Dateline NBC's The Last Day Episode 1 has explored the mysterious disappearance and murder of 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts, a college student from Iowa. Misfortune befell the young girl when she went out for her usual jog late on the evening of July 18, 2018.
As reported on Dateline, Tibbetts was working as a counselor at a local children's summer camp. Camp supervisor Jill Sheck had told Josh Mankiewicz from Dateline that even on the day of the incident, she was her 'happy-go-lucky self'.
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The investigation went on for a month as one false lead gave rise to another, until finally the mystery was unfurled from a small clue. The official synopsis of Episode 1 of The Last Day reads:
"A month after Mollie Tibbetts' disappearance in Iowa, investigators discover surveillance video that captured a blurred image of Mollie jogging while being followed by a mysterious black car."
Disclaimer: This article contains descriptions of murder. Please be advised.
5 harrowing details about the mysterious disappearance and murder of Mollie Tibbetts
(1) Mollie Tibbetts never returned from her usual evening jog
20-year-old Mollie Cecilia Tibbetts was a student at the University of Iowa, who was living with her mother, Laura Tibbetts and two siblings at the moment in Brooklyn, Iowa. On July 18, 2018 Mollie was as usual at the summer camp all day spending her time with children. She was also her cheerful self.
Camp supervisor Jill Sheck had reportedly told Dateline:
"She loved being able to play with kids, loved being on the playground, loved being inside doing crafts, loved doing the reading with them. That was her cup of tea."
That day, Mollie wrapped up things at the camp, left at around 17:00 hours and went to her boyfriend Dalton Jack's place to dogsit for him. She even texted her mother that she would probably join her for dinner and went for her usual evening jog. But, Mollie never returned.
People got worried when Mollie did not show up at the camp next day and no one had heard from her. Mollie's close cousin Collum said in a statement:
"I just knew in that moment, this isn’t good."
Later, when her close ones went to Jack's house, they found it empty. Moreover, Mollie's wallet and other belongings had been left behind. She was eventually reported missing to the Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office and a search team was immediately disbanded to look for her.
(2) Mollie Tibbetts was last seen at 7:45 p.m. on the day of her disappearance
Mollie Tibbetts was reportedly last spotted by Kristina Steward, a hairdresser from Brooklyn at around 7:45 p.n. on July 18, 2018. Trent Vileta from the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation (DCI) had said in a statement:
"She gave a pretty good description of what Mollie was wearing, black running shorts and a pink sports bra. She said that she could see her ponytail bouncing. It was our first real definitive time stamp"
(3) Difficult terrains, multiple false leads and vague witnesses kept the mystery under wraps for a long time
Multiple search teams were deployed to locate Mollie Tibbetts, but the 10-feet high corn fields in and around Iowa made it really difficult to find any clues. Lead agent Vileta had said in a statement:
"You could hide 100 bodies along that road and they’d be hard to find."
Investigators also could not find any traces of conflict between Mollie and her close ones from her final text messages. Even her boyfriend Jack had a solid alibi on the night of her disappearance.
After the FBI analyzed her cell phone data, it became clear that she was moving at 10-minute mile pace between 8:15 p.m. and 8:28 p.m. But, it suddeny increased to 60 mile per hour after a brief pause of about four minutes.
That kind of speed is only possible if a person is moving in a vehicle. Vileta added:
"We knew she can’t run that fast, so we knew it had to be in a vehicle."
Her phone signal was lost at 8:53 p.m. and the last known location of her cell was about 25 km outside of Brooklyn. It was thus deduced that her cell phone had been destroyed.
There were multiple false witnesses and vague tips suggesting that she was spotted in Missouri and Colorado. As reported on Dateline, none of the leads had any solid foundation.
(4) Surveillance footage from the day of Mollie's disappearance helped the investigators to crack the case
Investigators collected all CCTV footages from nearby shops, homes and other places that could be in Mollie's usual route. After close examination, they found a chilling clue.
A black Chevy Malibu was continuously around Mollie and circling her on the night of her disappearance. Tibbetts, who look very smalled in the footage, was also spotted at 7:48 p.m. near an intersection in Brooklyn.
However, it was not possible to get the license plate number from the video, but the uniqueness of the car helped to crack the case. On August 16, 2018 Deputy Kivi was driving along the highway when he found a car matching the exact description.
After he approached the person inside, he identified himself as as Cristhian Bahena Rivera. But, he could not speak English. It was later learned that Rivera was living as an undocumented immigrant. He even admitted of knowing that Mollie had gone missing.
Kivi had said in a statement:
"He seemed cooperative and kind of nonchalant about the whole thing."
Four days later, Rivera was brought in for question and Pamela Romero, a Spanish-speaking police officer with Iowa City Police was assigned with his interrogation.
She was quickly able to build a good rapport with Rivera (who was divorced and had a 3-year-old daughter). Vileta had said in a statement:
"We decided to pull her partner out of there because he was only engaged with her."
Soon after, Romero was able to crack him open and got him to admit to the crime. Later on August 21, 2018, Mollie's body was retrieved from the corn fields near Brooklyn.
(5) Bahena Rivera was convicted
As reported on Dateline NBC, Bahena Rivera was eventaully charged with first-degree murder and got life imprisonment without parole on August 30, 2021. He is currently serving his sentence at the Iowa State Penitentiary, Fort Madison, Iowa.
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