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BREAKING NEWS Bonus: Mollie Tibbetts found murdered, illegal immigrant charged! Hear police news conference · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. It is with a heavy
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: heart that we come to you with reports that the
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: body of missing Iowa student Molly Tibbitts has been found
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: in a local field. This more than one month after
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: Molly goes missing. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Thank you for being with us. You know, the search
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: to solve unsolved homicides, to find missing people is all consuming,
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: but we all know that while we are on that
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: frenzied search, trying to put together pieces of evidence, that
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: there is the possibility that at the end our heart
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: will be broken. Molly's family and loved ones holding out
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: hope till the bitter end to listen or hope is
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: she comes home safe. It's what we've been praying for.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: It's what everyone's been praying for. And we uh, yeah,
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: just that she's out there and she's okay, that she's
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: gonna be with us very soon. Molly has the biggest
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: heart of anyone we know. She's a friend to everyone
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: who's never shy to go meet someone and become their friend.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: To everyone she talked to, she became a friend. She
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: just shed had room in her heart for everyone. We
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: you know, we've gone through stages is scared and said,
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: and now we're just anxious and confused. But the support
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: we've gotten from the community, from the from the town
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: of Brooklyn and surrounding areas has just been amazing. You know,
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: her friends, friends of her friends, her friends, families. It's
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: just it's amazing to see how much she meant to
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: a lot of people. You were hearing Molly's longtime sweetheart
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: Dalton Jack, hoping against hope that Molly would come home alive.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: In fact, in the last days within the investigation, sources
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: have led us to believe that Molly was alive and
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: being held captive by someone she knew. What connection. We
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: didn't know, but now we know. In the last hours,
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: the horrible discovery that Molly Tibbitt's dead body has been
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: found in a local field. This about a month after
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: she vanishes seemingly in to thin air. The twenty year
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: old Iowa college student Molly, who disappeared after her usual
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: jog around town, was found dead early Tuesday in a
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: field not far from where she actually vanished, according to sources.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: Those sources say her body has been found in a
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: field there in power Sheek County, this is the worst
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: possible scenario for her family. Joining me right now is
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: a veteran trial lawyer, Troy Slaton, joining us out of
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: l A. Troy, this is not the way we wanted
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: the case to end, certainly not. And my heart goes
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: out to the family and friends of of Molly. And
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: one thing that we don't know right now is when
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: she died. She's been missing for quite a while. And
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: one of the things that we're going to want to
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: know and investigators are going to want to know, aside
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: from securing the scene and trying to figure out who
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: did this, is how long she's been deceased. Was she
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: held captive? Um? These are There's a lot to the
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: story that still needs to be investigated and determined by
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: the authority. Oh yes, And Troy Slayton A a reward
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: fund of about four hundred thousand dollars was a mass
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: to find Molly alive, and now her family is saying
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: police are saying that that money is going to be
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: used to catch her killer. I mean out to uh
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: experienced crime scene investigator, forensics expert joining us Karen Smith,
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: I mean Karen Smith. She did not die of natural causes, Okay,
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: I don't need a press conference to tell me that no,
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: we don't um, but Troy is absolutely correct. The time
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: of death is going to be critical because that can
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: lead back to people who may have been with her
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: at the time. We're going to be dealing with a
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: lot of entomological samples or insects. Blow flies go through
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: certain cycles, and with those collections, along with some of
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: the other um insects at the site, can help investigators
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: and techno should come up with an assumed or approximate
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: time of death and how long she's been there based
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: upon that information, also her clothing, um, the level of decomposition.
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: All of these things are going to come into play
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: and be extraordinarily important as we look for answers in
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: this tragic, tragic finding. Guys, we are analyzing what we
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: know now. We know that reports that Molly's body has
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: been found. Molly said to be a sophomore at University
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: Iowa studying psychology, last seen alive the night of July eighteen,
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: running in the small town of Brooklyn, Iowa. Uh two
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: thousand people that she would run all around town. We
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: are also learning that the body was found near one
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: of the points of interest five points of interest cops
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: had honed in on early in the investigation. For those
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: of you just joining us, the body of Molly Tibbitts
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: has been sound. The Iowa students that the Iowa student
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: that hundreds of people had joined together trying to find
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: is dead. You know, they said in the last weeks
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: that they were looking at five specific areas, five specific
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: areas in the search for the missing Iowa student Molly Tibbitts. Now,
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: we know that one of those areas obviously was her home,
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: the home where she was living. It belonged to her boyfriend,
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: Dalton Jack and his brother. Those two were absolutely told
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: to us out of town at the time she goes missing.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: Another area we know that they were looking at was
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: a pig farm, a pig farm not too too far away. Also,
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: she was running. That brings up an entirely open, open
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: possibility of where her body would have been Vincent Hill.
