Young woman's body found in southeast Iowa; authorities don't believe it's that of Mollie Tibbetts

LEE COUNTY, Iowa -- Authorities said Sunday, Aug. 5, a young woman’s body was discovered in rural Lee County in the southeast part of the state -- but said that person is not believed to be Mollie Tibbetts, the missing University of Iowa student.

The body was found in the 2000 block of 235th Avenue near West Point in the far southeast part of the state, according to FOX6's sister station WHO-TV.

In a news release that announced the discovery, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation didn’t release the identity of the woman. However, the release did include the fact that authorities “have no reason to believe that the decedent is Mollie Tibbetts.”

An intense search has been underway since Tibbetts, a University of Iowa student, disappeared July 18 from her boyfriend’s home in Brooklyn, Iowa, where she was taking care of his dog while he was away.

The news release about the body in Lee County didn’t disclose when someone found her, who discovered her or how she died.

The release described the woman’s body as a “white female in her early to mid-20s."