreme weather during the search period for BT?

Not willing to give specific examples or out myself here, but I've seen it done more than once. They would never put searchers at risk, though, you have a valid point there. Examples: steep terrain, night searching, close to water features, etc. But no harm in sending a bunch of people to sweep a field while LE recovers a body after a confession, for another example. The extreme heat searches are legit, finding where she's not and filling in the map areas. Once those are done, that's when it gets wrapped up and other investigative leads are pursued. Hence finding where she's not. "You said this happened, but see, we looked all around here and it doesn't really look like that's what happened. Are you ready to tell us what really happened?"

 

[leomoon]

Here is another with a few videos of search dogs and LE searching for Barbara through hills, brush, someplaces rather steep terrain, and yes, some places (depending on the still photos taken), look even flat. "Hidden Hills" seems to be a good name for the area.

I recall on another link, when a police spokeswoman said that they didn't believe she was abducted for various reasons they listed, but also because "its an out of the way area" where they were as though to say the opposite of the husband RT about traffic.

Cops insist they're examining 'all possibilities' after missing hiker's husband claimed he's suspect | Daily Mail Online

 

[helpfulcharlie]

Wow, this thread is moving fast.

 

[Knox]

Loose lips sink ships. Ever heard that?

Talk all he wants unless it hinders LE work. What’s more important?

Guess you didn't follow the Maleah Davis case. Lots of loose lips in that case and ship stayed afloat.

 

[bradfordsleuth]

When I take any road trips with my husband and kids, I usually have a bag or purse right with me that contains my wallet, lip balm, Advil, a book or magazine, bottle of water, phone, sunglasses and house/car key ring. This is me packing light BTW.

It sits on the floor in front of me (as a passenger) and I would be very unlikely to leave home without any of these things.

Wouldn't it be great if we knew what, (if anything), was on the passenger side of the car...assuming he did the driving since she evidently liked to take 'travellers' with her when they got out of the vehicle to stretch their legs?

JMO

 

[Kapua]

@sroad went to the search area -- see link below to one of his posts; he also made several subsequent posts with more photos. Though it's not completely clear what RT meant by "the corner," there are rock formations that one could easily turn a corner around.

CA - CA - Barbara Thomas, 69, from Bullhead City AZ, disappeared in Mojave desert, 12 July 2019 #2

This should be in the Media thread and on Page 1 of every thread, IMHO.


ETA: Start here and also see post #721 for more pics.
CA - CA - Barbara Thomas, 69, from Bullhead City AZ, disappeared in Mojave desert, 12 July 2019 #2