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: She was running from one end of Brooklyn, Iowa to
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: the next. It's a small town, so anywhere along that
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: route was the possibility. Yeah, anywhere in n scene. I
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: think that's why investigators were able to narrow down to
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: just five places, especially this pig farm. And especially her
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: house we just heard in that pressor the timeline and
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: how that was important while the search was going on.
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: It's really important now to determine when Molly was actually killed,
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: if she was being held captive, did that tip this
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: person off? Did they kill her then and then dump
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: her body? So the decomposition, all of that will come
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: into play here to determine when she actually died and
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: to get that evidence to find out who actually did this.
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: And how will they be able to do that to you,
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: Kieren Smith forensics expert, how will they be able to
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: determine the timeline of her death? Well, besides the entomological
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: samples I discussed earlier, they're going to look at the
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: level of decomposition. Uh, look at the weather conditions. How
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: was the body found? Was it in a shallow grave,
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: was it on the surface, was it covered with sticks?
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: Was it still closed? You know, all of these things
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: come into play and it makes it very very difficult
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: to estimate a time of death. But they can get
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: a window which will work when it comes to looking back.
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: The investigators are going to be combing through that entire
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: area with a fine tooth comb, inch by inch, not
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: only looking at the remains, but looking for any evidence
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: in the vicinity. You know, we we find discarded receipts,
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: bottle caps, cans, cigarette butts and things like that that
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: can provide additional leads. And I'm hoping that that's what
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: they're doing right now, is going through that with a
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: fine tooth comb. Every day, I feel Molly's presence with me, Um.
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: You know, sometimes I just feel her sitting on my shoulder.
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: And Molly was an incredibly strong young woman. And I
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: don't know that I have the strengthen me, but Molly's
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: lending me her strength every day, every night. And yes,
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: I have my moments of complete mountdowns, but it is
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: Um through this strength that is somehow and I don't
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: know how being bestowed upon me that I am able
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: to get through every morning, every noon, every night. That
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: is Molly Tibbitts mother speaking about Molly's somehow lending her
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: strength during the search for Molly. As you know by
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: now for those of you just joining us, the search
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: has ended for Molly Tibbitts and Iowa co Ed just
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: twenty years old, her body found in the last hours.
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: Imagine this scene the medical Examiner's vehicle arriving on a
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: rural road south of Brooklyn. Department Transportation truck blocking the
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: gravel road itself of Interstate A D, but law enforcement
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: have been swarming the area since early early this morning.
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: Oppressor goes down with the anouncement regarding Molly's body. Officials
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: so far have not confirming more regarding the investigation, but
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: we do know this. Joining me right now, renowned medical
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: examiner and author Dr Michelle Duprey. Dr Duprey, thank you
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: for joining us. We know that there had been five
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: locations of interest named. They were particularly interested in these
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: five spots. This is a very very densely wooded area,
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: a rural area. What does that tell you and what
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: should the medical examiner detectives be doing now on the scene, Nancy,
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: thanks for having me. Um. Yes, the fact that this
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: was very densely wooded and hidden tells me that the
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: person did not want the body to be found quickly. Um.
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: The medical examiner will start to be looking at the scenes,
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: will be looking for signs of Um, was this crime
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: committed here, or was this person done too or was
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: the person murdered someplace else? All of those things they'll
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: be looking for right now. Well, when you recover a body.
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: And it's very difficult for me to say those words
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: in connection with Molly Tibbitts, because we all feel that
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: we've gotten to know her and know her family during
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: the search for Molly. When you are recovering a body,
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: let's say, from a shallow grave in a wooded area,
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: in a rural area, everything has to be preserved. For instance,
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: were there truck marks leading to the body, tire marks.
