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Mollie's body was found Tuesday morning.
By Molly Given — Written on Aug 21, 2018
Who is Mollie Tibbetts mom Laura Calderwood? The tragic story of the 20-year old University of Iowa student who disappeared without a trace last month came to a sad end this morning.
Police reported that they found a body believed to be Tibbetts and her father, Rob Tibbetts, confirmed it was, in fact, his daughter this morning.
Mollie's family had been very active during the search for her and have been pleading with the public for any information on the whereabouts of Mollie. "If it were me that were missing, Mollie wouldn't give up hope — that's not even a thought," she said. "You won't see me giving up hope. That's not an option," Calderwood said.
Tibbetts went missing on July 18th around 7:30 pm after going for a jog in the neighborhood where her boyfriend lived while she was dogsitting. Her boyfriend and his brother — who also lived at the residence — were ruled out as suspects.
Investigators have followed hundreds of leads trying to find Mollie, including searching a hog farm, but so far no arrests have been made in the case.
Here's what we know about her mother, Laura Calderwood:
1. She knew something was up right away.
When Mollie's brother Scott called his mother to let her know Mollie didn't show up for work at a daycare center near her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa, Calderwood immediately knew something was wrong. "That is so out of Mollie's character, one, not to show up for work, two, not to let her employer know, and, three, boyfriend, myself and her brother — just no one was notified that she didn't go to work," Calderwood said. "There were alarms going off immediately. Within 15 to 20 minutes of me coming home, there were a bunch of her friends and I could see they were worried. Within 15 to 20 minutes, I called 911."
2. She's heartbroken.
Calderwood told ABC News last month there are "no words to describe how you feel when you don't know where or how your child is," calling it "excruciating."
3. She says she's exhausted from the case.
“It’s exhausting, I don’t know where she is, I don’t know if she’s safe,” Calderwood told ABC 7.
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4. She said Mollie would have never run off.
“No, absolutely not. Mollie would never run off. I last spoke with her at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday night about what was for dinner. I told her brats. She said, ‘Ok,’” Laura told KWWL-TV.
5. She's been through an emotional rollercoaster.
Calderwood said that the last two weeks have been an "emotional rollercoaster" and she sees her daughter's face on posters all over town. "It's a reality check every time I see one of those posters," she said. "It's like, 'she's gone.'"
6. She sent Mollie a text the night after she went missing.
"The first night she went missing, I was distraught," Calderwood said. "I knew her phone was dead, but I sent her a text saying, 'I love you. We're looking for you. We will find you no matter what.'"
7. She thanked the community for all of their support.
"The community has gone above and beyond," she added. "We have had, you know, all kinds of food and water and Gatorade from family and friends, and I know that the investigators down at the police station are overwhelmed with what the community has done."
Molly Given is a writer living in Philadelphia and lover of all things to do with mystery and magic in life. When she’s not writing her fingers off she can be found planning her next adventure in a new part of the world.