Missoula Notebook
Where is Barbara Bolick?
By Sutton R. Stokes, 6-18-08
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| Caption: A 2007 photo of Barbara Bolick. | |
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In a perfect world, it would have been impossible to forget the name of Barbara Bolick, the Corvallis resident who disappeared while hiking near Bear Creek, west of Victor, almost one year ago. In a perfect world, Barbara’s name would have been kept in front of us all this time, because in a perfect world it would have been impossible to get over this kind of mystery. It would have been incomprehensible that a 55-year-old mother of two could end up in the wind like this.
Of course it’s not a perfect world, and people disappear all the time. Unable as I was at first to remember Barbara’s name or the name of the place she disappeared from or any other very specific details from the posters I noticed around town soon after my arrival last August, it was an education to see how little use it is to perform a Google search for “missing woman Montana.” There are a lot of missing people, especially women, including an Anaconda woman who vanished less than a month ago, leaving her car full of groceries parked behind a bar.
As for Barbara Bolick, here is a summary of what was reported in the local media concerning her disappearance. On the morning of July 18, around 9 a.m., Barbara left home for a hike with Jim Ramaker, a friend of her husband’s cousin; the cousin and Ramaker were visiting from California. The group had been up late the night before, and neither the cousin nor Barbara’s husband, Carl, felt like joining the hike.
Before leaving, Barbara told Carl that she and Ramaker were headed for Bear Creek Overlook, a favorite spot of Barbara’s where she often took visitors to show them the view.
According to Ramaker, he and Barbara took the planned hike and stopped at the overlook for a snack. They stayed at the overlook for about a half hour before starting back down. Ramaker says he took a last look at the view while Barbara started walking.
He turned to catch up with her less than a minute later.
Barbara was gone and has never been seen again.
Ramaker walked back down to where a Forest Service crew was doing road construction near the trailhead and asked if the workers had seen Barbara. He and a crew member walked back to Ramaker’s car — still no sign of Barbara. Ramaker says he then walked back up to the overlook; the Forest Service crew saw him return about 90 minutes later, when he reported that he still couldn’t find the missing woman, and so someone called a ranger.
The implausibility of Ramaker’s story is one of the marks in favor of its being the truth. The area around the overlook is described in one news article as “lightly timbered,” the ground covered in shale fragments. Every footstep makes a noise, and there are few hiding places. But if Ramaker had been responsible for Barbara’s disappearance, couldn’t he have come up with a more believable story? Why not say that Barbara had fallen and injured herself, and that she disappeared while he walked back down to get help?
The official position of the Ravalli County Sheriff’s Department is that Ramaker is not a suspect, though a detective named Perry Johnson gave the Missoulian the decidedly ambiguous statement that “until something else happens — we find Barbara or find her body — I think he’s just a witness.”
At the time of the disappearance and for at least several months afterward, investigators were looking for two additional potential witnesses, a pair of young men who passed through the Forest Service work site about an hour before Ramaker first appeared looking for Barbara. The men were driving a Chevy Blazer with Missoula County plates and had a black and white collie with them.
Ramaker says that he and Barbara ran into these men on the trail. If so, they are the only people who can confirm that Barbara was in fact on the mountain that day, because Ramaker’s car was already parked at the trailhead — next to the Chevy Blazer — when the Forest Service crew arrived for work. But if investigators have ever located these two men, I can find no mention of it on-line. Articles also mention a “mountain man” who had been seen in the area, although investigators are not reported as ever actively looking for him.
Barbara was a small woman, about five feet and 115 pounds, and — though she habitually carried a .357 Magnum while hiking — her habit was to keep it in her backpack, where it would have done her no good in an emergency. Still, given the terrain at the overlook, it is hard to imagine that someone was able to subdue Barbara without Ramaker overhearing.
Easier is to imagine Barbara sneaking away and hiding, although if she had decided to leave her husband and start over, why not at least take her wallet and identification, which she had left at home? People do sometimes run away and adopt new identities, but to do so requires not only strong motivation but some very specialized knowledge, neither of which Barbara seems likely to have had.
