IA - Mollie Tibbetts, 20, Poweshiek County, 19 Jul 2018 *Arrest* #41

[Peaches96]

I have often thought about something like this. I don't believe there is anything stating she was dead when "dragged on foot." She could have been alive and then killed in the cornfield.

It does see more logical that he would abduct/hurt her and then kill her in the cornfield out of sight but then again, killers aren’t really logical. Either way, it’s terrifying and my heart breaks for her and the fear she most certainly felt when she knew she was in a dangerous situation.

 

[Peaches96]

No, we are mainly inferring from the arrest warrant application, which gave a time interval of 19:45 to 20:28 for the homicide, that there might be FitBit data that gave this precise time.

Also, know that I saw a LEO on MSM video complain about not finding MT at the "pig farm", because that is the last place her FitBit "pinged". That is my recollection only, an I am not prepared to dig back and find the clip.

LE is not saying much, and the preliminary hearing today was waved, so it may be a while before we hear anymore official info. Maybe the Daily Mail will come up with a jail house bunkie conversation. Who knows, as the folks that do are remaining tight lipped!

Do you think he’s in general population or in a solo cell? With high profile cases sometimes the suspect is not placed with general population.

 

[TL4S]

I'm not sure if any person is visable. I believe it is just the unique details on the car that they mention.

I agree. The affidavit says they can see the car in the footage and through other investigation connected the car to Rivera.

 

[Sanz]

No, we are mainly inferring from the arrest warrant application, which gave a time interval of 19:45 to 20:28 for the homicide, that there might be FitBit data that gave this precise time.

Also, know that I saw a LEO on MSM video complain about not finding MT at the "pig farm", because that is the last place her FitBit "pinged". That is my recollection only, an I am not prepared to dig back and find the clip.

LE is not saying much, and the preliminary hearing today was waved, so it may be a while before we hear anymore official info. Maybe the Daily Mail will come up with a jail house bunkie conversation. Who knows, as the folks that do are remaining tight lipped!

A cell phone and a Fitbit can only be a Bluetooth distance from each other maybe 30 ft. Without the Bluetooth connection data won’t be transmitted. The Fitbit does not have the ability to ping on its on.

 

[Peaches96]

I've been thinking about CR's story and what I've heard about MT's personality, and it finally hit me what I felt seemed wrong. I really don't think MT saw him as a threat until it was too late. It seems to me that she was more annoyed with him than she was afraid, which is understandable considering the environment around her. If she was actually afraid, I think she would have immediately called 911 instead of threatening to (if that part of his story is true). I also feel like she would probably have held her ground more and looked for something to use for defense rather than try to outrun a man in a car. In my mind, I think that what outraged him wasn't her threatening to call 911 so much as it was her just turning her back on him and totally dismissing him. I get the feeling that she wasn't really even trying to run away from him, but she just continued her run as if he weren't even there. That can be pretty hard on an already vulnerable ego, or one who expects obedience from females. MOO

This makes a lot of sense.

 

[TL4S]

That's interesting, I'll have to go back and look at that. I wonder at what point, or where he parked his car, if that's what he really did. Could he have parked it in the driveway so it wouldn't have been as obvious?

I guess I'm assuming the 1900 block refers to addresses 1900 thru 1999, so it could be anywhere from that house all the way to 200 st. Do I have that wrong? Wouldn't be the first...

 

[Al Hoffman]

A cell phone and a Fitbit can only be a Bluetooth distance from each other maybe 30 ft. Without the Bluetooth connection data won’t be transmitted. The Fitbit does not have the ability to ping on its on.

I know, but that's what he said. Take it as an euphinisim for that was the last geolocation point taken from the FitBit Cloud data (or other digital data) One of the few pieces of info LE has let out is that it was a digital signal that sent them to the area of the pig farm. Take it for what it is worth.

 

[Seattle1]

I think CBR was willing to take that chance. I think it happened very fast.

Watching the "last run" video, and seeing the very streets Mollie ran, tells us this was a very brazen act to attempt and pull off in broad daylight, where at any moment a neighbor or passerby could have very well have shot CR.

I really believe if this was not a quick, from behind, unexpected assault/abduction, then Mollie must not have felt threatened by CR. I think we agree Mollie would not have gone down without a fight (as corroborated by her brothers). Somehow Mollie was unable to call for help. Did CR approach her on foot with a story his car broken down and ask to use her phone? I think CR already had Mollie's phone when she realized she was in trouble. I also don't believe anything CR said to police, other than leading LE to her body.

 

[T rex]

I haven't read anywhere that only one person is visible on Camera. Have LE released this? I haven't.

I think he acted alone. However, in the event he did have an accomplice I really don't see what difference it makes if only one person was seen in the car at any given point. I say this because they probably would have driven ahead and one got out and waited for Mollie on the side of the road. If this were the case some of the driving back and forth could have been during the attack and not before. One could have kept making rounds looking for some kind of signal from the other to stop. But after considering all of this I still think he acted alone.

 

[Al Hoffman]

Do you think he’s in general population or in a solo cell? With high profile cases sometimes the suspect is not placed with general population.

He is currently (likely) in a county jail, and not a state prison. Different environment. But I would think that LE is keeping him as isolated as possible. Both for his own safety, and to minimize the leak of info in as high a profile case as this. I imagine Radar Online or the Daily Mail or other schlock news source would pay well for a jailhouse bunkie tell all. We can only hope

 

[Seattle1]

The entire town is no bigger than half a square mile. She could pretty much cover the entire town on a 45 minute run. I'm guessing she did go on 385th sometimes out of boredom. This was especially a boring night since there was nobody at the house with her except for the dogs.

