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

[gregjrichards]

Where would people normally walk their dogs in the neighbourhood?

 

[RANCH]

We have no idea if thats true. They have interviewed over 100 people. Is it possible that they may have someone in mind, and just not named him a suspect?

Yes.
LE may have a suspect that they have not made known to the public.

As far as Websleuths goes we do not have a suspect.

 

[T_mar]

Trouble replying, this is agreeing with RANCH in post 1154.

"they haven't identified any suspects that doesn't mean they don't have one."
"That's true."
(above reply quotes)!!!

LE do not tell us everything.
There could possibly be a 'sting' operating: to catch out a suspect, they consider.

You just confused the *advertiser censored* out of me until I saw the profile pic of the dog.

 

[kkdj]

Yes.
LE may have a suspect that they have not made known to the public.

As far as Websleuths goes we do not have a suspect.

Well......not collectively and to be announced on here. Just saying!

 

[MassGuy]

Well......not collectively and to be announced on here. Just saying!

True. There’s no shortage of suspects in some parts. Lol.

 

[Warwick7]

Okay-long one-this one has been bugging me for a week or so now. Will probably come out in multiple parts.

I’m a runner. I’ve lived in the Midwest most of my life, so I think I (may!) understand some context.

According to a weather website, it was hot July 18 in Brooklyn. July 18 is usually the hottest all year with July 21st the most humid (highest average dew point). I am often tempted to wait till it cools down a bit to run, but waiting on July 18 wouldn’t have done much good. It was 86 degrees at 5:00, 84 at 6:00, 79 at 7:30 and still 77 at 8:30. She’s not going to get much relief from waiting, especially with the later sunset. Sun’s gonna be up, and it’s gonna be hot- might as well get going, asthma or not.

Also, if I can avoid it, I do not eat before I run. I will almost throw up within three hours of eating; if I need to eat something, it will be small. NO WAY I’m eating brats before I run, especially in that heat.

RE: the half marathon training: most runners, even former track kids, will have a training plan in mind; there are several well-known sites for this online. I would be stunned if she didn’t have one at all...I’d be even more surprised if it wasn’t printed out and/or shared with someone. I had a calendar of recommended distances at home and at work- my husband watched it- maybe her bf or mom did, too?

I didn’t always follow the plan exactly, but July 18 was a Wednesday. Usually mid-week is a shorter distance (very likely 3-5 miles or 45 min as suggested)...if such a schedule existed, it might very well limit the radius that she would run.

More thoughts in a minute...

I like your insight....

 

[MsBetsy]

I'm not sure if that was a rhetorical question... But LE probably would not name a Suspect, unless they could not find that person (had fled) and had strong reason to believe...ie evidence either circumstantial or physical, that person was connected to a crime. If they had enough to name someone, they would arrest either on probable cause or, more likely in this situation, an arrest warrant.

Right, and I was responding to someone who said "we don't have a suspect." I didn't recognize the posters name, so I wasn't sure they were that familiar with the case. So I guess it was rhetorical, as I didn't want to come across as salty, but thank you for explaining it so well!

 

[tmar]

Hi... First-time poster but have been trying to keep up with all the posts and developments for awhile now. I know we have very little confirmed information to go on but based on what has been said by LE and mollie’s parents and their actions, I think 2 scenarios are most likely (I know variations of each has been batted around here). Please bear with me, the post is long, roll and scroll if need be:
1: a local mollie knows either driving drunk or driving distracted accidentally bumps mollie while she is jogging. She’s not terribly injured but local feels bad and offers her a ride to either DJ’s house or her mother. But once in car mollie notices that person is still impaired and acting irrationally and maybe even coming onto her and she wants out. Driver is afraid mollie will tell someone about what happened and they start arguing back and forth about it. By then mollie hasn’t been paying attention to where they are and they are already headed out of town. Since Mollie is level-headed and smart she doesn’t do anything to provoke a bigger reaction figuring alcohol would have to wear off eventually and person would come to their senses. But once they are wherever they are out of town, perp can’t figure out what to do and calls family. They all decide to let things calm down and then return her (meanwhile Mollie is unharmed) but then case explodes with media coverage and now it’s where we are at. Some of the earlier statements by her Dad such as “listen to mollie” make me believe they are asking family and prep to listen to mollie about what to do to resolve this.
2. Again a local or in area person she works with, goes to church with, went to school with, etc. but who has misunderstood the nature of their relationship pulls up to Mollie while she is out jogging. They ask something to the effect of “do you still have that extra red shirt? We need that for the field trip tomorrow” or “do you still have that bible I lent you? I need to get it back”. So in either case mollie jogs back to house while car follows, mollie runs inside real quick to grab the item (no dogs disturbed, she doesn’t change clothes, etc) and leaves house and runs item to wherever car is. Driver offers to drive mollie to her moms house and sees this as a good time to gauge mollies interest in them. When Mollie declines, the person is embarrassed and overreacts and possible strikes or shakes her and frightens her. This leads to same scenario as #1 above, where he panics and takes mollie somewhere, calls his own extended family and wait for things to calm down only they blow up with LE and media.

Either in #1 person is afraid of going to jail since they probably have a long rap sheet or in #2 the person may be more prominent and possibly older so a reputation and family may be involved. Anyways sorry for long first time post. Just scenarios I’ve been thinking about. Probably not anywhere close to what really happened. Thanks for listening.

Welcome CarnegieHall.
Thanks. You have given this case a lot of thought.

 

[MyBelle]

We have no idea if thats true. They have interviewed over 100 people. Is it possible that they may have someone in mind, and just not named him a suspect?

