CA CA - Barbara Thomas, 69, from Bullhead City AZ, disappeared in Mojave desert, 12 July 2019 #8

[Curiousobserver]

Sure, but theories and hypotheses involve making some assumptions. It's been confirmed that Barbara does like to drink beer, so I can't see any disrespect in going with that as one possible theory.

And this part of the story has been disputed by none of her family members. Her husband stated that is what she was doing, the VI stated this is a completely normal thing for her to do.

 

[BeachSky]

He’s blame shifting IMO.
Laci Peterson loved to walk her dog but she didn’t that day.

 

[Nikynoo]

There may be a photo of BT with a 'beer can' in her hand, as well as a photo of her 'in a bikini', but there's no 'confirmation' that 'she liked to drink beer' or regularly 'went hiking in a bikini' in the desert when it was super hot. Nor that that was typical for her under the circumstances. Not a 'pretty minor detail' IMO, when her husband, the only person who was with her when she disappeared, stated those (bikini and beer) as 'reasons' as to why he thought she had 'disappeared' / 'she must have been abducted' due to these factors. JMO, MOO.

Respectfully, I disagree.

Perhaps thats the conclusion he came to after not only searching for Barbara himself and finding no sign of her, but the SAR teams also not finding her, nothing to do with what she was wearing or what she was drinking.

Putting it simply, Barbara was not found, so therefore she is no longer where he thought she was - his conclusion is reasonable IMO.

I suppose the question is, would RT still come to the same conclusion (of abduction) if Barbara was wearing jeans and a Tshirt, carrying a bottle of water? IMO, the answer would be yes.

 

[CSIDreamer]

Respectfully, I disagree.

Perhaps thats the conclusion he came to after not only searching for Barbara himself and finding no sign of her, but the SAR teams also not finding her, nothing to do with what she was wearing or what she was drinking.

Putting it simply, Barbara was not found, so therefore she is no longer where he thought she was - his conclusion is reasonable IMO.

I suppose the question is, would RT still come to the same conclusion (of abduction) if Barbara was wearing jeans and a Tshirt, carrying a bottle of water? IMO, the answer would be yes.

You have a good point. But I can't see him saying "because she was wearing jeans and drinking water".

JMO

 

[10ofRods]

No. I have always heard that it is necessary to drink plenty of water before becoming dehydrated.
At least this is what my daughter's coaches have always said.
I also know that as we become older it is easier to become dehydrated and not realize it, because older people naturally have less water in their bodies, and don't feel as thirsty as younger people do when their body needs water.
Heat exhaustion can come on pretty quickly. As I mentioned before my aunt had it but kept insisting she was fine right up until she had to be taken to the hospital. She didn't recognize the symptoms and never even felt thirsty.
So I do think being dehydrated is a possibility, especially if Barbara was drinking beer and had not had enough water. Imo

This is so true. Being dehydrated results in much faster heat exhaustion. The two things together can result in very rapid onset (passing out, often before vomiting or any other symptom). Confusion is, by definition, not noticed by the sufferer. That's what confusion is: mental states that are out of sync with reality but not noticed by the thinker.

Barbara was also quite thin (fat cells hold water; people with more of them don't dehydrate as quickly, nature's design for keeping women and babies alive when things go south).

People may also simply notice that their legs buckle, they don't lose consciousness instantly, but they are so weak that they can barely move (they may crawl). I'm not suggesting that this happened 5 minutes after RT last saw her...but it may have happened.

 

[Twistinginthewind]

I don't think Barbara drinking a beer while walking in the desert is a factor in her disappearance, even if typical for her, and even if someone (besides her husband she was alone with) saw her drinking a beer. It's neither here nor there, IMO.

 

[Auntie Cipation]

You have a good point. But I can't see him saying "because she was wearing jeans and drinking water".

JMO

I am wary of him, but I don't put a lot of stock into the weirdness of his phrasing.

So many people, in perfectly ordinary circumstances, end up producing these awkward sentences that, if taken literally, sound like "X is due to Y" when what they really mean is "Y is due to X", or "X, and also, Y".

The difference is that in casual/direct conversation, the listener can say "really, you're saying X is because of Y?" and the person can say "well, no, I didn't mean it like that."

We have no opportunity here to ask RT for clarification of his statements.

I do think careful attention to the words of key people is important, but I don't think whole theories should be given too much weight if they hinge entirely on those weird phrases. Just imagine him phrasing it completely differently in a [fictitious] additional interview, and how easily we would then think "Well, why didn't you say so earlier? That changes everything!"

 

[cazador]

This is so true. Being dehydrated results in much faster heat exhaustion. The two things together can result in very rapid onset (passing out, often before vomiting or any other symptom). Confusion is, by definition, not noticed by the sufferer. That's what confusion is: mental states that are out of sync with reality but not noticed by the thinker.

Barbara was also quite thin (fat cells hold water; people with more of them don't dehydrate as quickly, nature's design for keeping women and babies alive when things go south).

People may also simply notice that their legs buckle, they don't lose consciousness instantly, but they are so weak that they can barely move (they may crawl). I'm not suggesting that this happened 5 minutes after RT last saw her...but it may have happened.

It is impossible not to find a body if she dropped here. That is why Many people showing up with drones is a good idea, as they can video the ground quickly so others can study photo and see where her body is located.. If found send in LE.. IF there is no body then that makes this a different story..
A run away.. A abduction.. A murder.
Simple as that.
jmho

 

[K9Enzo]

It is impossible not to find a body if she dropped here. That is why Many drones is a good idea as they can video the ground quickly so others can study photo and see where her body is located.. IF there is no body then that makes this a different story.. A run away.. A abduction.. A murder.
Simple as that.
jmho

Do you know the distance the drones are from the ground? I ask because I'm aware of another case where drones were used to locate a missing hiker by crowdsourcing. An operator donated his time and had incredible footage. Completely different terrain (heavily forested). The concern was scale of objects. What they thought was a small rock was a boulder the size of a car, a tree log was reported as a body, people were seeing arms, legs & faces in rock crevices, etc. It somewhat turned into a mess for the Sheriff's office with the calls that were coming in.

