Mollie Tibbetts Dead: Student Body Found, Report Says

Mollie Tibbetts was murdered after being abducted while jogging, and authorities have accused Cristhian Rivera, who is on an ICE hold, of being the college student’s killer.

Mollie’s body was found in rural Iowa not far from her hometown, according to Fox and multiple other news outlets.

The suspect was arrested, and he is subject to an immigration hold, authorities revealed in an August 21, 2018 news conference. “We have confirmed with Homeland Security that…he is an illegal alien,” authorities said during a news conference of the suspect, Cristhian Rivera, 24, who resides in rural Poweshiek County, Iowa. They said that Cristhian Rivera had been in the area for four to seven years. He was charged with an accusation of first-degree murder. Although the suspect’s name was widely reported as Christian Rivera, court records give his first name’s spelling as Cristhian.

Here’s a photo of Cristhian Rivera:

Christian Rivera

Authorities said that Rivera allegedly confessed that he “seized Mollie running.” He alleged that he “ran alongside of her or behind her” and Mollie said she was going to call the police and took off running, but he allegedly chased her down. According to authorities, Rivera led authorities to Mollie’s body.

Authorities alleged that they came across an individual who had security cameras and were able to identify a black vehicle that we believed belonged to Rivera. Authorities said they tracked patterns and routes in which he took. They also found images of Mollie running on this video. The suspect also claimed he blacked out and awoke in the area where Mollie was found, authorities revealed. Authorities did not release specifically how Tibbetts was murdered.

Fox News attributed the news that Mollie had been found dead to two unnamed sources and Mollie’s father, but authorities have yet to verify the sad information.

A press conference was scheduled for 4 p.m., but authorities did confirm that a body was found in rural Poweshiek County, which is where Brooklyn is located. The FAA issued a flight restriction over the area.

Fox reported that “the body of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts, who vanished more than a month ago, is believed to have been found.” There was no further information given about the cause of death.

The sad development broke on the morning of August 21, 2018. Other national media then followed by reporting the same. For example, CBS News announced on Twitter, “Mollie Tibbetts has been found dead, nearly five weeks after the 20-year-old went missing near Brooklyn, Iowa.” The Des Moines Register reported that the local Crime Stoppers representative also said the body is believed to be that of Tibbetts. Authorities later confirmed that information in the news conference.

According to the newspaper, no one was brought into custody at the local jail overnight. No arrest of a suspect has been announced. People filled social media with expressions of grief for the young college student.

Here’s what you need to know:

Mollie Tibbetts’ Body Was Found in Iowa About 15 Miles From Her Town, Reports Say

Mollie Tibbetts.

Fox News reported that Mollie Tibbetts was found dead in Iowa. KCRG-TV revealed further details, adding that Mollie’s body was found in rural Poweshiek County. Poweshiek County is the county that includes Brooklyn, where Mollie was staying when she vanished.

The specific location was near Highway 21, reports indicated. That spot is about 12 miles from Brooklyn.

According to WHO-TV, the location was previously searched. Radar Online reported there was a law enforcement search “deep in farmland” on August 20.

According to a KCCI-TV live report, there was law enforcement activity underway in a location south of Guernsey, Iowa, and a medical examiner’s van had driven to that spot. The television station reported that the location was about 15 minutes south of Brooklyn, just off Highway 21 on 460th Avenue. There was a detour put up around 5 a.m. this morning, according to locals, the television station reported.

You can watch video from the scene of that search above. Here’s a map of the FAA flight restricted area in rural Iowa:

FAA map of the area with a flight restriction.

A KCCI-TV reporter then posted that she was going to an area in southeast Guernsey:

She reported seeing many police barricades. Other reporters were also at the locations.

Authorities had not confirmed that the body was found in that location before their press conference. However, according to KCCI-TV and other news outlets, authorities have confirmed that a body was found in rural Poweshiek County, which is where the search was occurring. According to KCCI, the location was just a few miles from Guernsey and Deep River, which are both extremely small communities in rural Iowa. It’s an area that includes several farms and a wildlife area, and the authorities were working at a location with a gravel road.

Authorities did confirm early on that they had found a body:

Mollie’s body was found on August 21, 2018, reports said.

Previously, authorities had released a website that asked the public for information about various locations in connection with Mollie’s disappearance.

That website, titled Finding Mollie, said, “On Wednesday, July 18, 2018, Mollie Tibbetts was last seen jogging in Brooklyn, Iowa in the evening hours. There have been no credible sightings of, or communications with, Mollie since that time. Law enforcement is currently seeking additional witnesses and wants to speak to anyone who was in the areas indicated below on July 18, 2018 between the hours of 5PM and 10PM.” It’s not clear, though, what information led authorities to the body after so much time searching. Authorities have not yet announced any suspects.

InstagramMollie Tibbetts.

The law enforcement website had indicated authorities were interested in Mollie’s “boyfriend’s home in Brooklyn, a car wash, a truck stop, a farm more than three miles from downtown Brooklyn, and another farm more than six miles away,” according to CBS News.

The FBI had previously said it was believed Mollie was with someone she knew but never gave information to the public on any suspect or person of interest.

The Search for Mollie Spanned More Than a Month

FacebookMollie Tibbetts.

Mollie’s disappearance sparked national attention and a desperate search by her family after she was last seen jogging while house sitting dogs at a home in rural Brooklyn, Iowa. However, her distraught father had just announced that he was returning to his home in California after a month of searching for Mollie.

Authorities didn’t reveal much information over the past month, although a local pig farmer, Wayne Cheney, did tell the news media he was interviewed but was never named as a suspect. He also said that he took a polygraph test, and a local pig farm was previously searched. Cheney lives only a few miles from the Poweshiek County spot where the body was reportedly found, according to online records.

FacebookMollie Tibbetts.

The college student had seemed to vanish without any trace, although other reports said that she had done homework on her computer after going for a jog and that there appeared to be no signs of a struggle. It was said that she had left her glasses and contacts behind and Fox News previously reported that a red shirt was located, although it was unclear whether it was Mollie’s and the report was not confirmed by authorities.

She had a boyfriend, Dalton Jack, but Dalton was reportedly out of town when Mollie disappeared. Her mother and siblings live in Iowa. Police have released no information on a suspect or on whether the cause of death is murder. They were reportedly checking Mollie’s fitbit. It was clear early on, though, that authorities were focusing their efforts in the farming area near the spot where Mollie’s body appears to have been discovered.

This post will be updated as more information is released about the Mollie Tibbetts death reports.

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