The news headline nobody wants to hear, read, or see is thrown across media sites and news stations all across America when an individual is abducted. Somebody's child, significant other, sibling, and best friend is missing with little to no clues whatsoever about their whereabouts.
Mollie Tibbets, age 20, went missing on July 18th after a jog in her small hometown Brooklyn, Iowa. Family members reported her missing after she didn't arrive to work the following day.
Rumors, conspiracy theories and random facts made their way around social media, frightening, terrifying young users of the sites. Some social media posts about her disappearance proved themselves helpful, making their way to national news stations.
As young adults close to Mollie's age, this made my friend group and I more aware about what we were doing.
After hearing news of her disappearance for the first time, we always made sure to travel in groups. When we did have to travel alone, made the others aware of our location. Before her disappearance I would take bike rides by myself to the local library, then bike back home. It was normal, something built in my routine to take my mind off of daily life and simply to get away from it all-now, was done with fear that I wouldn't return home.
Simple things, such as recognizing and remembering what articles of clothing my friends were wearing, were things I didn't have to do before, but now, felt like I had to.
Mollie and the events related to her disappearance, such as trafficking, were highly discussed in our friend group, making it easier to come to terms with (in my opinion) that this is a serious issue in our world today.
Thousands of individuals are abducted by traffickers every single day. Mollie is the first to make such a big impact on me and my life. Maybe because she lived under 3 hours away, or she is around my age, but just because we have closure on her case doesn't mean that there are countless others who haven't been granted this closure yet.
As the number of times I rode my bike to the library dwindled, news about Mollie seemed to as well. Sure, missing posters were still hung, her face was still on social media, but news coverage and circulation seemed to decrease. But the way my friends and I went about things continued. As we were preparing to move to college, things such as pepper-spray, industrial bike locks and safeties, and whistles were purchased to serve as a way of protecting ourselves in case of emergency.
Today, it seemed that the news headlines matched the weather forecast.
With the impending rain streaming down the windows of the library as I'm typing this, Mollie's body has seemed to be found. This news, while not shocking, still sent my stomach through my throat.
News of her remains makes me want to be more cautious, more aware, and more careful about what I'm doing, wearing, and where I'm going. Since her disappearance, I've been living with a small fear in the back of my mind. Her abduction will forever serve as an example, and a learning lesson for the better, in my opinion about living in today's scary world.
