Off the Record: Mollie Tibbetts and the Grief They Hijacked
What happens when the worst day of your life becomes a talking point on national TV?
In this special ‘Off the Record’ episode, we go deeper into the making of our two-part story on Mollie Tibbetts. I sit down with my co-producer Olivia Heusinkveld to unpack why we told this story, what didn’t make it into the episode, and the uncomfortable questions we wrestled with along the way. We talk about the political hijacking of Mollie’s story, the haunting parallels to Aiden Clark, and the reality behind the headlines about immigrants and crime.
Sources for today’s episode:
PBS
Des Moines Register 1
Des Moines Register 2
Want early access to every episode, all at once? Tenderfoot+ subscribers get the full case at the start of each month—plus ad-free listening and exclusive content from over 30 shows. Sign up at tenderfootplus.com.
Find the complete list of action items, sources, and resources for our Mollie Tibbetts coverage in the show notes at truercrimepodcast.com.
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Mollie Tibbetts Part 2
For weeks, the search for Mollie Tibbetts consumed her small town, her face on posters, her name on everyone’s lips. And when investigators finally closed in on the man behind the wheel of the car seen circling Mollie on the night she vanished, justice for her family felt within reach.
But what unfolded next wasn’t the ending anyone had imagined. Instead, Mollie’s disappearance was thrust into the national spotlight, sweeping her family, her community, and even the country into a battle over who gets to tell her story and why.
In Part 1, we told you about the search to find Mollie. Today, we’re finishing this story with the town left to pick up the pieces.
Want early access to every episode, all at once? Tenderfoot+ subscribers get the full case at the start of each month—plus ad-free listening and exclusive content from over 30 shows. Sign up at tenderfootplus.com.
Find all action items, sources, and resources in the show notes at truercrimepodcast.com.
Keep up with us through our Truer Crime Substack Newsletter.Follow @truercrimepod on Instagram and X.Follow me @celisiastanton on Instagram and TikTok.Sign up for my weekly Substack newsletter, Sincerely, Celisia.
To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Mollie Tibbetts Part 1
In July of 2018, 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts went on a run in her small hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa. Something she’d done countless times before. But this time, she didn’t come home.
What followed was a search unlike anything this town had ever seen. Neighbors combed the fields. Reporters camped out at the local diner. And as the weeks stretched on without answers, the questions only grew louder: How does someone vanish without a trace in a town this small? Who could have seen something and stayed silent?
Today, we’re digging into the first chapter of Mollie’s story, a case that began as a missing persons search and grew into something bigger: an investigation that transformed a town and captured the attention of a nation.
Want early access to every episode, all at once? Tenderfoot+ subscribers get the full case at the start of each month—plus ad-free listening and exclusive content from over 30 shows. Sign up at tenderfootplus.com.
Find all action items, sources, and resources in the show notes at truercrimepodcast.com.
Keep up with us through our Truer Crime Substack Newsletter.Follow @truercrimepod on Instagram and X.Follow me @celisiastanton on Instagram and TikTok.Sign up for my weekly Substack newsletter, Sincerely, Celisia.
To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Next on Truer Crime: The Story That Was Taken From Them
A 20-year-old college student. A small-town summer night. A run she’d done a hundred times before.
When Mollie Tibbetts vanished from her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa, the search to find her captivated the nation. But the story didn’t end there. What began as a missing persons case soon became something much bigger, sweeping up not just a family and a town, but the country itself.
On Monday August 4th, Truer Crime returns with the first case of Season 3.
Want early access to episodes? Tenderfoot+ subscribers get the full case at the start of each month—plus ad-free listening and exclusive content from over 30 shows. Sign up at tenderfootplus.com.
Keep up with us through our Truer Crime Substack Newsletter.
Follow @truercrimepod on Instagram and X.
Follow me @celisiastanton on Instagram and TikTok.
Sign up for my weekly newsletter, Sincerely, Celisia.
To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Truer Crime Season 3: Vanished. Vilified. Voiceless.
Vanished. Vilified. Voiceless.
This season on Truer Crime, every story has something in common: it’s not what it seems.
What starts as a disappearance, a tragedy, or a headline quickly reveals something deeper—about power, about prejudice, about who gets to be heard and who gets written off.
We’re digging into six gripping cases. Some you might recognize. Others you’ve never heard before. But every one of them will leave you questioning the stories we’re told and the stories we choose to believe.
Six months. Six cases. One show that digs deeper.
Truer Crime returns August 4th. Listen for free on the iHeartRadio app, Spotify, Amazon Music, or Apple Podcasts.
Want early access to episodes? Tenderfoot+ subscribers get the full case at the start of each month—plus ad-free listening and exclusive content from over 30 shows. Sign up at tenderfootplus.com.
Keep up with us through our Truer Crime Substack Newsletter.
Follow @truercrimepod on Instagram and X.
Follow me @celisiastanton on Instagram and TikTok.
Sign up for my weekly newsletter, Sincerely, Celisia.
To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Do you ever listen to a true crime podcast and think, “that’s not quite right…?” Same. Crime stories are hard to ignore and even harder to forget. But the thing is... they’re stories. And getting a story right is all about how you tell it. Truer Crime talks about real people— murdered, missing, misled — with more nuance, more context, and more questions. Hosted by Celisia Stanton. Season 2 out now!
USA