Body found in rural Iowa is not Mollie Tibbetts, police confirm

The Associated Press

7 years ago

This undated photo released by the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation shows Mollie Tibbetts, a University of Iowa student who was reported missing from her hometown in the eastern Iowa city of Brooklyn on Thursday, July 19, 2018. (Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation via AP)

WEST POINT, Iowa — Authorities say the body of a young woman found in southeast Iowa is not that of a missing University of Iowa student.

The body was found early Sunday morning in rural Lee County, about 5 miles southwest of West Point.

Special Agent Rick Rahn of the Iowa Criminal Investigation Division told The Des Moines Register that officials have confirmed the body is not that of Mollie Tibbetts, who’s been missing since July 18. Rahn says investigators have identified the body and are contacting the next of kin. Her name and the circumstances surrounding her death haven’t been released yet.

Lee County is about an hour away from Brooklyn, Iowa, where the 20-year-old Tibbetts was last seen. The reward for her safe return has risen to $260,000.