Found Deceased IA - Mollie Tibbetts, 20, Poweshiek County, 19 Jul 2018 #18

[MassGuy]

I’m going to throw this out there. From what I can gather, Mollie house sitting for her boyfriend wasn’t a common occurrence (atleast doesn’t seem so). This means that on any other night, Mollie’s disappearance would have likely been discovered quite quickly, as her failing to return from her jog would have alarmed either someone at her boyfriend’s house or her mom’s house (assuming someone was usually home when she left whatever house she was at, to run). What are the odds that some random stranger would pick the perfect night, one where he could abduct Mollie and have the discovery of her disappearance delayed by something like 12 hours? If my assumptions are correct (possibly), this stranger either got incredibly lucky, or the perpetrator wasn’t a stranger at all.

 

[zencompass]

So I've been trying to piece together Mollie's potential running route. For starters, all we really know is that she was on Pershing Drive heading toward the funeral home sometime around 7:30 pm.

From there, it's anybody guess to where she went; did she head south on Jackson Street into the heart of town, north on Jackson St., stay on Pershing Dr., etc.?

We also know from the mother, Mollie liked to go on 45-minute runs.

I was looking for Mollie's old high school race time in cross country. According to this page, she ran a 5K (about 3.1 miles) in 25:43, which is about 8:34 per mile.Mollie Tibbetts' cross country race time

Keep in mind, she did this at full exertion, near 100% effort. So in a non-competitive setting, her pace might be closer to 9-11 minutes per mile depending on the distance.

If she's running for about 45 minutes, I would wager Mollie's route was potentially 4-5 miles in length.

It is difficult to map out an accurate running route that fits this distance because we don't know if Mollie made repeat loops around certain blocks, extended her run out of town close to the cornfields, the finish line of said route (mom's house vs boyfriend's), etc.

Either way, I am shocked there aren't more known sightings of her while running except on Pershing Dr. Like if she ran through the town, I would imagine cameras or bystanders spotting her there, and if so it would have leaked by now?

This makes me lean towards Mollie running on the outskirts of town where there's more cornfields, open space, etc. like on Mills, East Green, or Boundary Street. If she was indeed abducted on her run, I think areas like these is where she'd be most vulnerable.

Dear El Mago,

Thank you for taking the time to calculate approximate time/distance for Mollie's run, as well as sharing your insight.

This is greatly appreciated.

 

[KCmom3]

You can use previously taken photos, but it was reported that investigators believe it was taken that day.

Missing college student Mollie Tibbetts: A timeline

10 p.m. Jack opened a SnapChat from Tibbetts. The snap contained a selfie Tibbetts took, and Jack said she appeared to be inside. It's unclear what time the photo was taken, but investigators believe it was taken on Wednesday.

Anybody who is Snapchat savvy will know that it was an old pic because it looks different. So she wouldn’t have done that to throw him off, if that’s what you were thinking.

 

[clearskies1]

What do you guys think about the father's theory? It's certainly interesting.

I heard the father describe his theory as just speculation and he seemed to be saying it was probably wishful thinking, since that scenario could result in his daughter's safe return. I think it's unlikely that someone went into the house and lean towards an initial forced taking, rather than Mollie willingly going and it turning bad later.

 

[human]

I saw at least three different women as plaintiffs or mention in the cases/charges against WC. None of whom were his ex wife - who is not JJ, btw. It's possible they are all exes, but still concerning in terms of there being an ongoing pattern of behavior.



As a general plea, can we please try to be careful and avoid accusing victims of WC of being opportunistic fame-seekers or money-grubbers? JMO, but it comes across as victim blaming, this is a victim friendly site and the woman who was interviewed, and her daughter should be viewed as victims. It's corroborated in public court documents.

WC pled guilty to some of the charges and was convicted. Protection orders and no contact orders were granted against him many times. There's a pattern of behavior here against multiple women which is troubling. It's not just one, that needs to be emphasized. Harassment in the 1st degree involves threatening to commit a felony against the person, by the way.

It's disturbing to me that people (not just here but everywhere) seem to be downplaying stalking, harassment and violating no contact orders. Downplaying domestic abuse allegations. Obviously having been a survivor of DA myself(and being stalked by a SO after having left the country where the DA resided), my personal experiences are going to make this a very hot issue for me. I have a bias, but I am going to share my perspective anyway in the hopes of helping others to understand why I am disturbed by the train of thought I mentioned above.

