Found Deceased IA - Mollie Tibbetts, 20, Poweshiek County, 19 Jul 2018 #30

[Kapua]

Or it might be that in order to subdue a victim the perp had to hit her with his vehicle and then quickly wash it. I think I recall them asking for folks to look out for altered vehicles, so they may have been thinking along these lines.

JMO.

I'm thinking it was the inside of the vehicle that needed the most cleaning. MOO.

 

[MassGuy]

Or it might be that in order to subdue a victim the perp had to hit her with his vehicle and then quickly wash it.

JMO.

I’m not confident of that theory. If you hit her in order to kidnap her you want to flee the area right away. Hitting her is risky enough without being spotted, let alone the risk of having an injured kidnap victim in the car while you take your car to the local car wash. If you hit her, and kill her in the same area, you definitely don’t want to go to the car wash, as that’s 3 huge risks in a row.

 

[MsBetsy]

Opportunists are brazen. They see something they want, and the goal is worth the risk. If this happened with Mollie, then my guess is that this is not the abductor's first abduction.

Could be part of the thrill.

 

[DocBrew]

Ah, yes, I have seen that before, several times. Thank you. It makes no sense, though, because Fitbits don't ping. They communicate with an app on a phone or other device using Bluetooth technology. So if LE obtained Fitbit data, it probably came from the Fitbit app on her phone.

Right, which is why I think they may have found her phone within dot 4. (I'm sure someone will correct me on that ). But in any case, can't they get Fitbit data from her iCloud? They would need a physical phone, correct?

 

[mrkyle]

2 things I want to bring up
1 iPhone batteries are notoriously bad and her funning a fitbit would drain even faster, young girls on social medial all the time most of there phones are near dead at night and on the charger
2. Mollie running hard would have raised her heart rate high, anxiety will not take heart rate up more when you are that high. So doubtful she could have had a heart rate spike.

 

[DocBrew]

I’m not confident of that theory. If you hit her in order to kidnap her you want to flee the area right away. Hitting her is risky enough without being spotted, let alone the risk of having an injured kidnap victim in the car while you take your car to the local car wash.

I don't disagree, but they did ask folks to look out for things like altered vehicles, etc. Plus, look what happened to Mickey Shunick. Her murderer hit her while she was riding a bike downtown and then played the "I'm sorry let me help" card. She got in, and well, didn't get out alive unfortunately.

 

[Deleted member 227095]

Keep in mind this was very, very early in the investigation. Personally I would take the early information with a grain of salt. They were talking before they forensically examined her laptop, reviewed data subpoenaed from social media and other providers, interviewed 300+ witnesses. I'm sure LE wished the neighbors didn't talk to the media, and likely asked everyone interviewed to not discuss the substance of the interviews too.

I realize this information was early in the process but there is something 'raw' about these early statements that seems a bit more real and honest versus after the period when DCI/FBI entered the process and the information released to the public was managed and statements vague. My sense is Mom was in shock and denial in these early interviews and while some of the information she shares seems contradictory, my suspicion is that there is more than a grain of truth in her collective statements to help us understand the chaos of the first 48-72 hrs of this case.

 

[otto]

On second thought, I confused the other side of 385th with Highway 6, and 385 is the outlet that LE is seemingly positing that the abductor took out of town. If that's the case, there is a "merge" area to 385th from Boundary Street at a "V" that looks pretty uninhabited. He could've wedged her in there, grabbed her, and continued right and East on 385th.

JMO.

Police are not positing anything about routes. They have not released any information about her route, and are requesting tips about 5 specific locations.

She ran East on Des Moines to West Str., turned right, and then immediate left on W. Pershing Dr. That much is known.

The points of interest from her house to the next dot (2 --> 3 on map) is right on her path after leaving the house. Point 3 also includes the carwash. The remaining points of interest are the carwash, the truck stop, the right top dot, and the bottom right dot. I doubt the abductor went to a public place immediately after the abduction, so rule out the carwash and truck stop.

That leaves the two far right dots. What happened there? What happened next?

I am happy to move the numbers around to posit a different theory than the one I proposed. Suggestions?

 

[Kapua]

Right, which is why I think they may have found her phone within dot 4. (I'm sure someone will correct me on that ). But in any case, can't they get Fitbit data from her iCloud? They would need a physical phone, correct?

