Found Deceased IA - Mollie Tibbetts, 20, Poweshiek County, 19 Jul 2018 #28

[thesaint]

I think it might be someone that both DJ (his age) and MT went to HS with, and had a crush on MT. He didn't go off to college, and stayed local working in Brooklyn. He supplements via B&E or drug distribution. I think he knows how digital footprints work. Maybe Mollie was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I've been in the older perp (30-50+) camp, but thinking about Mollie and her BF's circle it opens up more avenues for someone to gleam the information that Mollie would be alone at the BF's house.

Mollie's BF and his brother and the brother's fiance could also be conduits to someone learning that they--the bf, brother and fiance--would be out of town. Mollie's BF apparently wasn't big on social media, but maybe the fiance or her BF's brother posted about their schedule to SM. Or they mentioned something to someone IRL.

The people they arrested in the Tara Grinstead case down in Georgia were barely out of high school when they allegedly abducted her. Took LE 12 years and loose lips by the people involved to crack that case.

Mollie's BF and BF's brother had their own house. I wonder if they ever hosted house parties on weekends. Not a lot to do in Brooklyn for people that age, especially if some of them are, like Mollie, under 21.

 

[feralwriter]

One thing that would generate this much attention is that there are unsolved abduction/murders of girls and young women in the area spanning several years.

Yeah, I think that's the theory many of us are afraid of. Just despicable. He lives in Iowa, doesn't he. Field of his ******* dreams.

 

[otto]

I am technologically impaired so I am not sure what I am asking. I have an iPad which I assume must be like an iPhone.

I have had troublewith my iPad in the past. I call Apple and they do some tests with me while I am on the phone. They can tell if my iPad is working from wherever they are. It is really weird when they are telling ne to do things. They tell me when what I am doing is wrong.

So I wonder what kind of info App,e can get from an iPhone

Before they can remote into your device, they ask you to click a link, agree that they can access your device, and then they can see the device on their computer screen.

 

[MassGuy]

I don't think that Mollie had anything to do with this. She had plans for the evening and the following morning, and I see no reason for her to decide to stop her evening exercise simply because someone she knew drove by and asked her to stop what she was doing.

I think it is very likely that she was jogging and she was grabbed off the street in the blink of an eye. It is high risk to abduct someone off the street, but the risk is worth it to some predators.

This theory makes sense in that it explains why this guy is still out there. The idea that she was accosted by someone who knew her, holds strength for me, because of the particular unusual circumstance she was in (home alone). But if that were the case, I’d expect there to be a break by now due to digital evidence (this despite not having her phone).
It’s risky, and thus unlikely to go off without a hitch, but it’s still very much in play as far as I’m concerned.

 

[Jerrod]

I don't think that Mollie had anything to do with this. She had plans for the evening and the following morning, and I see no reason for her to decide to stop her evening exercise simply because someone she knew drove by and asked her to stop what she was doing.
I think it is very likely that she was jogging and she was grabbed off the street in the blink of an eye. It is high risk to abduct someone off the street, but the risk is worth it to some predators.

bbm

Yes, when it comes to successful abductions, a lot can be said for having a "coldness and boldness".

 

[margarita25]

Rushing here for last call...darn 12:05!!

Any news about Mollie or about the investigation? Catching up!

 

[otto]

This theory makes sense in that it explains why this guy is still out there. The idea that she was accosted by someone who knew her, holds strength for me, because of the particular unusual circumstance she was in (home alone). But if that were the case, I’d expect there to be a break by now due to digital evidence (this despite not having her phone).
It’s risky, and thus unlikely to go off without a hitch, but it’s still very much in play as far as I’m concerned.

Stranger abductions are the least common and the hardest to solve.

 

[MassGuy]

Stranger abductions are the least common and the hardest to solve.

Exactly right. And just because they aren’t common, doesn’t mean they don’t happen, and didn’t occur here.

 

[ChuckMaureen]

Rushing here for last call...darn 12:05!!

Any news about Mollie or about the investigation? Catching up!

Still missing. Crickets.

 

[MassGuy]

Rushing here for last call...darn 12:05!!

Any news about Mollie or about the investigation? Catching up!

Absolutely nothing.

 

[jmk59]

Why would someone who is not dangerous, and who is familiar with a drug culture, decide to abduct a 20 year old university student who is jogging in the evening?

It was mentioned that car washes were a great place to conduct business. Just step into a bay (out of camera view) and LE wouldn't know what you're doing.

What if Mollie, on her run, ran past the D & M while a transaction was in progress and she recognized someone form HS. IDK. I still think the HS crush is still more plausible.

 

[margarita25]

Stranger abductions are the least common and the hardest to solve.

(Last night I saw on Paula Z a story about a cold case from 1979 solved...random abduction, SA, awful awful case, mother of 4 small children, found evidence of 2 perps on her remains, but at that time they didn’t have DNA but could isolate 2 different blood types. Perps were gang members. They reran the DNA many years later and got a hit. Bad, bad guys. There was also a robbery link. Made me wonder again about the 2 incidents...(burglary and vandalism).

