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Cristhian Bahena Rivera

Active

2018–2018

Region

Brooklyn, Iowa, USA

State

IA

Kind

Single

Status

Convicted

Victims

1

Mollie Tibbetts, a 20-year-old University of Iowa student, disappeared on the evening of July 18, 2018, while out for a run in her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa. Her disappearance drew a month-long search by local, state and federal investigators. Surveillance video led them to Cristhian Bahena Rivera, a 24-year-old dairy-farm worker in the area, who led police to her body in a Poweshiek County cornfield on August 21, 2018. A jury in Davenport convicted him of first-degree murder in May 2021, and he was sentenced to life without parole.

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Victims

We remember the people whose lives were taken.

• Mollie Cecilia Tibbetts, 20 · July 18, 2018

  A University of Iowa psychology student from Brooklyn; friends started "The Mollie Movement" in her honor to encourage kindness.

Timeline of locations

1. July 18, 2018
   Brooklyn, Iowa (last seen running) (Abduction, approximate area)

   Mollie was last seen running on Brooklyn's streets at about 7:30 p.m. She was staying in town for the summer and was reported missing the next day when she did not show up for work.

2. August 21, 2018
   Cornfield near Guernsey, Poweshiek County (Recovery site, approximate area)

   Rivera led investigators to her body about 500 yards into a cornfield in the Guernsey area, roughly 10 to 12 miles from Brooklyn. He was arrested and charged with first-degree murder the same day.

3. 2021
   Anamosa State Penitentiary (Prison)

   Iowa corrections records list Rivera at Anamosa State Penitentiary.

4. May 28, 2021
   Scott County Courthouse, Davenport (Court / trial)

   After about seven hours of deliberation, the jury convicted Rivera of first-degree murder on May 28, 2021. He was sentenced to life without parole on August 30, 2021.

Sources

• Murder of Mollie Tibbetts (Wikipedia)
• Cristhian Bahena Rivera guilty of murder in killing of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts (CBS News)
• The disappearance and death of Mollie Tibbetts, a timeline (KCRG)
• Iowa Court of Appeals upholds conviction of Cristhian Bahena Rivera (KCRG)

Each location also lists its own sources in the data file.