Perhaps Barbara snuck away as a prank, intending to surprise Ramaker later on the trail or at the car, only to meet with some misadventure along the way. I haven’t spoken to anyone who knew her, so I can’t say if this would have been in character. My guess from reading the articles about her disappearance is that it would not have been.
So we are left to wonder what happened that day and whether Barbara is alive or dead. Her story is a reminder that no one is promised tomorrow and that you never know when goodbye means goodbye.
For more like this, read the rest of the Missoula Notebook.
Has anyone ever looked into the possibility she was taken by a cougar? (Don't know if they found her daypack)> That area is perfect cat country, though, adn unlike "at a bar parked with groceries" which is almost certainly an abduction (or a drunken revelry gone very very bad) when it's a petite person alone in the woods...
i nevr read that they combed beneath the overlook, have always had to assume that's so obvious they must have. were tracking dogs or carrion dogs ever tried?
still, that talk of silent dissapearnce: cougar rises.
Good question, Annie. I meant to include information about the searching that went on. (Post in haste, regret at leisure...)
According to an August 1st article in the Bitterroot Star, there were "night and day searches with four different helicopters, including Lifeflight and Careflight as well as a National Guard helicopter from Maelstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls and one from Homeland Security, also from Great Falls. A helicopter with forward looking infrared cameras was used in the night searches. Ground searches were also conducted by the National Guard, Homeland Security, U.S. Forest Service, as well as Missoula and Ravalli County Search and Rescue teams. Last Sunday, specially trained dogs were brought in from Missoula and Helena to search the area, but to no avail."
I don't know if the dogs were cadaver dogs, although I would hope that authorities considered this possibility.
Link for above Bitterroot Star article is: http://www.bitterrootstar.com/backissues/8_1_07/pageone.html
Comment By danzig, 6-18-08i think often of Barbara's disapearance as i frequently hike alone with my dog. whether it be a mountain lion or a person that led to her apparent demise it reminds us of how naive we can be while enjoying the opportunities that Montana has to offer. and Barbara apparently hiked with a gun, which didn't help at all.
i pray that Barbara decided to start a new life and walked out of the woods in the same condition that she walked in, but it definately smells of foul play.
@Danzig: Yes, it's naive to think "it can never happen to us," whatever "it" is, and it always pays to be careful. I'm a city kid, so I'm a lot more nervous out in the deep dark woods than in town. (I can't help but think that the woods are where certain really creepy people would go to do their "hunting.")
I would hesitate to draw a "guns can't help" lesson here, since -- with her gun in her backpack -- Barbara essentially didn't have a gun with her, so she's not really a good example. Of course, even if she'd been wearing it on her hip, it is easy to imagine many situations where it might not have helped anyway, like suddenly finding herself rolling down a hillside with a big cat on her back. Still, if you're going to go to the trouble of buying and bringing a gun, why not carry it where it could do some good?
I remember when this story first broke, and commenting to my wife the very first night that the whole story sounded very fishy. That was just my initial gut reaction, but as the days wore on and the searches revealed nothing, I became more and more convinced that Barbara had never been anywhere near the alleged disappearance site.
Sutton, in your research on this, did you ever come across any references to whether Ramaker or any of the family offered, or were asked to take a polygraph exam?
@Jim: I did not come across anything about a polygraph, but my research was far from exhaustive.
Comment By MaryLynn, 7-17-08Barbara was my most dearest of friends, long time back from our high school days...we grew up together living only blocks away from each other...we still kept in touch after we were both married, then she divorced and remarried and after sometime moved to Montana...The last time I did see her was in May of 2006 when she made a trip to NYC to visit a friend she worked with and we met up and spent the day....little did I know that would be the last time we would see each other. We still kept in touch, emails and holiday cards. It will be a year she has gone missing...I miss her, our emails and greeting cards to one another. My thoughts remain with her perhaps returning and I won't give up that hope she is safe, my faith just won't allow it. Although in my heart of hearts I feel she met with foul play, I do beleive the day will come when justice will prevail!!!!
