Found Deceased IA - Mollie Tibbetts, 20, Poweshiek County, 19 Jul 2018 #31

[Suglo]

I finally went to her twitter page to see myself. It's the ONLY pinned tweet and she tweeted or retweeted 10,000 times! But now that I tell she is using to make light of the fact she is probably often mistaken for a 10 yr 0ld and that random things happen to her. Kind of creepy that she titles it "just a normal tuesday night" knowing what happened to her on another normal weekday. The tweet would be no big deal except now she is in fact a missing person and it could possibly show a stalker foreshadowing what he knows will happen (if he was not actually a cop) or her trying to clue friends in IF she pinned the old tweet that night. If anything it confirms that she looks very young and maybe why someone was brave enough to grab her.

You can only have one pinned tweet at a time. Just like you can only have one pinned post on Facebook at a time.

 

[flashy09]

"I haven't actually been on her twitter to see her personality, but to pin a tweet seems too "much" for just a silly encounter. To tweet about it sure, but to pin it and make it such a big part of her twitter? It must have unnerved her. When did she pin it? I assume not the night of her disappearance."

I don't know if anyone responded to this so if they did, I apologize for repeating it... but the "pinned tweet" is a normal thing. It's almost like your "5 minutes of fame" on Twitter. If you tweet something and it gets a lot of likes or retweets, people pin them so that it's the first thing people see when they go to your profile. Almost every person who uses Twitter has a pinned tweet at the top if they've said anything that got a good reaction from people. It's absolutely 100% normal. The content of that tweet, obviously ironic considering the circumstances.

I just was curious if it could be verified to be a police officer - not a stalker - and whether she pinned it the day she disappeared. Looking at her twitter just now knowing what happened I found all sorts of other tweets/retweets that I could also read way too much into lol.

 

[ab01]

Of those people at the truck stop, most would probably leave via the I-80, and only a handful would go to Brooklyn. That reduces the number of vehicles of interest between 5-7PM. I think it's a big undertaking, but it will work to identify the vehicle if everyone who was at those locations reports to police.

Thx Otto, I always appreciate your well thought out insights!

 

[Suglo]

"I haven't actually been on her twitter to see her personality, but to pin a tweet seems too "much" for just a silly encounter. To tweet about it sure, but to pin it and make it such a big part of her twitter? It must have unnerved her. When did she pin it? I assume not the night of her disappearance."

I don't know if anyone responded to this so if they did, I apologize for repeating it... but the "pinned tweet" is a normal thing. It's almost like your "5 minutes of fame" on Twitter. If you tweet something and it gets a lot of likes or retweets, people pin them so that it's the first thing people see when they go to your profile. Almost every person who uses Twitter has a pinned tweet at the top if they've said anything that got a good reaction from people. It's absolutely 100% normal. The content of that tweet, obviously ironic considering the circumstances.

Exactly this! People pin what gets the most likes and retweets. It’s not that big of a deal.

 

[otto]

And that whole area of truck stop, Casey's and car wash would be crucial. Viewing each video, making a list of vehicles that make an appearance, and crossing people off a list. Is that how it works?

It's only a 5 hour window, so not that many hours of vehicle license plates to record from the truck stop and car wash. The people who come forward will be interviewed and eliminated after providing information about their activities that evening. The vehicles of owners who do not come forward will be looked at separately. Any vehicle that is recorded at the Truck Stop or Carwash, where the owner does not come forward, will become a vehicle of interest. If a similar vehicle is seen at the other locations, it will be fully investigated.

 

[Al Hoffman]

Yes - and really what would a police officer be doing in the library? I guess someone could have called a tip in about the missing girl.

Campus police(?) - report may not have risen above this level, and there may not be an on line record of this. Or she could have been SWAT'ed as a prank (because it "was called in"). Or, a campus police officer on his normal round through the Library may be like the rest of you WS's, and had a missing person report in the back of his mind and approached MT for this reason, or the CP LEO could be a stalker. I would suspect that by this time, LE has also gone down this rabbit hole, and maybe there was something to find there or maybe not. Though (MOO) I think y'all are beating Schrodinger's dead cat at this point over the pinned post or the idea that MT may have pinned this post as she was being abducted rather than calling 911.

