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

[katydid23]

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.

Also, when I go visit my cousins, in a small rural town, I often see young children, walking to the corner store, or to the playground, unsupervised. Nothing wrong with that, because it is the norm in that small town. But if a child predator happened to come through, there would be some opportunities to find children walking alone because it is a small, safe town.

 

[Gunslinging Granny]

The two orange dots representing the spots where the sightings occurred are slightly inaccurate on this map, so the yellow route is the one that makes sense. The spot of the 3rd sighting - which isn't on the map at all - corroborates that.

But she was also seen by a resident on 2nd street.

 

[margarita25]

Also, when I go visit my cousins, in a small rural town, I often see young children, walking to the corner store, or to the playground, unsupervised. Nothing wrong with that, because it is the norm in that small town. But if a child predator happened to come through, there would be some opportunities to find children walking alone because it is a small, safe town.

Indeed. So if this is a random predator, was he motivated by these same small town advantages that we are discussing? Was he out hunting? Or was he just was in the area and it was a crime of opportunity?

I remember very clearly one of the main things LE said about Jessica R’s possible killer is that he “may be in the area for work”. This turned out not to be the case, but always a consideration in these cases, moo.

(Assuming current people being looked at are not the perp, and/or this is not someone known to her or local)

 

[PommyMommy]

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.

Mother of missing Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts says she does not believe she returned home | Daily Mail Online

The source of the funeral home sighting may have been the Finding Mollie Tibbett's Facebook page which is discussed here: IA - IA - Mollie Tibbetts, 20, Poweshiek County, 19 Jul 2018 #4

 

[otto]

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

Rural neighbors, as far as they can see, will watch out for neighbors. Mollie's house-sit was on the West edge of Brooklyn, apparently in the less affluent area (thank you Mr. Obvious!), and she was seen7 by the neighbor but he didn't know which direction she was headed.

There must be many potential witnesses who don't realize what they saw. My guess is that it would have been around 7:45PM while she was jogging from the house-sit to her mom's house. If police published the most likely route, locals who were in the area at that time might try harder to remember what they saw, maybe even re-tracing steps on the night of the disappearance.

 

[margarita25]

Qmfr, Gah I meant “respect this privacy”, not “request this privacy”

(I saw a similar scenario on Live PD or COPS not too long ago. A woman was sleeping in her car, police ran the vehicle and saw her family had reported her as missing. She said she was missing voluntarily and did not want to be found; iirc the police just said ok we will let them know you are okay and that you do not want to be found. I think I recall from another case as well that LE needs to request this privacy? There was another case of a missing female here in which I seem to recall a similar situation as well, trying to remember the case.)

 

[otto]

But she was also seen by a resident on 2nd street.

More like this?

 

[Confusion]

Rural neighbors, as far as they can see, will watch out for neighbors. Mollie's house-sit was on the West edge of Brooklyn, apparently in the less affluent area (thank you Mr. Obvious!), and she was seen7 by the neighbor but he didn't know which direction she was headed.

There must be many potential witnesses who don't realize what they saw. My guess is that it would have been around 7:45PM while she was jogging from the house-sit to her mom's house. If police published the most likely route, locals who were in the area at that time might try harder to remember what they saw, maybe even re-tracing steps on the night of the disappearance.

Going by the route I picked for her, I think she may have expected to finish her run at her mother's house, and it would have been between 7:45 and 8:00 by the time she got there. She may have gotten a later start than she planned, but I think she may have disappeared shortly after she was seen on Pershing. Going by other routes, I've no idea where she would have been.

 

[Gunslinging Granny]

More like this?

She was seen multiple times on Pershing going east and on 2nd street. My hope is that she ran north towards her mom's house on rt 398 because Casey's General Store would have security cameras near their gas pumps. The high school on rt 398 has many cameras (I posted that link yesterday).

Thanks for making maps.

 

[Adt1984]

Rural neighbors, as far as they can see, will watch out for neighbors. Mollie's house-sit was on the West edge of Brooklyn, apparently in the less affluent area (thank you Mr. Obvious!), and she was seen7 by the neighbor but he didn't know which direction she was headed.

There must be many potential witnesses who don't realize what they saw. My guess is that it would have been around 7:45PM while she was jogging from the house-sit to her mom's house. If police published the most likely route, locals who were in the area at that time might try harder to remember what they saw, maybe even re-tracing steps on the night of the disappearance.

I was definitely surprised when I saw how many neighbors they have. I figured the house was going to be in a more secluded location. This gives me hope that there are witnesses that may have seen something, like you said.

 

[ellieuma]

We have seen many, many suicides here. Anthony Bourdain imo seemed to have it all.

