Copyright
© 2005 – 2018
Iowa Cold Cases
All Rights Reserved
Quick Links
Reprint Permissions
If you'd like to reprint a post or case summary, please contact us with the name of the requested post/article. Thank you in advance!
Stay in Touch
Contact
Iowa investigators searching for Mollie Tibbetts focus on 5 areas the night she vanished
Mollie Tibbetts (Courtesy Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office)
Twenty-year-old University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts was dog-sitting in Brooklyn, Iowa, on Wednesday night, July 18, when she headed out for a jog. She has not been seen since, and her family says she would never run away or fall out of touch with her family.
Missing Poster for Mollie Tibbetts
Tibbetts worked at the Grinnell Regional Medical Center Day Camp, helping to care for the children of employees. She was last seen on Pershing Drive in town while out for her evening run.
“There is no such thing as a silly tip or lead,” Tibbetts’ cousin Emily Heaston wrote on a Facebook group set up in support of the search effort.
Tibbetts was last seen in gym shorts, a black sports bra and running shoes while jogging near Brooklyn, according to a news release from the Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office, which is leading the investigation.
“Currently law enforcement is working in cooperation with multiple jurisdictions in an effort to locate Mollie,” the sheriff’s office said in its release. “Active searches are currently taking place at this time.”
Hundreds of volunteers have canvassed surrounding miles of farmland, fields and roads.
During a news conference Monday, Aug. 13, authorities announced a new website, findingmollie.iowa.gov, that calls on anyone who was in the highlighted areas of a map of Brooklyn, Iowa, from 5 to 10 p.m. July 18 to leave a tip.
According to a Des Moines Register article published Aug. 14, those locations include:
- D&M Car Wash at Clay and East Second streets in downtown Brooklyn
- TA Truck Stop at 4124 V18 Road, about 2.5 miles south of downtown
- 385th Avenue by Historic U.S. 6, about one mile west of downtown
- 385th Avenue and 200th Street, more than three miles northeast of downtown
- 430th Avenue and 200th Street, more than six miles southeast of downtown
Rick Rahn, a special agent in charge at the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, called the new website “another conduit” for people to provide information.
Eastern Iowa native Carol Kean, an administrator with Iowa Cold Cases, talks with WHOTV Channel 13 about Mollie Tibbetts’ disappearance and explains why similar cases are usually so close to home. By Jodi Long, WHOTV.com | Airdate: Aug. 14, 2018
The Register said investigators have received more than 1,500 tips and conducted at least 500 interviews. As they track the 20-year-old’s digital footprint, detectives have also searched acreages, homes, barns and elsewhere.
Tibbetts’ brothers and her boyfriend have been cleared in the investigation.
Tibbetts is described as 5-foot-3, weighing about 120 lbs., with long brown hair and brown eyes.
Anyone with information about her or her whereabouts is urged to contact the Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office at 641-623-5679, send tips to tips@poweshiekcosheriff.com, or leave a tip through findingmollie.iowa.gov.
We Remember: Upcoming Cold Case Anniversaries
Listed below are upcoming cold case anniversaries and, where noted, birthdays the victims would have celebrated.
Jackie Douthart, 24
Mount Pleasant, IA
Henry County
Died May 22, 2011
Would have celebrated 32nd birthday Aug. 19
Naomi Wilson, 32
1618 13th Ave. SE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Missing Since 4/12/81
Would be celebrating 70th birthday Aug. 20
Larry Murillo, 25
Went Missing From
Council Bluffs, IA
November 28, 2009
Would be celebrating 34th birthday Aug. 22
