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

[MassGuy]

I read it in the article that talked about the barkeep saying she didn't see anything unusual that night and that she didn't remember any out of towners in the bar. The comment about the hardware store was made at the end of the article and she just said it was vandalism and that she reported it.

Exactly. That’s the only place I saw it as well.

 

[windrower]

possible scenarios?
1.someone with a firearm abducted her
a. from what location?
b. they knew her running route/planned the abduction/knew it was an unpopulated
...as in the Missouri boys abduction in a rural area, the abductor had a gun

Kidnapped boy recounts 4 years of captivity
2. someone she knew tricked her into going along?
a.who?
b. from what location?
3. more than one person involved? --less likely ?

I think she has been taken (and probably harmed) by someone she thought was a friend. Or friend of a friend, someone she knew, but not well.

 

[feralwriter]

I don’t know about here but if you do that on FB post, you get alerted to posts after you.

I guess I thought the "go to first unread" functioned as that on this site. Hmm. Maybe these posters aren't aware of that button they can push. Thanks

 

[lks1008]

Canvas is the name of a Learning Management Software that Universities use for online courses. Students download course materials, watch lecture videos, upload assignments, post on discussion boards, view graded materials, etc...

Also, the LMS (learning management software) would connect back to the university’s SIS (student information system) with the last date/time of activity in the LMS. This would have to be obtained from the university but it is recorded for the university’s tracking of LDA (last day of attendance). Many assignments are due before midnight of a certain day for online courses and students often times have to be “in” their online course a certain amount of times in order to stay “active” in their courses and that’s why time is also recorded in the SIS.

 

[Alethea]

I am sure her mom and brothers are beating themselves up over that. But for whatever reason, it did not raise any red flags at the time.

I've been thinking about this a lot. Mollie may have been excited to have a couple of days all to herself to relax. She grew up with 2 brothers, she was in college with a roommate and the dorms are full of students, then she lived with her boyfriend and his brother and brother's fiancee. I remember when I was in law school I had the opportunity to house sit for a friend who lived by himself and I was so excited because for years and years I lived either with roommates or in dorms and I could actually take a shower without someone waiting outside to use the bathroom. Decades later I still remember how excited I was to just have some peace and quiet. Mollie may have told her friends and family she was excited for some peace and quiet and they may have given her the space thinking she was just enjoying some alone time until she didn't show up for work and they realized something was horribly wrong.

 

[bronk4]

I completely agree. I think mom and brothers just assumed she decided not to come for dinner. A lot of reasons for this, maybe they knew she was working on a paper, thought she was talking to boyfriend and lost track of time, fell asleep and took a nap after a busy day. Being a parent of a 20 year old woman is not an easy thing ( ask me how I know) especially the first summer back from college. It is a balance between letting them have their independence while still taking an interest in their safety. Assuming Mollie was taken jogging perhaps it's a good idea to make sure women have the ability to call 911 and quickly when they are out alone. I know that Apple watches have the ability to call 911 fast without entering a pin. Is this something that newer models of a fitbit can also do? If Mollie had had this capability it might have saved her life.

..I always have my daughters text when they arrive and leave a destination
..if no text, I start to ''worry'' a little--because the older one forgets to text sometimes
..if I was a female, I'd be ready to dial 911 when approached by anyone--ready for action--not insane/obsessed--just aware
..there is a ''danger'' button on some phones, I thought??

 

[Jon Glass]

Okay, so... I've read here that her employer was taking kids to a carnival, a field trip, the day MY didn't show up for work... Any indication of where that carnival was, or how that area would or could fit in geographically..? This is just a passing thought, carnies are nomadic, and there surely is a criminal element within their ranks.
Also, a different thought... Do you folks remember the case from Cleveland, where the abductor kept women in a basement type setting for years..? I know that that is a horrible thought, but it's a better thought than MT being deceased.
Just trying to look in some other directions than what the prevailing thoughts have been for several days now.

 

[Jabarn]

She was seen running at 7:45pm, after being dropped off by her brother at the farmhouse owned by her boyfriend’s brother and girlfriend at 5:30. She never made it to her mom’s house to pick up the car she shared with her brother, which she needed to get to her job 15 miles away.

Her brother did text her about this the next morning, and got no reply:

“I didn’t think much about it at the time, but now I think about it a lot," he told Fox News on Wednesday. "About how weird it was not for her to text back."

Mollie Tibbetts' boyfriend, brothers, father urge witnesses to 'come forward' in exclusive interviews

I know the investigators have a clearer picture on this timeline, but it looks to me there were two potential abduction routes, one while she was actually running from and back to the farmhouse, and the other potentially after she got back to the farmhouse base, and either at that location, or during when she *possibly* was headed over to her mom’s to eat dinner and get the car- that’s a little mile that she could have done easily. I am sure that route has been looked at for any indication of a car pulling over, or jerking.

If she went on 45 minute runs (not sure if any of you can place the distance from the farmhouse to where she was spotted by the eyewitness from to estimate when she may have started, at least a window).

I would think probably after 7:15 she started her run, and would have been over to her mom’s house or the farmhouse before 8:30. In either situation, it would still be light outside, which makes sense, given her BF’s statement she didn’t run when it was dark.

