Tuesday, August 21 By Chris Varney
Normally, I only talk about sports in this blog but today is not a normal day. The Department of Criminal Investigation in Des Moines has called a press conference for this afternoon at the Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office concerning an update in the search for Mollie Tibbetts who has been missing for just over a month. Fox News is reporting that a body has been found in rural Poweshiek County and according to sources close to the investigation, it is believed to be Mollie.
It appears that our worse fears are coming true.
I have followed this case since the beginning and although I never met or interviewed Mollie, I still have been hit emotionally by her story. I know her brother Jake who played baseball at BGM and is currently the assistant coach –I interviewed Jake for the Extra Point a few weeks ago. In addition, Mollie’s boyfriend is Dalton Jack — his mother Cindy used to work for us at KGRN. The Jack family is hurting bad as well as the Tibbetts. Everybody in the Brooklyn, Malcom, and Guernsey area are hurting today.
When you talk to somebody outside the state of Iowa about what its like living here, its hard for them to understand. When you walk down the street in Brooklyn, everybody says hi to you, whether you know their name or not. When you are out working in the yard, passers by give you wave, whether you know them or not. Everybody is a neighbor, whether you live next door, or down the street, or in the town down the road.
Now, one of our neighbors has been taken from us.
Mollie’s story over the last month has been told in televisions across the nation. Her posters were all over the Iowa State Fair. The fund set up through Crime Stoppers has set records. Even the Vice President talked and tweeted about her case. People have been touched and now — if the the reports are true — people will mourn. Now there will be a different search and unfortunately the story will drag on until the person or persons responsible for these events will be found and brought to justice.
Brooklyn did not ask for this. The Tibbetts family did not want this. But we as neighbors will continue to stand with them. We will cry when we need to cry. We will smile when we need to smile. We will fight when we need to fight. We will be brave and we will move on but we will never forget.
Today is a not a normal day, but there is no such thing as a normal day anymore. We must look the new normal in the eye with hope and encouragement. I am sure that is what Mollie would want us to do.
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