Found Deceased IA - Mollie Tibbetts, 20, Poweshiek County, 19 Jul 2018 #13

[Suglo]

You’re right. I just put it in airplane mode and this warning came up. I have the Alta HR.

 

[Purplepixii]

Between the press conferences, the large reward for MT's safe return and the repeated message of "let Mollie go", it seems that LE has a very strong reason to believe that she may be held alive somewhere.

This, coupled with the repeated questioning of WC and asking him to take a polygraph would indicate that the authorities might suspect that either he or somebody he knows might be suspected of abducting her and holding her against her will.

What makes this all very muddy to me however is the repeated theme by Crime Stoppers, LE and even her own father of "somebody close to MT" possibly being responsible for her disappearance as there is zero evidence that WC was close to MT in any way.

I’d say this was entirely possible. Although he makes a good fall guy I’m more intrigued about the connection between him & “somebody close to MT”. Not throwing any shade here, just typing out loud. JMO.

 

[feralwriter]

University of Iowa, Carver? U.S. News and World Report ranked it highly.

Yep, same. Who'd have thought *Iowa* would be that high up in anything but corn? Not me. Shocked when I moved there to learn that. Is why I mentioned it.

 

[jashrema]

It's not letting me quote "JoJoJo" but I can address the FBI stuff in relation to my family's case. The FBI have to be called in by local jurisdication. They are called in as they have many more resources than local LE. Their investigators, their labs, their computer experts, etc. In Mollie's case, local LE waited 6 days to call in the FBI. Personally, I think that was a huge error.
In Ce's case. FBI was called in immediately by local sheriff. They were on scene within 24 hours of her missing, in force. Within 24 hours, there were numerous LE agencies on site. Local Sheriff, Michigan State Police, Ohio State Police, Metamora/Fulton County Sheriff, Lucas County Sheriff, Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, FBI, Toledo police, Oregon police, all the outlying Police forces in the area sent officers to help. I couldn't even tell you the number of LE that was onsite helping on her case. We received her cell phone and fitbit info within 24 hours of her going missing.
It all depends on local LE/whose jurisdiction it is, and who THEY decide to ask for help. That has been my understanding.

 

[Alethea]

Replying to the question above about federal resources: I don't think it is unusual at all that the FBI got involved. It usually depends on the resources and experience of the local LE. If this happened in a jurisdiction where local LE has the experience and resources to properly handle a case like this - say NYPD - the FBI may not get involved right away. Local LE can request help from the FBI if they either do not have experience handling these types of cases or they do not have the equipment or man-power to handle a search of this size. There are guidelines about when federal agencies get involved, but the local branches also have discretion to help. The case may ultimately be handed back to local LE and the state prosecutors for prosecution if there are no federal crimes, but when there's a missing person you can request help from available agencies.

 

[gliving]

She was wearing a sports bra when she was running, I don't think someone who liked "little girls" would mistake her for one. MOO

Not that it matters but I noticed MSM now refers to it as a sports top.
"Tibbetts was last seen at approximately 7:30 p.m. local time that night while running along the city streets of Brooklyn. She was wearing dark-colored running shorts, a pink sports top and running shoes, according to the Iowa Department of Public Safety."

 

[ellieuma]

Regarding MT’s communications w/ her mom over dinner, I read it differently. My understanding was she texted her mom asked her what was for dinner. Her mom texted back “brats” & in response MT texted back “ok”. My take on it is that she was pondering whether to eat dinner at home or eat dinner elsewhere. In my college years, it wasn’t uncommon for my mom to make more food than necessary in case I decided to eat dinner at home. Plus, it wasn’t unusual for my sister to have a friend drop
by from the neighborhood or for my boyfriend and me to pop into the house. If nobody extra popped in during dinner, then my mom would wrap them up, putting them in the fridge for leftovers. I assumed that MT was weighing her dinner options, & that being in between her house & her boyfriend’s, she sometimes popped in for dinner & other times skipped dinner at home. I interpreted her “ok” to be a lukewarm response to the food choice, like “brats. umm..maybe..maybe not..I will see how I feel about it later.”
I may be incorrect in my assessment, b/c I based it on myself in my college years.

 

[ChuckMaureen]

The word "ping" is flying around these threads often, so let's define it.

LE may track a cell phone real-time by "pinging" it using equipment made available to them by a carrier company. LE is able to track the location of a phone by sending a location update request command to the target phone and receiving that information back from the phone. This occurs separate from the usual communication between a phone and a cellular carrier network.

Triangulation is a different method for determining an *approximate* location of a cell phone. This involves reading signal levels between the cell phone and multiple cellular communication sites. Drawing overlapping circumferences that reference the signal strengths (and assumed distances), the point where the circles intercept should depict the location area of the phone. This method typically is not pin-point accurate but can be good enough in many cases.

 

[Gussified]

Fitbit's don't ping.

In order to get any location data from fitbit, a number of things have to happen :
1) You have to link the fitbit to your phone to enable "connected GPS", this then uses the GPS chip within your smartphone to record location information.
2) You have to start the fitbit app on your smartphone
3) You begin your run, the fitbit will start recording your location but only on the fitbit device.
4) The fitbit has to be synced either with a smartphone or PC. In order for this to occur the smartphone or PC "MUST", have an internet connection (either wifi or cellphone).

