Crime Junkie - MISSING: Barbara Bolick

Episode Date: July 18, 2024

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Hi, Crime Junkies. Thanks for tuning in to another Summer Thursday episode. If you're new here or you're playing catch-up, welcome. Mondays are Crime Junkie days, but for the rest of the summer, we wanted to celebrate five years of the Crime Junkie fan club by celebrating our fans. And to do that,

we wanted to release some of the fan club vault episodes to you. We did this last Thursday with our episode on Chuck Morgan, and this Thursday, I thought the perfect episode to share with you would be one of our mini episodes. We do one mini episode like this one, one full-length episode like you heard last Thursday, and one piece of special bonus content every single month

for the last five years in the fan club. And the reason I thought this particular mini episode was so perfect for today is because the missing person in our story actually went missing on this day, July 18th, back in 2007. If you're interested in even more episodes or first access to tour tickets, which might be a thing happening soon,

click the link in the show notes and join all your fellow Crime Junkies in our fan club app. I built it from scratch just for you. If you sign up directly through our website, you can use code FREESUMMER and new members get to join whatever tier you want for free for the rest of the summer, all of July and August. Alright, so without further ado, here is your Unlocked Vault episode. Hi Crime Junkies, I'm your host Ashley Flowers. And I'm Britt. And Britt, get ready, your head is going to freaking spin.

This is a case that has quite literally been keeping me up at night because it's about this woman who sets out one beautiful summer morning to hike her favorite trail up to her favorite mountain view. But that hike was anything but ordinary. And what happened on that mountain in 2007 remains a mystery to this very day. This is the story of Barbara Bullock. It's about 1.30 in the afternoon on a Wednesday in July of 2007. And Carl Bullock can't seem to match the concern of his cousin Donna, who was visiting him with her boyfriend Jim.

Now, you see, Donna's all tied up in knots because Jim and Carl's wife Barbara left to go hiking a few hours ago, but they're still not back, which is making Donna anxious. But Carl isn't worried. He doesn't think there's anything to be worried about. His wife is a seasoned hiker, and she'd taken Jim to her favorite spot nearby, which is Bear Creek Overlook Trail. It's only like 20 miles away from their house in Corvallis, Montana. And I mean, the whole thing is this like two and a half mile hike each way with this like

grand overlook at the top that has a view of all the mountains. It's super safe, super well marked. So he was thinking like, this is a pretty chill hike that even newbies could manage. And what time did they leave that morning? They left at like 8.30 or nine-ish. OK, so it's been what, like four hours at this point? Yeah, which to Carl is not that big of a deal. But Donna has been on this since noon,

when it had only been like three hours. So he's basically like, girl, you gotta chill. They are fine. They're gonna be home. But Donna can't or won't chill. I think maybe part of her amped up concern is that she was supposed to be out on the hike with them. Carl was never planning on going due to a heart attack he had.

He couldn't go. But Donna had been planning to go. Except when Barbara and Jim were, like, getting ready to leave that morning, Donna decided to stay back kind of last minute because she had a few too many the night before, and she's paying for it now. So, though her hangover is now subsiding, a different bad feeling was growing inside her gut, and she is all but panicking. Still though, Carl is not. Again, even though Jim's from out of town and isn't familiar with that trail, like, the worst thing he's thinking is like, Jim's from out of town.

He doesn't know the trail, even though him and Barbara were together, so like, maybe it's just taking them a little longer. Absolute worst worst case scenario is maybe they got a flat tire on their way back home. Okay, so why can't they just call them? Well, Barbara left her cell phone back at the house and I actually couldn't find any mention of Jim having a phone. 2007, he might have had one, might not have had one. It was kind of like hit or miss back then.

Plus, if he even did have one, I'm not sure what the reception situation is up on the mountains, or was back in 2007 anyway, so who knows? All I know is that by the time 2.30 PM rolls around, Donna's concern finally starts to rub off on Carl. Because even if Jim's inexperience on this trail slowed them down, even if they got a flat tire, they should be home by now, or at least be in touch. And Donna keeps pushing.

