Found Deceased IA - Mollie Tibbetts, 20, Poweshiek County, 19 Jul 2018 #32

[duster1979]

Jmo but after five weeks, a cause of death may not be obvious at all...we may have to wait before her death is declared a homicide, even if the location leads to presumptions. I am surprised an official ID was made so quickly...maybe based on her phone, clothes, fit bit, etc?

That's my guess.

 

[MistyWaters]

But how would dental records be used if the Medical Examiner only just arrived? That wouldn't make sense, would it??

Where is it that a ME “only just arrived”.

 

[Wndrlst]

Has anyone checked arrest records? I can’t figure out the Poweshiek County website for the life of me.

Use the MobilePatrol app. Choose Powesheik County in Iowa ... It's easier and you can see all inmates... but even if they have someone in custody-- unless they are booked we won't be able to see them. Noone that I've seen mentioned anywhere is listed as in there currently....

Praying for Mollie and her family. I can't even explain the heartbreak I felt this morning when I heard the news.

 

[ellieuma]

I

Actually, this HAS happened and I provided a very long and detailed explanation of a crime in which that very thing occurred. Maybe not often but, I assure you, it does happen. Men don't generally hold onto the women that they abduct for years, and yet we have the Cleveland women, Jaycee Duggard, Natascha, and Elizabeth Smart (lesser time but still longer than most).

We all have our own ideas and speculations at this point but, in the end, is it really going to matter which one of us was right?

Upon reading it posted that this never happens, I immediately thought of your post the other day about your dad. I might have believed that statement to be true, had you not posted otherwise. I appreciate your earlier post because it shows the mindset and panic your dad felt, as he realizes he just made the single biggest mistake of his life. Not to mention how much pain and guilt he carried throughout his life, as well as how much the incident shaped you and your family.
When I was reading your story, I was able to imagine that panic and began to understand why he reacted as he did, something that I previously wouldn’t have understood. Thank you for telling your obviously painful story and enlightening us on what can happen & what is most definitely possible.

 

[SkipperKey3]

Needle in a haystack. The area of the ping will always be general, and in this case a lot of the land there is just acres and acres of farmland and trees.

Exactly. That is a lot of ground to cover.

 

[Veracity]

Yes, totally! The entitlement factor of the public, because they learn about a case, start following it, get emotionally attached, and think they should be told everything by LE and investigators, as well as consulted for their thoughts is rampant. It happens in every big case where there's a crime committed.

When this began it was NOT a 'big case where there's a crime" - it was a mystery - a missing person.

I feel as though I need to defend folks here who are posting a frustration in how LE handled this case. Maybe for some because we do have social media as a channel used by so many to communicate they are not clearly stating the particulars -

It is not folks wanted details because of curiosity or selfishness. Folks wanted to HELP and many have grown accustomed with using their devices to spread the word - which could be a wonderful tool imo when it comes to a missing person case!

It may also be voiced here because IA LE really circled their wagons and closed off communication with the public from the beginning except for 1 deputy speaking to the press during the lone initial public search which drew over 200 people to help find Molli and an interview by the Sheriff a week later. This sort of nonengagement let the floodgates open to speculation and the folks had no anchors to hold fast.

As more days ticked by, the public naturally began to question why it was taking so long? If LE didn't need the public's help then why haven't they found her? It feels to most an OR question - either LE is like a bloodhound and hot on the trail of someone missing - which considering the digital footprint mentioned that made sense. But the time clipped by and she was not found. And then the weird PCs where they handed out stats for ALL missing persons in IA - a report which didn't include Mollie because she will be in the NEXT year's report.

And the particulars of that report didn't include the actual classification used for Mollie -

"OTHER Missing Adult"

And they never explained.

I think folks who sit back and say WELL we just don't deserve to have particular information because it is none of our business is missing the opportunity to look close enough at a case to help the next case be resolved quicker and hopefully with a better result.


For me I have cared about missing persons of all ages for a long long time. And sadly when a young woman vanishes it is very common for her to have not lived very long if abducted. It may be minutes, hours, or days but it is rarely more than three weeks before she dies. What is widely published is the first 72 hours are critical.

Those hours are so critical our Country has special task forces to attack when a child goes missing. I believe some of what they do with those cases should be used for every missing person - it should NOT still be where anyone in LE makes the assumption someone because of their age is either a runaway or walk-a-way (someone who is of legal age and because of THEIR privacy the case stalls for even a day) because UNTIL the MISSING is FOUND the circumstances cannot be clear for any third party be they LE or other.