I had to flee a country to escape my abusive ex and he still tried to make contact, made inquiries which got back to me which indicated he might attempt to enter the country that I had fled to (due to knowledge of some future plans I had told him prior to the abuse). I've had panic attacks decades years later when I thought I glimpsed his face in a crowd, even though logically I know it couldn't have been him. The trauma and stress may lessen over time, but it doesn't take much to set off those same feelings of being terrified for my privacy, my safety and, at times, even my life. It is difficult to articulate what it feels like to live with that kind of ongoing fear. It can be paralyzing.

All I ask is for people to pause before accusing confirmed or even alleged victims of DA and other personal crimes as being attention seekers looking for a pay out.

There's still a massive stigma surrounding the reportage of domestic abuse, stalking/harassment and sexual assault. Far too often victims are accused of being crazy, hysterical, vindictive liars, willing participants or having provoked the criminal acts in some way. Is it any wonder so few women report crimes against their person when they often are the ones who get their reputations dragged through the mud even more than the accused? It takes a lot of courage and fortitude to make formal complaints to the police and even stick it out through the court process.

So, please, please can we be mindful of this and err on the side of sensitivity when discussing victims?

Excellent! I so agree

 

[2Hope4]

I’m not sure if anyone noticed but WC had what appeared to be a small blood stain in the upper left part of his shirt. My blow up pic doesn’t show it that well but can see in one of the higher quality videos out there. Also on the back of that shirt is two distinct claw rip tears which could be nails digging in. Watch his interview when he turns back to go in the House it’s pretty obvious they are different rips. Also the color of red shows in one video pretty easily seen. FBI check this out?

Just to remind everyone, blood is NOT going to be red days after an event.... it would turn very dark, brownish looking.

 

[Mom24]

I’m going to throw this out there. From what I can gather, Mollie house sitting for her boyfriend wasn’t a common occurrence (atleast doesn’t seem so). This means that on any other night, Mollie’s disappearance would have likely been discovered quite quickly, as her failing to return from her jog would have alarmed either someone at her boyfriend’s house or her mom’s house (assuming someone was usually home when she left whatever house she was at, to run). What are the odds that some random stranger would pick the perfect night, one where he could abduct Mollie and have the discovery of her disappearance delayed by something like 12 hours? If my assumptions are correct (possibly), this stranger either got incredibly lucky, or the perpetrator wasn’t a stranger at all.

That would explain her father's theory.

 

[arch]

There are pockets. For instance, at Uof I there's a little place called, ironically, Molly's cupcakes. If you're ever in Iowa, you have to go, best cupcakes in the whole world. Anyway, it's on a cute little block just across the street from the University. There's a bookstore, a coffee shop and it's like Mayberry. Go one block west and it's not safe, not even during the day. They have an artist fair there and we were accosted going through an alley to get some cash from a nearby atm. Yet one block east is Mayberry. We found out the hard way it's a little pocket of crime due to drugs.

One block west is the Pentacrest. No idea what you're talking about, especially during the day. That's the heart of the campus.

 

[goodprayers]

Has it ever been mentioned if her staying alone in the house, overnight happened before, on a regular basis or was this the first time? Why was fiancée not staying in house that night?

 

[feralwriter]

I’m going to throw this out there. From what I can gather, Mollie house sitting for her boyfriend wasn’t a common occurrence (atleast doesn’t seem so). This means that on any other night, Mollie’s disappearance would have likely been discovered quite quickly, as her failing to return from her jog would have alarmed either someone at her boyfriend’s house or her mom’s house (assuming someone was usually home when she left whatever house she was at, to run). What are the odds that some random stranger would pick the perfect night, one where he could abduct Mollie and have the discovery of her disappearance delayed by something like 12 hours? If my assumptions are correct (possibly), this stranger either got incredibly lucky, or the perpetrator wasn’t a stranger at all.

I'd say good point, except for how incredibly lucky murderers are in America. You know the clearance rate, right?

 

[zencompass]

I’m going to throw this out there. From what I can gather, Mollie house sitting for her boyfriend wasn’t a common occurrence (atleast doesn’t seem so). This means that on any other night, Mollie’s disappearance would have likely been discovered quite quickly, as her failing to return from her jog would have alarmed either someone at her boyfriend’s house or her mom’s house (assuming someone was usually home when she left whatever house she was at, to run). What are the odds that some random stranger would pick the perfect night, one where he could abduct Mollie and have the discovery of her disappearance delayed by something like 12 hours? If my assumptions are correct (possibly), this stranger either got incredibly lucky, or the perpetrator wasn’t a stranger at all.

Dear MassGuy,

I share your opinion.

This would have been Mollie's second night alone in that house.

