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

[Micheline]

To me, the notes are a red flag. IMHO, in an abusive relationship, where the man is extremely insecure, a woman might do this as self-preservation. I don't know anything about them or their relationship, but his showing those notes gave me a sense of her unease. **I hope that doesn't offend anybody.

There isn't a word he has uttered so far that did not raise a red flag by everyone.

Sometimes something is what it is.

 

[artsy1]

I've wondered where this was as well. I’ve also thought since it was a new discovery that he should likely have a picture of it since it would probably be more interesting than a rock formation. Imho


I question showing them too as it doesn’t seem to be something I would reach for. But, he likely is trying to prove his innocence and may have grabbed for that reason. I can see both sides, in love and troubled as the reason for notes. Personally I often exchanged notes with my spouse in the beginning of our relationship. We have now combined both of ours and save in a special box, over 20 years.


I haven’t looked, but how about business cameras, convenience stores, etc.

BBM I think the Fort Mohave area in AZ would be the best best for business cameras, since they probably passed through there to get on the 40.

 

[leomoon]

I told my husband just now, and he thinks quite differently and logics things out differently. He said, its true what I say about him (and me), but of course everyone is different too. (caveat); He reminded me of 9-11 when that horrendous event occurred, a man lost his wife in that tower. Just days later (because he worked for the CIA at the time and I still see him on TV now and then) ... appeared on TV very clam and collected. No one would have ever known his wife died in that event.

A victim of 911 - but can't recall now if she was in the plane that went down in Pennsylvania or was in the Tower. I'll research it ....He remarried, that much I do know.

Barbara Olsen worked for CNN & Fox News channels....She too was a conservative like her husband.

Found it on Wikipedia: Barbara Olsen -Theodore Olsen in 1996 becoming his third wife. Theodore went on to successfully represent presidential candidate George W. Bush in the Supreme Court case of Bush v. Gore, and subsequently served as U.S. Solicitor General in the Bush administration.

 

[Micheline]

I thought the way he had his arm around her could have indicated possessiveness.

Does she have any friends who have spoken about her, their relationship, etc?

He can claim the notes were written by her and left on his pillow but she isn’t around to confirm. He could say she fed him breakfast in bed every morning and there is no way to prove it.

Not saying this is the case, but in some instances similar things have been stated by the husband/boyfriend.

Take a look how she is reaching behind this woman's head; even when a little distance between them she still wants to have her arm around him.

 

[MsBetsy]

Everything.
"The street cameras when Barbara was last seen will lead LE to her", is a suggestion that Robert lies about everything and murdered his wife.

Therefor I just wanted to insert his IMO feelings for his wife.

Oh, I understand now.
Yes, if we can find some solid evidence that he has lied about important details then that would be pretty important.

 

[rosesfromangels]

There isn't a word he has uttered so far that did not raise a red flag by everyone.

Sometimes something is what it is.

I think your post is important to remind me not to close my mind to one theory. I know I have been wrong before. I think we all pray you are right, and we pray for the miracle that BT is still somehow alive.

Amateur opinion and speculation

 

[Stripehaven]

It's sad that a man holding his wife can be seen as possessiveness, not love.

It can be, though. I have a friend whose husband is like that. He’s not overtly abusive but she can’t have a conversation with another person without his coming over and draping himself on her, bending in to kiss her while she’s speaking to a friend, etc. It’s annoying and creepy as hell. She is always peeling his hands off. We are all in our 60s and they’ve been married for 40 years. I believe he loves and doubt he would physically harm her but it’s controlljng and she is visibly uncomfortable.

I also once had a coworker whose husband always had his arm around her at functions, always sat scooched up next to her, etc. One day she abruptly left her desk at work. It turned out she had gone to tell our manager she had received a phone call that her husband was coming to kill her and she had to take off. Our whole office was on high alert for a long time. She did manage to escape but it turned out he had been secretly abusive and massively controlling for ages. Yet she was always telling us how perfect he was. You just never know.