 

[bronk4]

I think she has been taken (and probably harmed) by someone she thought was a friend. Or friend of a friend, someone she knew, but not well.

very possible, per post #122 stats

 

[allboys]

Where does the dogs poop at and was there enough poop that shows she was probably missing for a really long time?

Where does the dogs poop at and was there enough poop that shows she was probably missing for a really long time?

I realize that I'm not answering your question, but you made me think of something I had not considered. When I take my dog out to potty, I often have my phone on me, and have in earbuds (listening to audible books/podcasts/music). When learning that Mollie's earbuds and phone were missing, it has always made me think that it suggests that she was out for a run. But I suppose it is also possible that she was back from her evening run, or about to go out for an early morning run, and got disturbed while taking the dogs out (while wearing her earbuds). I often take my dog out when first returning to the house, or right before I'm about to leave. That could explain the lack of a crime scene indoors, and evidence outside could be washed away from the rain. But this scenario would fit more with perp(s) who knew that quickly putting the dogs in the basement would be the least likely to show that anything had gone "awry" at the home. So, someone familiar with the home/dog routine. Hmmm. I can't believe as a dog owner, I hadn't thought of anything happening to her while taking the dogs out. I guess because the dogs were found in the basement, I just assumed that she was the one who put them there. But no one knows that for sure. I think this is an unlikely situation, but I know others have wondered about what might have lured Mollie outside...could have been the dogs needing to go out...while someone else lay in waiting. (also if person had not been a normal resident/visitor to house, they would have had to be wearing gloves to open/close the basement door). This is all highly unlikely compared to other theories, I realize, but just made me consider a different abduction site (out behind the house).

 

[zencompass]

You bring up some excellent points, @allboys ...my family lived in Marshalltown for quite a few years, beginning when I was going into my junior year of high school. That summer, when we moved in, my stepmother & all of us kids went on vacation for a couple of weeks, so my dad's car was the only one in the driveway during that time. My dad was typically out every evening until 11 pm or so. When we bought the house, a guy had been renting it- he was an alcoholic and pretty sleazy (IMO); I remember meeting him when we came to look at the house, and he was in a bathrobe surrounded by 2 or 3 half-dressed women, and the carpets were covered in puke stains. My parents didn't have the locks changed after we moved in (stupid!). Anyway, my dad came home one night, and our dog- a 150+ lb. Saint Bernard, came up to him in the driveway, bleeding badly from his head and face. The dog had been in the back yard, which was fenced and not connected to the house, so the perps clearly knew the dog wouldn't be inclined to hurt them, even though he was huge. Turned out that the son of the renter had a record of burglary ( among other things); he and one or more buddies had gone through every room of the house and robbed us blind; months later, I was still discovering things missing from my closet, drawers, etc. Our dog died a week after the robbery from a blood clot in his brain. My dad heard footsteps and one of the back doors slamming when he entered the house, and there were muddy foot prints everywhere. The stolen items were mainly things that could be easily pawned/fenced, including a pair of antique Russian dueling pistols (we guessed that the dog had been beaten with one of those).
We were robbed 2 or 3 more times over the years (my parents rarely locked the doors, and although we always had huge dogs, it was common knowledge that they were friendly). My point is that it's easy to become a target for crime, even if you're not initially well-known to the people in the area, and after you become known. Just my experience, FWIW...

Dear GarAndTeed,

I am deeply sorry that you and your family experienced this. Your Dad could have been seriously injured as well, had he come home earlier than usual.

Your dog must have been like a buddy to you and your siblings, a member of your family. That's so awful.

I do agree with your point of becoming a target for crime, whether known or not known to the community.

 

[Normancita]

..I always have my daughters text when they arrive and leave a destination
..if no text, I start to ''worry'' a little--because the older one forgets to text sometimes
..if I was a female, I'd be ready to dial 911 when approached by anyone--ready for action--not insane/obsessed--just aware
..there is a ''danger'' button on some phones, I thought??

On my Apple 6s, if I hit the lock button on the upper right cornerbof my phone 5 times, then I can hit a button on the screen for an SOS emergency call.

Use Emergency SOS on your iPhone

 

[mnnative]

Have the local law enforcement officers commented at all on this case? I can't say that I recall a single comment from the local sheriff or any of the deputies who are contracted to police this town.

Normally you'd see updates given by the sheriff. Heck even the Las Vegas massacre updates were given by the local sheriff...

 

[Marie224]

..I always have my daughters text when they arrive and leave a destination
..if no text, I start to ''worry'' a little--because the older one forgets to text sometimes
..if I was a female, I'd be ready to dial 911 when approached by anyone--ready for action--not insane/obsessed--just aware
..there is a ''danger'' button on some phones, I thought??

Yes, I accidentally activated mine fanning myself with an iphone 7. If you wave the phone like a fan.....a horrible noise like a siren plays and says on the screen 911 is being dispatched to you. You have to speak to someone to stop it.

