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

[MassGuy]

Fox News just put a fresh article up about MT.... and evidently, local public opinion, anyway, is leaning towards this being a random stranger, since they formed a community watch group and everyone is afraid.


Mollie Tibbetts' disappearance shook Iowa town 'to its core,' community watch organizer says

I don't blame them. You live in this seemingly safe town, with little crime, and then one day your world is upended with what by all appearances, looks to be a horrific crime. It's been three weeks, and still no sign of an answer. I’d be scared too.

 

[Rossymom]

This is really making me relive our local news coverage of Delphi.
Things like this just never happen around here. Never.




Mollie Tibbetts' disappearance shook Iowa town 'to its core,' community watch organizer says


Mollie Tibbetts' disappearance shook Iowa town 'to its core,' community watch organizer says

 

[ventuc]

Abduction and struggle in broad daylight doesn't make sense to me. At least not unless there were two perpetrators involved. I'd be much more inclined to believe she willingly met up with someone for some reason (get high, hook up for fun or profit, or whatever), and it went from there. Whether into a vehicle or a house, who knows. We don't know the time of the rural pings and whether the devices were still actually in her possession at that time--was she there, or was someone just dumping her electronics? For all we know, she went into someone's house along the route and is in their basement or their freezer.

On the stalking side of things, looking at the map, there is both a construction firm and landscaping firm down a N/S sidestreet on West Des Moines very near the house and co-op. If someone had been showing up for work and parking on the street there for a few days, they may have learned the morning pattern of pick up and patterns while sitting in their car waiting for their day to begin. Cross that with people who would know about her through other means and there's a link there if it was a morning abduction.

The pings outside of town seem to rule out the asthma/sickness aspect, unless she was willingly headed out there to get high and OD'd or had a reaction, in which case someone might have panicked and compounded things out of fear. The early family pleas might be toned in such a way that someone involved may not be a heinous criminal but someone just screwing around with drugs with her and should do the right thing. But perhaps such a person thinks that being involved with drugs or disposal of a body will put them at risk of a worse charge (e.g., a young person for whom a record of involuntary manslaughter and desecration of a corpse and the subsequent scrutiny "ruins" their life despite it probably resulting in probation--or someone on probation for a more serious crime who would face significant time for being associated with such an accident.)

I hope she is as clean cut as she is portrayed, but I grew up knowing a lot of similar people who liked to party, and if that's the case for MT, what benefit is there for anything negative to be released? It just opens up nasty lines of questioning for the family, decreases interest, etc.

FWIW, I don't agree that she would be meeting up with someone to "get high, hook up for fun or profit...", etc. That would be pretty ballsy in a small town, staying at BF's house, and mom a mile up the road. I'd think the random abduction, even with the coincidence factor, would be more likely than that.

 

[renarde]

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.

Yes, it seems her FB has been totally hijacked since she disappeared. I'm sure most people mean well. Graph search allows one to see only her activity, and that stopped on the 18th. Before that, she was fairly active, posting likes and comments on a regular basis.

 

[houndstooth]

Yes, it seems her FB has been totally hijacked since she disappeared. I'm sure most people mean well.

Exactly my thoughts. Most people. Not all. So, did you also detect that there might be some attempt to obscure her page behind a wall of well-wishing? It struck me as so off in places is the reason this makes the third comment I've made about it.

 

[EJB123456]

July 18, about 7:30 pm. Unless what we know has changed, it's not "items needed for children the next day", it's "ingredients for a dessert she was going to make for an after-work celebration on Friday the 20th.

Agreed

 

[InvSmith]

Great post, any one of us here would do the same thing. As you point out, what's the alternative ...

In thinking things over and this being week three, I really think this is a missing person case. This may sound oversimplified (I say this to focus us) but this is just being conducted in that manner. The FBI and others are doing everything they can to bring her back safely. I do not think MT knew she was leaving but this is where it was escalated to and they need her to be returned. They need the person or persons involved to help them achieve her safe return.

 

[InvSmith]

With snaps, is it just an image or can there be written content, as in a caption or other info? The BF has said that it appeared she was in a house, but it was dark and he couldn't tell what environment she was in. And I've seen a couple of references to the mother saying that LE asked her if Mollie was in a house at 9:45. I wonder if this is a time stamp they found related to the snap and it's really not clear where she was, and this is part of what's concerning?

I think it is very concerning though he only remembers a glance. I pray for her safe return.

 

[ventuc]

So let's say the dad's scenario is correct, and someone has Mollie, keeping her alive. Have there been many (any?) known cases recently where public pleading with the perp has resulted in a safe return? Or info of any kind, for that matter? I suppose the reward money, which may be at an unprecedented amount now, might make a difference.

 

[i'm someone]

Yes, it seems her FB has been totally hijacked since she disappeared. I'm sure most people mean well. Graph search allows one to see only her activity, and that stopped on the 18th. Before that, she was fairly active, posting likes and comments on a regular basis.

