10 Disturbing Details Surrounding Mollie Tibbetts, Who Vanished After Jogging Outside Of Her Hometown

6 /10 Returning Home

Her family told investigators there was evidence to indicate that Mollie had gone home on the night of July 18.

They thought Mollie probably had done her homework on a computer late at night.

It remains unclear whether or not the event took place. The first press conference about the investigation was held in late July at the Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office.

Investigators said they were looking into more than 200 leads, but they had not identified any suspect and ruled out any possibility.

5 /10 Security Footage

Now that phone tracking was not an option; the police had to resort to conventional detective work. They interviewed hundreds of people in search of any solid clue.

As days became weeks, the reward for information leading to Mollie’s whereabouts increased to almost $400,000. A real breakthrough in the case came from a neighbor’s CCTV footage.

The neighbor handed over the surveillance video to the police in early August. They had to watch the video hours before they could spot Mollie on the screen.

4 /10 Black Chevy Malibu

In the footage, Mollie was seen jogging east of Brooklyn. Around the vicinity, a black Chevy Malibu was driving back and forth before coming closer to her position. The car seemed to be following Mollie.

The police linked the vehicle to a Yarrabee Farms worker named Cristhian Bahena Rivera.

When officers came to detain him on August 20, Rivera did not resist. Rivera had been working on the farm for around four years.

3 /10 Confession

The questioning ran without a hitch. Rivera admitted to pursuing Mollie in the car. Later on, he stopped and began running towards her.

At one point during the encounter, she grabbed her phone and asked Rivera to leave her alone. Otherwise, she would call the police.

As she started to run away, he chased her down. In the following moments, he panicked and attacked her.

Rivera said he didn’t remember all the details but knew he had put a woman in the trunk. There was blood on her head.

2 /10 Mollie Was Found

The next day, Rivera led the authorities to the site where he had dumped Mollie’s body. It was in a cornfield just outside the town.

He took out Mollie from the trunk and carried her on his shoulder for about 20 meters into the field. He put her down on the ground and then covered the body with leaves.

Rivera even showed the investigators the route he had taken that day using his phone.

An autopsy report revealed Mollie had died of sharp force trauma. The blood on Rivera’s car had been determined as Mollie’s too.

1 /10 Life Imprisonment

On August 22, Rivera was charged with murder in the first degree. Perhaps from consultation with his legal counsel, he pleaded not guilty in September despite the DNA evidence and confession during questioning.

The trial began in May 2021 after multiple delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other proceedings. He was eventually found guilty as charged.

On August 24, Cristhian Bahena Rivera received a life sentence without the possibility of parole. He is now serving his time at the Iowa State Penitentiary, a maximum security prison.