IA - Mollie Tibbetts, 20, Poweshiek County, 19 Jul 2018 *Arrest* #42

[Cardinal47]

jillycat, I agree. Seems she'd have to be restrained in some manner or incapacitated. Otherwise she could pop the trunk or use the release handle to lay down the back seats and climb through to escape.

What about a Stun Gun. That was used in another case of abduction I followed.

 

[Warwick7]

There was another mention in his statement too:
"He went to get her out of the trunk and he noticed blood on the side of her head. The Defendant Rivera described the female's clothing, that she was wearing including an ear phone or head phone set."

Edited to add more detail from affidavit and since this thread is closing, I continued this on the next one.

Thats right, he was able to describe her clothing. And describe her ear phone. He also stated an earbud was on his lap. Isn't there something about the clothes "with" her?

 

[MistyWaters]

Something I’m curious about, if an unknown driver of the black Malibu was already up top on the suspect list on August 15 when the five key area map was released. Reading this, it seems so. CR lived close to Brooklyn and far enough away that I don’t think he’d be considered “a member of the community”. Rural folk often have security cameras as well.

Aug 15th, this statement BBM
Mollie Tibbetts: Police Hone In on 5 Locations
“We are considering all potential scenarios. It is possible Mollie came into contact with someone who caused her harm,” he said. “This person may not necessarily be a member of our community but likely has some familiarity with the area.”

 

[Cardinal47]

I wrote this over at the end of the last thread.

What if he used a stun gun on her? That was used in another case I followed.

 

[geevee]

I was just sitting here thinking about the head injury. Does anyone think it's possible that when he was trying to place her in the trunk she tried to sit up and he slammed it shut on her head?
I will not even pretend to have read all these threads, so I don't know if this has been suggested or not.

I suppose it's possible but in one of the more recent interviews, Rahn said that he 'tackled' her, I think that's where the head injury came from.

Mooo

 

[MsBetsy]

I was just sitting here thinking about the head injury. Does anyone think it's possible that when he was trying to place her in the trunk she tried to sit up and he slammed it shut on her head?
I will not even pretend to have read all these threads, so I don't know if this has been suggested or not.

I don't think it's impossible, and I haven't seen it suggested, but someone did mention that maybe he used the car door to strike her when or if he pulled a long side her. I would think he would have had to do something to subdue her before even attempting to put her in the trunk, like hit her in the head or something.

 

[MistyWaters]

I was just sitting here thinking about the head injury. Does anyone think it's possible that when he was trying to place her in the trunk she tried to sit up and he slammed it shut on her head?
I will not even pretend to have read all these threads, so I don't know if this has been suggested or not.

It’s very unlikely any female would allow themselves to be placed in a trunk of a vehicle without a tremendous fight to avoid being abducted.

 

[ChuckMaureen]

Something I’m curious about, if an unknown driver of the black Malibu was already up top on the suspect list on August 15 when the five key area map was released. Reading this, it seems so. CR lived close to Brooklyn and far enough away that I don’t think he’d be considered “a member of the community”. Rural folk often have security cameras as well.

Aug 15th, this statement BBM
Mollie Tibbetts: Police Hone In on 5 Locations
“We are considering all potential scenarios. It is possible Mollie came into contact with someone who caused her harm,” he said. “This person may not necessarily be a member of our community but likely has some familiarity with the area.”

LE stated they didn't know of the Malibu nor of the suspect until the day or so before the last presser.

 

[otto]

Something I’m curious about, if an unknown driver of the black Malibu was already up top on the suspect list on August 15 when the five key area map was released. Reading this, it seems so. CR lived close to Brooklyn and far enough away that I don’t think he’d be considered “a member of the community”. Rural folk often have security cameras as well.

Aug 15th, this statement BBM
Mollie Tibbetts: Police Hone In on 5 Locations
“We are considering all potential scenarios. It is possible Mollie came into contact with someone who caused her harm,” he said. “This person may not necessarily be a member of our community but likely has some familiarity with the area.”

What that tells us is that the investigative work was bang on, and police were correct in their analysis/profile of the suspect when they determined that the suspect would not be part of the Brooklyn community, but would be familiar with the area.

They did not identify the suspect for another 6 days.

 

[TL4S]

If she was abducted way out on 385th near that “S” curve that would considered a rural road. Part or the rural carrier’s mail route, not the city streets. I’m just absolutely at a loss to understand why she was running rurally so close to dusk anyway.

If she left for her run around 7:30pm, she most likely would have been able to run to the end of 385th Ave. and be back in town no later than 8:15, and to her mom's shortly after. It's pushing dusk, but from what her boyfriend and family said, her running at that time of the day and for 45 minutes was her routine. She'd probably jogged those roads for years and had no reason to think that night would be any different from any other. That's what's so distressing.

 

[MistyWaters]

I don't think it's impossible, and I haven't seen it suggested, but someone did mention that maybe he used the car door to strike her when or if he pulled a long side her. I would think he would have had to do something to subdue her before even attempting to put her in the trunk, like hit her in the head or something.

All trunks open from the inside.

CR stated when he opened the trunk, he noticed Mollie had blood on her head. The autopsy stated she died from multiple sharp force injuries, obviously causing blood loss.

 

[Al Hoffman]

I was just sitting here thinking about the head injury. Does anyone think it's possible that when he was trying to place her in the trunk she tried to sit up and he slammed it shut on her head?
I will not even pretend to have read all these threads, so I don't know if this has been suggested or not.

