Missing student's mother pleads with potential abductor
The mother of a university student who has been missing for more than two weeks has pleaded with potential kidnappers to let her come home.
Laura Calderwood said during a news conference that she believes her daughter, 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts, is alive but has potentially been kidnapped.
She announced an A$233,000 reward for her return.
Ms Tibbetts’ disappearance has baffled investigators since she went missing more than two weeks ago from Brooklyn, Iowa in the US.
Her mum said the money would be paid to anyone who provides information that leads to her daughter’s safe return.
“If someone has abducted her, we are pleading with you to please release her,” Ms Calderwood said.
“It is our greatest hope that if someone has her, that they would just release her and claim that money we have raised for her freedom.”
It comes after a man handed himself over to police after he was caught on CCTV filming young women jogging from his car. However, police don’t believe he’s linked to the student’s disappearance.
The 20-year-old was last seen on the evening of July 18, when she went for a routine jog in Brooklyn, a town of about 1400 people in central Iowa.
She was dog-sitting that evening for her boyfriend and her boyfriend’s brother, who were out of town, at a home where she was living this summer after completing her second year at the University of Iowa.
Ms Tibbetts was reported missing the next morning when she didn’t show up for work at a day care centre in a nearby town.
The FBI and dozens of investigators from state and local agencies are working on the case but have so far hit dead ends. The latest came Thursday, when police confirmed that a possible sighting of Ms Tibbetts at a Missouri truck stop turned out not to be her.
Crime Stoppers of Central Iowa spokesman Greg Willey promised to protect the anonymity of tipsters who call in or submit tips online, saying the group uses software that scrubs identifying information. He added the group exists for people who cannot come forward to police, including those who are guilty or involved in a crime.
Ms Tibbets’ father, Rob, praised the investigation, saying it has been large, sophisticated, aggressive and sensitive to the family.
But he also believes the case will be solved by someone who comes forward with new information.
“If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. Come forward, bring information to the authorities, and let’s bring Mollie home,” he said.
With Associated Press
