Immigrant charged after Iowa student’s body found
GUERNSEY, Iowa – An undocumented immigrant was in custody Tuesday, charged with first-degree murder in the death of 20-year-old college student Mollie Tibbetts, who disappeared a month ago in central Iowa.
Cristhian Bahena Rivera, 24, had been in the area for four to six years, officials said. Charges were filed in Poweshiek County court.
Tibbetts was reported missing July 18 after she had gone running the night before.
According to a criminal complaint, video footage collected by investigators showed a black Chevy Malibu approaching Tibbetts about 7:45 p.m. as she ran outside her hometown of Brooklyn. Footage shows the vehicle, driven by Rivera, going back and forth in the area. During questioning Monday, Rivera admitted to “making contact with a female running in Brooklyn” and that he pursued her to an area east of town.
Rivera told officials he left his vehicle and started “running behind her and alongside her.” Tibbetts grabbed her phone and told him she was going to call the police, the criminal complaint says. He then told officials that he “got mad” and panicked and blocked his memory, which is what happens when “he gets very upset.”
The next thing he remembers was discovering Tibbetts’ earpieces in his lap, which made him realize that Tibbetts was in the trunk, according to the criminal complaint.
Rivera told officials he pulled Tibbetts out of the trunk and found blood on the side of her head, according to the complaint. He dragged Tibbetts from the vehicle to a cornfield, where he covered her with some cornstalks and left her face-up.
Rivera was able to use his cellphone to determine the route he traveled from Brooklyn, according to the complaint. He later guided investigators to Tibbetts’ location by memory and law enforcement found her body.