Found Deceased IA - Mollie Tibbetts, 20, Poweshiek County, 19 Jul 2018 #22

[Deleted member 228069]

I was grabbed while walking with one head phone in. It’s possible people.

Someone tried to get me in their car when I was very young. My mother thanked God for many, many years that the man tried to lure me with hard candy instead of chocolate. Otherwise, she had no doubt I would have gotten into his car.

 

[CrimeReporter]

What do you all think charges would be in this arrest many see as imminent? I can’t see how any charges related to Mollie can be made at this time, unless a suspect texted her that he planned to abduct her...

All kinds of chargs are possible, depending on the evidence. Simply lying to investigators would be enough for a charge of obstruction of justice. There's also concealment of a death, which can encompass a lot of actions. There might be evidence of a burglary, a battery, all sorts of things that are short of murder or kidnapping.

Could even be something as small as trespassing, though I doubt they'd pursue something as minor as that, because the person would likely make bail, and it might be better, in terms of strategy for police, to keep tabs on the person rather than arresting on something minor. Plus, there's the risk, however small, that a good defense lawyer could raise some kind of double-jeopardy claim.

 

[cody22]

Monday's presser. Held or postponed?

Held, but same old stuff in the long run, unless they make an arrest soon.

 

[RavenCC2020]

I run all my messages through Google Messenger on my phone, so there's a copy of every conversation. Thankfully so, too. When my son passed away, it was comforting to view years of conversations we had through messages.

I'm terribly sorry for your loss Michelle. I am very happy for you that you have those notes to refer to whenever you wish to and that they bring comfort to you. I did the same with my son's emails to me when he was deployed just in case. He came back safely thank God but every once in awhile I do go back and reread them.

 

[FindHG]

really

snipped

Please don't quote it.

 

[1987]

I mostly agree with you. I have no issue with anyone looking at her social media, its the conclusions that have been based on it that bothers me.

if she had it public then I have no issue with who ever looking, if it was made public after she was gone then I have issue with it being looked at. I don't know how to tell when it was made public. no matter what others do if a person is using social media and has it all public then they have made it available for all to see the picture they are painting about themselves and anyone they post about and I do think social media is pictures painted not accurate life much of the time. not saying that about her, just general.

 

[CaptainSmoke]

One theory that I just can't stop thinking about is this: When MT went to California for her dad's wedding, could she have possibly been introduced to someone while she was visiting or at the wedding, and that encounter boiled into a sexual advance (wanted or not wanted). MT and this person stay in contact with each other after her return to Iowa. Then, suddenly she finds out she is pregnant and calls her Dad. This conversation last three hours and in MOO entails how to deal with this situation so relationships and careers don't get ruined. The person in question, (which I don't even know exists) becomes upset when told of this situation and thinks they must come to Iowa to resolve this or to make it go away before their career, marriage, lifestyle is ruined. According to MSM, RT believes she is with somebody she knows. Is that person somebody she met in California??? This is totally speculation and 100% MO. What do members think?

 

[Marie224]

It’s almost impossible not to speculate when we dont know if there is and where a crime-scene is located... next, from this scene to the next MT either taken too or disposed of... it will be known as the recovery or death scene....

Also, I have the Alta fitbit and I immediately replaced the snap-on band it came with, for a fastening, watch-type band, to prevent my fitbit from unsnapping and falling off, which is how I lost my previous fitbit.

We don’t know what fitbit band MT had, and how easy or not it would have been to remove it from her wrist.

 

[MsBetsy]

Thank you for speaking to preserve the dignity of victims.
Hero.

Jon Glass, I couldn't find your post to quote from, but you are absolutely right! 100 times over! The obsession is completely disturbing. I have never had anything to do with social media never used it ( unless WS is defined as such; I don't even know, but still I have heard from others personal and sensitive details that have been shared and repeated on social media and it is inappropriate. I understand that SM leaves the public access to their information, but that does not justify making judgements, insinuations, and basically spreading rumours. All which are harmful to the family and friends of the victim.

 

[Jon Glass]

Absolutely true. But my issue is that any conclusions we can reach based on her SM posts, are inherently problematic. You can get a feel for a person based on SM, but you can’t know who they are from posts, pictures, likes, and comments. “Oh she has a picture in which she is scantily clad, someone must have been influenced by these photos and decided to abduct her,” is not a solid theory.

But, "we", honestly, have no right. Yes, I understand that some of those things are in the public domain, but that still doesn't make it right.
There has been a tinge of revictimizing the victim. Her SM pics or posts mean little... All we need to know is that this child has been endangered, harmed, or whatever... And our focus should be on that. Anything that she has posted, ever, could by no means justify what has happened to her, and should never be used in some salacious conversation.
Those things were her business... Justify going over them any way you like, those things are still none of our business.

 

[cluciano63]

Maybe LE found her phone...would we even know?

 

[castilloisno1]

Thanks mods for being so quick to take down something that wasn't MSM.

 

[DocBrew]

I still think it could've been someone she knew and trusted. Possibly an older authority figure with perhaps a wife/kids that tried to woo her and got in over his head. If so, he would have likely been in a position to know that her boyfriend was out of town, and may have even convinced her to "hang out" after the run.

JMO.

