Mollie Tibbetts Was ‘Nobody’s Victim,’ Her Dad Says in Powerful Eulogy

The grieving father of murdered Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts insisted on “celebrating something wonderful” at the young woman’s funeral, remembering her spirit and passion for life instead of how she died.

During a eulogy Sunday for his 20-year-old daughter, Rob Tibbetts recognized a couple who had gotten married a day earlier and asked them to stand because “that’s what Mollie would have done.”

“Today, we need to turn the page. We’re at the end of a long ordeal,” Tibbetts said, according to the Des Moines Register. “But we need to turn toward life — Mollie’s life — because Mollie’s nobody’s victim. Mollie’s my hero.”

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“The person best equipped to help us through this is Mollie,” her father said. “So let’s try to do what Mollie would do. Let’s say what Mollie would say.”

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Cristhian Bahena Rivera, a 24-year-old Mexican immigrant, has been accused of killing Mollie Tibbetts. An autopsy reported that she died from stab wounds.

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Rob Tibbetts has not commented publicly on the topic. But in his eulogy he highlighted how the local Hispanic community had embraced him as he searched for his daughter.

“The Hispanic community are Iowans. They have the same values as Iowans,” he said, including an emphasis on family. “As far as I’m concerned, they’re Iowans with better food.”