As I look at the entire population of BGM, under 2000, I wonder how did Mollie and CR not know each other especially when CR's ex-gf knew Mollie. Surely they may have hung out together in a group at some point. And why does it seem like so few people in town knew Mollie when she had lived there for 10 years. How did her neighbors only recognize her as "some girl who runs here sometimes"? She seemed to have more friends back in CA than she did in Iowa. Only her family and a couple friends have said anything about her.

IMO, that's exactly why we know Mollie had many friends in Iowa because of the silence. Iowa is not California.

 

[jillycat]

Watching the "last run" video, and seeing the very streets Mollie ran, tells us this was a very brazen act to attempt and pull off in broad daylight, where at any moment a neighbor or passerby could have very well have shot CR.

I really believe if this was not a quick, from behind, unexpected assault/abduction, then Mollie must not have felt threatened by CR. I think we agree Mollie would not have gone down without a fight (as corroborated by her brothers). Somehow Mollie was unable to call for help. Did CR approach her on foot with a story his car broken down and ask to use her phone? I think CR already had Mollie's phone when she realized she was in trouble. I also don't believe anything CR said to police, other than leading LE to her body.

I watched it too and I'd never heard that he was "pacing", that she had been characterized by the perp as "scared" (though it's implied), or that she was known to be abducted at a property alive, killed later and taken to the cornfield. ?

I can't see her running that far away from a more populated area with him on her heels. It doesn't make sense and I'm not sure how much of this is media being creative or if they're referring to LE statements to them.

I also still think he's lying about it all other than where she was found.

 

[Seattle1]

Do we know the circumstances of how his relationship with the mother of his child ended? Was there reports he was violent there etc?

Surprisingly, the x-GF family spoke kindly about CR and praised him as a good father. The teen romance and pregnancy seemed to be exactly that, and did not continue when xGF went off to college and CR stayed at the dairy (living underground). Not surprisingly, there were FB reports that CR told the local girls that the break up was due to her infidelity.

 

[gliving]

FWIW, I was able to download the video to my laptop.

 

[gliving]

Surprisingly, the x-GF family spoke kindly about CR and praised him as a good father. The teen romance and pregnancy seemed to be exactly that, and did not continue when xGF went off to college and CR stayed at the dairy (living underground). Not surprisingly, there were FB reports that CR told the local girls that the break up was due to her infidelity.

I read he was involved in his child's life with frequent visits.

 

[MsBetsy]

I'm more and more convinced that he never parked his car along side the road. I don't believe he got out and attempted to jog beside her. I think he made up that story to make it look like he was trying to somehow be sociable. A car parked along the road would have been too conspicuous. I also think the attack occurred a little further up the road then that location at 1900.
After circling the area to make sure no-one was around, I think he acted swiftly and took her by surprise as she was listening to music. He quickly pulled up along side or in front of her, tried to grab her, and then she ran. Not in any direction in particular, just to get out of his grasp. Maybe that's when he chased her down, possibly hitting her on the head and then putting her in the trunk. Then he drove to the cornfield where he murdered her. Jmo

 

[Confusion]

Good morning! I worked on something last night.

First of all, here is a good article explaining cell tower triangulation.

Cell Tower Triangulation – How it Works

I also found a map of cell tower locations (red balloons), and added possible cell ranges for some of the towers that could have been pinged along the straightest route from 385 and 200 south to 460 and east to the cornfield.

Thanks. I think you did a great job on this because it does show an area that can be triangulated by the pig farm, which would account for them searching there, and an area near where she was found that was also searched. It helps show that there was a method to their madness.

I guess I'm assuming the 1900 block refers to addresses 1900 thru 1999, so it could be anywhere from that house all the way to 200 st. Do I have that wrong? Wouldn't be the first...

I believe the same thing since their point on their map was 385th Avenue and 200th Street.

I can't see her running that far away from a more populated area with him on her heels. It doesn't make sense and I'm not sure how much of this is media being creative or if they're referring to LE statements to them.

It could have been because his car was between her and the more populated area. She may have been hoping that a car came by before he caught up to her.

MOO

 

[scarlettbones]

I hadn't noticed before, but watching the video where they think the abduction might have occurred, it struck me the bend in the road would conceal a stopped vehicle waiting ahead for a jogger. She had a clear view of the road ahead for most of the jog, except for that curve at 385th. If he had been tailing her and he knew the road, he could speed up past her, pull over after the curve and wait for her to pass by. If the corn was high enough too, he could possible have pulled into a dirt driveway between cornrows and waited for her.

Also, man its stupid ballsy because of it being broad daylight and there being a houses around.

JMOO, the pic is just something I threw together. It could have even been a bit further along the road where it was more deserted.

 

[otto]

How do we know that he didn't abduct her at 7:45 at the incident location, drive directly to the cornfield, and murder her at 8:28?

 

[Confusion]

I'm more and more convinced that he never parked his car along side the road. I don't believe he got out and attempted to jog beside her. I think he made up that story to make it look like he was trying to somehow be sociable. A car parked along the road would have been too conspicuous. I also think the attack occurred a little further up the road then that location at 1900.
After circling the area to make sure no-one was around, I think he acted swiftly and took her by surprise as she was listening to music. He quickly pulled up along side or in front of her, tried to grab her, and then she ran. Not in any direction in particular, just to get out of his grasp. Maybe that's when he chased her down, possibly hitting her on the head and then putting her in the trunk. Then he drove to the cornfield where he murdered her. Jmo

I thought the blood on her head may have been from when he caught her. If he more or less tackled her, her head may have slammed into the pavement and knocked her out. Unfotunately, there are too many ways things could have happened, and none of them is good. MOO