She thinks that Carl needs to call someone and report Barbara and Jim missing. And I'm sure there's still like a little part of Carl that's thinking she's overreacting. Like, again, nobody thinks bad things are actually happening. Barbara and Jim are probably gonna walk through the door any minute, they're all gonna joke about it, and they're gonna forget the whole thing by dinner.

But Donna keeps pressing him, and as she's pressing him, the phone rings. And honestly, I bet there was like this almost like instant of relief that Carl probably had thinking that Barbara and Jim finally figured out a way to get in touch. But when Carl answers the phone, his heart drops a little. He doesn't recognize the voice on the other end of the line, and any relief he felt washes away when the caller identifies herself as a Forest Service Officer. The first thing this officer asks is if his wife's name is Barbara, and then the next thing the officer says sends chills down his spine.

Barbara's been reported missing. Carl immediately jumps in his car to drive to the trailhead. According to reporting by Perry Backus in the Independent Record, which provided us a lot of information for this case, even now, as he's racing toward the Bitterroot Mountains, he is fully expecting Barbara to just be there when he arrives. Okay, but I'm confused. Just Barbara is missing? Where's Jim? Brit, I think everyone is confused at this point, because when Carl gets there, there is still no Barbara. But to your point, Jim, he's there. He's fine.

And before long, the scene is swarming with, I mean, everyone, investigators, officers from the Forest Service, and first responders who head into the forest to start their search for her. Okay, wait, I'm sorry, I'm still confused. So was it Jim who reported her missing then? Yeah, so they get the full story from him while the search for Barbara is underway.

And the story that he tells about what happened on that trail is just strange. Starting from when he and Barbara drove up to the trailhead that morning. So he says that the road leading up to where they were going to park was blocked off for construction, even though there wasn't a crew there yet. So they parked a bit down the road, but made it to the trailhead. Then they hiked up the trail. They made it all the way to that overlook like no problem. And then once they were up there, they sat down to have a snack. They enjoyed the view for maybe like 30 or 40 minutes. And when they were ready to head back down the trail, Barbara took the lead.

Again, she's the one that knows this so well. Now, when Jim's telling the story, he says he thinks she was like 20, 30 feet ahead of him, when all of a sudden he decided to stop for a second, just to kind of turn around, appreciate the view for one final time. And he estimates that he spent less than a minute, maybe 45 seconds, maybe a minute, looking back at the overlook, just soaking it all in. And this is it.

It's this window, this 45 second, one minute window where everything goes wrong, everything gets weird. Because when he turned back around, Barbara was just gone. Now, what? Yeah, he says he didn't panic at first. He just assumed that she hadn't realized that he'd stopped. She must have just kept descending down the trail. So he did the same thing, thinking she'd be waiting for him down near the construction site. But when he made it down, she wasn't there.

Now, by then there was a crew from the Forest Service working at the site. So he walked over to them and was like, hey, have you seen a woman pass by here? She's petite, athletic, 55 years old. But they're like, nope, nobody like that's been by here. Though one of the guys even offered to walk with Jim to his car, like just in case, thinking that Barbara's gonna be waiting for him there.

But you know, again, no one is still panicking. They're like, okay, we're working. Maybe we just didn't see her. So one of the guys even offers to walk with Jim, like down to his car, thinking that Barbara's gonna be there waiting. But when they get down there, still, no luck, no Barbara. So without really knowing what else to do, Jim decided to hike back up the trail to look for her.

And I think this is when the panic starts to set in for Jim. Because Bear Creek Overlook Trail isn't one that you just get lost on. The Ravalli County Sheriff later explains in an article for the Missoulin that, quote, "...the trail to the overlook isn't a place where a person might take a wrong turn and get lost. It's a fairly confined area. The trail goes up to an overlook. It's an up-and-back deal."

