MONTEZUMA, Iowa (AP) - The Latest on the discovery of a body believed to be that of 20-year-old missing Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts (all times local):
3:55 p.m.
Authorities say they are holding a suspect in the death of Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts, and he is being held on a federal immigration detainer.
Mitch Mortvedt, an assistant director of the state Division of Criminal Investigations, says Tuesday that authorities are holding a suspect and will release more details during a 4 p.m. news conference.
Earlier Tuesday, investigators announced a body believed to be Tibbetts was found in rural Poweshiek County.
Tibbetts, a 20-year-old student at the University of Iowa, has been missing since July 18.
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9:45 a.m.
Police say a body believed to be that of 20-year-old college student Mollie Tibbetts has been discovered in a rural area near where she went missing last month.
The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation says the body was found Tuesday morning in rural Poweshiek County, which includes Tibbetts' hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa.
The agency called a 4 p.m. news conference to provide an update on the search for Tibbetts, saying investigators were working to confirm the identity of the body.
Tibbetts has been missing since July 18, when she was last seen jogging through the streets of Brooklyn.
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8:30 a.m.
Investigators believe they have found the body of Mollie Tibbetts, a University of Iowa student who has been missing for more than a month.
The 20-year-old woman was last seen July 18, jogging in her hometown of Brooklyn in central Iowa.
Greg Willey, the vice president of Crime Stoppers of Central Iowa, says a body found Tuesday is believed to be Tibbetts.
No information has been released about where the body was found.
Willey says a nearly $400,000 reward fund for her discovery will now become a reward for information leading to the capture of any suspects.
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IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - Investigators have recovered a body believed to be that of a 20-year-old Iowa college student who vanished from a small town one month ago, a spokesman for a reward fund said Tuesday.
Greg Willey of Crime Stoppers of Central Iowa said he learned of the discovery from a close family friend of Mollie Tibbetts on Tuesday morning. Willey says he has no other details about the discovery, but called it a “tough” ending to the search for the University of Iowa student.
The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation planned an afternoon news conference to update the public on the case. A spokesman for the agency has not returned a message seeking comment.
Tibbetts vanished on July 18 from her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa, a town of about 1,400 in central Iowa. Investigators said she was last seen on a routine jog through the streets of the city. It’s unclear whether she returned to the home where she was dog-sitting for her boyfriend and her boyfriend’s brother, who have said they were both out of town.
Willey’s group has been administering a reward fund that raised nearly $400,000 for any tip that led to Tibbetts’ safe return. He says the fund will now likely be used for any information that helps police catch any person responsible for her death.
“Once they catch their breath, this will turn into a weapon going the other direction to catch the person who did it,” he said.