And as a Society if a report is filed it deserves to be handled as an emergency in my opinion.

I believe the zeal and interest and concern should be fostered, harnessed, and used to our advantage - not reproved or belittled.

Just my opinion of course.

 

[zecats]

Here’s the area

So close to where they looked a few weeks ago, near Lincoln Wildlife Area. Possibly she wasn't there at that point in time, or they didn't look in that specific area. Ok enough speculation for me. I'll wait to hear the facts as presented. Very sad along with the rest of you sleuthers about this outcome.

 

[PaulR]

Correction: closer to 2 miles.

 

[Crystal Regan]

I looked, but the report was generated on 8/20 for arrests from 8/19. All the charges are related to things like traffic stops.

Sorry! My brain isn’t working correctly right now. The one arrest code was for giving false information to le, so I thought it might be pertinent.

 

[BeachSky]

If the report of 460th and V21 is correct, it's about 3.5 miles from the "pig farm" as the crow flies.

Yes this

 

[CANADIANCRIMESLEUTH]

I can’t get onto the County Court website for Poweshiek. If I were to guess; they have a suspect and we aren’t supposed to know until the PR.
http://poweshiekcounty.org/

 

[ChuckMaureen]

If the report of 460th and V21 is correct, it's about 3.5 miles from the "pig farm" as the crow flies.

Such a distance is within (if not better than) the tolerance and accuracy of certain methods of phone location approximation.

 

[duster1979]

Most likely dental records. Official ID would not be made on personal effects.

Official ID hasn't been made, and the ME just got there so they don't have anything to compare to the dental records yet. At this point the identity is no more than strong speculation, but there had to be something with the body to give them reason to speculate.

 

[PaulR]

Such a distance is within (if not better than) the tolerance and accuracy of certain methods of phone location approximation.

Right, if they've got only data from a single tower and distance information via timing, depending on the tower, what you have is basically a circle around a tower to say "this is where the cell phone was last contacted."

 

[R.U.Kidding!]

It has only been a month or so. Perhaps the clothes she had on , Hair
Think she has been placed there recently or at least after they searched the area, think the perp watched this investigation very closely, may have even been a part of it .
They apparently searched this area already and she was not the perp had to know when it was all clear to place her body there.

Think Le had an idea of who it was all along and wanted to advertise to the perp they did not have anything, so to trap him. He was probably under surveillance in fact maybe they followed him today as he placed the body there. Thus the very little information.

 

[jkloc420]

They might not of arrested anyone but they could have someone detained. I believe they can hold you 24 hours before they arrest you. If this is the case nothing would show up.

 

[CrimeReporter]

Actually, this HAS happened and I provided a very long and detailed explanation of a crime in which that very thing occurred. Maybe not often but, I assure you, it does happen. Men don't generally hold onto the women that they abduct for years, and yet we have the Cleveland women, Jaycee Duggard, Natascha, and Elizabeth Smart (lesser time but still longer than most).

We all have our own ideas and speculations at this point but, in the end, is it really going to matter which one of us was right?

I shouldn't have said it never happens. I should have said it is extremely rare.

And I'm not trying to gloat about being right about stuff -- just trying to point out that some theories are improbable, at best, simply because of the evidence we have, coupled with the knowledge we've gained from history.

 

[MesquiteO21]

How do they know it was her so soon if the ME vehicle just arrived? Isn't that unusual to identify her so quickly?

from the reports, it sounds like some LE and people close to LE had loose lips and told people, so it wasn't an official identification. They probably informally ID'd her based on her clothing and general description?

 

[cluciano63]

OT-ish but no one in my real life knows I follow cases on WS...I live alone with my pets so no one gets a look at my tablet. Selfish thought but it makes it doubly weird and sad when someone is found dead like this...as it almost seems “unreal” in a way. I can’t exactly say why I might be feeling sad or acting weird...not without going into a whole lot of explaining....anyway...

 

[allboys]

I had to take a step back from this case last week. My oldest son was about to head off to college as a freshman, and this case had been consuming me. Ironically, it was my son who texted me the news this morning. I cried for this young woman who I never knew, but felt as if I did. I am trying to take solace in the fact that at least Mollie’s family won’t have to forever wonder about her fate. But this is just hard news, whether it was an expected likely outcome or not.