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

[otto]

OK--Her father said it. He said it to the general public. I don't think anyone who knew CR and heard that would think, "Gosh, that sounds like something CR might have done." and have been suspicious of him.

No one was asked to identify a suspect, or to look suspiciously at the people around them and wonder if they were nuts.

The public was asked to report to police if they were at any of the 5 locations in the time interval of interest, and they were asked to keep their eyes open for anyone who did any of the things posted on the Iowa Department of Public Safety website, such as changing hair styles or who were out of contact(unreachable) until early on July 19.

The suspect did not do any of the things on the list other than possibly wash his car, and that alone is not enough to cause suspicion

 

[MassGuy]

No one was asked to identify a suspect, or to look suspiciously at the people around them and wonder if they were nuts.

The public was asked to report to police if they were at any of the 5 locations in the time interval of interest, and they were asked to keep their eyes open for anyone who did any of the things posted on the Iowa Department of Public Safety website, such as changing hair styles or out of contact until early on July 19.

The suspect did not do any of the things on the list other than possibly washing his car, and that alone is not enough to cause suspicion

This list would have been far more pertinent had the perpetrator actually known Mollie. Had this been something other than what it appears to be, a sexually motivated killing by a sociopath, then there would have been noticeable behaviors that reflected this.

This guy was also aided by the fact that he lived his life (to a degree), by flying below the radar. There were less people to see any changes, even if he did exhibit them.

 

[gliving]

There was no reason for anyone with information to hold back when the payout was nearly half a million dollars. That goes a long way in Mexico.

sbm Wouldn't it be difficult for an illegal coworker at Larrabee Farms to claim it? Seems it would draw all kinds of unwanted attention to their tenuous status, not to mention their employer hiring practices.

 

[KaaBoom]

This is what the police website says:

"A large reward is being offered for information leading to the recovery of Mollie."

Iowa Department of Public Safety

Maybe they got if wrong and meant to say the "recovery of a living Mollie", but that is not what it says. Furthermore, if anyone he worked with suspected that he was involved, why would they assume she was dead? Police described her as a "missing person", and even Mollie's father said that she was still alive.

The reward money was returned to the donors because she was not found alive. The money was for her safe return.

Reward money to return to donors in Mollie Tibbetts case

 

[Confusion]

In response to your question about why children in the same family can be so different I'm pretty sure the answer is because each child can inherit different genes from each parent. No confusion there . Unless of course there is some new study that suggests otherwise.

I guess I wasn't totally clear in what I was saying, but that's nothing new. I was trying to hurry because the page kept refreshing and leaving me with the quotes and only half of my answers so I had to keep rewriting them. They're determining more and more what different genes/markers in DNA affect, I've been participating in a small study to help with that (as a guinea pig, not a researcher.) what I'm curious about is: say they found 8 markers for Antisocial Personality Disorder, and they take a random 500 people with all 8 markers who were raised under similar conditions (good or bad), many/most may have the disorder, but others won't. I'm waiting for them to discover if there is one or more other markers that actually make them even more likely (like near 100% with all the markers) to develop the disorder, or one or more markers that make them less likely (like near 0% with all the markers). I know it's a lot to ask for, but it would be so useful IMO if a rapist/pedophile/whatever pro-created to check for those specific markers to see if they needed extra help while growing up - as long as it wasn't used as a method of determining whether to abort a baby conceived by rape, etc. All MOO again. I hope this isn't considered psychological or too OT, I consider it more scientific.

 

[katydid23]

Yes, he had the opportunity to stalk her in many different ways - but did he? Other than “he’s seen her before” there hasn’t been any indication that he had previously stalked her. None.

The article linked above, describes stalking behavior towards other girls in the community. So he does exhibit that kind of behavior. So chances are Mollie was in the same group of women he was lurking.

 

[otto]

This list would have been far more pertinent had the perpetrator actually known Mollie. Had this been something other than what it appears to be, a sexually motivated killing by a sociopath, then there would have been noticeable behaviors that reflected this.

This guy was also aided by the fact that he lived his life (to a degree), by flying below the radar. There were less people to see any changes, even if he did exhibit them.

I thought the flaw was that he is a single man living alone, so no one would be paying attention to a lot of the characteristics on the list - such as whether he returned home at 3AM on July 19.

He definitely had experience and family support to live under the radar, to violate the law as he deemed necessary. That's perhaps the one point that I find quite disturbing about his illegal immigration status.

At the age of 16 someone counselled him on how to break the law, and led him to believe that it was okay to live like that. Those are life long values that don't have a start and stop bracket on false identification. Those life long values, to me, represent a disdain for the rights of others to have factual information, and to be respected.

 

[claire_parker]

I don’t buy the panic over fear of deportation theory. You don’t follow a woman in your car, approach her, and then kidnap her and stab her to death. I absolutely believe this was sexual, and that a sexual assault occurred. He wasn’t looking for a date, he was looking for sexual gratification. Time will tell, but I think it’s far more likely that the latter is true, than true panic over being sent back to Mexico.

YES!!!

 

[katydid23]

I suppose I could ask the question - why do we care if CR “blamed” Mollie?

That’s still no excuse for murder.

I don't care if CR blames Mollie. I just don't like others to do so. Especially WS members.

 

[TL4S]

I am probably in the minority with my thinking, but between the wording in the affidavit ("that where he placed the body" and "Incident Site: 1900 block 385th Ave.), the timing of CR's "blocked memories" - "coming to" before getting to the cornfield, and the simple feel (JMO) that a cornfield is more of a dump site than an assault/murder site, I'm leaning now towards the possibility that he either inflicted the fatal injuries on 385th Ave. (and she could have even died in the trunk), or that there was a third location (I have a couple in mind and have referenced them in previous posts).

