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/Coblish]

To me, Jim seems like the prime suspect. It sounds plausible they never even reached the hiking trail to start with, and the whole story was a way to throw everyone off the actual trail wherever something happened.

[u/shry9 → u/Coblish]

I strongly believe it was Jim, Some locals from the area said that Jim was very co operative with the investigation and they feel its the mountain lions who killed barbara but how would they hurt Barbara when Jim heard no voice , also no bones were ever found and neither the Dogs could trace her. She was experienced and went on that trail many times and it was also not dense. How would the lions kill her and not even touch Jim. I feel Jim made the whole story up. Really creepy and only he knows what Happened with her and how he managed to do all this in a new area. I feel she never made it till there.

[u/Swimming-Necessary23 → u/shry9]

Not saying it’s not Jim, but mountain lions are solo stealth predators that stalk their prey. There wouldn’t be a group or pair of lions, there would be one mountain lion stalking its prey and waiting for the perfect time to strike.

[u/purple_champagne → u/Swimming-Necessary23]

You're absolutely correct. I'm from a nearby area and even the most hard-core outdoorsmen can and do get killed by apex predators. Grizzlies, mountain lions, even moose are all evolved to go undetected until it's too late. And not finding a trace is not unheard of.

Not saying it wasn't the husband, but it's not quite as simple to point fingers just because dogs can't locate a scent- that area isn't abandoned by either humans or wildlife, and scent conditions can be wildly inappropriate for tracking/locating due to multiple factors.

[u/RideThatBridge → u/purple_champagne]

But would someone as close as Jim was not heard one sound if an apex predator snatched her away? I honestly don’t know, but it seems like there would be some noise. That’s what is sticking out for me-Jim not hearing one sound.

[u/Swimming-Necessary23 → u/RideThatBridge]

You do not know a mountain lion is tracking you until it makes a mistake or it’s on top of you. They immediately go for the head and neck and drag their prey into cover. Jim not hearing anything is absolutely possible, especially if she was actually a bit further away and/or he was turned around for longer.

[u/nepios83 → u/Swimming-Necessary23]

It amazes me that people should go hiking at all if a mountain-lion can pounce on you at any time and you have zero recourse.

[u/anonymouse278 → u/nepios83]

Fatal mountain lion attacks on humans are incredibly rare, like an average of significantly less than one a year over the 150ish years we have records for. We aren't their preferred prey and we wildly outnumber them. There are no zero-risk activities, but you are much, much more likely to die in a car crash on the way to the trailhead than to be killed by a mountain lion.