 

[Steelslady]

Why do you think that?

Your wife goes missing and you feel the need to share something private and personal between you?

 

[ACE422]

Just a thought...could the person have possibly misunderstood “noon” when RT actually said “afternoon?”
Just a little bit of misunderstanding/miscommunication could make a huge difference regarding the time discrepancy described. MOO

 

[10ofRods]

Has it been determined what RT meant by "around the corner"?

Corner of what? A rock formation? A huge foliage?

I think he means the trail. You can see on Google that the main trail has a short spur that goes to some minor rock formations in a dry creek bed. If they walked the main trail to the bigger rocks, and then he took that spur, and she walked back to the main trail (hopefully taking the left turn onto it) he would have lost sight of her behind the brush. I guess. I mean, he had his back to her if he was photographing those rock formations.

I have a question for the VI, going way back to the beginning ....

VI shared that BT had called family in China about her plan to travel there, and also told them that she and RT were going camping for a few days first.

Apparently her ill brother in China is *very* sick. Does it seem unusual to her family that she was going camping first instead of prioritizing the trip to China, and going camping some other time? Did they have reservations at some special camping spot that is in such demand that they wouldn't want to lose it, and that's why she was postponing the China trip until after the camping?

I ask because if one of my sisters was that ill, seeing her and bringing what comfort and support I could give would take priority over a camping trip that I could do anytime. Is the VI certain that it was BT who made that call, not RT calling to share their plans?

We can wonder about their priorities all we want, but no, a lot of people would book a flight to Hong Kong (perhaps on a flight that was cheaper) and be planning to visit brother but still want some quality time with Spouse before going away for a period of time. The campsites nearest where they were (indeed, all the campsites I know of out there) are FCFS, and they did not have reservations - but they were people who moved around various desert towns, it was their lifestyle to spend time in the amazing solitude of the desert. Personally, if I knew I had to go to Hong Kong for a while, I can see wanting to soak up some peace and quiet before going. With my husband.

There are very few (no?) campgrounds near them with hook-ups, but I don't know their plans. Neither MNP or JTNP (nearby) have hook-ups. Las Vegas does. They had time to roll into Las Vegas just as it was lighting up, if that was their destination.

 

[oviedo]

Your wife goes missing and you feel the need to share something private and personal between you?

If you know you need to deflect - IMO yes, one may consider doing this. JMO

ETA grammar

 

[topockaz]

According to CA Department of Transportation, there is only ONE live traffic camera along the I-40 between stateline and Barstow - and that is at Havasu National Wildlife Refuge.

The only cameras that might have shown the camper leaving (if they hadn't stopped anywhere once they left home) MIGHT be any street cameras that exist between their home and the I-40 onramp they probably took.

Caltrans CCTV Map

I live a mile from Havasu National Wildlife Refuse. Its about 11 miles east from the route that they most likely would of taken, Bullhead City Az. 95 to Needles Ca. Its the most direct route.

Havasu is not in that area.

 

[ACE422]

I've checked back in here off and on. Thank you for trying to solve this! I guess I just want to chime in. I am not a verified family member (though I am completely willing to do what it takes to become one. Not sure what that entails...) A lot of people are scrutinizing my uncle's interview. I suppose I would do the same. But I know him. He is not an emotional guy. He is genuine to who he is in answering those few short questions. In my opinion, he and Barbara are the perfect match. Both desert-lovers and hikers. They always seem to be in sync and I've always been so happy that he found someone to share his passions with. They bicker off and on like any normal couple but there is a deep love there. I don't see them that often, but I don't believe they had any marital problems. He is completely wrecked by this. My family is very worried about him. Just wanted to share. I'm still praying for answers. It's been many surreal days...thanks again.

Thanks for joining in and providing your own personal insight. I am so sorry your family is going through this. I am sure your uncle being scrutinized makes this whole situation even harder for your family. I hope you take the steps to become a VI.

 

[GordianKnot]

Why do you think that?