Comment By MaryLynn, 7-18-08I have been reading several articles and many good questions arise, was Jim Ramaker every given a poloygraph, perhaps she got lost while breaking away to go to the bathroom in the brush and something about her children's input on all this....if he wasn't poloygraphed, he should be....he was the last known person with her, he knows more than he is saying. She would not have gotten lost, she knew that trail blindfolded, and she has no children...My belief is she never reached the trail...something happened on the way and right now Jim is the only one that knows what really took place...why would he harm her? Well you should ask him. From what I know he was a guest in her home, I don't know how well she really knew him. Barbara was a smart, intelligent woman and could sense trouble....I truly beleive it was foul play and Jim knows the truth...as long as they don't have a body there is really nothing much for forensics, its mute. We all know these cases can take years to finally conclude. I do hope the investigation is ongoing until they bring the party or parties responsible to justice.
Comment By Jim Greer, 7-18-08MaryLynn, I mentioned the polygraph issue a while back, but I've since learned that apparently, the state of Montana has some pretty aggressive anti-polygraph law. While the results of polygraph exams are generally inadmissible as evidence in most parts of the country, it appears Montana law goes way beyond that. Here's a quote from the MT Supreme court from a 1999 case:
"In addition to precluding the direct introduction of the results of a polygraph test, it is the law in Montana that any evidence which would otherwise be admissible may be rendered inadmissible where a polygraph is used in the production of or for the purpose of influencing the outcome of such evidence. See State v. Craig (1993), 262Mont. 240, 242-43, 864 P.2d 1240, 1242-43. "
That phrase "influencing the outcome of such evidence" could allow a defense attorney a pretty broad brush to get evidence declared inadmissible. So I suspect law enforcement in Montana is very wary of using polygraphs for this reason.
Please note, IANAL (I am not a lawyer)
Well what if Jim was poloygraphed in California where he lives? Is it still inadmissible? Probably so because Montana would not acknowledge it if there was any sort of trial held there...but I am getting ahead of myself...although I am sure a good prosecutor could get around it...
Comment By MARYLYNN, 7-18-08MISS YOU BARB......
Comment By Coco, 8-06-08Could it be she just tripped and fell and the guy she was with did not hear her? I know they said they searched the trail but did they search below the lookout?
Comment By MaryLynn, 8-07-08From all accounts according to what I was told, they immediately formed searches by foot and air, daytime and nightime, if she had fallen from what I know she would have been heard..it's very quiet on the trails...I still feel she never ever got to the trail and there is no-one to say she was even seen there at all except Jim. And the 2 mystery men that were also on the trail that day & have never come forward to attest to Barbara actually being there....it leaves a lot of doubt that she was even there....So something happend on the way or she never left the house.
Comment By Coco, 8-09-08Thanks for the reply. I read they brought in dogs to search for her. Could the dogs pick up her scent at all?
Comment By MARYLYNN, 8-09-08Coco,
That is what is so baffling about Barb's disapperance and how many in depth searches were done on foot and by air...no the dogs did not pick up her scent and they were cadaver dogs highly trained and skilled in this area. Again that is also why it leads people to think she was never up on the trail and anywhere near there...
You're right this is baffling. Can anyone take a shot at what would be the motive here? I can't even guess....
Comment By MARYLYNN, 8-09-08she was a long time friend from high school, we grew up in the same neighborhood....I knew her well....I saw her in NYC 2 yrs ago, we met and spent the day...by all accounts things seemed good...but there are times we don't know everything....still waters run deep....
Comment By Sutton, 8-10-08Hi everyone,
Thanks for the additional comments and conversation here, and my apologies for not responding sooner. I'd like to keep this issue alive and am hoping to follow up with the local authorities this fall, to see if they have any additional information they can share, and whether any aspects of the story have come into better focus. I'll definitely write up what I find out, but I'm afraid I really don't know anything more than what I wrote above.
Marlynn, you make a perceptive comment about "still waters": whether we're talking about Barbara or anyone else involved in this mystery, sometimes individuals we think we know well can surprise us. Seems like the news stories about tragedies always find someone to say "but he/she seemed so nice..." etc.