Of course that is possible. LE doesn't want to convict the perp in the court of public opinion. I think LE is being as meticulous and methodical as they possibly can be and that is a good thing.

 

[Hte2w8]

Right, and I was responding to someone who said "we don't have a suspect." I didn't recognize the posters name, so I wasn't sure they were that familiar with the case. So I guess it was rhetorical , but thank you for explaining it so well!

I never can tell. Sorry for jumping the gun.

 

[T_mar]

I like your insight....

Love the insight too. But when I was her age I would be described by friends as a runner too. But not necessarily to train. Unless I missed a post or info saying she ran events or such. At her age, I had my running routes that I did. But it was mostly to stay in shape and keep thin. I would have run in the east coast heat some summers while working on my tan. Most of my college friends had fitness routines to keep the college weight off. I could be wrong though, but just sharing my personal experience at her age

 

[mtnlites]

What's the best logical explanation for this case?

For me, the most logical explanation is that someone accidently hit her, realized she'd broken her neck or something, and panicked. Realizing that they would get into trouble because they weren't meant to be driving (revoked license, DUI, no insurance, etc), they panicked and put her into their car. Maybe they intended to turn themselves in after they'd had time to get their story together but then the case blew up. The FBI was called in, it made national news, etc and now they are terrified.

Second idea is that LE has uncovered digital communication with someone but they haven't been able to track them down. (Perhaps a burner phone.) Someone from her school or someone she reconnected with in town. They were familiar enough to M that she felt confident enough to get in their vehicle. They might have misunderstood their relationship and there could have been a fight. She may have been killed accidently but now they are in too deep.

Not everyone has high-tech cellphones. I, myself, have not had a phone in 3 years. My husband has a cheap no-contract phone from Walmart. This person could have the same which is why LE may see communication between the two of them but are having trouble tracking them down.

 

[Twistinginthewind]

Maybe someone else did it? I do not know how Twitter works but I'm sure someone here can explain it. Also, how do we even know it was at the top of the page? And if it was, why wouldn't someone have brought it up before? There was some conversation about that particular event, but I don't recall anyone saying she pinned it to the top of the page, or that it had any significance. I would think someone would have noticed this before. Actually I'm not even sure what that means. That it appeared at the top but had a different date? When was it posted, or pinned, there? Are you sure it was on the day of her disapearance? It just doesn't sound right.

Waaayyy back at the beginning (of threads on WS, like on the first few, IIRC), there was mention of Mollie wanting to 'bump' her bf back to the top of her (snapchat?) 'list' on SM by continually 'liking' him.

 

[tmar]

You just confused the **** out of me until I saw the profile pic of the dog.

We're almost twins!!!!

Are you de Vito or Schwartze???

 

[Copper]

What's the best logical explanation for this case?

The "best logical explanation"? Even if the evidence, what little we know of, seems against it, the most logical explanation is that MT was killed by someone she knew... which makes me wonder... did MT have any old boyfriends who still lived in Brooklyn?

 

[MassGuy]

For me, the most logical explanation is that someone accidently hit her, realized she'd broken her neck or something, and panicked. Realizing that they would get into trouble because they weren't meant to be driving (revoked license, DUI, no insurance, etc), they panicked and put her into their car. Maybe they intended to turn themselves in after they'd had time to get their story together but then the case blew up. The FBI was called in, it made national news, etc and now they are terrified.

Second idea is that LE has uncovered digital communication with someone but they haven't been able to track them down. (Perhaps a burner phone.) Someone from her school or someone she reconnected with in town. They were familiar enough to M that she felt confident enough to get in their vehicle. They might have misunderstood their relationship and there could have been a fight. She may have been killed accidently but now they are in too deep.

Not everyone has high-tech cellphones. I, myself, have not had a phone in 3 years. My husband has a cheap no-contract phone from Walmart. This person could have the same which is why LE may see communication between the two of them but are having trouble tracking them down.

I’ve been strongly opposed to the hit and run/take the victim scenario. It almost never plays out that way, as in the overwhelming majority of cases, the perpetrator flees the scene without the victim. You hit someone, you panic, so you’re next instinct is to get out of there. It isn’t to stop, gather the victim, and put her in your vehicle. That’s just compounding the risk of getting caught.

I further think this scenario is unlikely, because an impact and tire screeching, is an attention getter. There would possibly be blood and tire marks left in the wake of this event. It was still early enough that people would have likely heard this, and seen evidence of it, prior to darkness and the subsequent rain.

 

[T_mar]

We're almost twins!!!!

‍

 

[Salt_]

I've been at my cabin with no service, but this check in tonight makes me so sad. I'm just so sad for Mollie I know her dad went back to CA, I can't even imagine.

 

[MsBetsy]

Yeah. I think this is a big nothingburger. It was a funny story, that almost certainly is completely irrelevant to this case.

Yeah, especially when people began speculating the perp was dressed up as the cop and was in fact the culprit.

 

[ChuckMaureen]

Oh boy. This was brought up a long time ago because Mollie had told a friend that a police officer approached her in the library because she looked like a girl who was missing. Some people went a little wild with this and speculated this police officer could be her killer. Nothing came of it. I don't think we know who the girl is but it's irrelevant

Yes, the "cop" (using MT's word) did not approach MT on a whim. MT indicated the cop said "someone called me in...".

Of course, and most likely, a dutiful observer thought they observed someone who resembled a missing child and "called" the cop.

Two questions remain:

Who was the alleged missing child?
Who "called in" the cop?

Those are valid questions and shouldn't be outright dismissed, given the circumstances. MT has become a "missing person." A coincidence? Perhaps, but a curious one at that.... shouldn't be dismissed.