Found Deceased IA - Mollie Tibbetts, 20, Poweshiek County, 19 Jul 2018 #11

[Madison418]

This is what I have thought all along. Or a slight variation which I don’t think I can put forward here yet. Re: ID still being there—I bet she had one for the daycare identifying her as an employee. Almost would need to with kids especially if they were taking them to the fair (I think they were). So if she was not driving she would not need her license-just her work ID. Throw that in a pocket with some $ and she’s good to go.

This is my theory as well. And it could be that she forgot her license? I hope we learn more today and that's she found very soon.

 

[Harmony 2]

They should interview every single sex offender or <modsnipped> stalker like (or WC?) in the area.

*New member Q: Can I write full names or do I have to use their initials?

Welcome WhimsicalWillow! Thank you for joining the discussion. Initials are preferred.

 

[Amonet]

A nagging thought I have is that if the perp is known to Mollie and known to the dogs - it's possible the perp fed the dogs and put them in the basement. In that case, Mollie was possibly taken while in the house. But there are no signs of that, that we know of.

If she fed the dogs and left for the day, was she hurt/restrained in a car? That does make some sense, right?

IDK. IDK. IDK.

jmo

That's an interesting thought. Would fingerprinting be able to show if Mollie's handprint was the last on the door to the basement or if someone else's handprint was overlaying hers?

 

[Hatfield]

I will add, if the storms that Iowa experienced are anything like NE Colorado experienced, my kids were in the closet downstairs with my pets. I was up monitoring radar and recieving REDALERT calls which is offered to residents in my town. I think its very likely she spent the night in the basement with the dogs. I cannot tell you how many were hidden at shelters, basements, bathtubs and closets during this storm, but trust me, everyone except the chaser nuts of course were ducking for cover. I just hope this young lady is found to give her family the closure they so desperately need and that Justice is served. IMHO

JMO
Someone awhile back posted the weather the night before and morning after but I cant recall when the storms hit. I think it was the morning she had to go to work but not totally sure.

One thing which is not too likely but since it seems she just disappeared I was wondering if it was possible she took a very early morning jog and tried to take shelter somewhere in a field and got hit by lightning.

If the red shirt turns out to be hers then I doubt she would have jogged that far before work. The red shirt is going to be the key to know if she was abducted or not. I hope LE at least can tell us if they think that was her shirt or not.

 

[MargeGunderson]

An interesting observation. However, Iowa is not flat, and what you are observing is the natural contours of the farmland.

I’ve only been to Iowa once but that is what struck me the most. There is a misconception that Iowa is super flat. At least I was under that impression. But it really isn’t. Beautiful rolling hills and farmland.

 

[Millhouse]

One thing I've been wondering (and perhaps missed along the way) is the way they base their information off of for the claim she was doing homework. I assume she was taking an online class (do we know that for sure? Was it through U Iowa, or, another institution like a community college?). So, did they find her computer with a document of some sort open that had clearly been worked on that evening? Were there just materials sitting around indicating she was working? Or, if it's an online class, there are online learning platforms (ie, Blackboard, or another one) that indicated she logged in at a certain time that night and worked on some things?

Depending on the settings and exact learning platform being used. those online platforms store a lot of information, such as the time logged in, what content went to, etc.
Source: I have taught online classes and verified student log-ins or attempts if they told me they had trouble while taking a quiz.

 

[gregjrichards]

Press conference is in two hours time. 9:30 am Iowa time.

 

[zecats]

