APNewsBreak: 4 faced scrutiny before arrest in Tibbetts case

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Before they arrested a farmhand in the death of Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts, investigators scrutinized four other potential suspects during their five-week search.

Newly unsealed search warrants show they included a neighbor seen washing his SUV hours after Tibbetts vanished, a Nebraska man who ditched his vehicle in Iowa days later and an acquaintance who told police he’d recently “wiped” his cellphone data.

Of perhaps most interest was a farmer with a history of stalking women. He lived 200 yards (182 meters) from where Tibbetts’ cellphone dropped off the network.

All have been eliminated as suspects.

The documents provide details about how Tibbetts’ July 18 disappearance stumped agents for weeks. The suspect charged didn’t come on their radar until shortly before he allegedly led them to her body in a cornfield.