Found Deceased IA - Mollie Tibbetts, 20, Poweshiek County, 19 Jul 2018 #30

[Deleted member 155000]

There are 257 students grades 7-12. Explore Brooklyn-Guernsey-Malcom Junior/Senior High School graduating classes are tiny.

So 40-50 per class, but also keep in mind, she would’ve then known the kids several grades above her and several grades below her. And possibly those beyond that if they were friends of siblings or cousins who attended the school.

 

[Justintime]

Should he never return to work, or his new wife or other responsibilities? After how long would it be ok to go home?

I don’t know what the right time is. I just can’t phathom what they are going through.

 

[ChiaPet]

I think once those cornfields start to come down in the next couple of weeks some evidence could pop up. I wonder if LE will be present when they start combining.

If I lived near Brooklyn and had a cornfield, I think I'd hold my breath until I was done with my field. I'd be terrified that I could be the one to find Mollie

 

[Confusion]

Has everybody given up on the scenarios based on the map points? They seem to have gone silent all of a sudden. I was following them and all of a sudden I don't see any more posts!

I have one that accounts for all 5 points, but I'm not saying it's a good one. This is all hypothetical so please don't ask for sources even though I'm stating it as fact. TIA
The "man" decided to go on the prowl that day/evening, but obviously didn't want to hunt too close to home. He drove to Brooklyn, and stopped at the truck stop (point 1) to buy a few supplies. He's been there enough times in the past to have a good idea where the cameras are, and was able to avoid them for the most part. I believe he was wearing a hat and sunglasses to help obscure his face. He bought duct tape, gloves, a small rope and probably a few other small items to make his purchases less suspicious. He put on the gloves, left there and started checking out the town. If there had been no easy mark, he would have just moved on to another town.

Mollie was on her run, and was just crossing the street by the car wash (point 2) when he came by. He drove around a bit checking to see how busy the streets were, and how likely witnesses were. When he decided that he had a good chance of success, he went back and tracked her down just as she was getting ready to turn onto 385th (point 3) to get back home. He stopped, grabbed her, duct taped her mouth, hands and feet, threw her in the back seat and took off. Because he caught her off guard and she was pretty well worn out from the run (and probably at least a little out of breath), it only took a minute or so to complete. He then drove following 385th through town, without worrying about being seen because she was out of sight in the trunk.

When he got to 385th and 200th (point 4), he turned into one of the field roads, turned off the lights and got into the backseat. After he did whatever he planned to do, and strangled her with the rope he just bought he either dragged her body further into the field or left her in his car to leave somewhere else. It would have made the most sense to leave her, but I think she may have been found already if he did. Anyway, about the time he got to point 5, he noticed that her phone was in the car, possibly because of a text or call coming in, and he smashed it. In case it was tracked, he didn't want to leave it where it last worked, so he threw it out several miles down the road. From there, he just continued on his way home, and dropped her off somewhere else along the way if he hadn't left her in the field or with the phone. He threw the gloves, hat and sunglasses away, along with any excess tape and the rope.

A clerk at the truck stop told LE that a man had bought those things, but couldn't give a very good description of him, and definitely not enough for a sketch. What they're looking for now is anyone who was at the truck stop and saw someone putting those things into a vehicle, hoping to get a better description. They're most likely also looking for anyone who saw a strange man fitting the vague description around the car wash at the time she ran by, anyone who saw a car stopped on 385th & Historic US 6, anyone (especially from the farm near the corner) who saw a car pull off the road, and anyone who may have seen anyone unusual at 200th and 385th.

The end? MOO

 

[Bravo]

It was discussed early in MonstrSquad about a female being involved. Stats are low but it is certainly plausible. Low possibility but it could be both if 2 were involved. I can think of several cases and 3 were close to my location involving a male and a female. Victims were random.

 

[Jabarn]

Hello all, Purely based on coincidence I have to ask the question I was thinking about. What if there was a female involved in the disappearance? You all probably won’t give me as much of a glance but as soon as I thought “what’s to rule out the role of a female? Why does every post say “he” or “him” regarding the alleged abductor?-I was at the store and kept thinking it is a possibility. It’s INCREDIBLY unlikely but it was strange that 5 or so minutes later I saw posts mentioning this commonly known occurrence of workers at a truck stop, which I’m guessing is mostly a female group of sex workers, and I have sympathy for the ones that feel they have no choice, but what is their primary objective? Money, if I had to answer that myself. I deal with public records day in and day out, and I’ll never consider ‘illegal’ or legal prostitution indicative of someone being a bad person. I think they are lost and just need help, and I wanted to point that out. MOO and just adding a possibility. Thank you for reading.

