Found Deceased IA - Mollie Tibbetts, 20, Poweshiek County, 19 Jul 2018 #2

[Joe Friday]

Why the FBI thinks Mollie Tibbetts' Fitbit could help find her

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has several agents dedicated to the case because additional expertise is needed in forensics to explore the areas around Brooklyn and in high technology to gather information on cell phones, social media and Fitbit, said Mitch Mortvedt, assistant director of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, a state agency investigating the case.

Why the FBI thinks Mollie Tibbetts' Fitbit could help find her

 

[TTF14]

I'm really hoping this case mirrors Sherri Papini's more than Sierra's, but I'm also getting a Sierra vibe here . I hope she is found soon.

 

[MargeGunderson]

What if LEO and/or FBI said not to or didn't tell anyone they were headed there to search?

The FB page seems to have really wound down. I think it’s quite possible they’ve been asked to scale back on the posting, whether or not the cornfield article is true.

 

[Ilovemy3boys]

If someone did in fact do something to Mollie and she had a phone in her hand, he/she would probably knocked it out if her hand during a struggle or broke it before she can call anyone.

Imo.

 

[Gunslinging Granny]

What if LEO and/or FBI said not to or didn't tell anyone they were headed there to search?

There are miles and miles of cornfields requiring a lot of manpower. They would need volunteers. The volunteers' families would talk on social media. There would be even more state police cars that would pull into the tiny town of Brooklyn. It would be very obvious something was happening and people would post on social media about it. We would then go down in the dungeon of Webseluths and listen to radio calls.

 

[gitana1]

I thought it was that she text her mother regarding dinner around 7:00 and he opened her SC at 10:00 but she may have sent it earlier.

That seems right:

"No, absolutely not. Mollie would never run off. I last spoke with her at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday night about what was for dinner. I told her brats. She said, 'ok.'"
MISSING WOMAN: 20-year-old missing in Poweshiek County


“She is an avid runner,” Calderwood said, adding her daughter did not have a specific route. “She liked to mix it up.”

Calderwood said she had exchanged several text messages with her daughter that afternoon.

“She had sent me a shopping list for a dessert she wanted to make and take to work,” she said. “I texted her that I got the ingredients and asked if she was coming home for dinner.”

According to Calderwood, Tibbetts said she would be home and asked what they were having. “Brats,” she replied. “Ok,” Tibbetts responded.

But dinner came and went, Calderwood said, and Tibbetts didn’t come home.

The last known contact her daughter had with anyone was about 10 p.m. Wednesday, Calderwood said, when she exchanged Snapchat messages with her boyfriend.

The next morning, Calderwood said her son, Tibbetts’ brother, texted his sister at 7:30 a.m. to see if she needed a ride home. She never responded.

Throughout that day, Calderwood said she also sent text messages to her daughter, but all went unanswered.

At first, Calderwood thought he daughter was busy with work or something else. But Thursday afternoon, Calderwood said she got a call from her son saying Tibbetts didn’t show up for work.

“That’s when the adrenaline rushed through my body,” she said.

Calderwood said she immediately contacted local authorities and reported her daughter missing. Within an hour, they had opened an investigation.

Disappearance of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts remains a mystery

She's got a calm mama. Mine would've been blowing up my phone!

 

[gitana1]

With all due respect, it doesn't say that.

From the article:

She also sent a text message that night, around 7 p.m., and her boyfriend, Dalton Jack, opened a Snapchat message from her about 10 p.m., though it’s unclear when she sent it.​

It doesn't say who the text message was to, just that the Snap was to the boyfriend.

Jinx.

 

[cass523]

Now that I see the article about the cornfields I feel terrible. I should have insisted they search them harder on the Find Mollie page when they kept saying they'd searched every inch of Brooklyn

I read they were using the drones with the infrared cameras over the cornfields. Early into the investigation.

 

[Shelby1]

No, I’m confused and I feel bad for the guy. Not named as a suspect, nor do I see any reason he should be. This guy’s going through some rough times, I consider him a victim as well.

As does Websleuths. Unless anyone is named a POI by LE, they are considered victims here.

 

[Muffin0326]

I think she means Sierah Joughin

Yes sorry thats what I meant.

 

[Bravo]

We have company coming for dinner shortly so trying to keep up with the few minutes I have. Will be back later tonight.

 

[Poppyflower]

This article and video is
By Chantelle Navarro, KCRG-TV9 |
Posted: Fri 10:34 PM, Jul 20, 2018 |
Updated: Sat 5:22 PM, Jul 21, 2018

Please note this is from last week. It answers some questions others have had. I haven't seen this one before so I thought I would post it.

Family, friends say they remain optimistic in finding missing UI student

Again, this is an old article and video and I'm posting it to remind or update others in the thread.

