Missing college student one of dozens to disappear this month in Iowa

Tamaar Lapin
New York Post
Tue, 31 Jul 2018 10:54 UTC

A 20-year-old college student missing in Iowa is one of 48 young people who have vanished in the state this month, according to reports.

The seemingly alarming number of missing persons cases has sparked widespread panic on social media and a flood of conspiracy theories as the search intensifies for Mollie Tibbetts, who was last seen July 19.

"40 people have gone missing in Iowa in 10 days. 40. People. How is this possible ?!!!!!!!!!!!?!" posted one person on Facebook, adding: "keep tabs on your friends and family, be aware of everything and everyone around you."

Added Heather Loshaw in a local Facebook group: "WTH is going on here?? Be careful out there please."

"Don't think it can't happen to you," warned Shannon Kelly on Twitter, in a post that was shared thousands of times. "It's happening across rural and urban Iowa."

The Iowa Department of Public Safety has received many calls about the missing persons statistics since Tibbetts' disappearance, the Argus Leader reported.

But the department tried to quell the panic by clarifying that the number isn't unusual - and that not all the cases are kidnappings or sex trafficking-related.

Last year alone, 4,311 young people were reported missing to The Missing Person Information Clearinghouse - about 12 a day, according to WQAD.

"The vast majority of which are found or returned home within 24 hours," they said in a statement, adding that the majority of the people included in the data are runaways.

Meanwhile, the missing University of Iowa student's dad spoke out on Monday, imploring the community to help find her.

"It doesn't matter what we're going through; we just need people to think - because somebody knows something and they don't even know it's important," Rob Tibbetts told ABC's Good Morning America. "We can get Mollie back; we just have to have somebody call."

Mollie Tibbetts went on an evening run two weeks ago and hasn't been seen since. Dozens of volunteers have scoured rural Brooklyn, Iowa, searching for the psychology major - including a spontaneous, 400-person search formed the day after she disappeared.

"What we need is for people to tell their friends and neighbors that if they saw anything that seemed even remotely out of the ordinary, to call the authorities, and they will run that down," Tibbetts said. "The authorities have told us again and again and again that all the similar cases like this are always solved by some tip."

Last week, investigators said they were going through data from a Fitbit that Mollie Tibbetts was wearing when she vanished, as well as her cellphone and social media. Her last communication was a Snapchat photo she sent to her boyfriend the night she disappeared.

Dalton Jack, her boyfriend, and Tibbetts' two brothers were ruled out as suspects, according to local reports.

Investigators will give an update on the case at a Tuesday afternoon press conference.

Comment: More from Inside Edition:

Investigators are hoping electronic data from a physical activity device will help them find 20-year-old college student Mollie Tibbetts, who vanished last week in Iowa while jogging at night.

The avid runner always wore a Fitbit, which tracks steps and distance traveled, as well as other information. Tibbetts was seen by neighbors near her boyfriend's home on July 18. Her brother had dropped her off in the small town of Brooklyn, where she was dog-sitting for her boyfriend, Dalton Jack, who was out of town on a construction job. Police have said he is not a suspect.

Federal investigators are helping local law enforcement agencies comb through massive amounts of electronic data obtained from Tibbetts' Fitbit, cellphone and social media accounts.

"We are getting a lot of information back from that process. We are very hopeful with the electronic data we are getting back," said Mitch Mortvedt, assistant director of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, according to the Des Moines Register. "We are relying on the FBI heavily because it's an ever-changing world in technology."

But as the days pass, Mortvedt said, "it's more and more suspicious to us."

Jack told the Register Tibbetts sent him a Snapchat message on the night she disappeared, which he opened about 10 p.m., he said. The image she posted looked like it had been taken indoors, he said.

Investigators say the missing woman is a creature of habit and they are searching the routes she used for her runs and interviewing residents who lived in those areas.