Because those notes are absolutely, positively irrelevant vis-a-vis BT's disappearance.

Say your spouse goes missing and reporters want to talk to you.

Presumably, you want her found.

So what would you want to focus on in the interview?

Most likely, you'd want to talk about anything and everything leading up to her disappearance that day you can possibly think of that might in any way help to locate her, like, say:

Places you'd stopped on the way to the desert.
What your plans were for that day.
Whether things had seemed normal with her or if anything had seemed different or unusual lately.
What her mood was like that day.
What you and she had talked about on the walk.
Which places she might head to if she left the area voluntarily.
Providing a voice recording of her so people could potentially recognize her voice
Sharing a physical description (height, weight, hair color, eye color, etc).

Any of that info would be relevant and potentially helpful r/t the search for her.

Instead, RT pulls out these "love notes" BT wrote him who knows when and shoved under his pillow, or something.

Cause, you know, those love notes will really help the viewers to recognize BT if she's out there somewhere being held against her will, which is what he's stated he believes happened to her.

Pulling out and splaying those notes out like a deck of cards on his coffee table had the effect, whether intentionally or unintentionally, of diverting attention away from the only question that matters:

WHERE IS BARBARA?

JMO.

 

[lolafaith]

BBM:

Diversion. Distraction.

JMO.

That and trying to prove that the two of them were in love and he loved his wife. As others have said, your love notes would not be something that you think about in a time like this, maybe reading them at home would give you comfort but they are not relevant to be mentioned.

Even in a state of panic and shock, his comments seem way off to me.

 

[ACE422]

Same for me. Why immediately show off these notes? What is the intention- if you love someone truly, no need to try to prove it. Who knows.

Someone innocent who is devastated by the disappearance of their loved one, the “love of their life” may feel the need to “show” others how much they loved one another after being interrogated and treated as a suspect in the loved ones disappearance. I think it’s hard for one to know how they would respond unless they have been in a situation. I know anytime I have been “accused” of wrongdoing when it’s not the truth, I get upset, deny it vehemently, and look for ways to “prove” that I didn’t do what I was accused of.

A guilty party may also feel the need to do the same thing to save their own skin, IMO.

My mind is still open.

 

[10ofRods]

Sorry for long post, just rounding up some basic answers about the area.

I've read up on this case as well and his explanation doesn't really make sense, if he was really a few seconds or up to a minute behind her - because how long can it take to snap a photo of rocks? And she walked around a corner, in a desert where there was no one else for miles?? She apparently vanishes, he thinks she's walked to the camper van and is surprised when she's not there. Did he follow her footprints, wouldn't there have been foot prints? Why would she have kept walking if she realised he wasn't behind her, she would have waited?

Of course what he is telling the police cannot be the whole truth.

Footprints are difficult to find in that hard pan Mojave Desert.

I have questions about his timing, as well. I know that it's easy for a 5 minute detour to take much longer. People estimate time in very different ways. Few people are accurate. I assume he had a watch, but I bet he didn't look at it.

If she went straight on the spur trail (and therefore didn't turn to go to where the RV was parked) she would still have hit Kelbaker Road within about a mile (a much longer walk, she would have been worried and frustrated at that point, hearing the road, but never quite getting to it). She'd have been about 1-1.5 miles south of their RV. She might even have thought the RV was stolen, since she would finally have arrived at a dirt pull-out (often, non-drivers aren't paying as much attention to turn-outs, etc; I assume he was driving).

She also may have realized she'd made a navigational mistake, but might not have been clear on how to fix it. What would she do then? Most of us would retrace our steps, right? But if she went 1-1.4 miles in the wrong direction, now she's out in the sun for at least another hour, without water and with mounting temps. If she then tried to find the "caves" (but from the wrong starting point), she would have been on yet another side trail (which may be why they searched eastward on the last couple of days of the search).