And the trolls are the worst I've ever seen. WHY. ARE. THOSE. POSTS. STILL. THERE. There are clearly fake accounts being made right and left. I have stopped even looking there, and just check the Finding Mollie Tibbetts page. It's much more organized at this point, with moderators and people in charge. For the love of pete, I hope the authorities are looking at the crazier posters. Said it before, still think they should at least take those down so the family doesn't have to be subjected to that.

 

[1&2&3]

Does BF have any idea the route she ran when she stayed over at his house? Since LE is not releasing information, I guess we don’t really know the answer to this.

Are the roads so deserted in the area she would have been running on that someone could pull off the road behind her, grab her, put her in the car, and another car would not pass on either side of the road? I think she would fight the person trying to grab her.

I can’t imagine someone just opening the door and going into the house because the dogs would have had a fit even if they were already put in the basement. IIRC she slept with them, so that gives a timeframe for that night. IMO.

 

[i'm someone]

I think it is very concerning though he only remembers a glance. I pray for her safe return.

I am sure he wishes every second he could have that picture back.

 

[wary]

You’re dead on here (I’ve said the same thing so you obviously are). LE hasn’t mentioned these things, which I find to be incredibly curious. You’d think they’d mention these changes in behavior and appearance as well as possible injuries in the days following Mollie’s disappearance. This is either a huge oversight, or they in fact have their eyes on someone. Taking into account the FBI’s involvement in this, I think that such an oversight is less likely. So hopefully, they have a person in their crosshairs, but anything is possible.

I agree, and I've been saying this, too. Two possible reasons for LE's behavior--a while back I asked if anyone could come up with a third reason...didn't get an answer.

 

[SharonNeedles]

FWIW, I don't agree that she would be meeting up with someone to "get high, hook up for fun or profit...", etc. That would be pretty ballsy in a small town, staying at BF's house, and mom a mile up the road. I'd think the random abduction, even with the coincidence factor, would be more likely than that.

Not out of the question at all, University of Iowa parties hard. No reason to assume any of that, but certainly no reason to dismiss it as not possible.

 

[Iowaroots]

I think this is a random abduction. Creep stopped her to “ask for directions” and like any local comfortable in their hometown she doesn’t hesitate to stop and give directions. I think Mollie will be found in a 20 mile radius down I-80 in a cornfield. Some poor farmer will be forever changed when we goes to harvest in the Fall.
I think LE is just lost.

 

[Veracity]

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.

Do you think she might have run along a creek? I have asked about the weird tracks you can see along Big Bear Creek which is the waterway she could have easily made her way to by heading out 170 toward Hwy 6.

I wondered if she did it routinely? If she did it this night because she would soon be in the Dominican Republic and she might be running along a beach, conditioning on her mind? If it is cooler along the creek?

We have greenways here with running and biking trails. Folks run the neighborhood streets to a park where they connect to the greenway which runs along a creek. Could she have run toward the HS and then run the track there? There are a ton of folks here who drive to the HS or Middle school and just run the track.

I saw many running trails for Iowa, wondered if Mollie ever ran this one while at school and then decided to just run along the creek in Brooklyn? If cars/atv already made paths, I thought it was a possibility?


Ashton/Clear Creek Natural Surface Running Trail, Coralville, Iowa

 

[ZoriahNZ]

It would appear that several of Mollie's close family have now changed their FB cover photo to a blank black one. I counted at least 4. This seems really saddening and ominous to me. Could it be that they have found out something?

 

[MassGuy]

So let's say the dad's scenario is correct, and someone has Mollie, keeping her alive. Have there been many (any?) known cases recently where public pleading with the perp has resulted in a safe return? Or info of any kind, for that matter? I suppose the reward money, which may be at an unprecedented amount now, might make a difference.

I can’t think of any. If Mollie was in fact kidnapped (highly likely), then we need to factor in the motive. I think the most likely one (unfortunately), is a sexually motivated abduction. In most sexually motivated abductions, especially ones that have gone on for this length, the result is a murder. If by some miracle, Mollie is still alive, why would a kidnapper risk arrest by returning her? He’s already looking at a life sentence. This guy is most likely a sociopath, and as such, won’t be swayed in the slightest by the family’s pleas.

 

[Nah]

I think this is a random abduction. Creep stopped her to “ask for directions” and like any local comfortable in their hometown she doesn’t hesitate to stop and give directions. I think Mollie will be found in a 20 mile radius down I-80 in a cornfield. Some poor farmer will be forever changed when we goes to harvest in the Fall.
I think LE is just lost.

I agree. Except if the last fitbit location was the pig farm or whatever, then we have to remember either the perp threw out the fitbit, or somehow the dogs haven’t found her yet. Otherwise this is exactly what I think happened. It fits.

 

[1987]

And the trolls are the worst I've ever seen. WHY. ARE. THOSE. POSTS. STILL. THERE. There are clearly fake accounts being made right and left. I have stopped even looking there, and just check the Finding Mollie Tibbetts page. It's much more organized at this point, with moderators and people in charge. For the love of pete, I hope the authorities are looking at the crazier posters. Said it before, still think they should at least take those down so the family doesn't have to be subjected to that.

there is some seriously sick stuff there