Found Deceased IA - Mollie Tibbetts, 20, Poweshiek County, 19 Jul 2018 #14

[MassGuy]

Good job on the map. I was (and still am) unaware of the funeral home sighting or its location, so I'll assume it's correct. I was referring earlier to the home addresses of the three men who claim to be eyewitnesses. They've been named in the media (and here) as Mr. Hopwood, Mr. Thompson and Mr. Collum. Are their home addresses allowed to be disclosed here?

I highly, highly, doubt it as they are private individuals not named as suspects. There’s a board that lists the rules, but I can’t imagine it’s allowed.

 

[otto]

Easy access to and from town, and/or familiarity with area and/or close enough to home return unnoticed and/or trolls small towns looking for an opportunity.

Also, unless a perp is a transient, he lives somewhere - in other words, hiding in plain sight. Or, he could have lived there in the past or still have family in the area so while he isn't a stranger, he also isn't a resident. There are also people whose business takes them to Brooklyn, who are known to people in town even though they aren't residents. These are just a few off the top of my head.

I see no reason why this predator couldn't be from the farmland around Brooklyn (30-50 mile radius), perhaps having been raised in the area as a member of an upstanding family. He might be in his 20s or early thirties. Perhaps he spent lots of time hunting and fishing with his father, learning about wildlife areas, and listening to his father's stories. Perhaps somewhere along the way this predator got his wires crossed about women and that's why Mollie is missing. Maybe he has relatives in Evansdale and business in Brooklyn. Many things are possible beyond someone who knows her, a transient, or a complete stranger. In any case, my impression is an opportunist with a big picture plan.

I doubt that living in the rural area near Brooklyn means that that a predator knew Mollie, but any predator knows that it's easier to abduct women and girls in small towns.

 

[margarita25]

Dear Otto,

I agree.

It is the fact that she had to have been wearing her jogging clothes that threw out my theory of walking to her Mom's very early the next morning.

The dogs were in the basement because Mollie was not in the house.

Seven o'clock at night is considered "evening" so her homework could have been done by then.

We are not privy to when the actual snapchat was sent. We know that it was "opened" around 10:00 p.m., but not when it was sent.

Your information makes the most sense.

I have to sign off now (to go to bed) however I look forward to studying your map thoroughly in the morning.

Thank you for being such an integral part of this thread, just as you are on other threads.

Much appreciated,

(O/T, Zen, I love how you address each member as “Dear _____”, just like in the old days of writing letters When I was little I used to write my pen pals and my grandma and say:

“Dear _____,

How are you? I am fine.”

- This was my intro to every letter I wrote hahahaha. Ok sorry for o/t)

 

[Tinselfoil]

I doubt that living in the rural area near Brooklyn means that that a predator knew Mollie, but any predator knows that it's easier to abduct women and girls in small towns.

It is?

 

[otto]

In the route I came up with they would have passed the neighbors house close to 7:30 and would have passed Casey's (and the funeral home.) I'd add the map, but I'm not sure how to do it.

Sorry, let me try again. I'll look for Orchard.

 

[Confusion]

She was seen on W. Pershing between West Str. and the Highway, so it's likely that left home, was seen by the neighbor fumbling with her music (he said she was walking or standing and he didn't know which way she went), turned right on West Str, and left on W. Pershing Dr. That is where she was seen next. The last place where she was seen is at the intersection of W. Pershing Dr. and the highway - at the Funeral Home.

If you look at the two places where she was seen, why include other streets where she was not seen? Are you familiar with the area and know those streets to be better jogging streets?

I thought it was said that she was seen going east on both W. Des Moines St. and W. Pershing. To me that meant that she had gone on another street before Pershing or she would have been heading west. Maybe I'm mixed up again. I mainly thought it seemed like a likely route for her to take (not necessarily that night) because it came out to about 45 minutes, which is what she was said it normally run. One of the reasons is that it would take her past the bar, where someone may have seen her run by fairly often and either watched her on other nights to see where she went or maybe looked for her that night because she didn't run by.

My goal is to find things that make sense, and figure out how they fit together once I do. Maybe a backwards way of doing things, but it usually works for me.