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: If so, those have to have a cast made of
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: them so you can later try to match up those
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: tire marks with the perpetrators vehicle. When you remove the
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: body from a grave, a shallow grave, you don't take
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: just the body. You take the dirt around the body
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: because there could be fibers from let's just say, carpet
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: or a blood ankant on that dirt around the body,
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: if not on the body itself. You look to see
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: as she clothed, is she unclothed, because if at any
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: point she were ever unclothed, the killer may have left
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: touch DNA on her clothing when she was reclothed. If
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: she were wrapped into blanket, surely there's going to be
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: carpet fibers or touch DNA on that blanket, under her nails,
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: her fingernails, Is there evidence of a fight? Did she
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: scratch the perpetrator? Once that evidence is lost, it is
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: lost forever. So the recovery of Molly and her remains
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: is so crucial. Uh, swabbings regarding her genitalia, her mouth
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: have to be taken. Is there invaluable d NA there
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: to determine what she assaulted and who did it? Around
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: the scene? As Karen Smith mentioned earlier, is there a
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: cigarette with d n A on it? Is there a
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: food wrapper with d N A on it? Is there
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: a soda can? Is there anything that could be traced
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: back to Molly's killer? And believe you me, there is
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: a killer. She didn't just jog into this area and
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: drop dead. Uh. Someone murdered this beautiful young girl, and
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: I want that person behind bars. Nancy, You're so right,
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: and we we only have one chance to get this right.
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: Once we disturbed that scene, than evidence is disturbed forever.
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: So everything that we do from the from the point
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: of discovering the body, to recovering that body, to getting
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: that body back to the morgue is very important and
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: every single thing must be preserved. Joining me right now,
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: journalist on the story from the very very beginning, Alexis
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: to rest Chuck joining me from Radar online dot com. Alexis,
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: this is not the answer we wanted. What do you know? So,
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: there was a body that was found and Molly's dad
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: has confirmed that it is her. It's about twenty miles
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: south of Brooklyn. It is a very very rural area.
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: It's about three miles away from the man that pig
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: farmer who has been questioned so many times. He has
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: told us it is not on his property, but it
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: is very near there and there are there were about
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: twenty police cars and in fact, the state medical Examiner
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: arrived and he is there to collect all the evidence
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: so that they everybody is there to this. The scene
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: is secure. Nobody can get on the road unless you
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: are law enforcement with me now, Alexis to rest Chuck
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: writer online dot com. You're right, Alexis. Throughout the afternoon,
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: the medical examiner has been there with a fleet of
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: medical examiner investigators. The FBI took over this investigation um
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: a few days into it. All A thor parties are
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: there and have been there throughout the day. You know
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: what I always say, there's no coincidence in criminal law,
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: but we know from what alexis to rest. Chuck has reported,
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: Molly's father is confirming that this is the body of
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: Molly Tibbitts. What do we know about the father stating
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: this alexis so the really sad part about this story
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: is is the dad the law enforcement had told him
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: that they were working the case and that perhaps the
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: family needed a little semblance of normality. So they said
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: that if he was to go home to California where
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: he lives in northern California, it would be okay and
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: they would contact him. He has been in Brooklyn for
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: over thirty days, every single day physically out searching for
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: his daughter, trying to find her. He flew home on
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: the same day that they found her body, so he
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: had to turn around and come right back. And so
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: he has come firm that that it is hard that
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: the law enforcement has they've told him that it is
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: his daughter. That's right. The father of Molly uh confirming
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: it is Molly's body. Long before this afternoon's press conference
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: with police, Alexa's I want to talk to you and
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: joining me right now. Also is Lee Egan, reporter with
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: Crime online dot com. When she goes jogging, she jogs
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: from one end of town to the next. Would she
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: have jogged along this route, She would not have jogged
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: that far down. No, because it's around twenty miles from
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: where Cio. We are learning in the last hours that
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: Molly's body was found in a densely wooded area. It
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: was confirmed before the police press conference by not only
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: Greg Wiley, the vice president of Crime Staffers in Central Iowa,
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: but also by Molly's own father. This is not the
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: outcome that we wanted. Joining me, Alexis to rest Chuck
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: Radar Online dot com, Alexis, I want to hear again
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: what you can tell me about the location where her
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: body was found, and then I want to hear from
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: Dr Michelle Dupree how they are going to determine the
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: cause of death. You start Alexis place. So this is
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: about twenty miles south. It's on a rural road, and
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: it's a very wooded area. And in fact, what an
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: onlooker has told us at Radar is that this is
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: not accessible by a regular vehicle. You could not drive
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: your car to the area where Molly's body has been found.
