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

[Auntie Cipation]

The problem with the 'stranger' theory is that there is nothing, no evidence. Even Jodi Husentruit's apartment had evidence -- her shoes, broken car key, earrings, etc. near her parked car (which could be plants, no doubt).

A 20 y/o college student (unless stunned) would not go without a fight if a stranger grabbed her.

Agreed, but -- what defines a stranger?

Anecdote time: a few years ago a pipeline was built near my area. Some of the workers were on the job for months. One man in particular I recall because he was attractive and obviously bright, and regularly came into the library (where I met him). I never knew him well but after the first few conversations I wouldn't have considered him a stranger.

I actively considered offering him to park his trailer in my empty lot next door to my home. I may have actually given him a ride (or ridden with him) out to an old dump site several miles from town, where people sometimes find old bottles and other collectibles. I definitely trusted the guy at that level. And yet, I had known him for maybe a few weeks or a month or two at the most?

It only takes a few conversations to create a feeling of connection and trust at that basic level, not committing your life to the person but certainly willing to get in a car to help or for a seemingly-innocuous reason. Maybe this is only a rural thing but it's definitely a thing.

So I think we need to look at the area in between the stark black and white of "trusted friends" vs "scary strangers".

 

[cass523]

Missing Iowa student: Latest developments in Mollie Tibbetts's Disappearance

MISSING IOWA STUDENT: LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN MOLLIE TIBBETTS'S DISAPPEARANCE

No new info

 

[Kapua]

If her disappearance is a crime and if it is solved, that solution, I think, will be shocking, in terms of the guilty party.

Based on what we know today, which isn't much, I agree.

 

[Christineisfab]

While I respect your opinion LE does make mistakes. Would you like to have a private convo about my friend’s cousin? Taken in her own car and found months later less than a mile from her abduction sight. lE never gave us much info either. We just know she was taken in her car and potentially harmed in the process. We can only speculate that they are doing the very best job. MOO

OT: I've been seeing you on this thread for a while and I can NOT let another post go by without saying that I love your pic. #PhillyPhilly

 

[ACG2x]

I've been following this since about a week after MT was reported missing. Over the last two weeks it's become a borderline obsession lol. However, one of the things that I've tried to do is a daily 'reset' about what information has been learned from the day before. Have done this in other missing person cases I've followed.

Have to say this one currently is up there in terms of being different than others. For example, have never wavered in what I thought happened to Natalee Holloway, Laci Peterson or Abby and Libby - not for a second. This case though - opinion has changed 2-3x over the course of a few weeks and keeps wavering. Yesterday, I thought there was a very real possibility that MT was alive and what her father said about "someone she knows" made sense.

For today's "reset", here's what I think I think:

- LE has a ton more info than many are giving them credit for and are holding it so tight due to the small size of the community and because I truly believe they are on the verge of a breakthrough. The rescheduled PC (2x) spoke this to me as I think if the case was really going cold, they'd just cancel it and say they have no new information, team continues to follow-up, report tips, blahblahblah

- WC is not the responsible party for her disappearance and I wouldn't be surprised at all if he was nowhere near her jogging route on 07/18. The guy has been overly cooperative when he doesn't have to be and while he seems like a rather shady character, has acted like someone who has nothing to hide. I think MSM has been latching on to the "cops searching area by creepy guy's house - he must have done it!" theory which so far with amount of info we have is akin to in the early days of the investigation people loudly trumpeting "THE BOYFRIEND DID IT - I KNOW IT" with just as much research

- MT's jogging route certainly suggests that she was taken (or left) on her run since last known sighting was at one of her farthest points from the home. There have been no reported sightings of MT after 8-9 PM on the way back towards the house. I have to believe with 4-5 reported sightings and possible video from gas station next to Casey's on the route from the home, if she did make it back home there'd be at least one sighting after DR's on the way back. Either that or MT entered stealth ninja mode or teleported back to the house - the narrative that she made it back home after the 7:30 PM run doesn't hold water to me. Add in that LE has described her as wearing running clothes and her cell/Fitbit/armband have not been recovered and every sign points to disappearance on the run itself

- Nor does the thought that anything happened at the house make logical sense. DJ reported there were no signs of a struggle, LE never made the home a crime scene and fam was allowed to go in and out freely shortly after she vanished. Add in the dogs being fed/watered in the basement where they were placed when she went out and you have tons of signs that MT going out for a run and leaving the house exactly as she would. Contacts being there don't bother me at all because if she was running, she easily could've been wearing a pair or just not wanted or needed them if she's just going to put her head down and run