In addition, the fact that there were no cars parked overnight or during the two days in that driveway has always made me think this was no coincidence.

Somehow I believe this fits into the disappearance of Mollie.

 

[2Hope4]

I’m going to throw this out there. From what I can gather, Mollie house sitting for her boyfriend wasn’t a common occurrence (atleast doesn’t seem so). This means that on any other night, Mollie’s disappearance would have likely been discovered quite quickly, as her failing to return from her jog would have alarmed either someone at her boyfriend’s house or her mom’s house (assuming someone was usually home when she left whatever house she was at, to run). What are the odds that some random stranger would pick the perfect night, one where he could abduct Mollie and have the discovery of her disappearance delayed by something like 12 hours? If my assumptions are correct (possibly), this stranger either got incredibly lucky, or the perpetrator wasn’t a stranger at all.

Read about serial killers and how random their crimes were. Sometimes they 'stake' out a place, watch who all lives there, their normal coming and going times, etc, other times, it's truly random. The person reminds them of someone, or the opportunity is there and they take it.

The longer Mollie is missing, the more I lean towards stranger. If there was any connection with Mollie and her abductor, LE would have found it on her media by now, I think.

 

[houndstooth]

She was fairly active on FB. I'm not sure shutting down her accounts is possible at this point.

How could you tell? I felt like a salmon trying to swim upstream through all the Missing posts and comments to get to her last posts and likes made by others.
It was supposed to be her personal fb account. I don't get it? Do you?
I've never seen that done before.

 

[MassGuy]

I'd say good point, except for how incredibly lucky murderers are in America. You know the clearance rate, right?

It’s not so much luck, as the odds being stacked in their favor to begin with. But point taken. I’m just saying it would be quite the coincidence, which may mean absolutely nothing of course.

 

[ventuc]

There’s never been a safer time to be a kid in America

Actually, childhood mortality, childhood missing persons, and childhood crime rates are all at near historic lows now.

And why do you think that is? Maybe because parents no longer let their kids roam neighborhoods or walk to school alone like they did "back in the day"?

 

[Alethea]

I’m going to throw this out there. From what I can gather, Mollie house sitting for her boyfriend wasn’t a common occurrence (atleast doesn’t seem so). This means that on any other night, Mollie’s disappearance would have likely been discovered quite quickly, as her failing to return from her jog would have alarmed either someone at her boyfriend’s house or her mom’s house (assuming someone was usually home when she left whatever house she was at, to run). What are the odds that some random stranger would pick the perfect night, one where he could abduct Mollie and have the discovery of her disappearance delayed by something like 12 hours? If my assumptions are correct (possibly), this stranger either got incredibly lucky, or the perpetrator wasn’t a stranger at all.

I think someone just got lucky. I think if there was evidence of some sort of premeditation or planning, it would actually be way easier to solve. If someone was driving through town and saw a jogger and kidnapped her, there's no texts to discover, no surveillance to report on, no wife to call in that her husband has been following some teen's social media presence. The fact that everyone seems to say (through family comments to MSM) that it's a unique case because she just up and disappeared makes me really think it was random. It is HARD to not leave digital clues. It's hard to not give off suspicion. I hope I'm wrong.

 

[JudgeJoe]

There’s never been a safer time to be a kid in America

Actually, childhood mortality, childhood missing persons, and childhood crime rates are all at near historic lows now.

Pretty dated statistics...

 

[NewYork625]

Just to remind everyone, blood is NOT going to be red days after an event.... it would turn very dark, brownish looking.

I saw it too. It was around his upper left shoulder. It looked brownish-red to me like the color of dried blood.

 

[Ezekiel2517]

By default, Facebook constantly tracks your location
https://www.howtogeek.com/fyi/faceb...es-location-heres-how-to-review-your-history/
If I was her family member or BF I would've immediately started looking through her stuff hoping she wrote down login info for her accounts or just trying to guess her passwords to gain access. I'm sure her username is either an email address or phone number, so just need the passwords.

 

[duster1979]

I apologize if this theory came up before but for speculation purposes I want to throw it out there....I have seen some comments about not locking the doors and windows in her area. What if someone slipped inside the house while she was out on the run? No stuggle could be explained if they drugged her by surprise.

And did what, carried her two blocks to where his car was stashed? If there had been a car parked there she would have seen it and not entered the house, or else been on alert when she entered which would likely have resulted in a struggle.

Please don't confuse the trusting nature of rural midwesterners for naiveté. If you've heard that we often don't lock the doors, you've probably also heard that we make it our business to know everybody else's business.