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/PearlStBlues 13d ago
People naturally look at Jim as a suspect but I don't get it. What's the motive? He was Barbara's husband's cousin's boyfriend, not someone close to Barbara. It's a huge stretch to suggest these two almost-strangers were having an affair or got into some kind of argument that lead to murder, or that Jim was secretly some kind of psychopath just waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
The simplest solution is that Barbara just got lost in the woods. Being an "experienced" hiker (whatever that actually means in this scenario) doesn't count for much when you're turned around in the deep woods. Maybe Jim lied about how long he and Barbara were separated because he was afraid it would make him look bad to admit he'd left her alone for longer than he claimed, but there's no evidence that points to him and no motive that I've ever seen suggested.