Sorry to unload on you Flashy, but this topic was discussed ad nauseam yesterday. To directly answer your question, when I went to a state college in the 70's it was not out of place to see Campus Police walk through the building, and that was long before the current epidemic of school and campus shootings. At one point a former FBI agent (no sense of humor at all) was head of campus security, and the CP took their game up a notch. I had to go talk to him about getting after hour access to a lab after campus security actually started locking the buildings at night.

 

[cody22]

Same for soccer players... Except for the socks....

Kids must smell better now than they used too. I played 4 years of high school football, and we "reeked."

 

[Bringemhome]

There must be a trail we can find out what happened on the ground. I dont think a silent Helicoptor is invented yet.

I wonder if there are any drone flying clubs in the area? or enthusiasts out flying and filming around that time. Somebody could be holding footage that might break this case open

 

[zencompass]

Snipped by me. Bolded by me.

...she was abducted by someone who jumped out from bushes... if she was truly running when she went missing.

Dear @Justice101,

I hope you don't mind my quoting this from your post (#56) :

...abducted by someone who jumped out from bushes.

This post, as well as others of yours, has gotten me thinking in a different direction.

What if - there was no car there. That could be why there were no sightings of a car in that area.

Did the perp leave his car somewhere else and walk over to the cornfields? Did he leave his bicycle somewhere? Or was he on foot the whole time?

Had he been watching Mollie on her runs and expected her to run towards that isolated area (cornfields)?

Just some thoughts bouncing around in my mind.

I greatly appreciate your posts Justice101!

 

[otto]

That assumption is unsubstantiated.

Police are definitely interested in vehicles, and they state that "we must consider the possibility that foul play is involved."

• A vehicle unexpectedly taken to a repair shop or sold/disposed of
• Unexpected or intensive cleaning of a vehicle, possibly at an unusual time of day

https://findingmollie.iowa.gov/

That's sufficient for me to assume that someone with questionable intentions, such as a "prowler" is responsible for Mollie's abduction.

 

[flashy09]

I mentioned this in another post just sort of stream of thought, but what about the possibility of a electrical co op worker next door waiting inside the house while she jogged? The doors were unlocked, he would know her routine and probably that the BF was gone. Dogs in the basement anyway - maybe she always put them there to run? He could have taken her out the back door and right into his car next door and gone out as normal. That could explain some of the discrepancies about whether she came home or not....she did but was immediately taken. If he got the upper hand quickly by way of surprise there would not be much struggle.

 

[Trident]

Of those people at the truck stop, most would probably leave via the I-80, and only a handful would go to Brooklyn. That reduces the number of vehicles of interest between 5-7PM. I think it's a big undertaking, but it will work to identify the vehicle if everyone who was at those locations reports to police.

Good point. I believe the truck stop was for a fuel up, then on to Brooklyn.

 

[jillycat]

I just was curious if it could be verified to be a police officer - not a stalker - and whether she pinned it the day she disappeared. Looking at her twitter just now knowing what happened I found all sorts of other tweets/retweets that I could also read way too much into lol.

Twitter is very straightforward. Pinned tweets are not re-posted, they are just bumped up in the order of tweets, so the time stamp on a pinned tweet is the time the tweet was actually made. She tweeted and pinned the content in question on Tuesday, 11/14/17 at 8:13 p.m. She also referenced "Tuesday night" in her tweet, offering even more evidence that this was that same day.

 

[otto]

Good point. I believe the truck stop was for a fuel up, then on to Brooklyn.

I think it's quite possible that the abductor went to Brooklyn to get gas or a meal, and possibly a carwash. I view the abduction of Mollie as a crime of opportunity, so the person responsible would not have been avoiding detection and cameras until after Mollie's abduction.