 

[otto]

Good job on the map. I was (and still am) unaware of the funeral home sighting or its location, so I'll assume it's correct. I was referring earlier to the home addresses of the three men who claim to be Mollie's eyewitnesses. They've been named in the media (and here) as Mr. H, Mr. T and Mr. C. Are their home addresses allowed to be disclosed here?

Wow. As far as I know ... if their names, and addresses or cross streets, are mentioned in MSM, all that information can be posted with a link.

 

[margarita25]

What's interesting to me is this town has approximately 1400 people living in it, yet it appears no one has mentioned seeing a stranger or anyone lurking around the town. While Brooklyn is near I-80, what would even lure a stranger get off I-80 to go to Brooklyn?

(Ugh, o/t, just got a BG-ish vibe. Not saying it’s him, just saying, reminded me of possible thoughts and past discussions re: him)

(ETA: for newbies, BG is “Bridge Guy”, suspect in Abby’s and Libby’s murders:
ABIGAIL WILLIAMS — FBI / LIBERTY GERMAN — FBI )

 

[MassGuy]

Wow. As far as I know ... if their names, and addresses or cross streets, are mentioned in MSM, all that information can be posted with a link.

I don’t think their specific addresses have been printed by the media. I’m assuming jerrod looked them up himself.

 

[Jethro4WS]

Exactly! I've been thinking about the two sightings of her and then nothing. If she was heading towards her mom's house, I don't think she ran along the highway. Given that she ran from her house along Pershing towards the Funeral Home, I think she would run the backroads to her mom's house. I'll post a map in a minute ... let me add what I think is a likely route. Maybe as a group we can figure it out.

Is there a media source for her running towards the funeral home? I have seen this reference several times but I haven't come across a media source. If it comes from Heavy.com then we have to be careful because they had been using Facebook posts and comments as sources of information.

The only witnesses that have been mentioned in the media that I have seen are the man who was interviewed outside his home (lives at the corner of West Des Moines and Jackson) who said he saw her heading east but does not know whether she went north or south on Jackson.

Neighbor offers new testimony about the night Mollie Tibbetts disappeared


The other person was mentioned in the Daily Mail story that had an interview from Mollie's mom just this past Friday and all it says is he saw her near his West Pershing Street home (a few hundred yards from where Mollie was staying) with no information about which direction Mollie was going specified let alone whether she was actually on West Pershing. If you know where he lives you will know that from his house you can see the house Mollie was staying at and portions of West Des Moines street as well - direct line of sight.

These sightings are on possibly two different streets and at opposite ends. Also, the map the Daily Mail produced is misleading. The box with the pointer it has for the sighting on West Pershing is actually pointing at a location that would be on East Main Street and is totally inconsistent - actually totally wrong - with respect to the text of the article that clearly states West Pershing where the witness lives is from where he saw her.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...etts-says-does-not-believe-returned-home.html

 

[otto]

It is?

That seems to be the pattern. Ted Bundy's last victim was a 12 year old daughter of a police officer. His typical victim was blond, blue eyed, long hair parted in the middle, everything that was also a typical style of the times.

Jessica Ridgeway's murderer first tried to abduct a woman with chloroform near his mother's house and failed, so he grabbed Jessica because she was a girl of 10 and therefore easier.

 

[Tinselfoil]

That seems to be the pattern. Ted Bundy's last victim was a 12 year old daughter of a police officer. His typical victim was blond, blue eyed, long hair parted in the middle, everything that was also a typical style of the times.

Jessica Ridgeway's murderer first tried to abduct a woman with chloroform near his mother's house and failed, so he grabbed Jessica because she was a girl of 10 and therefore easier.

I was referring to your statement about predators knowing the ease of offending in small towns. Jessica was kidnapped from a Denver suburb of over one hundred thousand, and Kimberly Leach from a city of over ten thousand.

Comparatively, Brooklyn IA has under two thousand.

 

[otto]

I was referring to your statement about predators knowing the ease of offending in small towns. Jessica was kidnapped from a Denver suburb of over one hundred thousand, and Kimberly Leach from a city of over ten thousand.