I honestly don't know, but it is possible that the app data is backed up to the cloud. MOO. Some IT person will hopefully be able to confirm this.

 

[otto]

If she had an iPhone and had "find my phone" on, it could have been tracked that way as well.

iphone and ipad do the trick. I misplaced my phone. The ipad traced it to my garage. Only way it stops working is when one device is turned off, as often happens with stolen devices.

 

[otto]

That's an interesting question, the answer to which LE doesn't know and/or are holding close to the vest.

Could be MT was never there but then again, given that LE questioned homeowners behind and up from the D&M Car Wash might indicate they also are interested in the north/south County Highway 18 that intersects E. 2nd St (corner of the car wash)... a possible route taken after abduction occurred farther north.

Maybe they were curious about whether they saw anyone who spent too much time at the carwash one day, or who put something in the dumpster behind the business. Who knows - could be routine investigation as well.

 

[ChuckMaureen]

I was on the I80 crime thread and ran into an old case (25+ years) of Tammy Zywicki that is still on the FBI's radar that involved a student at Grinnell College who was abducted, assaulted and killed while enroute from Chicago to Iowa.

25 years after Tammy Zywicki kidnapping, murder, authorities seek new leads

If its not this case, perhaps its another case where LE sees a connection to what happened in Brooklyn with MT? Any ideas?

Given the absence of any new info from LE or the family I decided to look outside the case for possible explanations. The perp that attempted the abduction of a female jogger in Minor, MO still is at large. I believe that there might be a larger picture in the MT case that hasn't been discussed yet by LE that for whatever reason we cannot yet see.

Discussion in MT threads of other cases is not permitted at this point, not until logical connections are realized or LE reports such connections.

 

[MassGuy]

I don't disagree, but they did ask folks to look out for things like altered vehicles, etc. Plus, look what happened to Mickey Shunick. Her murderer hit her while she was riding a bike downtown and then played the "I'm sorry let me help" card. She got in, and well, didn't get out alive unfortunately.

Oh yeah, there’s been numerous cases where a vehicle has been used in order to facilitate a kidnapping (by hitting the victim). I’m not discounting the possibility. Just questioning if the perpetrator would immediately go to the local car wash after hitting her.

 

[otto]

I'm confused. How do we know that Point 5 is the "Digital Signature"? or why is Point 5 being identified as the "Digital Signature". So far as I have read LE hasn't released any information about anything related to the digital footprint of MT.

Please keep in mind that the red dots are exact, the labels are mine based on information we know about Mollie. We know that there was a ping 10 miles SE of Brooklyn, and we know that there is a red dot 10 miles SE of Brooklyn. Additionally, we know that farms were searched in nearby Guernsey. That's how we know the digital signature (ping) in most likely on point 5.

If you have a different opinion, please let me know. I'll map it right away for comparison.

 

[Kapua]

2 things I want to bring up
1 iPhone batteries are notoriously bad and her funning a fitbit would drain even faster, young girls on social medial all the time most of there phones are near dead at night and on the charger
2. Mollie running hard would have raised her heart rate high, anxiety will not take heart rate up more when you are that high. So doubtful she could have had a heart rate spike.

All smart phone batteries are bad, IMHO. However, because the Fitbit app only syncs every so often, it isn't as hard on the battery as other apps.

 

[Kapua]

I think the carwash is of interest primarily because it has the most cameras of any of the town's businesses. MOO.

 

[MsBetsy]

Point 5 is where the signal allegedly pinged according to what neighbor DC claims that investigators told him. You have to wonder why investigators were so loose-lipped with this one neighbor and are so tight-lipped now.
Mollie Tibbetts search: Boyfriend's brother says scrutiny directed at his family unwarranted

The investigator who told the neighbor may have been a local, then when FBI joined the investigation came to realise no information about the case is to be released to the public.

 

[ChuckMaureen]

Maybe they were curious about whether they saw anyone who spent too much time at the carwash one day, or who put something in the dumpster behind the business. Who knows - could be routine investigation as well.

Absolutely, but LE has highlighted that location and announced it publicly. I believe that extends beyond "routine."

 

[MassGuy]

The investigator who told the neighbor may have been a local, then when FBI joined the investigation came to realise no information about the case is to be released to the public.

That’s almost certainly what happened.

 

[kkdj]

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