Found Deceased IA - Mollie Tibbetts, 20, Poweshiek County, 19 Jul 2018 #23

[ForensicFiles]

Reports of one among hundreds of thousands of crackpots who post insane things online and have concerned friends or relatives are different from an intenstive missing person's investigation where we know a person is gone, and hundreds of investigators from multiple agencies are involved.

If this was being handled by a smaller, less experienced agency AND we had info that things were not being handled well, ivould understand the criticism.

But to suggest that the evidence in this case should be handed over to the public so the public can investigate because there has been no arrest and Mollie hasn't been found in three weeks, seems rather arrogant.

I keep going back to Katlynn Cargill's case as it's the most recent I can recall where people were just howling about how incompetent LE was. It got to me too and had me second guessing LE. They knew what they were doing all along.

I do think there are bright people here and elsewhere who can come up with things and have indeed helped solve cases or find info. that LE didn't.

If this case goes cold that might be that time for info to be released and for amateurs to see what they can come up with.

Lol treated

 

[NewYork625]

Some fair points, and there are always less likely possibilities. My approach is to focus on “most-likelies” and try to keep track of the “also could have happened’s” on the side.

She also very well could have been picked up voluntarily from the house after she got back from running.

I had thought about someone from the coop “watching” and making contact, but the time frame makes it unlikely (there is that word!) that anyone would stay until 9-10 pm, unless some one knows it was routinely staffed later.)

Regarding the co-op. If someone "watched" they might have been watching for a period of time or had close access to people who might have unwittingly provided the necessary information. I don't think they would necessarily have to have been literally at the co-op at that time of the day.

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

Why? I mean, do you mean you're looking to buy one or you think it has something to do with this case?

With the case, but from watching the video there are many of them around that town/area. This one would distinct in appearance. Something that would separate it from the others. 70s early 80s type but different looking as far the outside of it, but same style. perhaps painted in spots to cover rust or whatever. But something unique in appearance.

 

[Kapua]

I removed the question about the red shirt based on the interview with Mollie's mom.
Things we want to know:

1.What was the condition of the house? Door unlocked? Did she normally lock doors? Dogs? Shower used?
2. What time was the Snapchat photo taken?
3. What route did Mollie jog that evening?
4. Who was also in that area?
5. Did the surveillance video provide any clues (parked vehicles, etc.)
6. Did LE find anything during their searches?
7. Who else did she communicate with that day/evening? Especially on Snapchat.
8. Who knew her housemates would be away that night?
9. When and where did her phone lose power?
10. What was her eyesight?
11. Did she run with contacts in?
12. How was she getting to work in the morning?
13. Who was the first person to enter the house after Mollie went missing?
14. How long were the dogs believed to have been left alone in the house? Mollie's BF mentioned that when he went into the house, the dogs had plenty of food and water.
15. Were the doors unlocked at the house when the first person entered?
16. Did anyone try to contact her the night of the 18th?
17. What time did Mollie normally leave for work in the morning?
18. Why do police think she was on her computer that night? (I leave mine on for days at a time)
19. Did she ever wear her armband to listen to music while doing homework? (They’re not usually very comfortable, and it seems unlikely she’d wear it for anything other than being outside)
20. Would she have taken the trash out to the curb that night? (Or have some other house chore/reason to be outside after her jog and before she let the dogs out)?
21. Which pair of Mollie's shoes were missing? Running sneakers or work sneakers?
22. Was there food in the West Des Moines house that Mollie could have chosen to eat for dinner rather than going to her mom's house?

 

[Marie224]

I totally respect LE.. but I don’t understand how sharing a few details or confirming if a few things are true or not ....would compromise the case and this point... it’s not like they are allowing MT to suffer while they figure out how to make an arrest legally.