T.R. anything is possible. Yes, CR could have slammed her head with the trunk as he was trying to subdue her. I THINK you are the first to posit this. Have a prezzle and a Miller!

I have previously posited that CR ran up to MT, maybe she threatened to call 911, and he tackled her to the ground (a lot of fights end up with people grappling on the ground), and maybe he slammed her head into the blacktop to stun her, causing "the" head wound. He then picked her up and carried her or dragged her to the car, and tried to put/dump her in the trunk (as it was time to get out of Dodge, and take her to where he could do his thing in more privacy), and she came to and fought like a wildcat! Losing his advantage, he slammed her head with the trunk lid, OR picked up something sharp from inside the trunk and stabbed her repeatedly to subdue her OR he did both, causing her to die in the 1900 block of 385th Ave before 20:28 as indicated on the Cloud FitBit data! He had an earbud tangled in his non-dominate hand because he held her by the throat as he slammed her head with the trunk lid and/or stabbed her. Maybe he took the offending phone at this point, and closed the trunk. He got in the car, and drove off, shaking the earbud loose in his lap as he steered the car.

He then drove South looking for a place to do his thing or dump the body. Maybe he passed near the deserted hog finishing facility or maybe he stopped there and the phone/FitBit left a digital footprint before he turned it off and/or put it in a mylar chip (Faraday) bag. CR continued to the dumping site in the corn field, looked down and saw the earbud in his lap, and the rest is per his documented confession.

OR aliens did it all, and CR regained his recollection after the characteristic "lost time" episode and the first thing he saw was the earbud, causing a partial recall...A heck of a defense!

Pick a scenario, as any thing is possible! But, yeah the trunk lid is a good point...

I just wonder if LE checked CR for "probing"....you would hope that the Greys would leave trailer folk alone, and go after those tasty Canadians....

 

[TL4S]

I suppose it's possible but in one of the more recent interviews, Rahn said that he 'tackled' her, I think that's where the head injury came from.

Mooo

I think he also very well could have punched her during the tackle, too.

 

[MsBetsy]

All trunks open from the inside.

CR stated when he opened the trunk, he noticed Mollie had blood on her head. The autopsy stated she died from multiple sharp force injuries, obviously causing blood loss.

Correct.

 

[MsBetsy]

I think he also very well could have punched her during the tackle, too.

It seems there are many possibilities. If he put her in the trunk before he killed her and took her to another location, he had to have done something to cause her to bleed, unless of course he is lying. Does anyone know if they have confirmed anything about what evidence was found in the trunk?

 

[Followfacts]

I was just sitting here thinking about the head injury. Does anyone think it's possible that when he was trying to place her in the trunk she tried to sit up and he slammed it shut on her head?
I will not even pretend to have read all these threads, so I don't know if this has been suggested or not.

I thought of that also. Would there be damage to the trunk if that happened? If she was struggling kicking outside that area or inside the trunk how much damage would be on the trunk lid and hatch? I didn’t see any damage on the trunk in that picture of it being towed. I think she was unconscious or in a limp state physically when he put her in the trunk. He says he saw blood on her head whe he took her out of the trunk, as if it wasn’t there before he put her in the trunk? I just don’t think she had a chance to fight back..

 

[gliving]

With all this grappling, slamming, tackling, lugging over his shoulder, I'm surprised an ear bud stayed in her ear. I can't get mine to stay secure while I'm on a walk.

The ear buds are puzzling. I could see the cord between the buds being used as a garrote (name that case!) and a bud snapped off in his hand. Who knows??

 

[MistyWaters]

LE stated they didn't know of the Malibu nor of the suspect until the day or so before the last presser.

Yes, CR was located, in connection with the black Malibu the day before the press conference. But in the video I’m not hearing Rahn say the existence of the black Malibu was just discovered a day or two before. Quite the opposite actually.

Rahn says the home video was turned over to LE during a canvas, “through that they were able to identify a vehicle”, were able to determine the routes, it connected to when Mollie was last seen. They got the video “a week or two ago” and they spent hours creating a timeline. Mentioned “to you last week that we felt very good about our timeline”...... Therefore that says to me the black Malibu was on their radar for a number of days.

If I missed something, what time on the video is it stated the black Malibu was only discovered via a home security camera a day or so prior to the presser?

 

[ChuckMaureen]

bbm

All trunks open from the inside.

CR stated when he opened the trunk, he noticed Mollie had blood on her head. The autopsy stated she died from multiple sharp force injuries, obviously causing blood loss.

Yes, auto manufacturers are required to include a glow-in-the-dark handle / trunk lid release mechanism inside every automobile trunk. But someone trapped within a trunk must know the glow-in-the-dark release handle exists and its purpose. I suspect not everyone knows. Even if someone sees the glow-in-the-dark handle they might not necessarily be able to read what's printed/embedded on the handle if their eyesight does not allow them to read at close range or in low-light conditions.

There is an Escape Release in Your Car Trunk Because This Woman Got Kidnapped

I wonder if MT's blood spilled on the street at any point during the confrontation / body movement? It rained sporadically July 19 but by then spilled blood would have been dried and not easily 'washed away' with rain.

 

[claire_parker]

With all this grappling, slamming, tackling, lugging over his shoulder, I'm surprised an ear bud stayed in her ear. I can't get mine to stay secure while I'm on a walk.

The ear buds are puzzling. I could see the cord between the buds being used as a garrote (name that case!) and a bud snapped off in his hand. Who knows??

they were earbuds without a cord and don't get me started on Jon Benet Ramsey!