Authorities prioritizing Mollie Tibbetts investigation
Investigators direct resources to find missing Iowa college student
BROOKLYN, Iowa – More than two weeks after the disappearance of Mollie Tibbetts, the investigation remains the region’s most high-profile case.
“We’ve been following up on leads. Those leads are in the hundreds,” said Kevin Winker, director of investigative operations at the Iowa Department of Public Safety.
Also Sunday, police said the body of a woman in her early-to-mid-20s turned up in Lee County, more than an hour's drive southeast of Brooklyn. However, state police told Fox News the body was not Tibbetts; investigators planned to release the woman's identity after notifying her family.
A spokesperson from the state’s Division of Criminal Investigation said investigators have pulled resources from other cases, directing them to the search for the 20-year-old University of Iowa student, saying the case has become their main priority.
“Investigators from the Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI, the Division of Criminal Investigation. There are an average 30 to 40 working this case a day,” said Winker.
University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts, 20, was last seen on an evening jog on July 18. The investigation into her disappearance has attracted national and global interest. (Fox News)
Dive teams and ATVs have been used to track Tibbetts’ whereabouts. On Thursday, search teams scoured ditches near a pig farm that had been searched more than a week ago.
“We’ve been searching ponds, fields, even from the air,” said Winker.
Search crews have scoured several areas including a pig farm about 10 miles from Brooklyn, Iowa where Tibbetts lived. (Fox News)
The college sophomore was last seen on an evening jog on July 18. She had been staying at her boyfriend’s house, watching his dogs, while he worked a construction job in Dubuque about 100 miles away.
Still, authorities have remained tight-lipped about the investigation, saying revealing too much could compromise the investigation.
“Our position has not changed on the release of case facts, results and conclusions. I understand this is frustrating for many in the public and the media, but feel this is necessary for our investigation” said Winker.
The investigation has garnered worldwide interest, which Tibbetts’ family believes is the best way to crack the case.
A reward of more than $220,000 is being offered for information that could lead to finding Tibbetts. (Fox News)
“Someone knows something,” said Rob Tibbetts, her father.
During a press conference on Thursday, Tibbetts’ mother, Laura Calderwood, gave a desperate plea, offering a six-figure reward for information that could lead to her daughter’s return.
“We believe that Mollie is still alive, and if someone has abducted her, we are pleading with you to please release her,” said Calderwood.
That reward is now over $220,000.
Fox News' Cristina Corbin in Brooklyn, Iowa, contributed to this report.
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