-Sutton
Sutton,
I want to thank you for keeping this issue alive....I need to know what happened to Barbara, good or bad....we have too much history and a long time friendship since high school....I have learned that what seems to be one way on the surface is not really what is lying deep below. I am getting the feeling there is much more to all of this than meets the eye....any new information please let me know and I am hoping this investigation is continuing. A $10,000 reward was offered, but it never went national. I beleive if it would, these 2 men that were supposedly on the trail that day could perhaps be found or will come foward with information that is key to this investigation. TTYS
I wonder after all of this time if the 2 men would honestly remember whether or not they saw 1 or 2 people on the trail a year ago. Identifying the 2 men and them remembering would be so helpful though.
Comment By MARYLYNN, 8-13-08According to Jim, Barb's hiking companion on that day, they exchanged a few words with these 2 men while Barb and Jim stopped for a lunch break....if they were there and could corroborate Jim's story, then for sure Barb was there...A flyer with a composite sketch was ciruclated with a description of their vehicle and a dog that was with them...but nothing and they did not come forward to help to say yes Barb was there...it leaves too many loose ends with the whole story.
Comment By MaryLynn, 8-14-08Coco,
Did you know Barbara?
No, I didn't know her. There is a discussion on her case here:
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60239
which is where I first heard of the case.
Happy Birthday Barb wherever you may be!
Comment By Linda, 8-27-08Was she wearing boots, were any footprints found on the trail that could be identified as hers?
Comment By MARYLYNN, 8-27-08From what I know nothing was found, no trace of her being there...
Comment By Linda, 8-29-08No trace of her being there at all...
what does this mean? Everyone at the house went in on her going missing? If that was the case why would the guy even mention they saw 2 other hikers...if authorities found them that would ruin his whole story, wouldn't it....
After numerous searches on foot and air and dogs there was no trace of her on the trail or in the area, her scent was never picked up from the dogs either...so that leaves me to beleive she was never there....she is missing to this day, but where she went missing is still unsolved...Regarding the 2 hikers...it would help to confirm Jim's story that at one point they were all up there, but these mystery men with a dog never came forward...I would have not beleived they were there either, but supposedly some crew workers saw them come down off the trail and Jim Ramaker, Barbara's companion, but no Barbara...
Comment By LP, 10-27-08Hello. I just found this blog. Every couple of weeks I still think about Barbara and tonight I was thinking of her again and my internet search took me here. I am so glad that there are others out there that have not forgotten her...
A little background on me: I was the leader of the SAR team that went up the trail that 1st evening to look for Barb. I never in a million years doubted that we would find her that day. I interviewed Jim and my first thought was that for someone to "just disappear" that fast either he was not telling the whole truth or she had gone over the edge of the cliffs ( several hundred foot drop off) So , I called in the Careflight helicopter and they searched the area below the cliffs that afternoon and evening as we searched the trail area and mountain. I asked my supervisor to bring in the search dogs right away as I just felt something was "not right". I can't go into full detail here with all that I went thru for 5 months trying to find Barbara. I literally was on that mountain dozens of times on my own, with SAR and with friends, as well as with a private investigator that was hired by Barbara's husband. Some very very wierd things transpired. I actually was asked to stop my relentless searching for her by the sheriff. I would not quit as I had promised Barb's husband that first night that I would find her. The sheriff fired me from SAR ( I was one of thier most trained and valuable members for 5 years and was nominaed to become president of SAR). It angered him that I was putting more effort into the search for Barbara than his dept was doing and hence I was not folowing the "chain of command". He asked me to stop looking and I wouldn't- couldn't... maybe because as a middle age woman that hikes alone in the woods, I needed to know what happened.
Anyhow,, there's a lot I can't talk about that transpired and even to this day, I flip flop between thinking that Barbara left of her own choosing and that someone abducted or harmed her. I can tell you that I definately do not believe that a wild animal got her. And yes, cadavar dogs were used extensively on several occasions.
I wish you well and know that I too, think of Barbara often and i still keep my eyes and ears open for more clues.
L
LP,
Did you think that the two young men hiking with the dog could be more then witnesses (ie were involved)?
Some think she was not on the mountain that day, do you think that is possible?
Could she have fallen off the cliff side and into some brush and just has not been seen yet?
Can you hint at the very weird things that transpired, like did they involve witnesses or physical evidence?