PS FTR LE has ruled suicides in some cases that I thought were suspicious, moo. (Cheryl DeBoer for one, off the top of my head, found in a difch on the side of the road with a bag over her head. Supposedly this is an established method of suicide. Her son was a member here and I hope he is doing a best as can be. He has accepted iirc LE’s findings)

Anthony Bourdain once stated that he’s never met anyone alive who wants to die more than he does. He also spoke candidly about his battles with mental illness, depression, drug abuse, etc. On the surface it was shocking but upon digging deeper, his words were clear that he had a lot of internal struggles.
Kate Spade, who seemingly had it all, also struggled with depression & anxiety.
The people who personally knew Bourdain & Spade were aware of their battles with mental illness before their suicide, which is different than the clean bill of mental health & reports from MT’s friends & family, who all described her as upbeat and happy terms. I don’t think she committed suicide.

Also, based on my personal experience, looking back at the people I have known that went on to commit suicide, each of these persons had family and/or close friends who were well aware & able to attest of their prior struggles w/mental illness and/or substance abuse. If she was suicidal, then I think she’d have been more withdrawn & sleepy/irritable, & at least some of her family or friends would most likely have known about it . I’m not an expert though, just based on what I have seen.

 

[margarita25]

(May I just say that hearing all of you guys talk about your fitbits and your runs makes me feel a little lazy?)

 

[margarita25]

Anthony Bourdain once stated that he’s never met anyone alive who wants to die more than he does. He also spoke candidly about his battles with mental illness, depression, drug abuse, etc. On the surface it was shocking but upon digging deeper, his words were clear that he had a lot of internal struggles.
Kate Spade, who seemingly had it all, also struggled with depression & anxiety.
The people who personally knew Bourdain & Spade were aware of their battles with mental illness before their suicide, which is different than the clean bill of mental health & reports from MT’s friends & family, who all described her as upbeat and happy terms. I don’t think she committed suicide.

Also, based on my personal experience, looking back at the people I have known that went on to commit suicide, each of these persons had family and/or close friends who were well aware & able to attest of their prior struggles w/mental illness and/or substance abuse. If she was suicidal, then I think she’d have been more withdrawn & sleepy/irritable, & at least some of her family or friends would most likely have known about it . I’m not an expert though, just based on what I have seen.

(You are right about AB being open about those things. I also suspect he had a broken heart, poor guy.)

 

[otto]

Indeed. So if this is a random predator, was he motivated by these same small town advantages that we are discussing? Was he out hunting? Or was he just was in the area and it was a crime of opportunity?

I remember very clearly one of the main things LE said about Jessica R’s possible killer is that he “may be in the area for work”. This turned out not to be the case, but always a consideration in these cases, moo.

(Assuming current people being looked at are not the perp, and/or this is not someone known to her or local)

We know of one or two small towns where the victims are two young girls together. It's true that in both cases the young girls chose to isolate themselves in a secluded area of a remote park, in both cases without full parental approval, yet no one knows why. Was it snapchat?
Is abducting two girls the preamble to abducting a 20 year old jogger? If so, who was the first victim. Surely that wasn't two girls.

Crime of opportunity based on a propensity to that type of crime of opportunity makes sense. A propensity to do this suggests a fixation on abducting a young woman or girl for sadistic purposes. By sadistic, I mean purposes that are 100% in opposition to the victim.

I doubt this is someone she knows. She is going into her second year of university, completing an internship or taking some sort of university related courses during the Spring/Fall semesters, looking at the bigger picture of her life. She simply vanished off the face of the earth when her life was full of promise. It might be someone who has seen her, but I doubt it is someone that she has seen or paid any attention.

 

[Jim G]

Cornfield violence

 

[Confusion]

She was seen multiple times on Pershing going east and on 2nd street. My hope is that she ran north towards her mom's house on rt 398 because Casey's General Store would have security cameras near their gas pumps. The high school on rt 398 has many cameras (I posted that link yesterday).

Thanks for making maps.

I hate to keep pushing my route on people, but if she had gone that way and then toward her mother's instead of DJ's place, she would probably have been running past the high school right around 8:00 (give or take 10 minutes depending on how fast she runs.) MOO

 

[pamelado2]

I lost track, but there are many reports of attempted abduction of jogging, walking women in KS, MO, IA this summer. Black SUV in some..

How abnormal/normal is this?

Black SUV in some? How many?

 

[otto]

Going by the route I picked for her, I think she may have expected to finish her run at her mother's house, and it would have been between 7:45 and 8:00 by the time she got there. She may have gotten a later start than she planned, but I think she may have disappeared shortly after she was seen on Pershing. Going by other routes, I've no idea where she would have been.

I know that the CCTV footage from Casey's General Store has been collected, but I have not read anything about surveillance on 2nd Str. I'll update the map when the link to 2nd Str is posted.

We can figure out the most likely route and timeline based on what we know. It gives us something to think about in terms of how and why a digital footprint was found near Guernsey.

 

[SuziQ]

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?

that is a great map. Thank you, Otto.

 

[margarita25]

I know that the CCTV footage from Casey's General Store has been collected, but I have not read anything about surveillance on 2nd Str. I'll update the map when the link to 2nd Str is posted.

We can figure out the most likely route and timeline based on what we know. It gives us something to think about in terms of how and why a digital footprint was found near Guernsey.

(Golly, just seeing you have been a member here since 2004...)