End quote. Did he hear anything when he was looking back at the overlook? Like, could she have fallen somewhere? No, that's what's so bizarre. He hadn't heard anything. Like no fall, no shuffle, no scream. And while there is a cliff along one side of the trail, the thing is Barbara's afraid of heights so she's not going to be like walking up to that and being reckless. She's not like be like walking up to that and being reckless.

And she's not like on the edge. No, and even if for some reason she was and she took a tumble or something, he would have heard that, right? What do you think? So anyways, he walks back up to the overlook. The whole time he's like calling out her name, blowing on his safety whistle, trying to do anything to get Barbara's attention. And to get back up there, it took him like an hour and a half for like the whole trip, up there and back down again. Whole time he doesn't see her, he doesn't see anything that stands out. And when he came to the end of the trail for a second time, that's when he's in a full on panic because Barbara was just straight up gone.

So he approached the Forest Service crew again. and that's when Barbara was reported missing. Was there anybody else on the trail with them when they were out there? So it wasn't like a super busy trail or at least at that time because the only story that I have found in the research is this one that Jim tells about these two guys who were hiking the trail at the same time too and I guess they had some kind of like brief interaction with them when Jim and Barbara were taking that breather at the overlook area. But it wasn't anything weird or ominous, just like super casual, hi, how are you kind of

exchange and then the men left. Like they were sitting down when they came, they had this exchange, they're still sitting down like hanging out Barbara and Jim. And then these guys like leave. Nothing strange. Okay this is gonna sound far-fetched but what about the wildlife out there? I mean what are the odds that she was maybe attacked by some kind of animal in this area? Well I mean there are like the occasional mountain lion or bear. Carl had actually even given Barbara a gun a while ago just for that scenario. Not that it would have helped because she like kept it at the bottom of her bag. It's actually even given Barbara a gun a while ago just for that scenario.

Not that it would have helped because she like kept it at the bottom of her bag. It's actually something that was kind of like a running joke between them. Like it's practically useless. Like again, if you're getting attacked by a bear, you've got to like dig and dig. Like by the time you get to it, you're toast. Okay. But I guess in that situation, I mean, let's say she gets attacked by a mountain lion or whatever, doesn't find her gun in time. I mean, I feel like there would still at least be signs of an attack though, right?

Totally, sorry, and like that's where I was going with this, but like, yes, there's bears, there's all this wildlife, like they were even anticipating it, cause she has this gun, but to your point, like, okay, there would have been screams for sure. There would have been blood, like that kind of thing isn't happening without making a trace.

You know what I'm saying? Yeah. So investigators right away are kind of at a loss, but the best thing that they can do is find and talk to anyone who would have been on or around that trail when Barbara was, starting with the Forest Service crew that was there at the construction site. According to that reporting by Perry Backus, they explained that when they arrived that morning, which was sometime after maybe like 9.30 or 10,

there had been two cars parked nearby. Now we know one was Jim's, and the other car was this older SUV. It was light colored, might've been like a Chevy Blazer, they're not really sure, but it did have a Missoula County license plate. So the crew says they get there, they get to work, and eventually a couple of guys who are maybe in their early 20s come walking down from the road that leads up to the trailhead.

And they said it was just the two of them and a dog. So these are the same guys that Jim and Barbara saw then? Probably. Everything I've seen from the research makes it sound like law enforcement thinks that these are the same guys. The description that the crew gave kind of generally matches what Jim provided, but honestly both are super generic. Perry Backus described them as, quote, well-tanned, average-fit young guys.