 

[gitana1]

Hi everyone! More than 20 pages since I logged off I don't have time to read all.
Are there any new developments today apart from the new search in the corn fields?
If this is true it's depressing news. Maybe a solid tip came in?

What I got that was new was that they have a tight timeline now but they aren't publicizing it.

The FBI is assisting and is going through all her social media and has her Fitbit info:

Authorities have released new information in the case Wednesday.
Authorities tell KCRG they have received information from Fitbit after filing a search warrant.
Police have not specified what information is in the search warrants at this time.
Authorities also say they are making progress in the investigation, and have come up with a solid timeline, but they can't release it publicly.
Authorities receive Fitbit information in Mollie Tibbetts investigation

They are re-searching areas that were previously searched:

Public searches for Tibbetts have since been called off, but Mortvedt said the search for her is still active and that the FBI was called in on Monday to help.
"We feel everything that could be searched has been searched. Part of the FBI's tool box that they brought in was a whole host of man power that are highly trained in search," he said. "They're going back through a lot of the areas that were searched previously."
FBI joins search of missing 20-year-old, Mollie Tibbetts

I think she means Sierah Joughin

Ok. Ugh. That is a terrible case.

 

[Squirrel85]

That's creepy!!!



Good question. As with so much, we are getting conflicting reports. She only used them for driving or she couldn't see without them! At least that's what I;ve seen posted here.



Yeah. Where did we get the info about the neighbor? Was that ever an official report? I know there's a post on an LE facebook page from someone purporting to be the neighbor saying he saw her jogging at around 8:30-9:30 that evening as he sat on his porch. He remembered the color of her sports bra which some found odd. Poweshiek County Sheriff's Office

I guess his supposed sighting is not official?



Wow. That's a super smart observation. I never would've thought of that.



Really? Well, they will know very quickly whether someone isn't telling the truth.

Snapchat Admits Its Photos Don't 'Disappear Forever'

Actually, Snapchat Doesn't Delete Your Private Pictures And Someone Found A Way To Resurface Them

Snapchat messages won’t always disappear as fast as they used to

Someone else up thread had said, SnapChat only holds onto the photos for 30 days.

 

[Squirrel85]

What if LEO and/or FBI said not to or didn't tell anyone they were headed there to search?

A lot of LE agencies don't mention where they're going to search. They don't want the media, citizens, etc; out gawking at them and getting in their way.

 

[Hwood2010]

I read they were using the drones with the infrared cameras over the cornfields. Early into the investigation.

Correct me if I'm wrong but wouldn't thermal drones only pick up body heat meaning she would have had to be still alive for that to be effective? I hope that was an old article... if they are searching the cornfields again now that they have the FitBit data that doesn't point towards a good outcome unfortunately.

 

[gitana1]

There are miles and miles of cornfields requiring a lot of manpower. They would need volunteers. The volunteers' families would talk on social media. There would be even more state police cars that would pull into the tiny town of Brooklyn. It would be very obvious something was happening and people would post on social media about it. We would then go down in the dungeon of Webseluths and listen to radio calls.

The article I posted stated there are no public searches going on but that the FBI is re-searching certain areas that have been previously searched, with highly trained manpower.

I can only see the public mucking that up.

Coupled with the fitbit info being obtained, and social media, etc., being analyzed, I think they have reason to go back to a specific area to search.

 

[Hatfield]

Correct me if I'm wrong but wouldn't thermal drones only pick up body heat meaning she would have had to be still alive for that to be effective? I hope that was an old article... if they are searching the cornfields again now that they have the FitBit data that doesn't point towards a good outcome unfortunately.

JMO
From past cases I have learned that heat signatures on recently deceased people can retain a heat signature for a certain length of time. The longer as time goes on the lower the heat signature becomes. But decomposition in itself can cause an increase in heat.

So the bottom line to answer your question is infrared can be helpful even after a person dies.

Also infrared cameras are best used at nightime as the area cools down then the heat signature of a body can stand out more.

Usually drones or helicopters or even planes can be used with those types of cameras looking down on fields or tree covered areas too.

 

[WithMyLittleEye]

If she has an iPhone, she could have used the emergency function on it, too. Use Emergency SOS on your iPhone

Good link to review. Thank you!

 

[MargeGunderson]

The article I posted stated there are no public searches going on but that the FBI is re-searching certain areas that have been previously searched, with highly trained manpower.

I can only see the public mucking that up.

Coupled with the fitbit info being obtained, and social media, etc., being analyzed, I think they have reason to go back to a specific area to search.

If there are new searches based on fitbit data they could very well do it without a large contingent of volunteers. If they are using GPS data it could narrow places to look specifically enough for the LE to handle it and I’m sure if they can do it themselves they would prefer it that way.