Editor's note: This story was updated Aug. 21 after officials found a body that they believe is Mollie Tibbetts.
The day before Mollie Tibbetts was last seen by her friends and family, she was working at a daycare center in a nearby town helping kids make self-portraits.
"She’s just always a positive energy around the day camp and the kids loved her," said Tibbetts' friend and co-worker, Olivia Ritter, 19, of Sully.
In a video shot by Ritter on July 17, Tibbetts is sitting on the floor of an art gallery at Grinnell College. She is laughing and playing around with her friends in Grinnell — about 20 minutes west of Brooklyn, where she lived and was expected to stay at her boyfriend's home on July 18. Tibbetts' iPhone and Fitbit are visible in the video.
"Each day it was a different experience," Ritter said. "She created such a positive experience and always made things better."
Crime Stoppers of Central Iowa is offering a $300,000 reward for information that leads to her safe return. The organization has averaged more than 60 tips received per day over the past week and a half.
On July 18, Tibbetts was watching dogs at the home of her boyfriend's brother on the western edge of Brooklyn in central Iowa. She is believed to have gone for a routine evening jog and was last seen around 7:30 p.m.
Around 10 p.m. that evening Tibbetts' boyfriend, Dalton Jack, said he opened a Snapchat message from Tibbetts that included a photo that made it appear she was indoors.
Since then investigators have searched for Tibbetts while her family has shared her story with news outlets nationwide.
Ritter said she and Tibbetts frequently competed against each other in high school when Ritter's Lynnville-Sully teams met Tibbetts' BGM. The two became close after working together at the daycare center.
In a video shot July 3 by Ritter, Tibbetts is seen dancing around Davis Elementary while at work. Ritter said her friend was showing children how to do a relay race and playing around in the video.
When Ritter looks back at the videos now, she's thankful she captured them.
"It’s definitely heartbreaking," Ritter said. "It’s good to have those memories of her and see her smiling and to know that she was a positive energy."
