Federal Bureau of Investigation

Investigators Baffled by Disappearance of Iowa Student

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation has said that Mollie Tibbetts was last seen jogging in her nearby hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa on the evening of July 18

Investigators say they still don't know what happened to a 20-year-old Iowa college student who vanished nearly two weeks ago.

At a news conference Tuesday, a lead investigator said dozens of local, state and federal agents are working to determine what happened to Mollie Tibbetts.

Kevin Winker, director of investigative operations with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, says they are working every lead and tip that comes in. He says investigators have drawn no conclusions about what happened, but that her disappearing on her own is "not consistent with her past."

Authorities said that Tibbetts was last seen jogging in her nearby hometown of Brooklyn on the evening of July 18.

Her family reported her missing the next day after she didn't show up to work. Since then, local, state and federal investigators have tried to determine what happened.

Thousands of volunteers have aided in the search for Tibbetts, a University of Iowa student who was home for the summer. Family members have said she was dog-sitting at a home where her longtime boyfriend, his brother and the brother's fiancee live. 

Authorities say Tibbetts' boyfriend has been ruled out as a suspect.

Investigators searched a pig farm and other places in east-central Iowa near where Tibbetts went missing, but have turned up no sign of her.

KCCI-TV reports the pig farm was near Guernsey, about 15 minutes from the 20-year-old's hometown. 

FBI and state investigators have also been using digital forensic searches of her social media accounts, cellphone and fitness tracker in an effort to find her. Authorities say that as more time passes without finding her, they increasingly suspect she was abducted.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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