So, they loaded up the camper from home in Henderson, right? There must be neighborhood cctv, traffic cams, store, home security, that would catch them or neighbors noticing them leaving.
They had one cell phone which would be pinging and leaving cloud data along the route. Unless, the phone went dark for a long period of time between leaving home and springing back to life again when he took photographs called 911. I don't know that this is what happened, but it would be suspicious if it did. Imo.

They were from Bullhead City. Arizona. No gambling, Henderson is in NV, gambling there.

Sheryl Powell and Barbara Thomas were reported missing, to two different agencies, at about the same time. Neither case got much media coverage until the next day. RT says he told police immediately of his abduction theory and we know that the Powell children said that was their theory within 24 hours of their mom going missing.

I can't look myself, but where is Essex in relationship to the offramp, or Ludlow?

Not near at all. There's a ghost town (Kelso) about 15-20 miles away.

Essex (a real town) is about 65 miles away. Not that there's much in Essex. Amboy is closer. Still barely a town.

Curious about the “cave” RT mentioned. If they discovered it on this trip, since there is no confirmation they had been here previously, and were also headed BACK to the camper - would she not have had to pass him to go back to the cave? Seems odd he went and looked there. JMO

Yes, but if you look at google maps, if he had his back to the main trail while walking up and down that creek bed photographing things (there is a rock formation for sure), then he would not have seen her walk past on the main trail. He was off the main trail. You'd think she would have come to where he was (and could see him off the main trail, with his back to her - she could have yelled for him, I sure would).

OTOH, I'd be super super p.o'ed if I couldn't find the key to that darned (brand new) RV. And if I felt I had to stride out to find shade...I sure hope I'd have presence of mind to mark my trail somehow or find hubs to yell at him for hiding the key where I couldn't find it. We always take two sets of keys to everything when we travel, but if we are just here locally (at a park), we take one set but we keep it with us and naturally, whoever goes back first takes the key. The key-under-rock thing is so bizarre to me but people are all different.

If I thought I could travel a little eastward to some caves I might try it, but basically, if I found myself locked out of shade and comfort, half a mile from where I left my husband, and husband was supposed to following shortly, I'd go back on the trail to meet up with him and complain about the dumb idea of hiding keys under rocks. (I don't know that there are caves off Hidden Hill Road, but there are some further north - she might not have remembered exactly where the other caves/rock shelters were; but Hidden Hill Road looks like a wide dirt trail and goes for miles and miles and miles). She could therefore be almost anywhere. We just don't know what she was thinking or how well she was doing by then.

 

[rosesfromangels]

Someone innocent who is devastated by the disappearance of their loved one, the “love of their life” may feel the need to “show” others how much they loved one another after being interrogated and treated as a suspect in the loved ones disappearance. I think it’s hard for one to know how they would respond unless they have been in a situation. I know anytime I have been “accused” of wrongdoing when it’s not the truth, I get upset, deny it vehemently, and look for ways to “prove” that I didn’t do what I was accused of.

A guilty party may also feel the need to do the same thing to save their own skin, IMO.

My mind is still open.

I act the same way in those circumstances. Thanks for this POV. Really hoping this turns out better than it currently looks.

Amateur opinion and speculation

 

[MsBetsy]

Your wife goes missing and you feel the need to share something private and personal between you?

If you are accused of being responsible I can see why one would feel the need.

 

[LietKynes]

As far as Barbara not letting family/friends know where she is -- if she left voluntarily -- that's not unheard of to drop contact with everyone.
The reasons could be numerous.
We don't know what goes on behind closed doors.

 

[topockaz]

BBM I think the Fort Mohave area in AZ would be the best best for business cameras, since they probably passed through there to get on the 40.

This is an area that is just starting to grow. Fort Mohave has two grocery stores, a hospital and a few strip malls. When I first moved here you had to go to the general store to pick up your mail and there was only one stoplight from Needles Ca. to Laughlin Nv. We have grown, but it still hard to find sidewalks on Hwy 95 from Needles to Laughlin. Its a tourist area that use to be a retirement area. I can't think of one business camera that would be helpful.