 

[Schmitz5100]

And it goes without saying, but LE doesn't release everything to the press because they want the perpetrator to reveal information that was not known publicly. If LE has a strong reason to believe someone is alive they may err on the side of releasing more information because frankly it's more important to rescue a live victim than it is to gather evidence against a suspected perpetrator. If LE has reason to believe the victim is likely deceased, they may hold more information back to help secure an arrest and guilty verdict.

LE was very purposeful in their wording, IMO, at the last PC. He kept saying we need to know more about Mollie. Find out more about Mollie, etc. I think you’re right. They’re looking for someone to give up info they shouldn’t know.

 

[taximama24]

In a July of 2013, a 30-yr old suburban Kansas City man, Chad Rogers, never returned home to his wife and young child after going out running. For 4 days, the residents of the suburb, (Liberty, MO) searched endlessly for him. It was like he’d vanished without a trace. Foul play and conspiracy theories were rampant until his body was recovered 4 days later, found locked inside a portable toilet at a construction site two miles from home. He’d stopped to relieve himself and died of a non-symptomatic congenital heart problem in the portable toilet. He was not found by LE, but by a construction worker.

I can’t shake the feeling MT may have had a medical event while out on her run. Her twitter account contains a tweet explaining that early in high school she’d had what she described as “breathing problems”, but she didn’t elaborate on what those were.

It was asthma, I saw a comment she made to someone back about it (they had asthma too so it was some type of "asthma camaraderie" comment, I can't remember). And this is a great point, but she did have her phone so I'm not as inclined to think it would be the cause of her disappearance but definitely not impossible at this point.

 

[Seattle1]

@wary said: ↑
How do we know she got home safe from jogging?

We don't. We have two conflicting pieces of information. First, three people close to Mollie have said that her computer was in use for her online course after she went jogging, and we know that she vanished along with only those things that she has with her when she is jogging.

We also know that when she stays at her boyfriend's house she typically stops at mom's house to pick up the car before dark. We know that she had a short run around 7:30.

Putting these pieces together, it seems logical that she went for a run around 7:30 with the intention to pick up the car. We have some information about her route, but not enough information. It's quite possible that she logged into her online course before she went for a run and left the browser open during her run. That could be mistaken for being online when in fact she wasn't interacting with the online course.

My guess is that she disappeared during the run close to her mom's house, and that her online course was open on her computer throughout the evening.

In my experience here and elsewhere, I find the most difficult and misunderstood concept in computer and mobile forensics is the "digital timestamp." Accordingly, I'm quite confident that the initial idea put forth by LE that Mollie worked on homework late in the evening (i.e., inferring homework after 7:30 pm run) is most likely an incomplete analysis, or misinterpretation of the "digital timestamp." Whereas understanding the Epoch, Unix, UTC, encoding of digital analysis is beyond the scope of this post, it's suffice to say the computational systems that create digital timestamps nearly always differ or drift from real-world time. (And just to make it more complicated, the University server/cloud adds yet another layer of difficulty to establish the timestamp).

I believe Mollie took care of the dogs and worked on homework between 5:30 pm -7:30 pm-ish; left BF house for her run intending to eventually end her jog at Mum's house where she'd enjoy a brat, and collect the car, but met up with danger before she arrived at Mum's place. I think she disappeared in her running clothes, and the red camp t-shirt and contact lenses irrelevant. It's becoming too difficult for me to watch this shattered family endure one more PC, and truly hope this nightmare comes to an end for them very soon.

 

[KaaBoom]

I think Ted Williams with FNN has the best question to ask them.

He wants to ask them "You say you need the media and the public's help in finding Mollie then don't you think you need to give us all the actual timeline she was taken?"

Yes, this case is being handled very poorly. They are not really interested in the public's help. Which I can understand to a point. When they make a public appeal, they can get thousand of leads, including a lot of bad information, that just wastes their time.

 

[runfar262]

I completely agree. I think mom and brothers just assumed she decided not to come for dinner. A lot of reasons for this, maybe they knew she was working on a paper, thought she was talking to boyfriend and lost track of time, fell asleep and took a nap after a busy day. Being a parent of a 20 year old woman is not an easy thing ( ask me how I know) especially the first summer back from college. It is a balance between letting them have their independence while still taking an interest in their safety. Assuming Mollie was taken jogging perhaps it's a good idea to make sure women have the ability to call 911 and quickly when they are out alone. I know that Apple watches have the ability to call 911 fast without entering a pin. Is this something that newer models of a fitbit can also do? If Mollie had had this capability it might have saved her life.

iPhones and Android phones have built in "panic" features. Here is the sequence for iPhones: How to Use Emergency SOS on iPhone in iOS 11

 

[bronk4]

Okay, so... I've read here that her employer was taking kids to a carnival, a field trip, the day MY didn't show up for work... Any indication of where that carnival was, or how that area would or could fit in geographically..? This is just a passing thought, carnies are nomadic, and there surely is a criminal element within their ranks.
Also, a different thought... Do you folks remember the case from Cleveland, where the abductor kept women in a basement type setting for years..? I know that that is a horrible thought, but it's a better thought than MT being deceased.
Just trying to look in some other directions than what the prevailing thoughts have been for several days now.

Ariel Castro kidnappings Cleveland
but those are not the majority, I think