This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Authorities said on Tuesday they had charged a man living in the US illegally with murder in the death of Mollie Tibbetts, an Iowa college student who disappeared a month ago while jogging in a rural area.

Rick Rahn, a special agent with the Iowa division of criminal investigation, said Cristhian Bahena Rivera, 24, was charged with murder.

Investigators said they used surveillance video in tracking down Rivera. The video showed Tibbetts, 20, jogging near her hometown of Brooklyn as well as Rivera’s car.

Police announced the charge at a press conference hours after they found what they believe to be the body of Tibbetts in a field, covered with corn stalks.

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Tibbetts was last seen on 18 July in Brooklyn, a rural town of about 1,400 people, as she took a routine evening jog. It is unclear whether she returned to the home where she was dog-sitting for her boyfriend and his brother, who have said they were both out of town.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Cristhian Bahena Rivera has been charged with the murder of Mollie Tibbetts. Photograph: AP

She was reported missing by her family the next day, after she did not show up for work at a day camp for children.

Tibbetts’s disappearance set off a huge search involving dozens of officers from the FBI as well as state and local agencies. They focused much of their efforts in and around Brooklyn, searching fields, ponds and homes. Investigators asked anyone who was around five locations, including a car wash, a truck stop and a farm south of town, to report if they saw anything suspicious.

Last week, Vice-President Mike Pence met privately with the Tibbetts family during a visit to Iowa and told them that “you’re on the hearts of every American”.

At Brooklyn City Hall, city clerk Sheri Sharer said Tuesday was a sad day for the town.

“It never crossed our mind that she wouldn’t come home safe,” she said.

Tibbetts, a psychology major, would have started her junior year this week in Iowa City, about 50 miles east of Brooklyn.