DITV: Hawkeye community gathers to celebrate the life of UI student Mollie Tibbetts

Friends, family, and faculty gather at Hubbard Park to honor the life of Mollie Tibbetts.

Susanna Klooster

Nick Rohlman

Dance Marathon Executive Director Charlie Ellis and UISG President Hira Mustafa light candles during a vigil in memory of UI student Mollie Tibbetts at Hubbard Park on Wednesday, August 22, 2018. Tibbetts went missing on July 18, in Brooklyn, Iowa. On Tuesday, authorities recovered her body and filed murder charges against 24-year-old Poweshiek County resident Cristhian Bahena Rivera.

August 23, 2018

Hubbard Park was full of students and faculty on Wednesday evening to honor University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts. Tibbetts vanished while running on July 18. On Aug. 21, officials found her remains in a cornfield near Guernsey, Iowa. At the vigil, Tibbetts’ brother, Jake Tibbetts, and childhood friend Breck Goodman shared their memories of Tibbetts. They encouraged the crowd to be kind to one another and to make a new friend because that is what Tibbetts would want.