 

[Deleted member 155000]

I don't think that's relevant. Those devices would have been at her home, and Bluetooth has a relatively small range. If she was abducted while jogging, she wouldn't come near those other devices (unless the perp then took her to her home, but that begs the question - why would they do this?) If she was abducted while at home, her FitBit would quickly go out of range of her laptop.

That's assuming that people sync FitBits to multiple devices. I know it is possible but I do not because there is no reason to, unless you don't own a smartphone.

I hear you and mostly concur.

Although I have several apps which I linked to multiple devices bc I want to be able to check them as I am working (during work or as I take classes) without having to go find my phone that is often charging somewhere else in the house. I surveyed a couple friends and family who use FitBits over the weekend and a few of them had synced to multiple devices bc they initially synced to just 1 (say a tablet) bc they thought they would only look at the data every once in a while, but then later found they wanted to be able to access it anytime on their phone.

 

[flashy09]

Campus police(?) - report may not have risen above this level, and there may not be an on line record of this. Or she could have been SWAT'ed as a prank (because it "was called in"). Or, a campus police officer on his normal round through the Library may be like the rest of you WS's, and had a missing person report in the back of his mind and approached MT for this reason, or the CP LEO could be a stalker. I would suspect that by this time, LE has also gone down this rabbit hole, and maybe there was something to find there or maybe not. Though (MOO) I think y'all are beating Schrodinger's dead cat at this point over the pinned post or the idea that MT may have pinned this post as she was being abducted rather than calling 911.

Sorry to unload on you Flashy, but this topic was discussed ad nauseam yesterday. To directly answer your question, when I went to a state college in the 70's it was not out of place to see Campus Police walk through the building, and that was long before the current epidemic of school and campus shootings. At one point a former FBI agent (no sense of humor at all) was head of campus security, and the CP took their game up a notch. I had to go talk to him about getting after hour access to a lab after campus security actually started locking the buildings at night.

Ok I am done with the Twitter! I did read a couple of posts yesterday but didn't realize the extent....this forum covers a lot really fast!

 

[Deleted member 155000]

Thank you for the coffee.

I’m not understanding all the emphasis on the fact that it was a Wednesday. There could have been someone in town collecting mail and watering plants for someone who was on vacation or someone who was in town to grab some Casey’s pizza. Who knows? The list of possibilities is almost endless and IMO, we can’t exclude this one: He was in town on Wednesday to abduct Mollie. The only thing that stands out to me as to why it happened on a Wednesday was that AH, BJ and DJ were all gone and she was there alone. Or, it’s just a huge coincidence.

Also, if Mollie disappeared Wednesday evening, how does that indicate the perp had Wednesday off? He could very well have worked that day and been on his way home.

To me, the only value of the emphasis on Wed is to emphasize who we know for sure WAS in town or driving through the area. So for example, regular attenders of Wed night church programs or weekly fitness classes, and so on.

 

[Bringemhome]

Twitter is very straightforward. Pinned tweets are not re-posted, they are just bumped up in the order of tweets, so the time stamp on a pinned tweet is the time the tweet was actually made. She tweeted and pinned the content in question on Tuesday, 11/14/17 at 8:13 p.m. She also referenced "Tuesday night" in her tweet, offering even more evidence that this was that same day.

There is no way for us to see what day the tweet was pinned.
I just pinned an old tweet of mine to check.
Twitter could tell L E when it was pinned I imagine.
The real point with that tweet / incident is that it may have seeded an idea but this is speculation.

 

[1987]

Now I am wondering - what if there wasn't a car right there?

Could the perp have left it somewhere and walked towards an isolated area he knew that Mollie jogged past? Was he hiding and watching for her, waiting to grab her and subdue her?

Did he hide a bicycle somewhere?

maybe he parked at the car wash

 

[flashy09]

<modsnipped quote>

So I thought we were not allowed to discuss DJ? But if so I know I just said I was done with Twitter....but on her account there are a few references to not wanting to settle down too early or only being with one man your whole life.