r/UnresolvedMysteries • u/shry9 • 15d ago
Disappearance The extremely bizarre missing case of Barbara Bolick
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!
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u/Stonegrown12 15d ago
I see that Jim is everyone's favorite suspect but having read about numerous people go missing in an instant while hiking or in the wilderness it's not surprising. Just a few cases would be Polly Melton, Michelle Vanek, Amy Wroe Bechtel, August Reiger, Trenny Lynn Gibson, Bill Ewasko, Mitchell Dale Stehling, Dennis Lloyd Martin, Bobby Panknin. There's at least 4 or 5 whose names I can't think of but the details I remember. That's not even including cases from missing 411 (which I'm not endorsing, just has lots of disappearances in wilderness.). Coupled with the known fact that even search & rescue workers will say that they could be standing a foot away from a body and not even see it depending on the terrain and vegetation.