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: So so this is not she was hit when she
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: was jogging on the side of the road. This is
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: not something that that was that. There's no way this
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: was a hit and run where she was jogging. Somebody
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: hit her. She fell, rolled down into a ditch and
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: stay there and has just been found. No, you can't
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: drive to it. It's way off the road in a dense,
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: dense woods. What does that say to you. It says
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: a whole lot, Mancy. It says that basically, this person
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: is either gonna need a four wheel drive or they're
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: gonna be very strong. I mean, if if they're either
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: forcing her back there or they're carrying her her deceased
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: body back there, they have to be very strong and
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: capable of doing that. Um. They have to know their
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: way in and they have to know their way out.
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: They have to know where they're going in directionality. It's
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: not like we have street signs in the middle of
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: woods telling you which way to go in and which
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: way to leave. So you're right, this person whoever did
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: this is very familiar with the area. And you know,
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: the crime scene itself is going to tell a story.
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: If there was a shallow grave that person came with tools,
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: if she was just covered with some brush that's different.
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: So all of these factors and the teamwork that these
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: investigators are going to have to use is going to
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: be critical to find the answers in this investigation. And
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: to you Dr du pray, how will they determine cause
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: of death? What do you look for with different types
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: of CO D S F Nancy. That's gonna depend a
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: lot on the condition of the body. UM. We certainly
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: any injuries, that's the first clue. What kind of injuries
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: are they? Is it blunt trauma? Is a sharp purce injury?
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: Is that a gunshot wound? UM? Most of those things
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: we can tell pretty much regardless of the state of
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: the body. UM. If it is something else, perhaps like
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: strangulation or something like that, that may be more difficult.
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: But we are often able to tell the cause of
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: death just based on examining the body. That's why we
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: do in autopsy. The autopsy will be performed with many
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: many jurisdiction is now involved in this investigation. We don't
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: know if the autopsy will be started and completed at
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: the local morgue or if other experts will wait in.
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: Right now, this is what we know. The body of
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: the Iowa student, Molly Tibbitts has been found, how would
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: we determine to you, Karen Smith, if this were the primary, secondary,
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: even tertiary crime scene, that's going to be difficult to
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: figure out. We're dealing with an over a month long
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: time span, so the medical examiner will probably be the
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: best to determine obviously the cause of death, but also
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: you know, are we going to to find and I
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: hate to go into these details, but is there a
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: great amount of blood at the crime scene? Is there not?
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: Um If we haven't found the primary crime scene, in
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: other words, where this all happened, that's going to start
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: back at square one again. We have to recover her body,
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: recover the evidence at the scene, and then go back
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: to find out where this happened, if that's possible. At
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: this point, this is the primary crime scene. This is
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: where they have to focus. They have to get everything
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: out of there and then work backwards from there to
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: this and Hill cop turned private eye also on the
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: case from the get go. Wait in Vincent, Yeah, Nancy,
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: this is going to be just the processing of that
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: crime scene is going to be so meticulous because you
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: don't want to miss anything. You touched on fibers you
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: touched on all of this evidence touch DNA, so I
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: suspect investigators will be out there well into the night,
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: even once Molly's bodies move back to the Medical Examiner's office.
