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

[JudgeJudi]

Mollie was dropped off after work at 5:30. She sent Dalton two messages that evening, the first being a text message sent at 7pm. We know she had homework to do that night and was going to make a dessert to take to work the next day.

Her mom said she and Mollie had exchanged several text messages that afternoon. “She had sent me a shopping list for a dessert she wanted to make and take to work. I texted her that I got the ingredients and asked if she was coming home for dinner”. Mollie said she would be home and asked what they were having. “Brats,” she replied. “OK”.

https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/public-safety/mollie-tibbetts-missing-brooklyn-poweshiek-county-police-investigating-disappearance-20180723

Mollie’s mom said, “Yes, we were texting that night until approximately 7:30. She told me she was coming home for dinner but she was going on a run first”.

https://whotv.com/2018/08/07/13raw-tibbetts-family-keeping-hope-alive-that-mollie-will-come-home-safe/

My thoughts:

Mollie would have let the dogs go outside to potty as soon as she arrived home after work. As she had to make the dessert that night, she started her online homework in the 2 hour interval before going jogging and planned to make the dessert when she returned later. She sent her usual nightly Snapchat selfie to Dalton before she left. At approx. 7:30 she put the dogs back into the basement and left for her mom’s to have dinner, collect the dessert ingredients and drive home.

She was seen by a neighbour circa 7:30, was later seen on the streets of Brooklyn and at the funeral home and disappeared shortly afterwards.

It’s possible she accepted a lift from a friend/acquaintance but unlikely as she had already completed a good portion of her run and was en route to her mom’s.

We don’t know where she was when she sent Dalton the Snapchat selfie but it’s fair to assume she would have been smiling. While we don’t know when it was sent, Dalton said he opened it at 10:00 and thought it was in a house. Had she been coerced/forced into a car and taken to a house against her will, she would hardly have sent the selfie from that location.

I think it’s highly likely that whoever abducted her drove past the pig farm until she was taken to a residence. She was still in possession of her Fitbit and phone at that point, hence the searches in that area including repeated visits to WC but to date he hasn’t been named as a POI. The FBI asked her mom if Mollie was in a house at 9:45. I believe they asked this because there was no sign of forced entry of the home where she’d been staying and things looked undisturbed. The FBI would not have had her Fitbit data the day after she disappeared.

So far there have been no witnesses that we’re aware of who have come forward saying they saw her leaving Brooklyn en route to the house where she was staying.

 

[buggiegirl]

I am still stuck on the "getting to know Mollie" statement made at the first PC- what exactly does that mean- does that mean that the FBI needs to go thru all of her social media sights to gain insight? If so why announce that at a PC if the public's help wasn't necessary to get to know her- yes it was stated long ago- I just have never been able to get a firm grasp on exactly what that meant

I get stuck on the impression I have that they don't want the public's help with any of it at all. Her father making all these comments about how she left with someone she knows, etc, that discourages the public from sending tips IMO. The lack of searches, the lack of press conferences even to say "please send tips here!" I was sure they cancelled the press conference because they had nothing and that the dad was just believing what he needed to to stay sane, but now I'm not so sure. Why actively discourage the public from helping?

 

[heywaycool]

To me, the key information I'm waiting for from the FBI is whether or not they have information indicating Molly was in the house after say 9:30 PM, maybe as early as 9pm. The Snapchat, the computer,the wifi, the hw, the cell pings. Because that info to me really opens up the likelihood of a known person or a very local neighbor aware of her circumstance. Of course the monkey wrench in that theory is the whole targeted search area which would lead one to believe a stranger abduction, but Possibly that area could have just been dumping ground for a cell phone, or more, and the nearest shady character with a record gets targeted by default. Just some random thoughts by a newbie. Last thing, we know MT was dropped off around 5:30 PM, and likely went for a jog around 7:30 PM to 8 PM. What happened in that two hour window besides some texts to her boyfriend?

 

[Stormy21]

May you live your life without controversy. To be so lucky.

Sometimes families of victims or people suspected of crimes have their lives torn apart and disrupted. Seen that happen.

I have even had cases of a person who was guilty of something, but was very repentant. He was totally cooperative and very sadly responsible. Yet a CA sent him to prison.

Many people suffer from crimes like this.

 

[cluciano63]

Actually the dessert was for Friday...so she may not have planned to make it Wed. night...if I remember correctly.

 

[CheetosDust]

Are their large cornfields that come to the edge or close to the road or possible paths MT could have been jogging? Perhaps a local drifter, even a teenager, maybe someone not right in the head had been hiding or lurking near the cornfields up to no good happened to see a pretty girl run by. MT was busy listening to music from her earbuds she wouldn’t have heard his footsteps come from behind and put his hand over her mouth and use the cord of her earbuds to apprehend her. Posters here said cornfields are so thick you could literally be standing in them and not be detected and in he dragged her into the cornfield they pop back up therefore no drag marks. I’m thinking her body is in the cornfield and like others said wouldn’t be found until harvest.

The whole town is surrounded by cornfields as far as the eye can see. I keep taking drives in the Google car just to check out the lay of the land and cornfields are all I see.

 

[Kapua]

If Mollie willingly got into a car with someone she knew, then ALL of her friends and acquaintances need to think back to that night. Was someone missing? Did they come home very late that night? Were they acting strange in any way? Did they miss work the next day or come in late? Someone knows something. All it takes is for one person to call in the one tip that breaks this case wide open. I just hope that they aren't afraid to come forward IF they do know anything. This person had to be someone she knew well, otherwise she wouldn't have gotten into the car with them. LE needs to look at everyone from her work, school, and church - male AND female!