Cool. Yeah, exactly. But anyways, these guys come down through the construction site acting completely normal again They're not like lugging a bag that could have a woman inside. They're not dragging something behind them There's it's just the two of them in their dog the crew says that they stopped and made small talk with the forest crew and they let their dog play like in this nearby creek and Even though they didn't see them with any of the cars, the crew kind of just assumed that these guys had to be in one of the two cars, right? And like we know one was Jim's. So police are assuming that this other car

belonged to these two guys. Right. But we don't actually know that though, right? Again, nothing explicitly says that. But based on everything that law enforcement has put out, it seems like law enforcement is confident that this second car was their car. Okay. And I don't know if that's just because there weren't many other people on the trail that day. I mean, truly, they might have been the only people on the trail that day other than Barbara

and Jim. I don't know. So, they're letting the dog play, they're kind of making small talk, they don't stick around for long, and then the Forest Service crew just kind of gets back to work. And then they say it was like 45 minutes later before another hiker, who we know to be Jim, comes walking down the blocked off road and asks if they had seen a woman matching Barbara's description. Now, their story matches his, that after they say no, he walks back up the trail, eventually

comes back down an hour and a half later and said that he needed to report Barbara missing. Now, unless police can find these two other hikers, they're out of potential witnesses to interview. So everyone's attention turns to the search for Barbara, which is now in full swing. According to reporting by Jessica Mayer and the Missoula Independent,

by 5 p.m. law enforcement is conducting a full-scale ground search. And over the next 48 hours, they even call in helicopters and search dogs from the nearby bigger cities to help. But they find nothing. There is no sign of an injury, no abandoned day pack, no torn clothing,

no sign of a fall, no abandoned day pack, no torn clothing, no sign of a fall, no sign of a struggle. Not with a person and not with an animal. From what I can tell, even the search docs don't pick up any scent. Or if they do, it's never been reported on. So what if she never even made it there, Ashley? I think that's a good question. One that I know investigators even started asking themselves.

Because really, when they think about it, they only have Jim placing her on that trail right now. And they're not necessarily ready to just take him at his word when the circumstances are so stinking strange. The only way that they can know if he is on the up and up is if they can find those men who supposedly would have seen and talked to Barbara. But how do you find them if no one knows who those young men are?

Now, to be clear, police don't think that these young men were involved in Barbara's disappearance. After all, the Forest Service crew estimated that they came back down a full 45 minutes before Jim did, and there was nothing suspicious about their behavior. But as Perry Johnson, the lead investigator for Barbara's case for the Ravalli County Sheriff's Office, repeatedly says in the days and weeks following Barbara's disappearance,

the men would at least be able to confirm the fact that Barbara had made it to the trail at all. at least be able to confirm the fact that Barbara had made it to the trail at all. And they don't exactly hide the fact that they're not totally convinced that she did. Officer Johnson says that to him, the men are the quote unquote key to this case, because if she was never there, then there are some tough questions Jim has to answer. There are some tough questions Jim has to answer. Okay, but what motive does Jim have to do anything to her? I mean, he's what, her husband's cousin's boyfriend? I mean, I don't even know if I know the names

of those people in my life. So, did they even really know each other before Jim and Donna's visit? You know, I'm not sure if they did or if they didn't. Some sources call him like a family friend, but that could have just been shorthand for like, to your point, husband's cousin's boyfriend, you know? So whether they did or did not, though,

no one is claiming that Jim's got any beef with Barbara or even any reason to hurt her. But I mean, we know not every crime is premeditated. And I mean, we know more than anything that people don't always have a logical explanation for doing terrible things. But I mean, we know not every crime is premeditated. And I mean, we know more than anything that people don't always have a logical explanation for doing terrible things. So I mean, again, it's something you have to look at.

Like if he did do something, if you hurt her, if he's lying or whatever, there might not be a reason. Okay, but here's the problem I have with that. He's not familiar with this area, right? He's visiting. Barbara was taking him to a place that she was familiar with this area, right? He's visiting. Barbara was taking him to a place that she was familiar with. I feel like even when it's completely illogical,

most people choose to kill people in areas that they're familiar with. True. On top of that, he wasn't even supposed to be out there with her alone in the first place. I mean, Donna was supposed to be with them that morning. The theory just doesn't really add up to me. I mean, I agree, but that's the problem with this case, Brit.

No theory adds up. You cannot tell me a theory that makes sense with what we know right now if we're taking everything as fact. And that's why we're just, we're missing something. So while they don't call Jim a suspect over these first few days, they do consider him a person of interest.

