Mollie Tibbetts Pal's Mom Breaks Down After Body Found: 'This Is Not The Outcome We Were Expecting'
Feb. 25 2019, Updated 11:47 a.m. ET
Parents in the small, Iowa farm town Mollie Tibbetts called home before she disappeared more than a month ago are struggling to cope with the discovery of a body in their community that sources claimed belonged missing student.
“This is not the outcome we were expecting at all. We were hoping for the best,” Paula Lang Smith, 54, the mother of one of Tibbetts' childhood friends, tearfully told RadarOnline.com in an exclusive interview.
Smith, whose daughter Caitlin, 19, was close friends with Tibbetts, claimed she was devastated when word got back to her and her family, mostly by text messages, from others in the town of Brooklyn that the missing 20-year-old's body was discovered.
Law enforcement sources told RadarOnline.com that they believed the body found in a search area covered by corn fields was that of Tibbetts. The college student went missing after she left her boyfriend’s home for an early evening jog on July 18.
Her father Rob Tibbetts declined to comment about the body’s discovery, and was on his way to Iowa from his home in California. Dalton Jack, Tibbetts' boyfriend, also did not comment when contacted by RadarOnline.com.
Authorities are planning to hold a press conference for 4 p.m. local time.
Paula Lang Smith was among parents remembering Tibbetts' visible presence at school. She was a prolific speaker and was involved in athletics and several school musicals, she claimed.
“Caitlin and Mollie were together in cross county and musicals,” Smith told RadarOnline.com, mentioning her daughter who had known Tibbetts since the 3rd grade.
“They were Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dumb together...Of course being from a small town, everybody’s family.”
The mother became overwhelmed when she tried to describe what she thought happened to the murdered girl.
“You can’t even begin to speculate, and you don’t want to,” she said, her voice trailing off as she broke down in tears.
“It’s kind of been an emotional rollercoaster. And you think of all the other parents out there in the world who can’t hug their children.”
“You have to rely on your faith and God and hope everyone gets through this. You do that by being there for each other as a community and as family, and a lot of prayer."
She pledged to stand in support of Tibbetts' family, as well as for her boyfriend, Dalton Jack.
“The community will definitely stick together,” she said. “Because we’re all going to need a lot of love and support.”
“Molllie was always wanting to change the world. She’s truly going to be missed.”
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