Just curious, gangs in Des Moines, etc? I know from experience some of the Denver gang members come into the small towns, suburbs to commit crimes
Just a thought, not my leading theory or anything. I have no idea if Iowa has a problem w gangs or not.

—-ETA: Another random thought is it has become the norm for LE to monitor SM in investigations...I’m not out there in SM land but I imagine they’ve got their hands full there!

ETA: do I recall from way upstream there was a bike rally in the area? I also keep forgetting to post the carnival schedule to crosscheck MPs by date...not sure if that schedule ever got posted? Making a note again...

Just thinking again about who might have been in town from out of the area and why.

 

[feralwriter]

Many times (I've read) Sks have a contact in person with their target, one contact minimum, before striking (they strike at a later date after that initial contact). So where did he & Mollie meet, provided they did? Can we find any commonalities between the Evansdale girls & Mollie?

 

[otto]

Exactly right. And just because they aren’t common, doesn’t mean they don’t happen, and didn’t occur here.

I think that's the reason why there is so much attention on Mollie's disappearance - there's nothing about Mollie or anyone she knows that explains her disappearance. After a month where all the usual suspects have been excluded, the only remaining possibility is a stranger abduction.

 

[human]

Before they can remote into your device, they ask you to click a link, agree that they can access your device, and then they can see the device on their computer screen.

Do they need her phone to do this or can they do it without your oermission in this case

 

[Kapua]

I've moved on from trying to map her run route. I think that she was take at an isolated part of the route - somewhere near the cut-through to Moms. There's a lot of isolated gravel roads in the area off Rt 385; an isolated route out of town with low traffic. What happened after she was taken?

First off, I think the perp gets down to the main business at hand - why the abduction in the first place? Even if the phone and fit bit are active, he has a goal. I don't have an answer for this, just yet.

If the need is quick-and-to-the-point with seclusion, one could go Rt 385 to a right on 185 down a dirt road that dead ends at Little Bear Creek. I think she may have been put in the water here, or a site like this. I think LE knows this, but haven't found her (and is holding this info back). View attachment 142391

After this, he goes on an evidence dump. Back up 185 to Rt 385, then left to v21. Left on v21 to the bridge at Big Bear Creek, where he dumps the phone. View attachment 142392

The next part, going so far South on v21 to dump other evidence (fit bit?) I'm not sure about unless he knew in advance about WC. All these back roads, on grave surfaces, to me indicates some sort of pick-up truck and knowledge of these roads as being an avid hunter.
View attachment 142394

I think it might be someone that both DJ (his age) and MT went to HS with, and had a crush on MT. He didn't go off to college, and stayed local working in Brooklyn. He supplements via B&E or drug distribution. I think he knows how digital footprints work. Maybe Mollie was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

So much for my novel. As a father of kids this age, it pained me to type each and every sentence of the above. I'm admitting defeat, as in she's not coming back alive. I deeply sympathies with RT and his stoic interview hoping she would be OK. After 4 weeks I only want closure for the family.

Great work on the maps! I was just trying to figure out how long it might take to get from a potential abduction spot to the farthest southeastern area on LE's map. One of my working theories is that the perp did not disable her phone right away. IF he tricked Mollie into getting into the car with him rather than forcing her, AND her phone was in its armband on her right arm, he may not have been able to reach it at first. So maybe 25 minutes? Longer? Backing that up from 10 PM, she might have been abducted around 9 and then driven along the backroads to the most southeastern dot before the perp disabled her phone.

 

[otto]

Many times (I've read) Sks have a contact in person with their target, one contact minimum, before striking (they strike at a later date after that initial contact). So where did he & Mollie meet, provided they did? Can we find any commonalities between the Evansdale girls & Mollie?

The one contact may have been that her abductor saw her jogging the night before she was abducted. Even though she changed her routes, if her destination was the same, it probably wouldn't make any difference.

 

[MassGuy]

Many times (I've read) Sks have a contact in person with their target, one contact minimum, before striking (they strike at a later date after that initial contact). So where did he & Mollie meet, provided they did? Can we find any commonalities between the Evansdale girls & Mollie?

I’m not sure about this. I can think of numerous occasions where there was no prior contact, and the victim was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some do stalk their victims first (BTK), but the “contact” involves seeing them, following them, and learning about them. This type of thing is more in line with organized offenders than disorganized ones.

 

[Kapua]

I understand. LE is full on the job. As for a VP having "prayed"... I look at it this way: if prayer worked, no one would be missing for very long.

Indeed and, three+ weeks out, a new web page initiative, hundreds of "leads"... no Mollie, no perp. Maybe that five-thousandth lead will do it?

One more point: that 28 threads have since gone by... is not a good sign.

My point was that the case is VERY active, VERY high profile, and anything but cold at this point. IMHO.

 

[Normancita]

I think that's the reason why there is so much attention on Mollie's disappearance - there's nothing about Mollie or anyone she knows that explains her disappearance. After a month where all the usual suspects have been excluded, the only remaining possibility is a stranger abduction.

So it’s even more interesting to note that the parents believe the opposite, that is, she willingly left with someone she knows.