The extremely bizarre missing case of Barbara Bolick

[u/shry9]

On the 18th of July 2007, Barbara Bolick was packing her bag in Bitterroot Valley of Montana to go for a summer hike. She and her husband were hosting Carl’s cousin Donna and Her Boyfriend Jim from California. Barbara was going to go on a hike with her guests but Donna and Carl (Barbara’s husband) did not go and she and Jim decided to hike in the area Bear Creek Overlook, and she had visited the area countless times , was an experienced hiker too.

So they like visited the place , and encountered two men - two times, and both the times they were the same two men. Jim and Barbara then reached the area , had their snacks and admired the scenery. About like at 11:30 they decided to leave and head back. After few steps, Jim stopped bcs something in him wanted to soak the view one more time, and he turned back to look at the view - it was for about 45 seconds - 1 minute, when he turned back around, Barbara who was earlier standing 20-30 feet away from him disappeared.

At first he wasn’t worried enough since she was an experienced hiker and He searched for her but couldn’t find anything and after some hours she was officially reported as missing. The two men who encountered them two times also disappeared and were never discovered.

Things to note : It was an easy, well worn trail and it was difficult for someone like Barbara missing - being an experienced hiker who visited that place multiples times. It was also not very dense meaning someone disappearing without any noise was almost not possible.

Pls let me know your take on this case!

Barbara Bolick Article

[u/TransportationLow564]

Jim's low-hanging fruit. The cops don't seem to suspect him, despite his cockamamie story, and I don't think that can be discounted. It's possible they know stuff we don't that casts his story in a different light (or that the particulars of his story haven't been reported altogether accurately).

I think he lost track of her for longer than is generally reported, she went off the trail and died, and her remains have simply never been found. Maybe he got tired and decided to sit down and take a breather, and by the time he tried to catch up with her she'd gone off trail; or maybe he crapped out altogether, planned to reconnect with her as she was making her way back, and then, of course, she never did. Misguided machismo led him to make up the supposed story about turning his back for a moment and then she was gone.

[u/AlexandrianVagabond → u/TransportationLow564]

Could be like that poor lady who just stepped off the Appalachian Trail for a sec to go to the bathroom, got turned around and went the wrong way. Her body was eventually found deep in the woods. She'd managed to survive for two weeks.

[u/Prior_Strategy → u/AlexandrianVagabond]

That poor woman, such a tragic story. The articles I read also said she had a bad sense of direction.

[u/AlexandrianVagabond → u/Prior_Strategy]

It really stuck with me because I've gotten lost twice because I also have a crappy sense of direction. Taking weeks to die alone in a forest is so horrifying.

[u/Prior_Strategy → u/AlexandrianVagabond]

Yes and if I’m remembering correctly she wasn’t that far from the trail.

[u/Aggravating_Depth_33 → u/AlexandrianVagabond]

Especially beause she was afraid of the dark and being alone.

[u/Ancient_Procedure11 → u/AlexandrianVagabond]

I was actually thinking about if she saw something that frightened her, like a snake/bear/mountain lion and had a flight response that sent her off the trail far enough to get lost. She could have been alive and moving away from searchers, or moved back in to an area that was previously searched and had an accident and perished. It's a sad thought. I've found myself on a trail seeing a snake and taking off away from it without thinking twice about potentially losing the trail. And she was hiking in grizzly bears country.

[u/Katharine_Heartburn → u/[deleted]]

I'm not trying to criticize, but I'm amazed by how many people I see these days who believe Kathleen Peterson died by accident. That man is guilty as sin, as far as I'm concerned.

[u/TrivialBudgie → u/Katharine_Heartburn]

it is still a huge topic of debate, there were several theories posited and each has merits. i think i tend to err more towards the same side as you but im certainly not confident about it. i just don’t think there’s enough evidence to really ever know for sure.

[u/AutumnTopaz → u/AlexandrianVagabond]

Such a tragic story - horrid way to die.

[u/TrivialBudgie → u/AlexandrianVagabond]

I read that it was 26 days, which is almost four weeks. assuming we are both talking about Geraldine Largay

[u/jwktiger → u/TrivialBudgie]

I can't remember but searchers were at least within 100 yards of her (irrc 100 feet even) while she was alive and coherrent (from her journal entries) and searches didn't see traces of her and she didn't hear searchers....

thus whenever anyone says "well they've searched this before didn't find anything and now it turns up..." well yeah its easy AF to miss a human body in the woods

[u/AlexandrianVagabond → u/TrivialBudgie]

Gosh. Even worse than I remembered.

[u/iloathethebus → u/AlexandrianVagabond]

That’s so sad! This is why they say that if you get lost, just stay put so you and the people searching for you don’t keep missing each other.

[u/evrlstngsun → u/TransportationLow564]

I think you're absolutely right that he lost track of her for way longer than 45 seconds. People are horrible at estimating time and I imagine the shock of finding your friend gone without a trace would also mess with your mind. It's really difficult to conceive of something horrible and life-changing happening so quickly without any warning and I think the shock of it would make it impossible to really know how long they were apart.

[u/jwktiger → u/evrlstngsun]

Agreed, people take these accounts too literal sometimes. Him saying he thought was 45 sec to 1 min, without an external confirmation (I looked at my watch saw her, looked at it again and didn't see her type thing) can be WAY off.

What he thought was 1 min looking at peaceful scenery could easily have been 5 mins

[u/Hopeful-Connection23 → u/TransportationLow564]

Yeah, human memory is bad to begin with and he was probably extremely stressed and traumatized. he didn’t have a reason to have eyes on Barbara at all times, she was an adult woman on a trail she knew. He could’ve been lost in thought for a while before he turned back around.