Ann
L,
I don't beleive she feel...with all the searching you did she would have been found...even if she was attacked by animals,there would have been some trace the search dogs would have picked up...again I don't beleive she was every up there since no scent of her was ever found....she was very skilled in climbing and I knew her well...she would have not taken any chances...Jim's story leaves too many questions in my mind...it makes no sense at all...was he involved? He was the last known person with her, what else can you think...why did the sheriff ask you to stop the search? I don't think enough exposure was done and even to this day not enough to get the story out there, pictures of her and more important these 2 guys with a dog that were seen....if those pictures that they had were sent out nationally, someone could have seen them or their vehicle....perhaps they left the area, but to my knowledge that was never done...almost like the whole thing went to slow...Not a day goes by I don't think of her and hope and pray something develops....good or bad to put it to it's proper rest....
I'm not really sure how much I can say here until I find out if this is an ongoing investigation. Do you know if it is?
Yes, everything moved way too slow during the days following her disappearance, but that is unfortunately not uncommon in these circunmstances. However, so many possible leads were not followed up on. Hence, I became frustrated beyond belief and took it upon myself to do alot of probing and investigating. The sheriif did not support my efforts. He banned me from talking to Barb's husband, Carl. Carl was calling me a lot- as his sole contact because the sherrif would not return his calls and inquiries. I really got stuck between a rock and a hard spot. I have never been able to understand why the sherrif didn't want the information that I was getting from Carl, didn't want the possible evidence that I discovered on the mountain, did not follow up on other possible evidence that others found on the mountain, etc etc. I have no way of knowing if this was related but, I actually was shot at as I was driving home from a movie one night with my mom. The police never even came out to talk to me. Sooooo... after the sheriff "fired" me I stopped all contact with Carl and his family and did no more active investigating on my own.
Mostly, I think that she decided to leave Carl and start a new life- he swears she would never have done it this way- she was a strong woman and would have just told him she wanted out if that is what she wanted. What do you think?
I have a couple of questions for you.. did either of you send a Happy Birthday balloon to Barbara last year( 2007)? Do you know if she ate any special type of candy that she was really known for eating? Potato chips?? Any other "key" things that Barb would have tried to leave on the mountain as evidence for someone trying to find her??
At this point I don't know, I have had no contact with anyone to know....what evidence did you find? By all accounts she seemed happy, but one never knows what a person really feels, but she seemed content, to just up and leave...I doubt it....why would she leave all behind. Even if she wanted out of the marriage, financially she would deserve what is due to her...to my knowledge Barb ate healthy for the most part... She went missing in July; her B-day is in Aug who would send a ballon and where was it sent? How do you know that?
Comment By LP, 10-29-08I apologize for being so vague with my answers. Un fortunaley, I do not knwo you or otheres that see this site. This blog could be seen by law enforcement or even more importantaly, by someone that could have had something to do with Barb's disappearance and it would be a really bad idea for us to discuss details here. Rest assured that all that I know, the sheriff has been informed of as well. Please realize that this may be a criminal investigation as well as a lost person search and I do not want to in any way interfere with the efforts of law enforcement.
I mainly just wanted you to know that I have not forgotten Barb and I pray that we will someday have an answer to this.
Hi just found this site...
I have wondered what happened to Barb since a day or so after Jul 18, 07 when Carl called me to say that she had gone missing. Barb and I were friends since when she and I worked at Mcguire AFB in NJ back in the mid 70's. I considered her my best and dearest friend. I was planning on visiting her and Carl a couple of weeks in August 07...I couldn't bear to go out there after she dissappeared, I don't think I could have handled it. I feel so bad for Carl, cause he and Barb were like two peas in a pod. It seems incomprehensible that she would have just left...She had sent me e-mails just prior to her disappearance looking forward to my visit, we even talked about hiking and just having a great visit. I can't picture her leaving Carl after all they had been through. When Carl told me of her being missing from a hike my first words were "what the guy just turned around and she was gone-poof" Carl said that is what he was told. To me that Jim guy would be suspect # 1. Personally, I think they weren't at that hiking site, just a gut feeling. Didn't the guy have a rental car--don't most companies have GPS on their vehicles & if so couldn't someone have checked the data base on that vehicle? Sounds like the Sheriff's Police dropped the ball. I miss my best friend, Barb....