I was involved in a missing persons case, absolutely zero media attention... after a year or so and all the investigation details came out....we learned, the person involved with disposing of her corpse, immediately fled the area 800 miles south, he was never caught nor did we think LE cared ... the POI was finally identified, when he died, 10 months later, and his fingerprints were entered into the master police database which was flagged and matched the fingerprints found at her death scene. So if he wouldn’t have died, we still wouldn’t know or have closure because LE ruled her death .. death without a crime committed. Really? Anyways.. thought I would share my experience to let everyone know sometimes you can do everything and get nothing, or do nothing and then get everything you need because in the end, we are not in control .

 

[allboys]

I continue to think of the day camp. All the males associated with the registered children should be investigated.

Of course, we have no way of knowing, but I wonder if she babysat for any of those kids. I worked in a daycare center after my freshman and sophomore years of college, and I babysat for 2 of the kids who were in my "charge" at the daycare center.

 

[RavenCC2020]

respectfully snipped for pointed reply

As someone who moved from a city to a small community almost identical to this, I can say that one the things I am still freaked out by is how many people are out walking/jogging/bicycling alone in the country. I could never ever do it, even on the bike trails or frontage roads, alone. Maybe it's my city paranoia that won't let me. But the pedestrians who do it around here are not only oblivious to the traffic around them, if they do notice you they look very annoyed that anyone is even driving on the highway. IDK, I just see too much unprotected highway from one part of Brooklynn to another, and no way would I jog it, walk it, or probably even bicycle it and that's for reasons of possibly being hit, possibilities of being kidnapped or killed or assaulted. JMHO.

I have to agree with you there. Same situation here. Born and lived in a city until I was 19 and lived in small towns ever since. You can take the girl out of the city but not the city out of the girl. Once you learn to be on your guard to avoid being a victim, and espicially ever having been a victim, it doesn't matter where you live, you just don't take a lot of risks with your safety. It's your life experience to be aware and minimize risks and you don't unlearn it just because there are less people around you.

 

[ZoriahNZ]

Reported Sightings

1. NH, 7:30 pm - W Pershing Dr
2. RT, time unknown - Jackson St – walking, would have to go N or S
3. DR, 8 pm - East 2nd Street - jogging west toward Casey’s

• DC, time unknown, West St - allegedly told by LE (not an actual sighting!) that MT jogged past his house and made it home

SBBM - I might be nitpicking here but in the RT article and video interview I think it's pretty clear that he saw her walking east along W Des Moines St, then he assumed she had to have either turned north or south down Jackson St because she did not appear to backtrack to the west again. It was not a sighting along Jackson. MOO

Neighbor offers new testimony about the night Mollie Tibbetts disappeared

Also, in regard to the weird pinned tweet where Mollie described being mistaken for a 10 yr old missing girl by LE, if you click on the comments you will see that a female friend of hers confesses to calling it in. Then they both joke about how young she looks. So, unless the friend was lying, we know the source of the 'tip'. It wasn't just a random LEO or person impersonating a LEO who approached her, if that makes sense. I'm also assuming that it was campus police. Because she was likely in the school library on UoI grounds.

In terms of looking for Mollie, a local suggested elsewhere to look at hunting cabins/lodges used by other locals. It might be easy to check out the public hunting spaces, but you'd need permission to go on private land to search privately owned ones. Still, it wouldn't hurt to ask hunters to check their own buildings just in case they were being clandestinely used by trespassers.

 

[buggiegirl]

Of course, we have no way of knowing, but I wonder if she babysat for any of those kids. I worked in a daycare center after my freshman and sophomore years of college, and I babysat for 2 of the kids who were in my "charge" at the daycare center.

This is a good point. I work in an after school program and while I'm in my 30s with kids of my own, a lot of my coworkers are college students or very early 20s and they do a lot of babysitting for the students we care for after school in their free time. I would hope her boyfriend or parents would be well aware of side jobs like that if she was taking them.

 

[Deleted member 155000]

There's been a ton of speculation about whether a familiar acquaintance might have become obsessed with MT. And that is where I'm leaning too.

But just because I've seen other cases turn out to have surprise endings (Toni Anderson had accidentally driven into a lake at night in bad weather), I'm trying to consider whether there are any "more ordinary" and "less sinister" explanations for MT's disappearance that we might have overlooked.