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: I think they're going to be out there well into
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: the night next day and maybe a few days after that,
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: processing all this evidence. So then they can get a
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: starting point of where Molly was either killed when she
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: killed there, killed somewhere else. It's going to be a
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: very long process. Nancy. Authorities investigating the disappearance of the
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: twenty year old girl, says the body was found in
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: rural County. Up until now, they have been extremely tight lipped. Listen,
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: good afternoon. My name is Rick Ron. I'm a special
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: Age in charge with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: I want to thank each and every one of you
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: for coming here today and we wanted to pass along
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: some information to you as well as the community and
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: the nation as a whole. Behind me, I have represented
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: this from the Iowa Department of Public Safety, the Federal
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: Bureau of Investigation, and the Powaschee County Sheriff's Office. I'd
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: like to do first is read a brief statement to you,
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: and then to that I'll be happy to take as
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: many questions as I can. A first degree murder charge
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: was filed today in connection with the disappearance of Molly Tibbots,
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: who was last seen jogging in Brooklyn, Iowa, on July eighteenth,
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: two thousand eighteen. A complaint in affidavit names Christian Bahina Rivera,
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: aged twenty four, who resides in rural Powischee County, and
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: he has been charged with murder in the first degree.
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: Dozens of law enforcement officials from local, state, and federal
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: agencies were involved in the investigation after the disappearance of
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: Molly Tibbots. A body was discovered early this morning in
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: a farm field southeast of Brooklyn, Iowa. The identity has
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: not been confirmed, however, we believe it to be the
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: body of Molly Tipots. A complaint in affidavit, which will
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: be provided to you, will provide the details and of
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: valigations against Mr. Rivera. Charges were filed in the Powaschee
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: County District Court. The case will be prosecuted by the
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: Iowa Attorney General General's Area of Prosecution Division, and first
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: degree murder carries a penalty of life without the possibility
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: of parole. We have confirmed with Homeland Security investigations that
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: he is an illegal alien and we believe he has
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: been in this area now for four to seven years.
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: How did you, how did you contact with you? How
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: did you know what your reading? Well, during the investigation,
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: we reached out to the public, as you well know,
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: and during our neighborhood canvas, we came across an individual
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: that had security cameras. We took those cameras. He's kind
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: enough to give us the footage from it, and through
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: that we're able to identify a vehicle that we believe
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: belonged to Mr Rivera. It was a black malb you
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: and from that we're able to track his pattern and
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: the routes in which he took. We're also able to
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: find Molly running on this video, and we're able to
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: determine that he was one of the last ones to
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: have seen Molly running based on the video. Again that
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: we were able to seize from the general public. I'm sorry,
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: well again, we were able to pull him in. During
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: the investigation, we conducted a lengthy interview with Mr. Rivera,
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: and during that interview, he tells us that he sees
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: Molly running and was able to come upon her approach her,
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: and while he was interfacing with her, he actually tells
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: us that he ran alongside of her or behind her.
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: And then at one point he tells us that Molly
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: grabbed ahold of her phone and said, you need to
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: leave me alone. I'm going to call the police, and
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: then she took off running. He in turn chased her down,
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: and then he tells us that at some point in
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: time he blacks out, and then he comes to near
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: an intersection which we believe he then place Molly. Where
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: did on three set in Brooklyn? Outside of Brooklyn, actually
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: in the rural county just outside of Brooklyn, Iowa decide
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: over here that general area has been searched by investigators
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: the last several weeks. What led you specifically to this
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: area to day this morning on three hundred naty fifth
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: Street or the location of mall because there are two
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: different locations made. Actually, after we got done interviewing Mr Rivera,
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: he led us to her location and then what location
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: was near four hundred and sixtieth Street or avenue in
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: rural Palche County. Then that house was killed. We aren't
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: able to release all the information on the investigation, and
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: so I hope you understand I can't give everything out
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: and that's one of the things that we're not able
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: to provide at this time. Again, I'm not going to
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: be able to provide certain information. That is one of
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: which I'm not able to provide. Well, I'm sure you've
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: driven around the area and it's it's a rural county
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: and there are a lot of fields, a lot of woods,
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: a lot of ditches. We have certainly had extensive searches
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: throughout the county. We just didn't have success locating her.
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: In this particular case. She was found in a corn
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: field and there were cornstalks placed over the top of her,
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: and so we just weren't able to locate her at
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: that particular part of the investigation. Yes, back in Well,
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: we got the video a week or two ago and
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: we spent hours going through the video trying to first
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: of all, locate Molly on it. Secondly see if there's
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: anything suspicious following Molly, which is what we did and
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: so um we we again spent hours going through that
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: officers did a great job coming up with the timeline.