So the data really only exists either on the fitbit device or fitbit's servers, the synced device is just a device in the middle to pass the data to the servers.

Note, the data doesn't get uploaded to fitbit servers continuously, fitbit's site is a bit elusive about how often syncing occurs, it states if you sync with a PC it's roughly every 15-30 minutes, on a smartphone it says periodically throughout the day.

What this means is when LE ask fitbit for the data, it's only up to the point of the last sync. If you had wifi turned off on the phone (to save battery), and your cellnet coverage was poor at home, it could be a long time before the data was synced, after returning from a run. Typically I would return home, have a shower, grab a drink and then sync and see how bad my run was....

Having said all that, GPS data can be very useful :
you can look at previous routes to see if you always run a similar route
you can check interval times (e.g. how long it takes to run 1KM), and from my own experience if you run at a fairly consistent pace, you can spot if you have to wait 5-10 seconds to cross a road, or 10-30 seconds to stop and re-tie a shoe lace. If you stopped to have a short chat with someone this would clearly show up.

Finally, the GPS data is usually accurate enough not only to see which side of the road you run, but sometimes even what side of the pavement (sidewalk), and if you suddenly veered off course to cross the road, this would be highly visible if you zoom in on the map.

So, if they have the data from the last run it would be very useful, but even without it, it could prove useful for establishing patterns and other anomalies....

Thank you for this detailed post. Sooo informative.

This triggered a thought. IF her Fitbit data led LE to search in the area of the pig farm (as has been speculated), I would assume it would mean that was the last place her Fitbit data was synced with the phone. Any number of things could have happened at that point. Her phone could have become disabled, turned off, destroyed, thrown into a body of water, etc. Or there could be a dead zone in the cell coverage near there and her cell phone was disabled within the dead zone. Or it was between syncs and was disabled before the next sync. Point is, that doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the exact termination point. That may be miles away.

 

[Blissful12]

Hello everyone! Someone posted a while ago about whether we can talk about the call logs posted on the Sheriff’s FB page. I can’t find the post or the response to the question. Can we talk about something we saw logged on the evening of the 18th that seems somewhat interesting? I don’t want to break the rules by referencing a FB page. It is public record

I posted the call logs for the 23rd and 24th for the sheriffs office. I believe we can discuss them because they come directly from LE.

 

[zencompass]

It has been stated several times that fitbits don't ping. I'm guessing that Agent Mortvedt said that for lack of a better term. The takeaway is that the fitbit led LE to the hog farm.

Dear SuziQ,

I agree. Something alerted them to that area, whether it was the data they have received from the Fitbit company or other data they've analyzed. Or other non-data information.

The authorities have used the data from the Fitbit company as well as all other data companies to reconstruct the area throughout that vital time period.

Mainly, who was in that area during those days/night and tracking Mollie's data, of course. I noticed the word "overlay" stated by "an expert on data recovery".

Excerpt from news article (below):


"Tibbetts' Fitbit could potentially give investigators a trove of data on the day she disappeared using GPS technology and other data like her heart rate. Investigators have also issued warrants to social media companies for data that could help determine exactly where she went."

"You can actually overlay the location data with the real world to find out what exactly happened," Thomas Yohannan, an expert on data recovery. "You are essentially trying to find a witness to the events that happened leading up to her missing person".

Investigators turn to Fitbit data for clues about missing Iowa college student

 

[PaulR]

Correct but there might be a small period of time where the phone was ditched and the Fitbit was still in range. In that case they might know the direction the perp was heading.

If the Fitbit was sending data to the servers at that time. Fitbit's Bluetooth range is reported to be ~30 feet. What it the range of my Flex bluetooth? - Fitbit Community If they are driving away, that's an extremely short window.

But I don't think that the FBI shows up with 15+ agents and because of a single missing person and a compelling story?!

Another reason to suspect that the Feds think this person has done it before and that they'll do it again. The amount of manpower going into this seems far beyond what you'd normally use for a one-off disappearance of a college student. This seems more like the response you'd expect if there were a string of similar cases along I-80.

 

[NewYork625]

Someone's family or at least someone with the same last name is in law enforcement. The person with the same name also has a relative who owns a hog farm in Deep River that shared a link for a personal awareness class that was being held in Grinnell. So, people from some areas of Iowa do make it to Grinnell occasionally.
About the event "Gather your friends, teens, and college students and head over to Hotel Grinnell Thursday at 6 pm! Retired Navy Seal with over 16 years at Seal Team 6...will teach us some life skills and personal awareness tools to use if ever in a situation where your fight-or-flight kicks in. The class is focused on how to recognize threats and personal security. Not all situations are avoidable, so ... will also go over some self-defense tactics, too. "
Also, this person has friends from Brooklyn too so people from both areas do seem to get together.

