Found Deceased IA - Mollie Tibbetts, 20, Poweshiek County, 19 Jul 2018 #15

[bizzle2]

I don’t think I’m underestimating how easily a young attractive female might find somebody with a car willing to take her far, far away.

To where? Disappearing without a trace would take an insane amount of planning. She needs money, food, and a place to stay. And she'd have needed to set it up without using any social media, phone, or email because all of those have been checked at this point. It takes a heck of a lot more than flashing a smile at someone with a car so they drive you somewhere.

This is not a mob boss or a hedge fund manager with a private plane we are talking about. This is a 20 year old girl from a small town in Iowa who has never been out of the country. She may be a very smart girl, but disappearing without a trace takes an understanding of banking records, technology, the underworld, and law enforcement that she could not possibly be capable of.

 

[Mica]

About the black SUV, it will be interesting to see if LE addresses it and whether they will confirm or deny its importance to the case.

 

[Madison418]

Sorry if this has been mentioned, is there another PC coming today or this week?

 

[thecatmeows]

I'm just hoping that they don't find her come hunting season, like in the case with Lyric and Elizabeth, but I'm terrified that's the direction this case is heading. I hope I'm wrong, and we learn Mollie had a secret life no one knew about. I used to watch the show "Without a Trace" and more often than not, disappearances were drug-related. University of Iowa is one of the biggest party schools in the US, so she could have got mixed in with a bad group at college that led to her disappearance. Hopefully they're looking into her college friends, too.

 

[Mr. Obvious]

There are plenty of other possibilities of how Mollie was abducted if she was, besides her being on her cell phone not paying attention to her surroundings. She could have been hit by a vehicle, grabbed from behind and overpowered by a taser, or knife at her back or big strong hand over her mouth or chloroform, or jabbed with a hypodermic needle with fast-acting sedative.... SO many possibilities with no evidence publicly available.

Suggesting people (including Mollie, as this thread is for Mollie being missing) are apathetic & self-centered if they wear earbuds while running seems like it's headed in the direction of victim blaming. JMO

I think you misunderstood my comment on - apathy - was in relation to another poster commenting on people not paying attention to a strange vehicle in their neighborhood.

<modsnip remove snark>

 

[gforce]

Regarding the security cameras being out at the Co-op, was that a temporary issue? vandalism? technical?

 

[HoldySi]

Sorry if this has been mentioned, is there another PC coming today or this week?

I believe there is another one tomorrow, but I don't know what time.

 

[ACG2x]

Sorry if this has been mentioned, is there another PC coming today or this week?

Next stated PC is tomorrow - unsure on time. Unless there is a breakthrough today, my guess is it will run like the others:

- Sheriff repeats basic info about case we already know
- Winker gives non-answers for 10-15 min.
- MT's fam gives usual pleas to report/say/etc. something

 

[margarita25]

Police refuse to explain hog farm focus in search for missing Iowa student

Rsbm
Communities of amateur online sleuths have sprung up, scrutinizing every piece of information released so far.[/I]

.

(Ears burning)

 

[ACG2x]

About the black SUV, it will be interesting to see if LE addresses it and whether they will confirm or deny its importance to the case.

In my best Kevin Winker voice...

We will follow-up on all tips and information and make sure the investigative team prioritizes them appropriately. If there is a lead that we believe will lead to Mollie, our investigative team will pursue it aggressively.

That's the answer you'll get - mark my words.

 

[Twistinginthewind]

I wondered this initially. I've approached a black SUV in our work parking lot who had been there a few days in a row. It was an undercover officer investigating some illegal activity at the motel behind us.

But in this case, I think it is just very poor reporting and irrelevant. Jmo.

Even if proven to be 'poor reporting' and no black SUV was seen the night she went missing but in subsequent weeks, it would make sense, if it was LE, that they would cruise the neighborhood (where she went missing/was last seen) for any unusual activity or just to make their presence known that late at night they are watching the neighborhood and the safety of the people in that area and/or the late night whereabouts of people are being monitored

 

[PommyMommy]

IOWA - Crime Stoppers of central Iowa can no longer keep up with the number of growing phone calls on tips of Mollie Tibbetts whereabouts. They've asked people submit their tips online at:

Crime Stoppers of Central Iowa

Website for information on Mollie Tibbetts whereabouts

(so no longer anonymous?)

Sorry if already answered...still anonymous!

Online Web Tip
Tipsters now have the option of giving us tips online. The process is completely secure and anonymous. Click here for the Online Web Tip Form.

 

[ptandj]

Does anybody know what kind of location data LE could get from a cell phone ping? The reason I ask is that there is not a lot of overlapping coverage in this area. I know where the US Cellular tower is located that would provide coverage to WC’s property and that is the only tower a cell phone at that location could connect to. Is it correct to assume then that a cell phone at that location would only ping that tower? And would that provide distance from the tower? Maybe just distance and not direction with no other towers to triangulate from?

I don't know a whole lot about the direction/ distance/ ping thing (good questions, though, and hopefully someone can clarify). My only thought with this is that it would also depend on what apps were running in the background on the phone as well as how her location settings were configured. I think it's possible they could have very specific location data not from the ping exactly but from data transferred at the same time via location services and GPS and various apps.

 

[margarita25]

No. Molly is waaay too old - for sex trafficking the subjects want their victims to be young - the younger the better. Ideally, between 6 and 15 or so. These are people that are looking for girls they can sell to places like Saudi Arabia, Africa, India, etc. Many do stay in the US though, and are moved from hotel to hotel. It's actually quite common to see groups of traveling escorts; if you've ever been at a hotel and you see one guy with a group of girls - there you go. As far as Sherry Pappini, well, you should review that case very carefully.

Agreed the younger are often targeted, but not always.

For example:

“A Detroit-area man is accused of kidnapping a 20-year-old Columbus, Ohio woman and forcing her, with the help of an accomplice, to work as a prostitute in Detroit for several months.“
Duo accused of sex trafficking 20-year-old woman kidnapped from Ohio

Plus one might not know exactly how old their kidnap victim is upon interception/abduction.

 

[katydid23]

So a question for those who are in the camp that a PC that answers no questions is fine (I’m not sure how I feel at this point so I don’t consider it bad. I just don’t know if I consider it good/useful.).

What about the case could be compromised about confirming they suspect foul play? That’s the one thing that keeps me from being 100% in the camp that LE is doing this to protect the investigation. They won’t even say that. To me ‘this is out of character’ is not the same thing. Sure the volume of resources pretty much answers the question but then why the heck not just answer the question? What am I missing about the ramifications of answering at least that question.

I think they need to keep their options open. They do not know, 100%, which scenario is true. They will look inept if they say , for certain, it was foul play. So they say it seems like it is.

 

[feralwriter]

In my best Kevin Winker voice...

We will follow-up on all tips and information and make sure the investigative team prioritizes them appropriately. If there is a lead that we believe will lead to Mollie, our investigative team will pursue it aggressively.

That's the answer you'll get - mark my words.

And still won't have that information with him about any red shirt.

I'm just being light, here.

 

[white rabbit]

ahhh thanks pommymommy that's what i was hoping for. if it wasn't secure i'd fear a lack of input by locals.

 

[Bluebythec]

Yes. And crops won’t be harvested until mid-October-ish.

I'm wondering why they don't take some of the reward money and pay the farmers to let them cut down the corn?

 

[gforce]

(Ears burning)

(ouch)

 

[Mica]

Sorry if this has been mentioned, is there another PC coming today or this week?

Tomorrow.