Found Deceased IA - Mollie Tibbetts, 20, Poweshiek County, 19 Jul 2018 #5

[katydid23]

And no sign of a struggle.

There could still be an abduction, and no sign of any struggle. It happens that way a lot. Especially if it is an acquaintance, or someone seemingly 'safe.'

The victim can be lured outside, or convinced to go somewhere willingly. No signs of a struggle left behind, even though the person is abducted as they walk close to a vehicle or step into the yard.

 

[Homeschool Mom]

Iowa City, where the University of Iowa is located, is about an hour east in the wrong direction from where she worked in Grinnell.

True. Having lived in Indiana; I know there are differences. Dogs, in hot weather, and with family tradition, like cool floors when no one is in the house; So they stay there.

Here's a weird question:
How far is her new University apartment from the summer job that MT has?

The reason I am asking:
What IF she was excited about her new "off-campus housing", and wanted to camp out there, even though it is not fully furnished yet, & then decided to finish up a group project for her summer classes, with a couple of friends? Did she already have limited access to that new apartment?

Then, They all go there; Someone has a laptop; MT can finish up her homework by the midnight deadline. No problem.

If the distance between her new apartment and the summer job is short (at least shorter than 15 miles), .........she might have decided to run from one to the other.

And during a lightening storm, on the way, in the morning, sought cover under a bridge, and met with an accident

(grabbing at straws here.)

 

[darmela]

According to Mollie's pinned Twitter post, she had ridden the bus to get to the library. I'm wondering if she rode the bus a lot to get places. Could she have possibly tried to catch a bus to her job that morning? Any thoughts?

 

[Jim G]

It would have to be someone who knew she was staying alone in that house

 

[Jim G]

According to Mollie's pinned Twitter post, she had ridden the bus to get to the library. I'm wondering if she rode the bus a lot to get places. Could she have possibly tried to catch a bus to her job that morning? Any thoughts?

she could have had a loaner car that for whatever reason she chose not to drive. when I housesat, the owner let me use his vehicle, but I refrained from doing so other than when necessary

 

[Whiskers16]

According to Mollie's pinned Twitter post, she had ridden the bus to get to the library. I'm wondering if she rode the bus a lot to get places. Could she have possibly tried to catch a bus to her job that morning? Any thoughts?

That tweet is dated in Nov '17. I assume she was at school and referring to the buses around the U of I campus. I would be shocked if there are buses for anything other than K-12 school in the Brooklyn area.

 

[wary]

I have plenty of blank walls in my house. And because of the lighting in some rooms, when I take pictures the walls look totally different colors. If you can’t see the furniture in the picture, you would never guess that is the room I was in.

Same here. And, the boyfriend is talking about a picture he saw for a matter of seconds, not knowing that it was going to be important. And all he remembers is that it was indoors, not outdoor. I think that makes sense. As I see it, we really can't come to any conclusion as to whether it was his home, or somewhere else.

 

[jkloc420]

They'd know if the cell phone was on and the person who held the cell phone left the house. That doesn't tell them if she was abducted from the house.

we will do this

 

[SkipperKey3]

Same here. And, the boyfriend is talking about a picture he saw for a matter of seconds, not knowing that it was going to be important. And all he remembers is that it was indoors, not outdoor. I think that makes sense. As I see it, we really can't come to any conclusion as to whether it was his home, or somewhere else.

I totally agree. No firm conclusions can be made about this. The bf was extremely tired after a long day of work, and fell asleep right after seeing the picture. There might not have been any reason for him to register where "inside" she was, only that he remembered she was inside. No need to make anything more of this than that.

 

[GMG1999]

You think she's gone?

In most cases I always believe they are still alive. I really don't think she left on her own accord but was lured/abducted by someone she knew. I want to believe that they kidnapped her and she is held somewhere.

 

[SkipperKey3]

I always want to believe they are still alive.

Alive AND unharmed.

 

[margarita25]

delete

 

[human]

Same here. And, the boyfriend is talking about a picture he saw for a matter of seconds, not knowing that it was going to be important. And all he remembers is that it was indoors, not outdoor. I think that makes sense. As I see it, we really can't come to any conclusion as to whether it was his home, or somewhere else.

It did not strike him that it was at his house. So it has to be someplace that is like his house.

For instance, it probably was not a log home or a home with lots of big windows or a home with lots of art work or a home with plaster walls or wood paneling, etc. There are a lot of differences in homes. Not every home looks like another inside.

 

[Jethro4WS]

I wonder when the brother and his fiancee left. I'm thinking it had to be before Dalton. Does anyone remember the name of the city they were in before I start searching? It started with an A

Dalton was working in Dubuque. His brothers were working in Ames. I believe you will find this in the news stories that also contained the interview with Dalton. Perhaps on Tuesd
<modsnip: snipped quote and response to it>

 

[ChiaPet]

It did not strike him that it was at his house. So it has to be someplace that is like his house.

For instance, it probably was not a log home or a home with lots of big windows or a home with lots of art work or a home with plaster walls or wood paneling, etc. There are a lot of differences in homes. Not every home looks like another inside.

My daughter sends me pics of herself that I don't recognize as being in our home. I'll ask where she is and then she'll zoom out and show the full location. If you send tons of selfies out you get creative with the lighting, cropping and locations in a way that is hard to really think about if its something you don't do daily

 

[chimpface]

FBI? Hahaha!

Care to elaborate Jim?

 

[Veracity]

Happy Hello All. I've been a member for a long time, just don't post very often. Please forgive me for not reading all of the threads for Mollie.

