Man Charged With Murder In Death Of Mollie Tibbetts
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Police in Iowa say a college student spent her final moments trying to run away from the man who murdered her.
They revealed Tuesday afternoon that an illegal immigrant is in custody, charged with premeditated murder. Cristhian Rivera led authorities to her body in a small Iowa town.
"A first-degree murder charge was filed today in connection with the disappearance of Mollie Tibbetts," special agent Rick Rahn said.
Investigators charged Rivera with Tibbett's murder. The 24-year-old undocumented immigrant admitted he caught up with her during her jog on July 18.
"He ran alongside of her or behind her, and then at one point Mollie grabs a hold of her phone and says, 'You need to leave me alone! I'm going to call the police!' and then she took off running," Rahn said. "He in turn chased her down."
According to the affidavit, Rivera admitted to authorities that he "blocked" his "memory" and "came to at an intersection." That is when he saw an ear piece from her headphones in his lap and "realized he put her in his trunk."
Investigators followed thousands of leads and used location data from her Fitbit in the weeks'-long search, but it was a homeowner's security camera that captured a car investigators tracked to Rivera.
He led authorities to a body in an area that had been searched off a rural road southeast of her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa.
"In this particular case, she was found in a cornfield, and there were corn stalks placed over the top of her," Rahn said.
Investigators say Rivera had seen Tibbetts before, but would not elaborate on a possible motive.
"Seemed to be drawn to her on that particular day, and for whatever reason he chose to abduct her," Rahn said.
An autopsy will be performed on Wednesday.
Rivera is charged with first-degree murder, which carries a life sentence without the possibility of parole in Iowa.
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