Found Deceased IA - Mollie Tibbetts, 20, Poweshiek County, 19 Jul 2018 #24

[Daae]

I was wondering about disabling a fitbit. The perp may have thrown the fitbit and phone in a creek or body of water near the hog farm. He would want to minimize his touch DNA and hair/fiber transfer so water would make sense. Fitbits are water resistant but not waterproof. If the fitbit was thrown in water it may have functioned for a number of hours. I'm not sure about the phone. They may have seen fitbit data showing a few pauses at certain locations, hence areas of interest.

 

[S. Gammon]

I think that the FBI was originally called in due to the aspect of needing to work with Mollie's social media, Fitbit, etc? If they are still planning on using so much manpower and staying on the case, I have to wonder if they think that a local took her and finding who did this could solved other missing person cases. I've just never seen so much LE on one case. Yes, the media has given (and not given) coverage to other cases but this many "feet on the ground" seems unprecedented.

I believe that whomever took Mollie is a local and this was not his/her first crime. I feel that a complete stranger from who knows where would not go looking to abduct and just happen to find a young woman jogging in the middle of nowhere and seize the opportunity. I believe him/her knew Mollies' routine. In small towns, not only does everyone know everyone, they also know what they drive. I still think she got in the car with someone she knew, or, the person that may have abducted her was a local.

 

[feralwriter]

It would require luck, but it wouldn’t be the first time a perp has gotten lucky. I still think that this crime had an element of planning, but the door is still open to the less likely possibility that this was simply a crime of opportunity. Motive wise, I absolutely think that sexual is the most likely.

Where she came in contact with the most people: UIowa, her old high school, her workplace. Maybe someone in or on the periphery of those.

 

[mountainguy777]

has WC officially been cleared?

LE hasn’t confirmed even talking to
Him, so I’m thinking no.

 

[OldLadyBlues]

Starting to wonder that they don't have a POI, but PERSONS of interest. In other words, a "situation".

 

[MyBelle]

By telling the public what to look out for, injuries, behavioral changes, they can generate tips from people who perhaps hadn’t considered these things. It has nothing to do with them being “nanny’s.”

My post was in response to another about LE not telling the residents how to protect themselves. Try not to take it out of context. Thanks.

 

[scoodyboo]

So I had something happen yesterday that I thought I’d share. I stopped for gas, and a biker that had rode in on his Harley, approached me making small talk about the racks on top of my car. Asked, if I had a surf board (this is TN,) asked if I was a college student yada yada... I was friendly enough and obliging but really wanted to get the hell out of there. I give him a minute or two to make his small talk and then I left. That’s when it hit me. Being a female in the south, how many times have I ignored an instinct, just to be obliging or friendly? How many times, have I not wanted to be seen as rude, so I entertain conversation with someone I have no interest in talking to? How many other women do this on a frequent basis? I know I have numerous times and never really given it much of a thought. I wonder how many women have been harmed because they just didn’t want to come across as rude? I’m not saying this is the case with what happened to Mollie but this case has had me thinking for sure.

At a rest stop once, a guy asked my friend inside for a tire jack. They went back to her car, where I was standing. My radar went off the charts. Nothing happened but she said she just wanted to help.

 

[Amonet]

One cannot run to their phones and call the police, every time someone cleans their car, gets a haircut, fixes a tire, has insomnia, or changes their schedules!! These are all perfectly normal behaviors.

If someone ticks several of those boxes and you're getting an 'off' feeling from this person, it's worth calling it in. That's what they just asked people to do.

Each of those things is normal in isolation, they're not going to look into every person who got a haircut the week after Mollie disappeared. But if you get a combination of, say, couldn't get in touch with 'Bob' on the evening of the 18th, he turned up a few hours late and with scratches on his face and a bruise on his leg, the next day he decided to wash the car and give it the best internal valeting its had in a year, and then he put it up for sale even though he hadn't mentioned wanting to sell it or anything wrong with it before, and every time this missing girl case comes on the TV news he wants the channel changed and maybe also starts ranting about something. Okay, maybe not all these exact things, but it's still better that LE gets calls to say "Bob" ticks several of the boxes, but I don't think he's guilty or anything, and LE can ask some more questions and decide for themselves if they think the info matters to them or not. It's better for them to have to exclude 99 names than to not get the one name they do need.

 

[SuperTmo]

That press conference and website... disappointing. After all this time that is what they have? The website isn’t even interesting enough to expect a peep to check back repeatedly in hopes of finding an IP that stands out due to frequency.

