Family, boyfriend of Mollie Tibbetts clear up misinformation surrounding case

Family and friends are hoping someone knows what happened to Mollie Tibbetts.

The 20-year-old University of Iowa student from Poweshiek County vanished last week seemingly without a trace. Now, misinformation about what happened is complicating the search.

While it may have been well intended, a lot of misinformation about Tibbetts has been published. This includes her height, age, and misspelling of her middle and last name.

With Tibbetts' disappearance gaining national attention, it is also leaving a lot of space for misinformation. Her aunt, Kim Calderwood, said one of the biggest misconceptions she’s seen on social media is where Tibbetts was the night that she disappeared.

Calderwood said some are saying she was out running when she disappeared.

"I read somewhere that she was running in a cornfield. That's obviously not true," Kim Calderwood, her aunt, said.

“The run happened and then she was at the house as far as we know. I don't think she would've run in the dark,” Calderwood said.

Dalton Jack said he has been dating Tibbetts for close to three years now. He said he was one of the first people to notice she was gone.

"I was the one who threw red flags," Jack said.

Jack said Tibbetts was dog-sitting at his house Wednesday, July 18, while he was in Dubuque for work and his brothers were in Ames.

Jack said he opened a Snapchat around 10 p.m. Wednesday from Tibbetts, where she was back inside dog-sitting.

When she didn't show up to her job on Thursday morning, he knew something was wrong.

"She hadn't called in,” said Jack. "I looked at my phone and noticed I texted her good morning that morning and she hadn't looked at it. So I got ahold of her friends and family."

Calderwood added that Tibbetts was born in Oakland, California, but her family moved to Brooklyn, Iowa when she was in fourth grade.

At this point, Calderwood says the family wants to remain hopeful.

"You've seen her pictures. She's obviously a physically beautiful girl but she's more beautiful on the inside," said Calderwood.

While public searches aren't being done, Brooklyn and the United States as a whole isn't giving up on finding Tibbetts.

"Let's bring our girl home," Calderwood said.

TV9 did contact authorities for further development on the case, but they declined to comment.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office at 641-623-5679.