Did she run over any bridges or elevated areas, where she could've accidentally fallen?
Could she have had an asthma attack or been mistakenly bumped by a car and fallen into one of the heavily weeded ditches?
Are there any bodies of water along her run she could've slipped into?
Is there any chance she had a bike and her exercise routine included a bicycle ride of some length that would extend the radius of the search area?
Did she ever go to another area--such as a park or preserve--to run the trail for exercise? And we're just looking in the wrong place?
Could she have gone out with a well meaning friend and somehow come to an accidental death that hasn't been discovered or has been purposefully covered up?

 

[DexterMorgan]

Rural homes or barns are easy to build makeshift hidden rooms or bunkers or something. So LE should recheck some properties for certain diy hidden add-ons.

 

[gitana1]

The downside I’ve found to this small town lifestyle is finding positive outlets to keep my kids engaged. In choosing which community to move to I needed a public swimming pool, ymca youth sports, traveling sports teams, a movie theater and a dance studio. That might not sound like much, but it’s way out of Brooklyn’s offerings.

I imagine the kids in that area have to drive a lot further to find things to do.

 

[lateott]

Reports of one among hundreds of thousands of crackpots who post insane things online and have concerned friends or relatives are different from an intenstive missing person's investigation where we know a person is gone, and hundreds of investigators from multiple agencies are involved.

If this was being handled by a smaller, less experienced agency AND we had info that things were not being handled well, ivould understand the criticism.

But to suggest that the evidence in this case should be handed over to the public so the public can investigate because there has been no arrest and Mollie hasn't been found in three weeks, seems rather arrogant.

I keep going back to Katlynn Cargill's case as it's the most recent I can recall where people were just howling about how incompetent LE was. It got to me too and had me second guessing LE. They knew what they were doing all along.

I do think there are bright people here and elsewhere who can come up with things and have indeed helped solve cases or find info. that LE didn't.

If this case goes cold that might be that time for info to be released and for amateurs to see what they can come up with.

Please stop. I did not write what you read, I did not suggest what you state. That upsets me more than it should, maybe because I chose my words very deliberately and re-stated my point at the bottom to avoid such a misinterpretation .

Please do not reply, as again I don’t want this thread distracted from its other important discussions.

 

[RavenCC2020]

.

I can't thank you enough for making the effort to take the trip to Brooklyn for us all. Your insight and commentary is invaluable to us that have been up til now screwing around with google maps which really gives a skewed view of the town. You're a prince for doing this!

 

[cluciano63]

I think in 24 hours we may at least know if LE knows anything...

 

[gitana1]

more random thoughts/questions mostly stemming from my lack of experience in this type of stuff:

-how long does it usually take for feds to get involved in a missing person case, is there anything out of the ordinary regarding the start of national level le intervention

-are there any proffesors/ta's who had unusual interactions with her during her time in college

-is she on any sort of perscription medication

It was pretty quick in this case. I think involvement at all of FBI when the person missing is an adult and over 19, is interesting.

What does everyone else think?

 

[plumloco]

How long had MT, DJ, BJ & AH lived in that house? Who owned it before and had it sat empty for some time?

 

[gitana1]

Lol treated

I didn't get that!

 

[Cardinal47]

Just checking into see if anything new is happening.

When I was driving today my thoughts went again to Mollie. I was thinking there were four unmarried adults living in the home. They each had to have quite a few friends stopping by and visiting.

Somebody with bad intentions would have a feel for how the house operated and what was where. One of those living there had a business.

I'm thinking the house might have been also used as his office since the business was new and maybe still small enough to operate out of their home. Did he hire out of the home? Talk to different contractors about jobs he was bidding.

Then the girls. Friends from college, work and local might drop by.

Lots of different things to think about when driving.

 

[Cardinal47]

How long had MT, DJ, BJ & AH lived in that house? Who owned it before and had it sat empty for some time?

I have no idea but each time we purchase a home the first thing I do is have new locks put in. Fairly inexpensive.

That might not matter in Iowa since nobody locks their doors. Sigh...