Missing student possibly spotted at Missouri truck stop, thought to be with truck driver

Investigators say that an Iowa student who has been missing for two weeks may have been spotted at a truck stop near Kansas City, Missouri, and is thought to be with a truck driver.

Twenty-year-old Mollie Tibbetts was last seen jogging on the night of July 18 in the town of Brooklyn, Iowa. She was reported missing on July 19 when she failed to show up for work, according to reporting in the Des Moines Register.

After days of increasingly frantic searching, Kearney Police Department Sgt. Joe Kantola revealed yesterday that they received a tip on July 26 that a woman resembling Tibbetts had been spotted at a truck stop off of I-35 in Kearney, Missouri. The tip said that the woman “might have been drugged, looked disoriented and was with a truck driver.”

Yesterday, the reward for information leading to Tibbetts’ safe return increased to $30,000.

Tibbetts is 5’2” and approximately 120 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing dark coloring running shorts, a pink shirt, and running shoes.

The story has gained national attention and the F.B.I. is assisting local police in the search.

If you have information about Tibbetts, you can reach the Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office at 641-623-5679 or tips@poweshiekcosheriff.com.