IMHO, the people in the community prefer to believe that Mollie was taken by a stranger, not one of their own. They don't want to start suspecting people who they have come to know and trust. They want it to be the bogeyman from out of town, not one of their neighbors. They don't want to call in a tip on the guy down the street who was out until dawn that night. However, in a small town, the proportion of strangers to locals must be pretty small. Brooklyn is not a tourist town, and outside of regular deliveries, most of the people who were in town that night live there. Moooo

 

[jillycat]

So where did she encounter this known person? If the theory is in a small town people see everything, they see known people as well as strangers interacting with or near someone who has now been missing for three weeks. Notice no one is reporting 'Ya, I saw her chatting with a guy in a baseball hat at Casey's', or whatever.

I don't think she wanted or needed a ride. I've always thought she was in an area where a perfect storm of sufficient isolation and the absence of other people was very convenient for someone. Could be wrong, but I think the member who posted earlier this morning about her likely having been at a farther point on her jog, and the fact that no one saw her on a return probably best explains how she was taken. And I think if someone got her at the house, they had an invisible car or they transported themselves and her because, again, if something would have been noticed, it surely would have been a car driving around her street and parked long enough to abduct or lure her.

 

[SharonNeedles]

If a citizen gives information about a potential crime to the FBI and there is a question on whether a federal violation has occurred, who in the government decides?

The FBI may conduct an investigation in order to obtain sufficient facts concerning the allegation. If there is a question as to whether or not a federal violation has occurred, the FBI consults with the U.S. Attorney’s office in the district where the alleged offense took place.

(so yeah, mostly)

Different protocols when a state agency requests assistance and/or resources.

 

[Goe]

I am still stuck on the "getting to know Mollie" statement made at the first PC- what exactly does that mean- does that mean that the FBI needs to go thru all of her social media sights to gain insight? If so why announce that at a PC if the public's help wasn't necessary to get to know her- yes it was stated long ago- I just have never been able to get a firm grasp on exactly what that meant

I thibk it means they have to know who she is/was like figure out if she would run away or do drugs, would shw fight back or not to ubderstand the circustances around her dissaperance

 

[white rabbit]

IMHO, the people in the community prefer to believe that Mollie was taken by a stranger, not one of their own. They don't want to start suspecting people that they have come to know and trust. They want it to be the bogeyman from out of town, not one of their neighbors. They don't want to call in a tip on the guy down the street who was out until dawn that night. However, in a small town, the proportion of strangers to locals must be pretty small. Brooklyn is not a tourist town, and outside of regular deliveries, most of the people who were in town that night live there. Moooo

this. totally agree. IMO it IS one of their own. hence the silence and reluctance to speak up.

 

[Kapua]

The whole town is surrounded by cornfields as far as the eye can see. I keep taking drives in the Google car just to check out the lay of the land and cornfields are all I see.

I know! I have used Google street view to get a feel for the town many times. Although it's a small town, there's a lot of land to cover, and I'm guessing it's mostly private property.

 

[Crystal Regan]

If a citizen gives information about a potential crime to the FBI and there is a question on whether a federal violation has occurred, who in the government decides?

The FBI may conduct an investigation in order to obtain sufficient facts concerning the allegation. If there is a question as to whether or not a federal violation has occurred, the FBI consults with the U.S. Attorney’s office in the district where the alleged offense took place.

(so yeah, mostly)

Can’t the FBI be brought in when the local LE doesn’t have the resources to handle the situation regardless of the type of crime?

 

[MisterMayor]

I took this yesterday on my way home from work. The corn right now in Indiana. It's impossible to see into. Several times a year we have a toddler wander into a cornfield and it's truely terrifing!

Apologies for the slight OT tangent here, but my family grows corn in Kansas and I am all too familiar. As a 4-5 year old toddler, I once wandered out into a corn field adjacent to our house and got stuck in deep mud from irrigation runoff for several hours. Our Doberman Pinscher stayed by my side the entire time and eventually dragged me out by my shirt...no kidding.

In my opinion, you could definitely dispose of a body in a corn field if you were so inclined...of course, whatever's left would be found in October. As for some guy hiding on the edge of a corn field and jumping out or something...that seems decidedly less likely.

 

[Jackielee09]

I know LE has a lot more information than public. But am I wrong to point out there is zero evidence of a crime. $300,000 reward, tons of press, national news. And no evidence to say she didn’t just get in car with a friend only she knows about and left on her own. The person she’s with if voluntarily has not committed a crime.
People do leave their lives. I hope that’s what she’s done. I know it’s hard to fathom someone hurting their family like this. But it happens.
A song on her twitter that I’ve already linked before as well as others. Ed Sherran “save myself”

 

[FindHG]

Again, how would media get the guy’s name? I guess they may have seen LE there, or did he contact media?

I think MSM would vet a witness with LE not to make a mess of things. It seems so in this case. This witness stepped up but the trolling seems unusually hostile. Maybe there is something there? Who would be most motivated to discredit him, and if that person is technically adept, it's not hard to get a horde of trolls' attention.

 

[Mr. Obvious]

I am still stuck on the "getting to know Mollie" statement made at the first PC- what exactly does that mean- does that mean that the FBI needs to go thru all of her social media sights to gain insight? If so why announce that at a PC if the public's help wasn't necessary to get to know her- yes it was stated long ago- I just have never been able to get a firm grasp on exactly what that meant

I see nothing odd with their statement - of getting to know her - I'm sure they're trained not to go off of surface analysis and rely on opinion/ information from others - and yes, with all of the SM that people use today - that's a whole other can of worms as well!

 

[SuziQ]

Do you think the latest news from the FBI profiler that Mollie left with someone she knew or had a relationship with, indicates that possibly WC passed his lie detector test?

That EX FBI profiler has no more info than we do. Their opinion is merely a guess.

 

[NewYork625]

deleted

 

[Davia18]

I wish they could check every single home between bf house and mom house.