 

[Al Hoffman]

The only question I have if Mollie was indeed hit, wouldn't they have been able to find that? Her route was pretty much known, I'm sure there would have been blood or hair or SOMETHING from Mollie left on the side of the road, even if the driver had tried cleaning everything up.

It rained late the night/early next morning of MT's dissapearence, and this could have been enough to wash away any trace evidence of a hit and run. Clipping a runner, throwing her into a ditch resulting in significant blunt force injury to the pedestrian, does not necessarily have to cause a lot of bleeding, or leave much trace evidence if it were a large vehicle like a truck. But MAYBE it did, as there was an earlier post today that mentioned something about the local Sheriff's Blotter having a report of "something" found on the side of the road on one of MT's run route streets that required a LE response; this could be the reason that DCI is looking for an involved motor vehicle being cleaned at a local car wash.

If the driver had significant prior DUI's, they could well have had good reason to conceal a pedestrian involved MVA with a fatality (or one who would be dead soon "anyway" - it's kind of a subjective call when you're standing on the side of the road facing 20+ years in prison), by putting the body in the back and keep on rolling.

If this is someone from the town it might be easier to track than someone who lives on an outlying farm. What I learned from living in Iowa for a few years was that farm kids grow up wrenching (e.g doing mechanical repairs on the machinery that it takes to run a farm), and can be fairly competent mechanics. Most all farms have machine shops, tools, and repair bays, so that "in house" body and fender work is no big deal except for the time involved and the cost of traceable parts. Also, as most all farms have a backhoe/skiploader combo, and LOTSA land, getting rid of a body is "doable" - nobody is going to think anything of a farmer digging a hole on his property, if there were anyone to actually see him do it!

Good luck to DCI, as they now have a rough row to hoe!

 

[Q.E.D.]

They need to get the IRS involved. If you owe the govt. $3, there’s not a place on earth you can hide.

Al Capone agrees.

 

[PNWgirl10]

Well - a text was sent from her phone - who typed it and hit send - is assumed - right?

This is completely true and something I have been thinking of....

 

[RavenCC2020]

This was my thought exactly. My husband works in information security...so, a “hacker,” but in the ethical sense. At the bottom of the new website, you can register your email to be notified of developments. Because they obviously have information they aren’t revealing, is the “sign up for developments” a tool based on recommendation of a profiler? They may know far more than they’re letting on. The PC felt very calculated and careful. Fingers crossed!

My first thought in reading your comment was anyone with a half a brain would not sign up for this if they were involved. Perhaps that is the rub here...known POI that in fact do not sign up for updates. Young people are tech savvy so they would know enough to steer away from this. So it does make me wonder if the expect as much from someone guilty. Reverse psychology

 

[coffeeandacig]

I'm still not convinced after today's "presser", that this is a stalker or unfamiliar face. I also, do not believe it was a kidnapping or car accident.
I do believe the emphasis on the word, "school" by the DCI in the press conference and the implementation of an anonymous tip website, that they are attempting to generate more tips from people her age. Also, I think LE has an idea of the commission of a crime (not necessarily kidnapping or a pedestrian vs car accident) and a time.
My theory (not acceptable for posting) regarding this case since the beginning, includes an accessory after the fact, who transported MT. And LE may perceive this person, their friends and relations, to be the weakest link in this case.

 

[Veracity]

Is anyone else having trouble with the findingmollie.iowa.gov site with the bubble around 385th Avenue? I click on it but there is nothing that opens?

 

[SuziQ]

We have had no information from LE about the red shirt, at all.

Mollie's mom said she saw the shirt and it was not Mollie's.

 

[CrimeReporter]

That was one of my first theories, and I haven't ruled it out. Someone driving w/out a valid license, stolen car, drunk driving, speeding & couldn't stop, etc., etc.

It happened here in Raleigh & the case is still unsolved -- it was on I-40, so it was likely that the driver wasn't from the area.

Was the body removed in that case? It can't be totally ruled out, I suppose, but I really have trouble believing that a hit-and-run driver would bother to pick up the body, rather than just get the hell out of Dodge. And this driver managed to not leave any evidence behind?

 

[Dudda]

For those that can't see the map on https://findingmollie.iowa.gov/

 

[mountainguy777]

So the reward continues to grow. Is it still for the “safe return” of mollie? I’m not feeling they think she’s alive after today’s presser.

 

[billy0312]

I feel bad for anyone with a daughter in that area. I would be terrified to let them go anywhere alone. I wouldn't trust anyone.