Again, not necessarily because there's any evidence that points to him being the culprit, but because there just isn't anyone else. Now this whole while, they keep trying to find those two men. And they keep searching for Barbara. And the search for her right now is massive. I mean, there are numerous agencies that have pitched in and gotten involved, including the Ravalli County

Sheriff's Office, the National Guard, the Department of Homeland Security, the US Forest Service, and the search and rescue teams from both Missoula and Ravalli County. And that's not even saying anything of the volunteers, like the Bull's friends, they have neighbors come out, relatives, as well as just like random civilians who want to help. All of them come on their own time to conduct their own unofficial searches. Which is like heartwarming and honestly,

like overwhelming to Carl because he just like is so grateful to these people who he knows and doesn't know who are trying to help him. He actually publishes a letter to the editor of the Ravalli Republic just to express his appreciation. So these searches keep happening and over the next few weeks there are more, more searches, more helicopters, even ones equipped with infrared cameras so they can conduct aerial searches at night. But Britt, they find nothing. It is like she evaporated into thin air. When ground searches are eventually called off a few weeks later, authorities are just as confused as ever. And without any other evidence to support the theory that Jim did something

to Barbara, either on the mountain or before they got there, Ravalli County Sheriff Chris Hoffman states in reporting by Jessica Mayer that they've basically ruled him out. Jessica Mayer And they still haven't found the two other hikers? Jessica Mayer No, so that's the thing. This is like, again, something I can't get over. Those guys never come forward. Like, to this very day have not come forward. No one knows who they are. Again, even though detectives are like listen, we don't consider them suspects. We don't even consider them persons of interest, which to me is like too strange.

Why wouldn't you come forward? Well and thinking through this, what could they have been able to do to Barbara without her making a peep without leaving any trace of her behind? I mean, the sheriff even said this trail is like an up and back deal. It's pretty clear they didn't bring her back down with them. They even chatted with that construction crew on their way out. And surely all those searches would have turned up something, some trace of her, even just her scent,

if she was somewhere on that mountain. Yeah, but you would think though, I mean, they would have literally had to like pull her off, do something to her, leave her there, and then get back down, because they're down 45 minutes before Jim comes down. Yeah, the timeline is even tight. You need to try it.

Yeah, and they don't find her. I mean, when I look at something like this, I always have the Israel Keys of the world living in the back of my head now. Not necessarily him, but right? He's not the only one who's operating like that. We just don't know about the other ones yet. But to your point, what we're talking about is where the hell would someone even take her?

And I don't know if like maybe if I knew the area more if it would make more sense I mean, maybe there are places to go off the trail, but it just seems so it seems so risky Yeah, I mean Jim turned around for a minute and you couldn't like plan that he was going to do that I even turn around like it's literally somebody sitting in wait who... Hoping that they would have maybe an opportunity at some point that day with someone. And you just like scoop her up and whisk her off. Where? How?

Well, and in all these years, I mean, have they put anyone else on the mountain at the same time? No. Like Carl couldn't have snuck away and done something? Or Donna? Literally anyone else in her life? No, so they haven't placed anyone else on that mountain, but like, there has to be, right?

I don't know, but they haven't placed anyone else. They pretty much rule out Carl, because we know, right, like Carl and Donna were together, like they're each other's alibi at home. Jim would have definitely recognized Carl, like if Carl did something like, I mean, it had to have been, it would have been like the worst plan in like the history of plans that he got the luckiest in the history of luck kind of thing. It doesn't make sense. There's no way it happened.

It's a total no-go. Plus, Carl is absolutely devastated by his wife going missing. Okay. But then who or I mean or what at this point does that leave? She walked away, the earth swallowed her up, aliens? I mean, there's weird option D, like this one source was like, oh, what if there's like this mountain man, which I think is what I was maybe thinking when I was like, oh, there's some dude just like sitting and waiting. Okay.