No way to know for sure in this case, but there have been other cases where there was a male/female tag team duo, where generally the female hunted up victims for the male.

Nothing is off the table here, as far as I can tell. My intuition is the most likely scenario is someone superficially known to her, though.

How the investigators sort all that out is possible though. I picture a big bulletin board, with tacks and strings. Hope that is how it’s going down behind the scenes.

 

[MsBetsy]

Sorry I missed the philosophical discussion last night on Schroedinger’s cat. I think it is useful as a comparison on what is the actual truth of what is not understood nor seen.

I am more of a studier of how humans behave. There needs to an observable behavior, first. I think the behavior in this case is an unknown perpetrator took MT, although it was not observable, but based on the fact she is missing.

The behavior is “took.” We have know way of defining it any further than that at this point.

That behavior has either a discrete stimulus (what triggered it) or a reinforcement (what the gain of the behavior would serve). Sometimes, it could be complicated and involve both.

There are a few cases I have followed as intently as this one, although I can’t say why some pull me in, but it may be the amount of information available to think about, organize, reorganize, and develop theories.

So looking at this from a purely behavioral standpoint, I tend to lean toward the unknown perpetrator engaging in the targeted behavior with a clear trigger and thoughts about the reinforcement from the behavior.

Understanding that is basically the same as understanding means, motive, and opportunity, I guess.

I still think there is something about her running route, and someone along the way being triggered, and thinking about the reinforcement (pay off) for the behavior.

Hope that makes sense!

It was today, and it's already been determined to have no relevance to the case!

 

[DancingMuse]

Does anyone know how many kids graduated in Mollie’s class and what % went away (in state or out of state) to college? With the time frame and classes getting ready to start it would be easy for someone to just continue on with life.

I agree with this line of inquiry RMT 953.

It has been discussed by many of us on WS that the perp (for lack of a better term) is someone who knew her in high school.

Last night, on our thread, there were some theories taking that idea even further.

One thing revealed was that her high school included students pooled from three separate district areas: Brooklyn, Guernsey, and Malcom.

One of the many scenarios sleuthed last night also mentioned that perhaps this old high school acquaintance tried to re-connect with her. Maybe he was just "hanging out" somewhere in town. She ran by, he spoke up. They agreed to meet later. But it was a ruse which she didn't see coming. And it turned into a forcible abduction later on unfortunately.

Therefore, my further questions to locals:
1) Is the Malcom Mine (mentioned in last night's thread) accessible by car?
2) Was it used a lot by Youth as a meeting-place?

 

[Al Hoffman]

I wonder if the "taker" may have only went South on the 19th, in order to get rid of the phone/fitbit only, in the vicinity of WC's ?

Or go to a deserted hog plant to hide and as a secondary crime scene to stablelize the security of his victim, disable the phone and Fitbit, and whatever else requires a bit of privacy and isolation? MT was taken between 7:30 and 10:00 p.m. A lot of folks in the hog farm area may have already been in bed asleep by the time the perp rolled in with MT.

 

[Jabarn]

It was today, and it's already been determined to have no relevance to the case!

What wasn’t MsBetsy?

 

[TL4S]

Thanks. That is a baby sub-station! I've seen bigger in city people's backyard, in the right-of-way between lots! Could be a place to bury a body with an auger truck (1.5 x 8 foot deep hole) in surrounding area. Linesmen have access to such great toys! Also, when was the last time you stopped to ask a linecrew why they were doing what they were doing 24/7?

Would these baby sub-stations be ubiquitous in a rural setting?

 

[Bravo]

So 40-50 per class, but also keep in mind, she would’ve then known the kids several grades above her and several grades below her. And possibly those beyond that if they were friends of siblings or cousins who attended the school.

Yes and given Mollie's activities she was involved in during her High School years her circle of acquaintances is even larger. Then there is her first year University.

 

[RANCH]

Curious. “Drop his guard” and do what differently?

I have seen the LE making the perpetrator "Drop his guard" ploy in other cases.

I'm not sure how successful that would be.

Would it make him feel that it's okay to tell others that he did the crime? Try to hide or destroy evidence long after the crime took place?

Both seem like dangerous actions for someone trying to get away with a crime. JMO

 

[Hte2w8]

I think it's unfair to speculate why MT father is going home. No one knows his financial situation. He may not be able to take more than a month long leave of absence. It sounds like he has other kids, whether stepchildren or not, he also has an obligation to them. Not many people can afford to take a month off of work.

 

[Deleted member 155000]

I know it’s tempting for us to sometimes say “well they already checked the cornfields” or “they said they searched all the houses in town, so Mollie isn’t there.”