I think the "ease of offending in small towns" is almost proven in this discussion, where so many have commented about leaving doors unlocked. That's a small town mentality, the idea that everyone is keeping an eye out for each other. Everyone lets their guard down.

 

[Confusion]

Okay, I'd at least like to add the picture where I think she looks farsighted.
Mother of missing Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts says she does not believe she returned home | Daily Mail Online

 

[margarita25]

I think the "ease of offending in small towns" is almost proven in this discussion, where so many have commented about leaving doors unlocked. That's a small town mentality, the idea that everyone is keeping an eye out for each other. Everyone lets their guard down.

I have never actually thought about this until when you mentioned it, the small town aspect being more ideal for a predator, but additionally a more rural setting would account for less cameras, more secluded areas, less potential of witnesses, etc. And maybe even less experienced cops with regards to MP cases specifically. Also, jurisdictional blindness (hi Foxfire) if they were previously operating in a larger city.

 

[Adt1984]

Speaking as someone who was born and raised in a small, rural country town, not everyone feels the safety that MT’s family is proclaiming to feel. I would never leave the doors unlocked at night.

ETA: I think it’s an over generalization to assume everyone feels that level of safety just because they live in a small town with a low crime rate. Most people I know have security systems and even cameras on their property. Hell I even lock my doors during the day.

 

[margarita25]

Way behind in the discussion, but if we were to consider where Mollie disappeared if it happened at 7:45 when she was jogging to her mom's house - thoughts?

Sooo glad to have you here, Otto. You are one of best mappers on WS! Always have been!!

 

[Gunslinging Granny]

I think the "ease of offending in small towns" is almost proven in this discussion, where so many have commented about leaving doors unlocked. That's a small town mentality, the idea that everyone is keeping an eye out for each other. Everyone lets their guard down.

It's not the size of the city that predicts violent crime. It's collective efficacy.

"By far the largest predictor of the violent crime was collective efficacy,'' a term they use to mean a sense of trust, common values and cohesion in neighborhoods.
Collective efficacy is a shared vision or a fusion of a shared willingness of residents to intervene and social trust, a sense of engagement and ownership of public space.

Brooklyn, a town of 1500 people, had 400 people skip work on July 20th to go search for Mollie at 5 am. This shows Brooklyn has a very high level of collective efficacy and is therefore, a more difficult area for violent crime to occur.

Study Links Violence Rate To Cohesion In Community

 

[Confusion]

I have never actually thought about this until when you mentioned it, the small town aspect being more ideal for a predator, but additionally a more rural setting would account for less cameras, more secluded areas, less potential of witnesses, etc.

The only thing is that people in rural areas seem to know more about what's going on with their neighbors, and watch out for them to some extent. When I lived in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Atlanta or one of the other larger cities/towns I've lived in, my neighbors wouldn't have noticed nor cared if someone they saw walk in my door belonged there or not. In small towns I've lived in, I had neighbors call to let me know if my son crossed the boundary he was supposed to say within, tell me if a car had stopped while I was gone (and give the make, model and a description of the driver), make sure the house was okay if they didn't see my car for a day or two and come check on me if they didn't see me for a couple days.

There may be more potential witnesses in a city, and more police surveillance, but there are a lot more nosy (concerned) neighbors in a small town. MOO

 

[margarita25]

The only thing is that people in rural areas seem to know more about what's going on with their neighbors, and watch out for them to some extent. When I lived in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Atlanta or one of the other larger cities/towns I've lived in, my neighbors wouldn't have noticed nor cared if someone they saw walk in my door belonged there or not. In small towns I've lived in, I had neighbors call to let me know if my son crossed the boundary he was supposed to say within, tell me if a car had stopped while I was gone (and give the make, model and a description of the driver), make sure the house was okay if they didn't see my car for a day or two and come check on me if they didn't see me for a couple days.

There may be more potential witnesses in a city, and more police surveillance, but there are a lot more nosy (concerned) neighbors in a small town. MOO

This is true, as they are likely more inclined to spot something out of the ordinary, strange vehicle, etc.

ETA: I imagine there may more “Gunslinging Grannies” out in the country though haha jk