And until tonight I never entertained the thought of him leaving her body at the murder spot initially, then moving her later (like within a couple days?). I still don't entertain that thought really, although it could explain the Nissan, if he used that.

My thoughts are still evolving as I read people's ideas and as I consider the little bits of information we have from LE. I really can't decide where I stand when it comes to this element of the case.

 

[otto]

sbm Wouldn't it be difficult for an illegal coworker at Larrabee Farms to claim it? Seems it would draw all kinds of unwanted attention to their tenuous status, not to mention their employer hiring practices.

Why are we assuming that all the employees at the farm were illegal? As far as we know, the only illegal immigrant who was deceiving his employer for 4 years is the suspect.

Regardless of immigration status, a tip is a tip - no one cares who is comes from if it solves the abduction/murder.

... and what's wrong with moving to Mexico with a $400,000US bank account? If the person reporting the tip is an illegal, no worries, no more farm work when the reward money rolls in.

 

[MyBelle]

I recall that this is what her father hoped. Police were looking for a missing person. Mollie's father certainly downplayed the idea that Mollie was murdered. Everyone should have been thinking about young men who were close to Mollie's age after hearing from her father. The suspect is in the right age range.

Everyone was asked to report anything unusual that would assist with the investigation, and to report to police if they were at any of the 5 locations of interest between 5-10 on July 18. There was no reason for anyone with information to hold back when the payout was nearly half a million dollars. That goes a long way in Mexico.

Mollie's Dad didn't downplay anything. He held out hope Mollie was still alive and so did her mom. Loved ones are allowed to have hope. I doubt LE did anything to dampen that hope. Her dad also gave no indication of the age range of the perp and neither did the LE who have expert criminal profilers. The initial suspect, CW, wasn't of Mollie's age.

There are plenty of reasons why someone who knew what CR had done would not want to come forward. The biggest would be they could end up being accused as an accomplice. It was well known that the reward was for the SAFE RETURN of Mollie.

 

[otto]

I don't care if CR blames Mollie. I just don't like others to do so. Especially WS members.

Really good to see you here!

 

[otto]

I am probably in the minority with my thinking, but between the wording in the affidavit ("that where he placed the body" and "Incident Site: 1900 block 385th Ave.), the timing of CR's "blocked memories" - "coming to" before getting to the cornfield, and the simple feel (JMO) that a cornfield is more of a dump site than an assault/murder site, I'm leaning now towards the possibility that he either inflicted the fatal injuries on 385th Ave. (and she could have even died in the trunk), or that there was a third location (I have a couple in mind and have referenced them in previous posts).

And until tonight I never entertained the thought of him leaving her body at the murder spot initially, then moving her later (like within a couple days?). I still don't entertain that thought really, although it could explain the Nissan, if he used that.

My thoughts are still evolving as I read people's ideas and as I consider the little bits of information we have from LE. I really can't decide where I stand when it comes to this element of the case.

Don't over think it. There's no reason to believe that the suspect moved the body in the days after the murder. In fact, given the police map location points and the location of the body, there's a fairly direct route from the abduction location to police points of interest ending with the body location. The location of the abduction is on the arrest warrant, the starting time range of the incident is 7:45, and the end time is 8:28. Without any information to support another theory, then there is no other theory.

 

[MyBelle]

The thread is open again for respectful discussion.

We don't have any verified expert psychologists on this thread, so please move on from the back and forth discussion of psychology.

Thanks.

BUMP

 

[Jaclin]

sbm Wouldn't it be difficult for an illegal coworker at Larrabee Farms to claim it? Seems it would draw all kinds of unwanted attention to their tenuous status, not to mention their employer hiring practices.

well, the big reward was only for a safe return. that one might be enough for them to by their permanent residency, but they needed MT alive. there was a smaller reward, I think, $2000, but they would risk deportation.

 

[SharonNeedles]

I am probably in the minority with my thinking, but between the wording in the affidavit ("that where he placed the body" and "Incident Site: 1900 block 385th Ave.), the timing of CR's "blocked memories" - "coming to" before getting to the cornfield, and the simple feel (JMO) that a cornfield is more of a dump site than an assault/murder site, I'm leaning now towards the possibility that he either inflicted the fatal injuries on 385th Ave. (and she could have even died in the trunk), or that there was a third location (I have a couple in mind and have referenced them in previous posts).

And until tonight I never entertained the thought of him leaving her body at the murder spot initially, then moving her later (like within a couple days?). I still don't entertain that thought really, although it could explain the Nissan, if he used that.

My thoughts are still evolving as I read people's ideas and as I consider the little bits of information we have from LE. I really can't decide where I stand when it comes to this element of the case.

Within a few hours of the abduction it was raining pretty hard if that affects your thinking. Anything having to do with fields and ditches was a muddy mess.

 

[MyBelle]

I don't care if CR blames Mollie. I just don't like others to do so. Especially WS members.

I have followed this case closely and haven't seen a single poster blame Mollie for her killer's actions.

 

[TL4S]

Don't over think it. There's no reason to believe that the suspect moved the body in the days after the murder. In fact, given the police map location points and the location of the body, there's a fairly direct route from the abduction location to police points of interest ending with the body location. The location of the abduction is on the arrest warrant, the starting time range of the incident is 7:45, and the end time is 8:28. Without any information to support another theory, then there is no other theory.

Yes, I think you are right about not moving the body, and it isn't something I have put much thought into, either. I think I'll lay that one to rest.

 

[TL4S]

Within a few hours of the abduction it was raining pretty hard if that affects your thinking. Anything having to do with fields and ditches was a muddy mess.

Yes, I'm confident there wasn't the moving the body another day part. I have not, however, discounted a third crime scene, or it all happening on 385th.