Mollie Tibbetts was a 20-year-old student at the University of Iowa who went missing after an evening jog on July 18, which sparked an extensive month-long search in the region. A preliminary report of the autopsy from the Iowa State Medical Examiner on Mollie Tibbetts’ body determined that her death was a “homicide resulting from multiple sharp force injuries.” A body that officials believed to be hers was found on Tuesday in a rural area near the abduction site, hidden under corn stalks. The autopsy had later confirmed that the body was hers. Authorities say he led them to Tibbett’s body August 21 after being interviewed the night prior. Investigators say Rivera told them he pursued Tibbetts in his car while she was jogging her hometown of Brooklyn on July 18, before getting out of the car and confronting her. Tibbetts threatened to call the police, at which point Rivera claims he blacked out and remembers nothing until later.
Cristhian Behena Rivera, a 24-year-old Mexican man who illegally came to the United States, was charged with her murder on Wednesday after he confessed to following her on the run. He realized he had put Tibbetts in his trunk because she was bleeding, and then he carried her into a cornfield and left her there .Rivera, 24, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of a 20-year-old University of Iowa student who was missing for over a month. If convicted, Rivera faces life in prison without the possibility of parole. He is being held at the Poweshiek County Jail on a $5 million cash-only bond. President Donald Trump and other leading Republicans have argued that this case shows the need to maintain stricter border security and kick out undocumented immigrants.