Patty,
What do you mean after all they had been through?
If she went missing on the mountain and was alive would the cadaver dogs have been able to track her? What I'm asking is can these cadaver dogs track living people that leave an area on foot or do they only find deceased people?
Comment By Marylynn, 11-19-08I beleive the cadaver dogs are trained to pick up the scent of living or dead people....if they were in the area they are tracking...so I doubt she was there, since they picked up nothing.
Comment By J., 11-28-08I wonder if they tried to get the dogs to track the guy she was hiking with to see where exactly he walked on that day.
Comment By Marylynn, 11-28-08I beleive the search was limited to finding Barbara...He wasn't the concern...and it wouldn't prove anything anyway...and nothing has been resolved in her missing.
Comment By Ann, 12-14-08Barbara bears a resemblance to another woman missing from Missoula, MT:
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/l/lewis_lucille.html
She is around the same age as well.
Any thoughts?
Barbara had brown eyes....went missing last July...so it's not her....
Comment By Ann, 12-14-08I was thinking they both could have been targeted by the same perpetrator, not that they were the same person.
Comment By Marylynn, 12-14-08I guess its possible...but she was suppose to be hiking and up on the trail...and was with someone...so to me he was the last one to have been with her and in my mind would be a person of interest....but I don't know where that is at this time...its a cold case...
Comment By Coco, 1-20-09Do the local newspapers in MT ever have any updates on this missing person? I see nothing new online...
Comment By MaryLynn, 1-20-09There is nothing new to report....still under investigation from what I understand...
Comment By Don, 1-21-09Mary ANN,
This is Don, Barb's first husband. Just found out about Barb. I agree with your comments. Anyone who knowns anything please notify the sheriff.
Hi Don,
You just now found out? I can't beleive no one told you....what about Barbara's brother Kenny in Colorado....he knew from what I understand.....do you have a email to reach you?
Hi MaryLynn,
Just got a letter yesterday fromDetective Perry Johnson. Haven't heard from Kenny, Or Carl Bolick. My phone and address has been the same for twelve years. A Sad day. Barb was a Special woman. My email is below.
Don
Don
At first I was in touch with Carl and he was trying to reach you and I would have thought Kenny would have contacted you....Carl had asked if he should tell you, I said yes....it's been over a year....Det. Perry says the investigation is ongoing, but no new leads...do you know anything about her missing that took place that day?
Comment By Don, 1-22-09Marylynn,
Email me. This way everyone we say is private. Thanks.
Don
Marylynn,
If you hear anything that can be shared please let us know here.
Coco
Was the mountain man that was written about ever IDed?
Comment By MaryLynn, 2-01-09I have not heard anything new....and I don't know anything about the mountain man, but I guess that is a possibility.
Comment By KY GAL, 4-24-09Just a thought- How would Jim have gotten to this spot if Barbara had not taken him there? Wasn't he an out of towner?
Comment By MaryLynn, 4-24-09Jim was an avid hiker and I beleive the way the story was told to me, they had already hiked the day before and I think it was the same trail...so he would have known.
Comment By Jamie, 4-25-09What does Carl think happened to her? What does Jim's girlfriend think happened to her?
Comment By MaryLynn, 4-25-09I don't have a clue, I am not in contact with Carl and I don't know Jim's girlfriend...
Comment By Jamie, 4-25-09What are the odds she got lost, are they likely, slim or next to none?
Comment By MaryLynn, 4-25-09She didn't get lost....
Comment By Jamie, 4-27-09If she was there the day before wouldn't the dogs have picked up her scent from being there the previous day?
Comment By MaryLynn, 4-27-09Perhaps, but I don't know what cadaver dogs are trained to do, I beleive they are trained to pick up the scent of a dead body...
Comment By Jamie, 4-27-09Does she have a history of depression?
Comment By MaryLynn, 4-27-09None! She was a very happy person ....
Comment By LP, 7-07-09There are rumors going around that Barbara was found. Does anyone on this blog have news or proof of this?
Comment By Marylynn, 7-07-09What rumors have you heard? I have not heard anything....