 

[MrsWatson]

One theory that I just can't stop thinking about is this: When MT went to California for her dad's wedding, could she have possibly been introduced to someone while she was visiting or at the wedding, and that encounter boiled into a sexual advance (wanted or not wanted). MT and this person stay in contact with each other after her return to Iowa. Then, suddenly she finds out she is pregnant and calls her Dad. This conversation last three hours and in MOO entails how to deal with this situation so relationships and careers don't get ruined. The person in question, (which I don't even know exists) becomes upset when told of this situation and thinks they must come to Iowa to resolve this or to make it go away before their career, marriage, lifestyle is ruined. According to MSM, RT believes she is with somebody she knows. Is that person somebody she met in California??? This is totally speculation and 100% MO. What do members think?

I'm fond of the library "safe" person theory but I've also wondered about the wedding and the Utah thing.

 

[Emilyf886]

Someone tried to get me in their car when I was very young. My mother thanked God for many, many years that the man tried to lure me with hard candy instead of chocolate. Otherwise, she had no doubt I would have gotten into his car.

I was grabbed on a well traveled street that happened to be aligned with factories between the downtown area and residential area. It was only 9pm around the holiday time so people were out and about for sure. He was very bold and must have been following me for a little while.

 

[Alethea]

In response to the questions about text message retrieval:

Back in the day when people sent SMS text messages to each other, phone companies would have a log of what texts were sent and received and from what number. LE could subpoena a carrier for the texts during a certain period. During the Casey Anthony case, Florida's public records law allowed the release to the public of the evidence introduced or planned to be introduced at trial by LE. So we got to see spreadsheets of Casey's text messages from her cell phone carrier.

iMessage is an Apple messaging app that replaces SMS messaging when you message other Apple devices. iMessages are end-to-end encrypted. This means there's no middle man storing or reading the message. The message can be read on the device(s) of the person sending and the person receiving. Apple itself and the phone company never see the content of the message so there's nothing to subpoena. There are a number of ways to retrieve these messages if you have the device that sent or received it. If your iPhone backs up to iCloud, if you have iCloud sign-in information and 2 step authorization access, you can see what was stored. But you can't subpoena Apple for it. (My good friend has worked in app security at Apple for over a decade now).

If you have an iPhone and you are texting someone who does not have an Apple device, you are not using iMessage and I believe it sends the message through traditional SMS with the phone company. The end-to-end encryption is a feature for Apple to Apple communication.

I believe Facebook messenger also now uses end-to-end encryption because they are trying to introduce payment processing. I think WhatsApp also uses end-to-end encryption. It's becoming more popular and more companies are moving towards it.

 

[Jabarn]

It’s almost impossible not to speculate when we dont know if there is and where a crime-scene is located... next, from this scene to the next MT either taken too or disposed of... it will be known as the recovery or death scene....

Also, I have the Alta fitbit and I immediately replaced the snap-on band it came with, for a fastening, watch-type band, to prevent my fitbit from unsnapping and falling off, which is how I lost my previous fitbit.

We don’t know what fitbit band MT had, and how easy or not it would have been to remove it from her wrist.

To me, the Fitbit is the biggest clue of all. We will see.

Questions.

1) Do we know the model of her Fitbit... I think her iPhone is nailed down, and the Fitbit might have been linked to it, and why she took both when running.

2) For those of you who use a Fitbit, is there a website where you can retrieve the data?

3) Can you share your running data with friends while using the Fitbit?

ETA, for question 3, I use the runkeeper app to share progress with my sister, but it’s only shared with her once I am finished and hit the “done” button.

 

[Marie224]

One theory that I just can't stop thinking about is this: When MT went to California for her dad's wedding, could she have possibly been introduced to someone while she was visiting or at the wedding, and that encounter boiled into a sexual advance (wanted or not wanted). MT and this person stay in contact with each other after her return to Iowa. Then, suddenly she finds out she is pregnant and calls her Dad. This conversation last three hours and in MOO entails how to deal with this situation so relationships and careers don't get ruined. The person in question, (which I don't even know exists) becomes upset when told of this situation and thinks they must come to Iowa to resolve this or to make it go away before their career, marriage, lifestyle is ruined. According to MSM, RT believes she is with somebody she knows. Is that person somebody she met in California??? This is totally speculation and 100% MO. What do members think?

I think anything is possible at this point and if she was involved with someone else, while her bf was away at work, gone for the night, it would be the most opportunistic time to have him over but the house has been cleared... so had no transportation... again I cannot commit to one theory..

 

[FindHG]

Rosesfromangels,

They're here... somebody needs clicks.

Thank you for the awareness and intellect you share with your heart and soul in it.

You always bring out the best in sleuthers.

 

[MassGuy]

But, "we", honestly, have no right. Yes, I understand that some of those things are in the public domain, but that still doesn't make it right.
There has been a tinge of revictimizing the victim. Her SM pics or posts mean little... All we need to know is that this child has been endangered, harmed, or whatever... And our focus should be on that. Anything that she has posted, ever, could by no means justify what has happened to her, and should never be used in some salacious conversation.
Those things were her business... Justify going over them any way you like, those things are still none of our business.

I think you misunderstood me. I said as much. I’m just saying that I understand people’s curiosity, but making judgements based on these posts is not at all helpful, and very unlikely to be relevant.