Father of Missing Iowa Girl Believes He Knows Who Took Her, Pleas for Her Release
As the search for a missing Iowa girl continues, her father reveals that he has an idea of who took her in a heart-wrenching plea.
Mollie Tibbets, 20, was last seen on July 18, 2018. She was house sitting for her boyfriend, Dalton Jack, and his brother, Blake, while they were both out of town.
Her brother, Jake, dropped her off at Dalton’s house on Wednesday evening and a neighbor saw her leave for her nightly run. According to the Iowa Department of Public Safety, Mollie was wearing “dark colored running shorts, a pink sports top and running shoes.”
The next morning Dalton’s “good morning” text went unanswered as did a second text sent later that afternoon, but he didn’t think anything was wrong until one of Mollie’s co-workers told him that she had not shown up for work or called in sick.
It was extremely out of character for the University of Iowa student.
He immediately reached out to her family members in hopes that they had heard from her, but no one had.
Every phone call made to her phone went straight to voicemail and texts were left unanswered.
Once the family reported a missing person case, law enforcement conducted multiple searches for Mollie. They have yet to find her.
“It’s frustrating; it’s powerless,” Mollie’s aunt, Kim Calderwood, told the Des Moines Register. “We’re racking our brains, thinking what can we think of to tell the investigators. It’s the worst thing … to want to fix something you can’t fix.”
The community has rallied behind the family and helped search and spread the word in hopes to find more information on her whereabouts. They have helped law enforcement search local property, made flyers and shared Mollie’s picture on social media.
One of Mollie’s cousins, Sandi Tibbetts Murphy, thanked everyone for the enthusiastic help in spreading the word in a Facebook group set up to share updates. “We remain in awe and indebted to the help, creativity, outreach and love that you have shown Mollie and all of us,” she wrote. “Please keep sharing Mollie’s information so we can bring our girl safely home.”
Even though it’s been a difficult few weeks waiting for their loved one to be found, Mollie’s family and boyfriend continue to be hopeful for her safe return.
“She’s strong and sassy and a fighter and stubborn and she is not a quitter,” her aunt said.
For Rob Tibbets, Mollie’s father, the fact that they haven’t found a body fuels his hope that she is still alive.
In a recent interview with Fox News Rob revealed that he believes he knows who took her. He doesn’t think she was forcefully removed from Dalton’s home, but that she willingly left with someone she was familiar with.
“It’s totally speculation on my part, but I think Mollie is with someone that she knows, that is in over their head,” he said in the interview. “That there was some kind of misunderstanding about the nature of their relationship and at this point they don’t know how to get out from under this.”
He extended a plea to whoever is keeping Mollie from coming home to not let the situation escalate any further.
“Let Mollie come home and hold yourself accountable for what you’ve done so far, but don’t escalate this to a point where you can’t recover yourself,” he said.
Our prayers go out to Mollie and her family as law enforcement continues to investigate her disappearance.
If you have any information to help investigators in their search, please contact the Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office at 1-800-452-111 or email tips@poweshieckcountysheriff.com.
If you do not have any information, share this article to help spread awareness of Mollie’s story!
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