- As for her leaving willingly or knowing her abductor(s) - I just don't know. Logic tells me no but hope says yes because if the answer is yes, then there's a better chance she's still alive

- Speaking of, I go back and forth about if MT is alive/being held and deceased. Right now I'm somewhere around 75% not and 25% is and I really wish there'd be news that would come out that would change those. Can't tell you how badly I want to be wrong here

- This case has reminded me how much I hate sensationalist journalism to my core. Whether it's MSM or other, clickbait stories with "OMG RUMORZ" and the like or unverified quotes from locals who were likely paid drives me insane and is a reminder why the news media sometimes get a bad rap. There are plenty of good ones out there - just a few bad apples spoil the bunch

Thank you again to WS for being a great community of logical, helpful and kind people. So glad I joined - not just for the MT case, but will definitely be sticking around. I hope I've added enough value to the discussion and look forward to the day this case can be closed. Have a great Friday and weekend all.

 

[Emilyf886]

Looking at a map of the town there are only 2 locations I personally would snatch someone from if I was a sinister person. Assuming she ran down Mills the last witness would debunk that, the second place would be along highway 6 which I personally don’t think she ran but who knows.

 

[Stormy21]

I've got a question. What would happen if the local, presiding LE agency suspected that one of their own might be involved in a case like this? Would they be tasked with essentially "policing themselves" or would an outside agency such as the FBI be called in to handle the case?

Very interesting question. The stuff movies are made of: The Departed, Serpico, Black Mass, London has Fallen...and a million more.

Basically that is corruption. And it happens. And sometimes it is very hard to overcome -- even at a national level. State would assume responsibility, unless there is a federal case. I have even seen ATF and US Marshal involvement.

 

[soap mama]

Maybe there wasn’t evidence of a struggle Bc the other party had a gun and walked into an unlocked house, or pulled it on her after she opened the door
Regarding the man who saw her jogging, once again, outsiders are online descending on a small town and tearing the residents to shreds. Despicable.

 

[margarita25]

Hi Everyone,

I'd like to welcome our many new members to Websleuths. Please remember Websleuths is not like the other discussion forums. We are heavily moderated. Our goal is to stay on topic, not tear apart innocent people, and see what we can come up with looking at the evidence presented to the public by the mainstream media or law enforcement.

Here is a link to our rules. The Rules

This means you cannot randomly accuse someone of killing Mollie.

You cannot link to other sources like random YouTube videos or Facebook pages and post information from these places.

WC are initials of the pig farmer who has been brought in for questioning and had his property searched in connection with Mollie's disappearance. Police have not named him as a person of interest.

In a situation like this where a person has not been named a suspect but the police appear to be interested in him, we only allow the initials of the person to be used
This does not mean you can discuss anyone else. You can't start using Mollie's boyfriend's initials and then you post you think he may have been involved. We are doing this with WC only. Keep in mind each case is different. What we allow in another case on Websleuths does not mean we will allow the same type of discussion in Mollie's case.

As far as WC, one of our media sources that we have given the OK to use is Heavy.com

Heavy.com has provided a WC Five Fast Facts You Need to Know.

If you want to discuss what Heavy.com has provided you must use only the initials WC.

Please, do not outright accuse WC of taking Mollie, no remarks about looks, clothing, or any other insults.

The media frenzy surrounding Mollie's case is jaw-dropping and the story keeps getting bigger and bigger. As this happens sometimes the facts become lost and rumors take over.

Please stick to the facts of the case.

Thanks, everyone,
Tricia

Thanks @Tricia and Mods for running a tight ship here and making this the best crime forum on the internet, which respects not only victims’ rights, but others’ as well.

-I’m not brown nosing. I spend my time HERE and not on FB, etc for a reason. Please know that all your work is appreciated by many, and that this forum is very important to so many of us.

 

[Christineisfab]

Right or wrong, NEVER, EVER claim you were the 'last person to see someone alive". Right or wrong some of these people are run out of town.

I picture my dad getting sucked into something like this. He is a local news junkie and LOVES mysteries so if something happened in their neighborhood and he saw reporters milling about I'd bet anything he'd say "Oh yeah, I saw her running the other night. It was so late I bet I was the last one to see her!" And that's why I feel for this dude.

 

[PhoebeTries]

What I’m trying to say is I wonder if we should strive to find that balance between maintaining online privacy while still allowing for crucial info to be available to LE as soon as possible in the event of an unthinkable. Does that balance even exist?

