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The mysterious disappearance and death of Barbara Thomas in the Mojave Desert

Barbara Thomas, disappeared July 12, 2019, Kelbaker Rd, Mojave Desert, California. Body Found November 27, 2020, Essex, California.

Revised January 2024

The Barbara Thomas Disappearance

Robert “Bob” Thomas and his 69-year-old wife, Barbara Thomas, went on a casual 2-mile hike in the Mojave Desert on Friday, July 12, 2019, a few miles off Kelbaker Road, just north of Interstate 40 in California. The couple, from Bullhead City, frequently explored the area, and according to Bob, this was not a strenuous activity. They had parked their camper van in the area before the hike.

Bob said he stopped to take a photograph, and she went to their vehicle. He claimed that was the last he saw of her. He got to the RV and saw it was still locked, and Barbara was nowhere to be found. After searching the area and calling for her, he called 911.

Robert Thomas Barbara thomas disppearance

The search for Barbara Thomas

Barbara was wearing a black bikini, a red baseball cap and tan hiking boots and had no supplies or a cellphone.

Bob reported her missing, and a search began of the area, which ended on Sunday, July 14. Temperatures in the area were over 100°F (38°C), according to the Sheriff's Department. Authorities used a helicopter and later search dogs, scouring the area to find her, but no trace of Barbara was found.

Initial search efforts were conducted in the area east of Kelbaker and Hidden Hill roads, where officials say she was last seen, with numerous search and rescue members, deputies, K9s, park rangers, a sheriff's helicopter and off-road vehicles, according to the agency's Nixle webpage. On July 20 and 21, some “certified in cave searches, rope climbing and desert terrain ground hikers were among the search and rescue members.”

On July 22, 2019, police reported that they were investigating Bob as a suspect in his wife's disappearance. Thomas says he took a polygraph test that showed that he was being deceptive. He said at the time that this was not true. He believed that someone might have picked up Barbara as their trailer was parked near a road, and he thought she was abducted while she was crossing the road.

The Specialized Investigations Division took over the official investigation into Thomas' disappearance. The Division comprises homicide detail, crimes against children, and technology crimes.

In a statement written by several members of Barbara Thomas' family based in Hong Kong, she is described as an avid and regular desert explorer along with her husband, Bob, "The chances she became lost or disoriented in the five minutes between her husband reporting last seeing her, and him (realizing) she was missing, is highly improbable. Barbara does not have a history of any illness that we know of. We have no reason to believe Barbara would walk away from her husband or disappear in the manner she has.”

Discovery of remains

After nearly 18 months after she disappeared, Barbara Thomas’ body was finally found.

Supervisor Jeff Lewison of the San Bernardino County Sheriff Coroner's Division announced her body was located on November 27, 2020, in the desert near Essex, California. An autopsy was completed, Lewison confirmed, but the cause of death has not been announced.