XPost: alt.fan.states.iowa, alt.politics.immigration, alt.journalism.newspapers XPost: sac.politics

The mother of Mollie Tibbetts has taken in the teenage son of
Mexican immigrants who were close to the daughter’s alleged
killer, according to a report published Friday.

Laura Calderwood told The Washington Post that she brought 17-
year-old Ulises Felix into her home when his parents left the
small town of Brooklyn, Iowa, following the arrest of Cristhian
Bahena Rivera in August.

Although his parents fled the town amid seething anti-immigrant
rhetoric, Felix wanted to stay behind and finish high school.

Rivera, an illegal immigrant, is accused of abducting Tibbetts,
a 20-year-old University of Iowa student, in July while she was
out on a run, killing her and leaving her body in a cornfield to
rot.

According to the paper, Felix’s parents worked alongside Rivera
at the local Yarrabee Farms for years.

Felix told the paper that his parents “took care” of Rivera “for
a while,” saying that his mother fed the 24-year-old every day.

Rivera and Felix’s cousin Iris Monarrez also have a child
together.

After Rivera’s arrest, Felix’s parents left town for Illinois.
Felix, who is American, wanted to stay in the town.

That’s when Calderwood’s son and Mollie’s brother Scott, who
played on the football team with Felix, asked if they could take
him in.

Calderwood, 55, thought that her daughter would have wanted her
to care for Felix and agreed.

Mollie Tibbetts’ father, Rob Tibbetts, said his daughter would
have “vehemently opposed” anti-immigrant views espoused by
politicians in the aftermath of her death and said that she
would have found them profoundly racist in a column for the Des
Moines Register.

Both of her parents rejected the politicization of their
daughter’s murder.

In The Washington Post article, Calderwood described Mollie’s
disappearance and killing as “a horror.”

“Mollie’s death was horrific,” Calderwood said. She was stabbed
“in the chest. And I know there was one in the skull.”

Rivera allegedly confessed to the killing, claiming he’d blocked
out the actual slaying but came to and found Tibbetts’ body in
his vehicle.

He’s pleaded not guilty and faces life in prison.

https://nypost.com/2018/12/28/mollie-tibbetts-mom-takes-in- immigrant-teen-with-ties-to-daughters-alleged-killer/

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