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: I mentioned to you last week that we felt very
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: good about our timeline. That just confirmed our timeline that
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: we had and then again we were able to determine
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: what vehicle was following Molly. We identified that vehicle belonging
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: to Mr Rivera, and then we located him, interviewed him,
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: and subsequently he led us to her location. Talking to
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: him said have you been talking to this aspect before
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: we first approached Mr Rivera yesterday? Can you put a No,
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: he's very complaint. He was willing to talk with us,
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: and so there was no as you said, fight, there's
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: no fight or any struggle of any kind. Again, I
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: won't be able to release some of that information at
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: this time. Yes, we believe he is. Yes, his name again,
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: his name will be listed on the complaint NAPID David,
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: along with the photographs, so we can provide that for
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: you later. Yes, I can't really speak to that at
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: this point. As I mentioned to you before, we're doing
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: us some more interviews. We're trying to get as much
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: background on Mr Rivera as possible, and so I don't
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: have all the answers for you on that, but I
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: know that he was working, and beyond that, I'm not
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: sure what he was doing coming and going again. There's
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: certain certain parts of the investigation. I will not be
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: able to release him. That happens to be one of
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: m I won't be able to speak on You have
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: a question here, what about the reward money? I'm sorry,
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: what down with that reward money? That word? So I
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: did my question. That's not for me to say. I
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: don't I'm don't play a role in that. So I'm
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: not sure what will happen with him with the money
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: or the reward. He said this for the first time.
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: Talking previously, I can tell you that he told that
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: tells us that he had seen her before. But beyond that,
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: I won't be able to say anymore about his uh.
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: Interactions with Mrs Tippos family. Like you guys thinking to
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: day to day out, you these are hard. I mean,
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: we get to know the family, we get to know
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: Molly Um. We just spoke with the family and I
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: told him that they raised a great daughter. I mean,
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: she was a phenomenal individual, and so we're sadden for
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: the family. It is difficult on the investigators, however, that's
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: what we're paid to do, and we tried to do
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: as best as we possibly can. We're just happy that
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: we're able to locate him, get him charged, and then
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: hopefully come out with a successful conclusion, that being a
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: conviction and invest as we understand it based on our investigation,
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: he followed her around, circled around a couple of times,
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: located her, and then began to interface with her at
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: some point in time. I'm sorry. Well, they're appreciative that
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: we're able to find her, but obviously it's difficult. It's
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: hard on them and they're struggling like any family would.
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: But they have a great support system and we will
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: they have. Part of that support system is the community,
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: and I will have to say that the community here
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: has been phenomenal. They have been of great assistance to
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: the investigation and to the family, and so they will
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: get through it. I'm sure it's gonna be hard, but
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: we will be there for him. Well, the location where
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: she was found is on four and we believe the
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: running route in which she was running was on street. Yes, again,
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: there's certain things I won't be able to release on
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: the investigation. Yes, well, we know that she is abducted
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: on and beyond that, we wouldn't be able to provide
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: that information. I'm surprisingly any trying to I can't I
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: can't speak I mean I I don't know what he
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: was thinking and what his mind process was, so I
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: can't really speak to that. I mean, um, yeah, I
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: have an answer that differently about what. So you're asking
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: me about the motive, Well, again, I can't really speak
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: about the motive and you, as you said, I can
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: just tell you that it seemed that he followed her
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: and seemed to be drawn to her on that particular day,
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: and for whatever reason, he chose to abduct her. So
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: that's I can't speak other than that. I can't speak
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: to that as well because we don't want to be
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: able to release that information at this time. I can
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: tell you that an autopsy was going to be performed
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: that will assist us. That autopsy is going to take
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: place tomorrow up in Anchony at the State Medical Examiner's office,
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: and so we will await those results. Sometimes that takes
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: a while, and that will aid us as well in
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: the investigation. I can't speak to that as well. Again,
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: that goes with the State Medical Examiners examination of Molly.
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: The breaking and public without that the video was critical,
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: I'll put it that way again. We have talked to
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: hundreds of people over four thousand leads came in on
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: this investigation, and so uh it was extremely helpful. Let's
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: put that way. If mr are very similar, who lived
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: well known the community, the last people going NY kind
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: of because I understand he pretty much kept himself, that
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: would be a question to be answered by Homeland Security investigation.