I have a few questions, interested in others' opinions - The news agencies are reporting Mollie was a creature of habit. She ran often and used one of three routes. When this story first appeared on the news I worried she was hit by a car or truck while running. But after so many days and the confusion as to whether she completed her run, I am not sure what to think. Here go the questions -

Why hasn't LE released those routes? Here is my thinking, when I googled that location there is at least one truck stop just off the Interstate, near or in Brooklyn which is not that far from Chicago. I would suspect truckers or their dispatchers may be able to offer information. BUT here's my thinking - if I was a dispatcher situated in TX or GA or wherever I would not just call if a truck was nearby, I would want to know something more concrete before I picked up the phone and called. Does that make sense?
Also I am not sure if this route is one drug smugglers use. I wondered if perhaps Mollie ran by something someone didn't want seen.
** this sort of omission by the police drives me nuts by DAY 4! Now it is Day 10! I simply don't understand why the police would release statements asking for 'the public's help noting nothing is too trivial" and then not offer some very basic information to generate the help they may need. Considering most coverage began days not hours after she went missing I would have hoped LE would want to get us all on the same page ASAP.

Next for me is the car -- she was according to her brother "dropped off". So, someone could have been watching right? She was staying at her bf's house ALONE with no vehicle in the drive right? It is a small town. Not sure exactly where the house is but it seems to me Mollie may have been stalked or hunted. If the house sits on a main road or particular folks knew her BF would be out of town, it may have put Mollie in the crosshairs of some sort of dangerous person/people.

Next is the dog(s) - I wonder if she took the dog(s) with her on her run? What sort of dog(s) are we dealing with here? Did they live inside or in the yard?Mollie's case harkened back memories of when TaraGrinstead vanished from her own home in rural GA! She had that German Shepherd and everyone was puzzled how someone made it inside to Tara? Now here we are again in a tiny rural community.
We haven't heard anything about the dog specific, is there a legitimate reason to hide that information?

I know the police have to do their jobs. But I have been interested in helping us do our best when it comes to missing people for over 40 years now, since I was a teen in coastal VA.

Finally - last for me, is a two parter - I don't understand exactly what a FITBIT does. Does it have GPS? I read where officials say it can't help them locate her now but it may have helpful archived information. From my chair it seems like if it has GPS capabilities it could be helpful. What am I not understanding? Also, if I read their site correctly data is stored on their cloud for only 30 days? The device itself depending on which one it is resets itself after either 5 or 7 days. IT IS DAY 10!!! Can someone help me understand the particulars better about that device. Along this same line is a desire to fully understand how long it took and what steps LE had to take to get cellphone and FIT BIT information. I truly believe we need to make sure laws exist across our Country for LE to be able to fast track their ability to get particular information. I have followed cases like this for 40 years, I have watched jurisdictional lines melt away and well trained task forces ready to mobilize and go wherever the trail leads! We are better at finding people more quickly than we were a few decades ago and I have to confess when the news broke about her cell and fitbit being with her, I was hopeful LE could quickly grab that information and run with it. But now I wonder if they had to jump through hoops delaying their efforts because of some law. I truly want to know the particulars. Because I have no problem reaching out to my Congressmen and asking them to fix it! As it is, there is so much still to be learned.

And of course, I am praying for all involved. I want her home. And I want her home safe! We live in a great country with men and women who will drop everything to go do a grid search hundreds of miles from their home if it will help. LE has more tools and manpower and can easily network with the media to enlist the help of the public. We now can harness the power of social media and communicate faster than at any time in our past. I am confident there are more good people than bad in our Country and we can and will find the missing!
Look forward to hearing from others -

 

[Hucklepie]

I keep seeing people mention "if only we knew X" or "why aren't LE telling us X" - not only do I think LE are obviously trying to keep some things quiet, but it's also completely possible that LE knows that those aren't relevant details that would lead them to any conclusions. I feel 100% certain that LE knows how Mollie planned to get to work on Thursday. I feel 100% certain that it's not a matter of "wait, did anyone think to ask this question?!" It's been a week and a half. LE has certainly asked and gotten satisfactory answers to the questions that are this obvious. If they're not publicizing those answers, I feel like it's either because they actively don't want the public to know or know that it isn't relevant to figuring out what's happened to Mollie.

 

[human]

My daughter sends me pics of herself that I don't recognize as being in our home. I'll ask where she is and then she'll zoom out and show the full location. If you send tons of selfies out you get creative with the lighting, cropping and locations in a way that is hard to really think about if its something you don't do daily

I know I am belaboring this point because my home would obviously not be like most homes walls. Perhaps if people are more generic they do not realize there is a lot of difference in homes.

My only point is that wherever that picture was taken, it does not stand out that it was or was not at his house,

One could eliminate all log homes, for instance, if there is a reason to think she was elsewhere.

 

[Seattle1]

Labs are high need dogs. They are "mouthy" Require a lot of exercise and attention. We have a hunting field outside our city so have been around Labs for many, many years. They are now my Grandchildren as our adult children have them. Some are rescues and some are from a high bloodline brought up from Mississippi. They are same in nature. I babysit them when they are working. I don't want them home alone. They go batchit crazy when anything walks/goes by. When somebody enters the house. Oh your here to "play with me" I get putting them in the basement as your square coffee table may be round when you come home. Seems odd they were in the basement for a dog lover.

On July 20, there were multiple tornado's in Iowa, and I can think of no safer place for the (unattended) dogs than the cellar/basement. It also remains the coolest part of the house whether day or night. Do you know how hot it gets mid day in Iowa this time of year? We'd actually toss a coin as to who had the privilege of sleeping in the basement when summer travel called for visiting family in Iowa! I imagine the norm for a dog-sitter or Mollie would be to let the dogs outside around suppertime to roam the property and exercise before bringing them inside again for the night. I'm not saying this is what occurred on July 18 but what I've seen as a typical evening for a working family (and/or dog-sitter) in rural Iowa.