Comment By Marylynn, 7-07-09When you say "found" what do you mean? Is she alive and well?
Comment By LP, 7-07-09I would not have even mentioned it had I not heard the same story thru 2 totally separate people in the valley here. I don't want to get anyone's hope up or start an even more widespread rumor. The first time I heard that she was alive and had been "found" was way back in Dec or January. But I could not substantiate anything and so I dismissed it. The, 2 days ago I hear it from a different source, but the same story sooo... just in case I was out of the loop, I thought I would inquire here.
I took a friend hiking to the overlook a couple of weeks ago and relived the whole thing over again. She will always be in my thoughts until I know for sure what happened.
Who are you? And where did you get such information? I would think if Barb was found and she was okay, she would have contacted her best friend to tell me....I have not read a thing either in the newspapers there.....if you have an article to say she's been found...send me the link.....this sounds like a very cruel joke....
Comment By Coco, 7-07-09Can you share the story, where has she been and where was she found? You are asking for news or proof but it sounds like you have the news that might solve the case if your story is accurate. What did the people say in the 2 matching stories?
Comment By Marylynn, 7-07-09I need proof of what you have heard....
Comment By Coco, 7-07-09What did she hear?
Comment By Marylynn, 7-07-09By LP, 7-07-09
There are rumors going around that Barbara was found. Does anyone on this blog have news or proof of this?
I meant what was the surrounding story to that, she took off with someone else, she had amnesia, etc... what was the story behind her going missing and being found that is what I am trying to ask LP.
Comment By LP, 7-07-09This is why I really hated to even write.. but since i am not related to Barbara I thought maybe i had just been out of the loop and not told if she was found. I was the first person on the mountain that night that Barbara disappeared. I was leading the SAR team. Since I first promised Barb's friends and family that I would do my best to find Barbara, I have not given up hope that we will have an answer someday.
All I know is that someone in SAR had mentioned to other people that I know that she was alive and well. I don't have any details. This was told to 2 different aquaintances of mine 6 months apart. I have no ties to SAR any longer, so I don't know anymore than that.
Lisa
Well if it's true.....I would expect she would have been in touch with me by now....I will have to check into inquiring if she has been in touch with any of her other friends....where is she now? Back home? Why didn't Carl let everyone know she is alive and well? You know Carl I assume?
Comment By Jamie, 7-17-09Any update on this?
Comment By Marylynn, 7-17-09no updates......reliable sources confirm IT IS not true....
Comment By Jamie, 7-17-09Just wondering, how old is Jim Ramaker, do you know?
Comment By LTG, 11-14-09Is there to be a memorial, why could we not give Jim Rainmaker a truth drug ? or he could take it voluntarily. It seems strange that the dogs could not find her scent, she always wore a perfume that I can remember in my mind. She always had a cell phone and she did not have the backpack with her or so we were told. Too many unsolved pieces. To Don, I am sorry know one got a hold of you. Ken is in Denver, Colorado. Unfortunately, he is not good at keeping in touch with anyone. They have only heard from Carl that the seaches were officially called off. I will miss my Aunt, although we were not close, I will remember always the few special moments we had together. That she liked Bunny Rabbits. God willing she is not captured or in pain somewhere still waiting for us to find her, that she is at peace and in heaven. For everyone, I agree remember to say you Love someone, hug them for it may be the last time you will see them.
Comment By Marylynn, 11-14-09How are you her niece? Ken was contacted so I was told….I haven’t heard a thing in years…..it has totally gone cold….but as all these cases go, something will develop as long as the investigation continues…..but who knows if it is at this time….I keep the faith something will occur to lead us to her and what has happened…
Comment By LTG, 11-14-09To Marylynn,
I remember riding a train with someone and my Aunt to see my Step-Father Ken, run in the NY marathon, are you that other lady who was her best friend? Ken & Barb live in Denver, CO and so Barbara was my step Aunt, Technically, she tried to get me to eat Thai soup one time in her NJ Townhome, it tasted like lemon water and wood and she was so proud she made it. One of my special memories. Please keep me in the loop, Ken is having a tough time, he has no other living immediate family. He has very few photos, and I am at a lose at trying to see how to help him get through this pain.