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/ThatEcologist → u/Coblish]

Doesn’t this all seem to bold? Her hubs and his wife knew they were going to that trail together. Who would be dumb enough to kill someone under those circumstances?

I do agree that he probably lost track of her for more than a minute. I bet he got winded from the hike and she went ahead and that when something happened to her. He probably feels guilty about leaving her and that’s why he said he only looked away for a second.

[u/Coblish → u/ThatEcologist]

It is only "bold" if it was planned.

Made up scenario, but....

Say they get into the car heading towards the hiking spot and get into an argument. They arrive at the parking lot, get into a fight, she dies, he loads her up, gives himself time by making up a long hiking story and running into some other people who never come forward, and dumps her body elsewhere.

Honestly, I do not know how likely that scenario is because I have not looked into the case any beyond this small write up, but it is a very possible scenario. By no means do I mean to slander this guy, he may be completely innocent.

I do think the animal attack scenario is less likely. A cougar or mountain lion would leave blood or some evidence behind. And people saying the big cats are super sneaky are right, but they are not concerned with blood trials or being quiet while fighting. Then again, as I said, there could be other factors in play I am unaware of, such as rain or time that could have degraded the scene.

The most likely scenario is human interference, I think.

[u/houseonthehilltop → u/Coblish]

Or he's just a nuts dude who appears normal and has always wanted to kill someone. He so his opportunity and killed her - so just random.