MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

Mollie Tibbetts' father tells community to "turn towards life" during his daughter's funeral mass on Sunday afternoon

The bereaved father of murdered Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts told mourners at her funeral on Sunday that she was his hero and that Mollie was nobody's victim.

Family, friends, and residents of Mollie Tibbetts' hometown Brooklyn, Iowa, gathered Sunday afternoon to pay their respects after a month-long search for the 20-year-old ended in despair. Mollie's father, Rob Tibbetts, her cousin, and one of her teachers spoke at the service while Bishop Thomas Zinkula of Davenport, Iowa, led the funeral.

During his daughter's funeral mass, Rob told members of the small community to "turn toward the light". Mollie's disappearance caught the nation's attention and one of its highlights was the importance of a strong immigration system. Addressing a crowd of hundreds who had gathered at the gymnasium at BGM High School, where Mollie had graduated just last year, Rob said, "This community needs to heal." 

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