 

[feralwriter]

Regarding MT’s communications w/ her mom over dinner, I read it differently. My understanding was she texted her mom asked her what was for dinner. Her mom texted back “brats” & in response MT texted back “ok”. My take on it is that she was pondering whether to eat dinner at home or eat dinner elsewhere. In my college years, it wasn’t uncommon for my mom to make more food than necessary in case I decided to eat dinner at home. Plus, it wasn’t unusual for my sister to have a friend drop
by from the neighborhood or for my boyfriend and I to pop into the house. If nobody extra popped in during dinner, then my mom would wrap them up, putting them in the fridge for leftovers. I assumed that MT was weighing her dinner options, & that being in between her house & her boyfriend’s, she sometimes popped in for dinner & other times skipped dinner at home. I interpreted her “ok” to be a lukewarm response to the food choice, like “brats. umm..maybe..maybe not..I will see how I feel about it later.”
I may be incorrect in my assessment, b/c I based it on myself in my college years.

Same. Ok is to me, "I'll think about it, and see if I can or want to come up with something else to eat. You may or may not hear back from me, but thanks for letting me know it's brats."

 

[otto]

Hello everyone! Someone posted a while ago about whether we can talk about the call logs posted on the Sheriff’s FB page. I can’t find the post or the response to the question. Can we talk about something we saw logged on the evening of the 18th that seems somewhat interesting? I don’t want to break the rules by referencing a FB page. It is public record

I still have these to call-log pages open - sorry, can't credit the person who posted them:

https://www.websleuths.com/forums/attachments/46553b83-49d5-4369-9d44-337955e7dfbf-jpeg.140768/

https://www.websleuths.com/forums/attachments/d2dce736-6ffb-4eae-87bb-dba755b42b05-jpeg.140766/

 

[Marie224]

Regarding MT’s communications w/ her mom over dinner, I read it differently. My understanding was she texted her mom asked her what was for dinner. Her mom texted back “brats” & in response MT texted back “ok”. My take on it is that she was pondering whether to eat dinner at home or eat dinner elsewhere. In my college years, it wasn’t uncommon for my mom to make more food than necessary in case I decided to eat dinner at home. Plus, it wasn’t unusual for my sister to have a friend drop
by from the neighborhood or for my boyfriend and I to pop into the house. If nobody extra popped in during dinner, then my mom would wrap them up, putting them in the fridge for leftovers. I assumed that MT was weighing her dinner options, & that being in between her house & her boyfriend’s, she sometimes popped in for dinner & other times skipped dinner at home. I interpreted her “ok” to be a lukewarm response to the food choice, like “brats. umm..maybe..maybe not..I will see how I feel about it later.”
I may be incorrect in my assessment, b/c I based it on myself in my college years.

Edit.. responded twice for some reason.

 

[Marie224]

Regarding MT’s communications w/ her mom over dinner, I read it differently. My understanding was she texted her mom asked her what was for dinner. Her mom texted back “brats” & in response MT texted back “ok”. My take on it is that she was pondering whether to eat dinner at home or eat dinner elsewhere. In my college years, it wasn’t uncommon for my mom to make more food than necessary in case I decided to eat dinner at home. Plus, it wasn’t unusual for my sister to have a friend drop
by from the neighborhood or for my boyfriend and I to pop into the house. If nobody extra popped in during dinner, then my mom would wrap them up, putting them in the fridge for leftovers. I assumed that MT was weighing her dinner options, & that being in between her house & her boyfriend’s, she sometimes popped in for dinner & other times skipped dinner at home. I interpreted her “ok” to be a lukewarm response to the food choice, like “brats. umm..maybe..maybe not..I will see how I feel about it later.”
I may be incorrect in my assessment, b/c I based it on myself in my college years.

I don’t... If it was me and my mom and it was already understood I would be there, asking what’s for dinner and replying ok is just acknowledging the text, not a vague rsvp.

 

[SharonNeedles]

Did anybody else notice the original $2k reward was for “arrest and conviction” and the reward fund now is called “bring Mollie home safe”? And mom openly admits they’re trying to pay for her safe return, even says that an abductor can claim the reward if she’s set free?

I’m beginning to wonder if mom knows she’s alive, maybe even missing by her own choice and not returning home because she doesn’t want to face the inevitable backlash.

 

[crhedBngr]

The word "ping" is flying around these threads often, so let's define it.

LE may track a cell phone real-time by "pinging" it using equipment made available to them by a carrier company. LE is able to track the location of a phone by sending a location update request command to the target phone and receiving that information back from the phone. This occurs separate from the usual communication between a phone and a cellular carrier network.

Triangulation is a different method for determining an *approximate* location of a cell phone. This involves reading signal levels between the cell phone and multiple cellular communication sites. Drawing overlapping circumferences that reference the signal strengths (and assumed distances), the point where the circles intercept should depict the location area of the phone. This method typically is not pin-point accurate but can be good enough in many cases.

And last, but not least, "ping" is fondly used in IT Departments when contacting someone. Example: "I'm going to 'ping' her and see what time we'll meet for lunch". I still use it this way.

 

[ChuckMaureen]

Some Fitbit devices use the phone's GPS (if so equipped) for location information while other Fitbit devices have their own GPS.