Editor’s Note: After this story was originally published, Tibbetts’s body was reportedly discovered on August 21 in a cornfield outside of Brooklyn, Iowa, according to a local press conference. A first degree murder charge was brought forward that same day against 24-year-old Cristhian Bahena Rivera, who has lived in the area for four to seven years as an illegal alien. Rivera allegedly admitted to following Tibbetts on the run she went missing from on July 18, and at one point chased her. If convicted, he faces a charge of life in prison without the possibility of parole. We’ll continue to update this as more information becomes available.
On Wednesday evening, July 18, University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts decided to head out for a run, as she’d done many times before. The 20-year-old hasn’t been seen since.
She was dog sitting at her boyfriend’s house in Brooklyn, Iowa, Races - Places, in an area that’s largely farmland. She may have brought her cellphone and a Fitbit, but calls to the phone went straight to voicemail. Her wallet and ID were left behind at the house.
Tibbetts was reported missing on Thursday, and on Friday and Saturday, hundreds of volunteers scoured cornfields, barns, and dirt roads without finding either Tibbetts or any clues as to her whereabouts. Also fruitless was a helicopter search of the area.
Her boyfriend, Dalton Jack, told Shoes & Gear that he was working in Dubuque that night, about two hours away. He added that his last communication with Tibbetts was a Snapchat message he received from her around 10 p.m. on Thursday night.
Australian Sprinter, 16, Runs Record-Breaking 200m KCCI8 News that while the volunteer searches have been called off, the FBI has joined the efforts, and is concentrating on areas around Brooklyn where Tibbetts went in the past. The FBI is now looking into Tibbetts’ digital footprint, Nutrition - Weight Loss.
As the Des Moines Register reports, the community of about 1,500 is intensifying its efforts as well, with a local screen printing company creating buttons, car magnets, and T-shirts. Flyers with photos of the 5’2”, 120-pound student are plastered around town.
A Facebook group, Finding Mollie Tibbetts, already has more than 27,000 members. According to that page, run by members of Tibbetts’ family, investigators are concentrating on tracing her digital footprint through social media accounts.