Okay this is all just my opinion, but I keep thinking of the dogs in the basement. When dog sitting, your gone all day at work, the dogs are in the basement, you get them up, feed and water them, walk them, play with them. Then you head out for your jog. Lovely a storm is coming, you head back home. (now I must add we had horrid storms two days in a row last week here in Colorado, multiple tornado's and too dang close for comfort). So, regardless of how much a dog barks, you may tell them to shush, but your not going to put the poor dogs back in the basement they have been in all day. HOWEVER....Storms....tornado's. Perhaps she joined them in the basement for the night so she could actually get some rest while weathering out the tornadic storms in a somewhat safe fashion. Morning comes, walk the pups, put them back into the basement. Perhaps wet and yucky out, but not storming anymore, you head out for work walking. Red shirt and change of clothes in tote. Someone familiar to you offers you a ride and you get in. I cannot tell you how many times I take pity on someone in my small town, and offer them a ride if I know them or know of them. I don't believe it happened at the house, I think it would be a crime scene and have MUCH more activity if their were signs something happened there. I also believe I heard the red shirt had a logo on it, the officers are not going to search for hours because of just any red shirt found, I think they found one with said logo. I don't believe suicide or runaway is involved here. I also am heartbroken for her family. I think this is an aquaintance from possibly afar, but in her town. Again this is all just my opinion.

From earlier posts and weather links it seems the tornadic storms were the next night. I agree about the dogs though. She was there to care for them and likely was a reliable pet sitter. Perhaps they had to go out in the middle of the night, or earlier than usual. She would have taken care of that I assume. Maybe she threw on the red shirt over her pajamas as it was handy, picked up her phone but didn’t bother with contacts or glasses. She could have decided to feed them and put them in the basement so she could either go back to bed or start getting ready. IMO things could have gone badly after that.

 

[iowakansaskentucky]

Has there been any word as to any shoes that may be missing from the residence? Her activities during the time in question: jogging, possibly answering the front door, going to bed, possibly leaving to find a way to work the next morning all require different pairs of shoes: jogging shoes, sandals or house shoes, no shoes, and work shoes. If one of those pairs of shoes are missing, that will help investigators pinpoint what she may have been doing when she disappeared. If no shoes are missing, it tells me she answered the door without shoes or someone sneaked in and took her.

 

[gregjrichards]

Has there been any word as to any shoes that may be missing from the residence? Her activities during the time in question: jogging, possibly answering the front door, going to bed, possibly leaving to find a way to work the next morning all require different pairs of shoes: jogging shoes, sandals or house shoes, no shoes, and work shoes. If one of those pairs of shoes are missing, that will help investigators pinpoint what she may have been doing when she disappeared. If no shoes are missing, it tells me she answered the door without shoes or someone sneaked in and took her.

Welcome to Websleuths iowakansaskentucky! Excellent question I have wondered this too.

 

[Blissful12]

Here is the report on the PCSO Facebook page. On July 22nd, it states that something had been recovered/found off of Highway 21 that ISP AND PCSO both responded to. On the 23rd, suspicious activity was reported in the Deep River Park. The FBI got involved shortly after. These are two things on gigantic lists of police updates, however the timing and search location are what gets me.

<moderator edited first image>

 

[Hatfield]

Sorry bit lengthy,but might be useful information to people without fitbits.

This type of fitbit device basically records three types of information :
1) Steps taken
2) Heart rate
3) Time

The device will take a sample of the heart rate every 5 seconds, unless you are doing an "activity" such as running , in which case it will record every second. You can trigger an activity either manually by pressing the appropriate button to start and stop or the device will attempt to automatically recognise an activity by changes in the heart rate, or an increase in the number of steps.

The fitbit will calculate the length of the run by multiplying the number of steps by stride length (which can be calibrated), so this method isn't as accurate as GPS, but in my experience is within 15% accuracy.

The fitbit stores this data locally on the device, and will store about 7 days worth, and then start overwriting the oldest data. Generally people want to store the data longer term to track progress etc so you need to sync the data with another device.

On an iPhone, you would download the fitbit app onto the iPhone, connect to the fitbit by bluetooth and it will ask you to pair the device by the fitbit sending a number which you enter on the iPhone.

Now the device is paired, syncing can occur automatically in the background as long as the fitbit is close (say <10 metres), I believe as part of syncing the data will be uploaded by the fitbit app on the iPhone to fitbit servers. Once it's stored on fitbit's servers you can view the data on other devices by logging into your fitbit account.

Now, whilst the fitbit can sync automatically in the background, a lot of people turn this off and decide to sync manually, the main reason is that battery life takes a hit on both your fitbit and iPhone. In my case the fitbit's battery went from about 5 days to 1 day ! so I would typically sync once I got back from a run.

