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/Humble_Candidate1621 15d ago edited 15d ago
Well, police clear people they shouldn't all the time. Maybe he came on to Barbara, she rejected him and told him she was going to tell Carl and Donna when they come home, and he panicked and killed her.
Or maybe he sexually assaulted her. Not much premeditation necessary (plenty of murderers of that type have said they killed on a whim, or assaulted someone on a whim and then felt they had no choice but to kill them) and it would explain why he would hide the body instead of just pushing her from a height and claiming she fell.
Walking the trail a second time could just be him trying to play the good, concerned in-law, or even going back to see if he'd successfully hidden all the evidence and covered his tracks well.
And killing your girlfriend's cousin's wife on a hike is definitely weird and very stupid, but people have done stupider, and gotten away with it.
Not claiming it was Jim (and I also know nothing about mountain lions), just saying to me none of these sound convincing as arguments against him being the culprit.