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: Dot I change you can tell us about prevarians growing
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: the community here, didn't work here, I could been here
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: for a long time. He he was employed here and again,
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: as I previously mentioned, he was here we believe anywhere
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: between four to seven years. But beyond that, I don't
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: have any additional information. Yes, sir, did you have a question? Well,
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: the investigation was ongoing, like I said, and we will
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: continue to look at a number of different individuals and
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: people continue to collect facts. And at this point, though,
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: I can tell you he's the only one that has
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: been charged with first scream murder. So I know he
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: said that you can't say anything. He said he putt
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: at least seven years. Did you say anything about his
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: employment history? I would choose not to do that at
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: this point now here at the Palache County jail, Now, sir,
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: he might be placed the bonding Araby pro fire. Again,
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: those are certain facts that I wouldn't be able to
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: release at this time. Um, as I previously mentioned, we
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: continue to run out leads, we continue to gather facts,
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: we continue to analyze evidence, and we'll be ailable to
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: have some of those questions for you as things going.
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: I got about one more question for you. I'm sorry
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: all top two is scheduled for tomorrow. However, it takes
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: a while to get the results, and so that might
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: take anywhere up to to six weeks. We just can't
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: predict that. But um, the autopsy will be tomorrow. We
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: talked so much that helpful at all. I can tell
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: you that we, as I have said previously, that we
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: examined her digital footprint and certainly that played a role
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: in our investigation. One last question, that's a invit well
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: certainly helped to run with others, not to run alone.
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: But I mean, this is a small community. Everybody knew everybody,
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: and certainly she has been running for months, years and
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: not had any problem that we're aware of. And so uh,
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: this is sadly a tragic event and we hope that
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: it wouldn't occur any time in the near future. Thank
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: you and Nancy with the end of the news conference,
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: investigators have given us a copy of the arrest affidavit
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: that's the sworn document that they used to take Rivera
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: into custody and now charging him with the murder of
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: Molly Tibbitts, and to review some of this that's in here.
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: One of the more interesting things is he acknowledges he
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: had mits that he saw her jogging in Brooklyn, pulled
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: his Chevrolet Malibu to the side of the road and
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: then ran behind her and apparently he frightened her. Rivera
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: says that Molly told him, I'm going to call the police,
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: and she grabbed her phone. That's when Rivera says a
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: panic attack was triggered. He says he panicked, got mad,
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: and then quote blocked his memory. He told investigators that
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: happens to him when he gets upset. He just doesn't
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: remember anything after that. He says. He then when he
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: came to finally, he saw that there was a an
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: ear plug some headphones in his lap, and that's when
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: he realized he put her body in his trunk. He
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: opened the trunk and saw that she was there with
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: blood on the side of her head, and that he
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: dragged her out of his car, out of the trunk
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: into a corn field about twenty yards and left her
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: covered under some corn leaves, face up. He said. He
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: then drove back to Brooklyn. But it was apparently yesterday
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: on the twenty one that Rivera Lad law enforcement to
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: that location where they located the remains of Molly Tibbitts.
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: We learn today the search is over for Molly. Her
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: body has been found in a densely wooded area. Joining
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: me Karen Smith, forensics expert, Joe Scott, Morgan death investigator,
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: cop turned p I, Vincent Hill, Troy Slayton, veteran defense attorney,
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: Dr Michelle Duprie medical examiner, author, forensics expert. Also joining
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: me Alexis to res Check, Writer online dot com and
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: Lee Egan Crime online dot com reporters. Prayers being lifted
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: up now for Molly tibbots family. Molly rest in peace.
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: Every day I've feel Molly's presence with me, um, you know,
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: sometimes I just feel her sitting on my shoulder. And
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: Molly was an incredibly strong young woman. And I don't
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: know that I have the strengthen me, but Molly's lending
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: me her strength every day, every night and yes, I
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: have my moments of complete mountdowns. But it is through
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: this strength that is, somehow and I don't know how,
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: being bestowed upon me that I am able to get
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: through every morning, every noon, every night. Nancy Story signing off,
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: goodbye friend,