Mollie Tibbetts, a University of Iowa student and avid jogger who ran on the cross-country team during high school, disappeared on early on Wednesday night or Thursday morning from the small Iowa town of Brooklyn. Her family and friends continue to search for clues and answers, and plead for anyone with any information to come forward.
Mollie, 20, sent a message to her boyfriend on Snapchat on July 18. He opened the message at around 10 p.m. on Wednesday night, but it’s still unclear what time Mollie sent the message. It was last time anyone has heard from her, and according to her family, it’s completely out of character for her to go anywhere without checking in. She’s reportedly never had issues with anything or anyone that would spark her disappearance.
It’s now nearing a week since Mollie Tibbetts has disappeared. She has been missing from Brooklyn, Iowa since last Wednesday night when she went for a jog. If you have seen/heard anything please contact the Poweshiek County authorities. Let’s find Mollie! pic.twitter.com/kOWztKetwW
— Tyler Roney (@TylerJRoney) July 23, 2018
The UI student was getting ready to move into her own apartment and was anticipating the upcoming school year. According to Mollie’s mother, Laura Calderwood, Mollie and her boyfriend were also planning an international trip next month to attend a wedding.
“She and her boyfriend Dalton were getting ready to go to the Dominican Republic on August 2nd to attend Dalton’s brother’s wedding,” Calderwood told ABC. “As that date gets closer, it’s like closing in on me, because I’m thinking about these two people that are getting married that were also really close to Mollie. [It’s] supposed to be the happiest day of their life.”
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office said search crews looked thoroughly through fields in between Mollie’s home and the home where she was dog-sitting when she disappeared.
Poweshiek County Sheriff Tom Kriegel said that he “is confident that every home in Brooklyn has been visited. Every farm building, barn and shed in the area has been searched,” according to a Facebook post by Mollie’s cousin, Emily Heaston.
CrimeOnline spoke Mollie’s friend and co-worker, Emily Fenner, who said Mollie never showed up to work Thursday, which alarmed her family.
“She’s an incredibly responsible, intelligent person. When she didn’t come to work on Thursday & didn’t call in I proceeded to get ahold of her boyfriend, who was in Dubuque, IA, for work & hadn’t heard from her either. That’s when we got the ball rolling & called authorities.”
“She’s an avid runner & usually goes in the evening once it cools off,” Fenner continued. “At first we thought maybe something happened to her while on a run, but because the day camp shirt she was supposed to wear on Thursday is missing, now they’re thinking maybe something happened Thursday morning. So basically she’s probably either in running tights & sports bra or a red short & denim shorts.”
Anyone with information on Mollie’s whereabouts is urged to contact the Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office at 641-623-5679.
[Feature Photo: Mollie Tibbitts/Handout]