I also know of a case where drones located an elderly man with Alzheimer's who wandered away from his home. He was alive and rescued. They are certainly an asset and I think absolutely worth exploring in this case.

Edited to add: The hiker is still missing in the first paragraph of my post.

 

[cazador]

By the way .. Robert's Silence is defining himself .. jmho

I do hope he is doing something behind the curtain that we can not see.

 

[cazador]

Do you know the distance the drones are from the ground? I ask because I'm aware of another case where drones were used to locate a missing hiker by crowdsourcing. An operator donated his time and had incredible footage. Completely different terrain (heavily forested). The concern was scale of objects. What they thought was a small rock was a boulder the size of a car, a tree log was reported as a body, people were seeing arms, legs & faces in rock crevices, etc. It somewhat turned into a mess for the Sheriff's office with the calls that were coming in.

I also know of a case where drones located an elderly man with Alzheimer's who wandered away from his home. He was alive and rescued. They are certainly an asset and I think absolutely worth exploring in this case.

There are zoom lenses on some models and it can fly in low if the operator desires. They are looking at a small or larger video screen as they fly it.

 

[cazador]

Also I think SAR or other professionals should study and dissect the video taken. Not just average people or K9Enzo will be correct and the Sheriff would be inundated with calls on what people think is a body..

 

[K9Enzo]

Also I think SAR or other professionals should study and dissect the video taken. Not just average people or K9Enzo will be correct and the Sheriff would be inundated with calls on what people think is a body..

Intentions were absolutely good and people were so desperate to help this family. It's been over a year and this hiker is still missing. I've been told there are still people scanning those videos. Very humbling.

 

[cazador]

Drone technology is developing.. It started out as a toy and now is developing into commercial use.
From Farming, Fire Departments, SAR and Electric Towers they are being used more and more.
As Battery storage and flying distance develop, I have a vision of the future for a Web Sleuth.

In the future...
When needed, I see a Web Sleuth members in motor homes showing up at a search area..
Drone launches from the roof ..
The Web sleuth is inside with a large screen flying and recording their drones progress and finding the victim.. Flying the drone back and landing it. Turning over memory card to LE and driving away..

Go ahead.. Smile .. It could happen

 

[MsBetsy]

Do you know the distance the drones are from the ground? I ask because I'm aware of another case where drones were used to locate a missing hiker by crowdsourcing. An operator donated his time and had incredible footage. Completely different terrain (heavily forested). The concern was scale of objects. What they thought was a small rock was a boulder the size of a car, a tree log was reported as a body, people were seeing arms, legs & faces in rock crevices, etc. It somewhat turned into a mess for the Sheriff's office with the calls that were coming in.

I also know of a case where drones located an elderly man with Alzheimer's who wandered away from his home. He was alive and rescued. They are certainly an asset and I think absolutely worth exploring in this case.

Edited to add: The hiker is still missing in the first paragraph of my post.

I thought it was thermal imagery that was used for drone searches to find a body.
I read that even when a body is badly decomposed, the earth around it is also warmer than than the temperature in the environment.
So it would not depend on what they see as much as how warm the area is in comparison to the outside temperature, which might be a good reason to wait until it's cooler. Imo

 

[K9Enzo]

I thought it was thermal imagery that was used for drone searches to find a body.
I read that even when a body is badly decomposed, the earth around it is also warmer than than the temperature in the environment.
So it would not depend on what they see as much as how warm the area is in comparison to the outside temperature, which might he a good reason to wait until it's cooler. Imo

Oh, FLIR is a whole other topic. That technology varies depending on $$$ (of course).

My example of drone use was a volunteer operator uploading files for the public to view. He uses his drones mainly for landscape photography. It was completely separate from the official search for this missing hiker, which was 15 days I believe. The official search did use FLIR from a helicopter.

Some SAR groups are training in drone operation and more importantly how to view the footage.

 

[MsBetsy]

Oh, I see.
Well, I hope LE uses whatever resources they can to find Barbara.
I hope they will be able to use thermal imaging.
It can help to find her or rule out that she is there! Imo

 

[kay74]

Realtors use drones to take pictures of the home/homes from above.

 

[Twistinginthewind]

By the way .. Robert's Silence is defining himself .. jmho

I do hope he is doing something behind the curtain that we can not see.

I agree his silence since the first few days after Barbara disappeared when he agreed to be interviewed and gave his statements to the media is perplexing.

Although it has been said by our VI that he is a private person, he seemed to do okay with addressing the public in those interviews.

I can’t put myself in his shoes because I don’t know what it’s like to lose my spouse under such circumstances.

I have to assume there are other extenuating circumstances that are keeping him from continuing to ‘get the word out’ publicly about his missing wife.

Maybe he is scared of making the wrong move or there is a lot more going on with LE investigation that he thinks is tying his hands, I don’t know.

But I do know if my spouse vanished and I had no idea what had happened, I would move heaven and earth to find them even if it meant stepping out of my comfort zone to enlist the public to help find them.

There’s so much support available to families of missing persons, it seems, agencies, volunteers, who can and will do the heavy lifting, I just don’t understand why he hasn’t gone that route, unless there is more to the story.

MOO

 

[kay74]

I know RT sounded hokey when he talked but he was at wit's end where she went! This is all he could think of. His speech was unrehearsed.