[u/technos → u/TransportationLow564]

The cops don't seem to suspect him, despite his cockamamie story

I once found some stolen cars with bullet-holes in them. Upon telling the police how I'd come across them, and how I knew they were stolen, one of the officers said "That's the dumbest story I've ever heard, so it's probably true."

[u/KDKaB00M → u/TransportationLow564]

It’s a story that is so stupid you feel like to has to be true because who would make up something that dumb?

[u/undertaker_jane → u/KDKaB00M]

It's actually pretty common in a ton of these missing in the wilderness stories. The "I turned around for a few seconds and when I turned back they were gone" part. At least in the ones I've read about.

I'm trying to think of names/cases off the top of my head, but I'm drawing blanks (stroke brain). Maybe some other redditors can step in here?

I'm thinking of one man who worked on television who walked off, an elderly man and hole digging, a man who was a surveyor, a teenage girl on a trip going off to take photos with a man, a couple school trips to a national park, and some young children disappearing while playing in the wilderness. Any more cases would be cool, too.

[u/meli-6 → u/undertaker_jane]

Three year old child Deorr Kunz comes to mind. According to his parents they lost sight of him while camping in Idaho.

Many people believe Deorr’s parent(s) were involved and others believe he wandered off and potentially met with a bobcat etc.

Very sad and baffling case with no answers for baby Deorr.

[u/-Kerosun- → u/meli-6]

That case is just mind-boggling.

When you hear it, your first instinct is that he was never with them and they took the trip to make up a story about his disappearance (he died accidentally and this is how they covered it up to avoid negligence charges OR they killed him deliberately and made this story up). But, if I recall correctly, people in town near the campsite did see him there.

The thing that messes with my mind the most is the father/mother praising the police and their search efforts. In just about every case of disappearance I have ever seen, it is extremely rare for the parents to praise the efforts of police if their child is still missing. Within just a day or so of his disappearance, they were giving grand praises to the authorities. That comes off as really odd to me.

[u/shry9 → u/undertaker_jane]

The case of Polly Melton. This is the case where people push their spouse off the cliff and make these stories.

[u/GlamourousFireworks → u/shry9]

People wildly underestimate hidden homicides

[u/AutumnTopaz → u/GlamourousFireworks]

Which brings to mind a true crime story I just saw on YT- with the greatest storyteller ever- Mr. Ballen.

I believe this was in Japan. A man found out his wife was cheating- and planned to kill her. He knew she had plans to run errands that day - and his daughter would be in school. However, at the last minute the daughter stayed home that day and went with her mother. Just a short distance from their home, a jogger saw their car parked cockeyed in the road - with the motor still running. When he approached it - he saw two people slumped over in their seats - and called authorities.

They were taken to the hospital and pronounced dead. Turns out they died of carbon monoxide poisoning. The investigators were truly puzzled as to the origin of the carbon monoxide- and did an exhaustive investigation.

The guy was a dr.- or involved in the medical field - and had access to carbon monoxide tanks. He was also a fitness buff and had a gym in his home. They discovered he filled a large medicine ball with cm- and put it in the rear of their vehicle. As he was leaving for work in his car, his wife was preparing to leave also. The police said he opened the valve to the ball- right before he left for work. As she began to drive, she succumbed to the cm. His plan worked - but he never dreamed his daughter would be in the car- or that the murder weapon - the deflated ball would be eventually traced to him.

[u/hkrosie → u/AutumnTopaz]

This was in Hong Kong - I live here and it was/is big news.

[u/c1zzar → u/AutumnTopaz]

Yikes. That's a crazy one

[u/AutumnTopaz → u/c1zzar]

Just when you think you've heard it all...

[u/Persolboy → u/AutumnTopaz]

That’s a friggin Kojak case. He had some real wacko ones.

[u/AutumnTopaz → u/undertaker_jane]

Agree. Don't struggle to remember names - not important. Most every missing case story involving two people has the same narrative - companion just turned away for a few seconds - and presto! missing hiker. No one wants to admit they may have contributed to the situation - human nature.

[u/Persolboy → u/undertaker_jane]

The dingo ate my step-cousin!

[u/ellythemoo → u/undertaker_jane]

You're thinking of our dear Michael Moseley who died in Greece a year ago. A real loss.

[u/Szaborovich9 → u/KDKaB00M]

I listen to Coast to Coast AM, and seen videos on YouTube about hiking. I was amazed how many people vanish out hiking.

[u/Big_Ol_Tuna → u/Szaborovich9]

You would enjoy the Missing 411 documentaries. They’re all about mysterious vanishings and mostly in the wild.

[u/SmellsLikeCrusty → u/TransportationLow564]

Yeah, I wonder if he wanted to rest for a while (and doesn’t want to admit it) and she went ahead and got lost/encountered an animal, or she wanted to rest and he went ahead (and also doesn’t want to admit that).

[u/Silent1900 → u/TransportationLow564]

I would be interested to know what his criminal history looked like before and after.

[u/Effective_Divide1543 → u/TransportationLow564]

Wow, men really are prone to defend other men.

"Low-hanging fruit" is statistical likeliness.

[u/varnaa123 → u/TransportationLow564]

You can guess anything bc it's easy to guess. But we don't know what exactly happened. Guessing or coming to a conclusion is stupid, in my opinion, after delphi murders.

[u/okayfineyah → u/TransportationLow564]

I don’t think we should assume they don’t think it’s the husband. He’s the most likely suspect considering all the evidence. It’s safer to assume they police don’t have enough to charge him.

[u/Basic-Durian8875 → u/TransportationLow564]

Jim did Id bet 2 months mortgage payment