RSBM

When I got my first tattoo, I thought that a bonus was that they would be able to use it as an identifier should I ever go missing/turn up as a Jane Doe.
We see things happen every day here, it makes you aware of things most people are not.

 

[NewYork625]

Can someone post the original source of the co-op CCTV camera being non-operational? TIA.

I don't have the link but when I asked about it yesterday someone told me that it might have been hit by lightning.

 

[chihuahua]

So here we all still are with no news of Mollie.
Someone knows something.
Someone saw something, whether they realize it or not.
If you are reading here and you know or even think you know something in this case, please for her sake tell the authorities.
People are thinking with all the tips that their tips aren't welcome any more.
Or that "surely that's been called in already".
You can remain anonymous.
This has gone on far too long.
If someone did something accidentally causing Mollie's demise, then it still needs to be known so she can be brought home to her family.
Stop. Think. Act.
Chi

 

[SharonNeedles]

Again, how would media get the guy’s name? I guess they may have seen LE there, or did he contact media?

His name and reported possible sighting weren’t secret. I even asked him a question on facebook two weeks ago and he responded right away. If the media is just now figuring out his name I question how closely they’re paying attention.

 

[mountainguy777]

“- WC is not the responsible party for her disappearance and I wouldn't be surprised at all if he was nowhere near her jogging route on 07/18. The guy has been overly cooperative when he doesn't have to be and while seems like a rather shady character, has nothing to hide. I think MSM has been latching on to the "cops searching area by creepy guy's house ”

I disagree with this part. The media aren’t the ones that have Interviewed WC up to 5 times, or polygraphed him.

 

[Whiteorchids]

The problem with the 'stranger' theory is that there is nothing, no evidence. Even Jodi Husentruit's apartment had evidence -- her shoes, broken car key, earrings, etc. near her parked car (which could be plants, no doubt).

A 20 y/o college student (unless stunned) would not go without a fight if a stranger grabbed her.

Are their large cornfields that come to the edge or close to the road or possible paths MT could have been jogging? Perhaps a local drifter, even a teenager, maybe someone not right in the head had been hiding or lurking near the cornfields up to no good happened to see a pretty girl run by. MT was busy listening to music from her earbuds she wouldn’t have heard his footsteps come from behind and put his hand over her mouth and use the cord of her earbuds to apprehend her. Posters here said cornfields are so thick you could literally be standing in them and not be detected and in he dragged her into the cornfield they pop back up therefore no drag marks. I’m thinking her body is in the cornfield and like others said wouldn’t be found until harvest.

 

[Emilyf886]

OT: I've been seeing you on this thread for a while and I can NOT let another post go by without saying that I love your pic. #PhillyPhilly

Thank you! We got slammed in our first pre season but ‍ Oh well

 

[SharonNeedles]

Right or wrong, NEVER, EVER claim you were the 'last person to see someone alive". Right or wrong some of these people are run out of town.

He did not claim that. His original statement was that after he heard she was missing he figured out it was likely the same girl that jogs down his street regularly and he thinks he saw her that night.

 

[Gardenista]

Again, how would media get the guy’s name? I guess they may have seen LE there, or did he contact media?

At the very beginning of this, he mentioned seeing her in the comments section of a news story on FB.

 

[feralwriter]

I think Mollie went with someone she knew, or thought she knew, or someone she deemed safe, and the person turned out to be the opposite.

How many times have we heard from family and friends about a perp--so nice, wouldn't hurt a fly, such a great ______ (fill in the blank). Most people are not suspicious of others, even when our instincts are trying to warn us (yes, I gave the book The Gift of Fear to all of my kids as soon as I read it). We explain away overt warnings (if there are any) and discount the less obvious, we think "he's a nice guy, works with my brother," "she's a friend of my coworker," "I see him all the time around town," "she's an old girlfriend of so-and-so."

And then there's the female factor (as I see it, my opinion): girls and women don't want to seem rude to anyone. So if a guy on crutches, or a guy with his arm in a cast, asks for help with something, well, most times that's just what a girl will do.

If Mollie got into a vehicle with, or opened the door to, a person she knew, (in whatever way), then that is fairly unremarkable, and no struggle or drama for witnesses to recall.

moo

THIS. Along the lines of, "Hi Mollie. Hey, can you come here a second? Look at my new dog." She walks in the garage. "You want a glass of water while you're here?" Walks in kitchen. He didn't even have to know her name. She could have just seen him around, or seen him once in the grocery store talking to someone she knows. Perceived trust.