I don't know. What? A mountain man? Yeah, I don't, again, I think people are grasping at straws. I don't know what they mean by Mountain Man. I'm assuming, again, it refers to somebody who's like very off the grid, like lives in the mountains. Again, maybe would know it better than anyone so he could take her somewhere.

Okay, but they searched high and low even with infrared. I mean, I feel like they would have found the Mountain Man if he existed. Brit, I know. And again, there's nothing that's ever been out there that provides evidence of said Mountain Man. Like, what? But there's just nothing else. Okay. And again, I don't even think Mountain Man. Is her walking away from her life like actually a valid option then?

I mean, so some people have theorized that like, maybe she just decided to start a new life somewhere else as someone else. But like every other theory, to me, there are these massive holes. Like, for one, all she had on her was her day pack and the clothes that she's wearing. No ID, no passport, no money. Like, as far as Carl says, life's going great for Barbara and the whole Bullock family. She's like, even learning to fly a plane. Now, you could get really conspiratoial, be like, oh, she left and she was learning to fly so she could fly out of the country. But like, that is some like wild, Wild like Tiger King Carole Baskin. That's some deep shit. Yeah, exactly She also like I mean she had these new hobbies like she was taking up skiing. She loved to travel they had this like cruise plan that was like all booked and ready to go for the fall and Again, okay. So say say we're going like wild conspiracy. whatever. That's why she's learning to fly.

She definitely wanted to start a new life. Doesn't matter that she had a cruise book. Like, we have the same issue that every other theory has. Was it just like the logistics of it all? How does she get herself off that mountain? Like, we know she doesn't come back down via the trail. How would she be able to do it without leaving a trace behind? And in under a minute

with her hiking companion like 20 or 30 feet away? And reminder, she was supposed to have two hiking companions that day. Right. I mean, obviously you said she was an avid hiker, pretty physically fit, and this was like a really familiar favorite trail of hers. I mean, maybe she could have walked off the trail and made her way down some other way, but it still just seems like so much chance. Wouldn't, like, even if she did that, wouldn't searchers have found some trace of her?

Ashley, I am grasping at straws too. I don't know. I don't either. And like, even when this theory is brought up, Carl is adamant, like, this is something she would not do. She's not going to walk away. She's not going to do this to him, not to her family, not to her, like, beloved pets. So that's it? I mean, Barbara just poof, evaporated on the mountain, and no one's ever found out

how or why? I mean, that's it. There was, like, this tiny brief moment of hope in 2010 when some mushroom pickers came across skeletal remains, but authorities concluded pretty quickly that the remains likely belonged to a male. And I mean from what I found, although they do their best to determine who he is, as far as I can tell his identity has actually never been determined. And so Barbara's case is still a mystery to this day. In a 2014 interview in the Missoula Independent, Ravalli County Sheriff Chris Hoffman said that not a week goes by that he doesn't think of Barbara Bullock.

He explained that investigators hadn't ruled out any scenarios, but he did make special note of the wildness and vastness of this area, making this kind of like little pinching gesture with his hand saying if you don't feel about that big in that country, you're not seeing it for what it is. So maybe every theory is possible. Maybe she's still out there. I mean, I again, I said it early on, like I maybe the piece I'm missing is the vastness of this land, like right when he's saying this, I don't think I'm understanding or I'm underestimating this place, right? Like, maybe anything is possible.

So if you were ever out on the trails, crime junkies, do not let beauty lull you into security. Always be vigilant because anything can happen at any time. If you know anything about the disappearance of Barbara Bullitt, call the Ravalli County Sheriff's Office at 406-375-4060. And if somehow this message reaches those two other male hikers, what you have to say is still so vitally important. Please contact the Sheriff's Office. Don't forget if you want more Crime Junkie episodes like this one, new members can try

the Fan Club app for free in July and August when you sign up through our website and use code FREESUMMER. Head to the link in the show notes and make sure you hit the follow button here so you don't miss any bonus content that we put out. We'll be popping back in your feed next Thursday with another Volt episode. Bye Crime Junkie is an AudioChuck production. So, what do you think, Chuck? Do you approve?