Note that at no point does the fitbit device record your location or "ping" wifi devices or cell towers, so you can't "track" a fitbit device, fitbit data is as I stated at the beginning, limited to time, steps and heart rate.

Now the story changes if you run with your iPhone as well - which I'll post separately if people find this useful....

Thanks. Earlier threads there was much discussion and it matches closely to what you mentioned. She was known to run with her Cell Phone on her arm in a holder according to what I read so it is assumed her Fitbit was communicating with her Cell phone to get location data.

But you are right that it would depend on last Synching how accurate the location data was on the Fitbit. I suspect LE is using the Phones information too along with whatever they can get from Fitbit.

 

[PhoebeTries]

Thanks, this is super helpful!

Press conference is in two hours time. 9:30 am Iowa time.

 

[zecats]

Hi. I’m not exactly a new member. I joined several years ago but I mostly observe, read and follow some posts. This case seems to have enticed many of us to try and help. Kudos to all for that. Something to ponder about the dogs though. She was there to care for them and likely was a reliable pet sitter. Perhaps they had to go out in the middle of the night, or earlier than usual. She would have taken care of that I assume. Maybe she threw on the red shirt over her pajamas as it was handy, picked up her phone but didn’t bother with contacts or glasses. She could have decided to feed them and put them in the basement so she could either go back to bed or start getting ready. IMO things could have gone badly after that

 

[gregjrichards]

Search teams are scouring ditches near a pig farm after a red shirt, tied to missing college student Mollie Tibbetts, was found nearby.

Tibbetts, 20, disappeared from her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa, on the evening of July 18, sparking a huge manhunt.

Police have been searching a number of pig farms and other properties in Iowa but found no traces of Tibbetts - until now.

A person mowing near to a previously searched pig farm, close to the Lincoln Wildfire Reserve, called police after they discovered a red shirt tied to the missing student. Police would not confirm it belonged to Tibbetts, but employees at the day care center where she worked, revealed their uniform included a red shirt

Red shirt tied to missing Iowa college student, 20, found near previously searched pig farm | Daily Mail Online

 

[minazoe]

it could also be her abductor wanted it to look like she left, so took a bag containing the shirt, that may have been on a table or near her other things. she could have had a tote no one remembers. maybe something belonging to the female roomate, that she borrowed and put the new work shirt in etc..to bring home from work.

the dogs are really pulling my chain.

moo

 

[seestr8]

With all the clues we have thus far - I believe the perp entered the house through an unlocked door at some point in the middle of the night, which sent the dogs into a barking fit. She grabs her phone to use as a light source while she goes downstairs to sush them. The perp, using the barking dogs and the darkness to hide, grabs Molly and leaves the house.

 

[cluciano63]

Refusing to give a timeline/time of disappearance is unprecedented, as far as I know, in a missing persons case. I can only think that the perp is someone very close to her, that the timing is being used to confirm alibis...this may not be the reason but it makes no sense otherwise. How can the public even know if they “know”something if not given this most basic bit of info...

 

[Amonet]

Here is the other article, with JC

Officials continue searching for signs of Mollie Tibbetts

WC is JC's husband?

Edit, I've now seen posts here saying that WC is JC's brother-in-law.

 

[Twinny]

Search teams are scouring ditches near a pig farm after a red shirt, tied to missing college student Mollie Tibbetts, was found nearby.

Tibbetts, 20, disappeared from her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa, on the evening of July 18, sparking a huge manhunt.

Police have been searching a number of pig farms and other properties in Iowa but found no traces of Tibbetts - until now.

A person mowing near to a previously searched pig farm, close to the Lincoln Wildfire Reserve, called police after they discovered a red shirt tied to the missing student. Police would not confirm it belonged to Tibbetts, but employees at the day care center where she worked, revealed their uniform included a red shirt

Red shirt tied to missing Iowa college student, 20, found near previously searched pig farm | Daily Mail Online

Its not confirmed if its the red shirt yet. I pray it isnt that guy is creepy.