But I would just like to say that in past cases, I have sometimes relied on similar ideas, and they ended up being wrong. In some cases, search parties did somehow miss a body. Or I have read of times when police knocked on a door and took a casual look around, after receiving a call, but didn’t discover anything wrong. Only later they discovered someone was being held hostage in the same building they checked in on.

When LE says they checked all buildings, I suspect they knocked on doors and talked to someone. Glanced around. Asked if they could walk through houses. But I doubt they walked through every basement and checked every crawl space or attic or shed or camper. They would likely only go that far if there was an obvious reason for concern.

 

[ab01]

Just curious, what is everyone’s thoughts on the likely hood that they will find out what happened to MT? After a month and based on previous similar cases you have followed on websleuths?

 

[Justintime]

I have one that accounts for all 5 points, but I'm not saying it's a good one. This is all hypothetical so please don't ask for sources even though I'm stating it as fact. TIA
The "man" decided to go on the prowl that day/evening, but obviously didn't want to hunt too close to home. He drove to Brooklyn, and stopped at the truck stop (point 1) to buy a few supplies. He's been there enough times in the past to have a good idea where the cameras are, and was able to avoid them for the most part. I believe he was wearing a hat and sunglasses to help obscure his face. He bought duct tape, gloves, a small rope and probably a few other small items to make his purchases less suspicious. He put on the gloves, left there and started checking out the town. If there had been no easy mark, he would have just moved on to another town.

Mollie was on her run, and was just crossing the street by the car wash (point 2) when he came by. He drove around a bit checking to see how busy the streets were, and how likely witnesses were. When he decided that he had a good chance of success, he went back and tracked her down just as she was getting ready to turn onto 385th (point 3) to get back home. He stopped, grabbed her, duct taped her mouth, hands and feet, threw her in the back seat and took off. Because he caught her off guard and she was pretty well worn out from the run (and probably at least a little out of breath), it only took a minute or so to complete. He then drove following 385th through town, without worrying about being seen because she was out of sight in the trunk.

When he got to 385th and 200th (point 4), he turned into one of the field roads, turned off the lights and got into the backseat. After he did whatever he planned to do, and strangled her with the rope he just bought he either dragged her body further into the field or left her in his car to leave somewhere else. It would have made the most sense to leave her, but I think she may have been found already if he did. Anyway, about the time he got to point 5, he noticed that her phone was in the car, possibly because of a text or call coming in, and he smashed it. In case it was tracked, he didn't want to leave it where it last worked, so he threw it out several miles down the road. From there, he just continued on his way home, and dropped her off somewhere else along the way if he hadn't left her in the field or with the phone. He threw the gloves, hat and sunglasses away, along with any excess tape and the rope.

A clerk at the truck stop told LE that a man had bought those things, but couldn't give a very good description of him, and definitely not enough for a sketch. What they're looking for now is anyone who was at the truck stop and saw someone putting those things into a vehicle, hoping to get a better description. They're most likely also looking for anyone who saw a strange man fitting the vague description around the car wash at the time she ran by, anyone who saw a car stopped on 385th & Historic US 6, anyone (especially from the farm near the corner) who saw a car pull off the road, and anyone who may have seen anyone unusual at 200th and 385th.

The end? MOO

I just don’t think these type of people are that clever to do everything you outlined. This is a crazy case cause we know so little.

Do you think they will have another press conference?

Is there a point when we can read what the police found?

 

[Ozoner]

If I lived near Brooklyn and had a cornfield, I think I'd hold my breath until I was done with my field. I'd be terrified that I could be the one to find Mollie

Would a farmer riding around on a combine even see skeletonized human remains? The pieces of equipment that they use now are enormous. My guess is that a combine could run over an elephant without anyone noticing.

 

[Confusion]

I just don’t think these type of people are that clever to do everything you outlined. This is a crazy case cause we know so little.

Do you think they will have another press conference?

Is there a point when we can read what the police found?

You'd be surprised how intelligent some serial killers have been. I highly doubt that everything in my scenario is how it happened, but it's one way to tie all 5 points together.

 

[Jabarn]

I think it's unfair to speculate why MT father is going home. No one knows his financial situation. He may not be able to take more than a month long leave of absence. It sounds like he has other kids, whether stepchildren or not, he also has an obligation to them. Not many people can afford to take a month off of work.

From what I read in MSM, he was advised to take a break from the case and go home and let the investigators do their work. I am sure the pressure from all sides to find MT is hard.

Mollie Tibbetts’ dad goes home month after her disappearance