‘Something about him was off’: Other women say Mollie Tibbetts' suspected murderer messaged them repeatedly on social media over the years

pulse

August 25, 2018 6:26 PM

The man facing first-degree murder in the death of 20-year old Mollie Tibbetts reportedly made repeated unsolicited advances on young women via social media. One woman told The New York Times that Cristhian Bahena Rivera repeatedly messaged her and her friends over the years.

The man charged with first-degree murder in the death of 20-year old Mollie Tibbetts reportedly made repeated unsolicited advances on social media towards local young women.
One woman told The New York Times that she once rejected Cristhian Bahena Rivera's advances, but he repeatedly messaged her over social media.
She said she discussed Bahena Rivera with female friends, and they said he messaged them, too.
"Something about him was off," said a 20-year-old Iowa woman who turned him down for a date.

The man charged with first-degree murder in the death of 20-year old Mollie Tibbetts made repeated unsolicited advances on social media towards local young women, according to a New York Times report.

Cristhian Bahena Rivera was a familiar fixture in Brooklyn, Iowa, where he

Brooke Bestell, a local 20-year-old woman, told the Times she once turned him down when he asked her out on a date, but he repeatedly messaged her on Facebook late at night though they didn't speak in person.

"He would just stare. He wouldn't really like talk," Bestell said. "Something about him was off."

Bestell said he would message her "just over and over, like every week or so." She said the most recent message from Bahena Rivera came June 13 at 3 a.m.

After Bahena Rivera was arrested, two of Bestell's friends told her that he had also messaged them and Bestell said she wondered "how many other girls he probably was trying to talk to."

Bahena Rivera is jailed on a $5 million cash bond after prosecutors

Law enforcement officials and Bahena Rivera's employer told the Times that the suspect seemed like a hardworking and law-abiding presence in the community, who was often seen in the local park and grocery store.

Authorities said Bahena

The case has rocked the small town and dominated political discussion after

pulse