Missing Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts planned to travel this week to the Dominican Republic for a wedding, friends said.
Blake Jack told the Associated Press that his brother Dalton and Dalton’s longtime girlfriend, 20-year-old Tibbetts, were slated to attend his wedding.
Jack said he even joked with his brother that he should propose to Tibbetts during the trip. Jack has canceled the wedding.
Tibbetts went missing either while jogging or shortly after in Brooklyn, Iowa on July 18.
She was dogsitting for her boyfriend at his home while he was away for his job at his family’s construction company in Dubuque, which is over 100 miles away.
Blake Jack told the Associated Press that the scrutiny on him and his brother is unwarranted, saying investigators confirmed they’re not suspects after their whereabouts on the night Tibbetts vanished were confirmed.
“People in this community know the truth,” he said, standing outside the house he shares with his brother. “We know something had to have happened to her.”
A neighbor, Dave Collum, said investigators told him that data from Tibbetts’ Fitbit indicated she made it home from the run safely and was doing homework on her computer later that evening.
Investigators said they have confirmed a timeline of July 18 but declined to reveal it publicly, citing the ongoing case.
He said that investigators have followed up on more than 200 leads since Tibbetts vanished, and said her disappearance was unlike her. She typically stayed in touch with family and friends.
“All I’m saying is we don’t know where Mollie’s at right now, and I’m not going to draw any conclusions with the circumstances of her disappearance, other than it’s not consistent with … [her] past,” he said.
“To the best of my knowledge, I believe she did make it home from the run and was in (her boyfriend’s) home,” she said, adding that digital evidence does confirm Tibbetts was on her computer later that evening.
“The first night she went missing, I was distraught,” Laura Calderwood added. “I knew her phone was dead, but I sent her a text saying, ‘I love you. We’re looking for you. We will find you no matter what.’”
Dalton Jack told investigators that he opened a Snapchat sent by Tibbetts around 10 p.m. that night but it wasn’t clear when she sent it or recorded it.
A reward of $2,000 has been offered for information leading to an arrest in the case or the discovery of the missing woman, and anyone with information is urged to contact officials at 800-452-1111, 515-223-1400, or [email protected].
