Mollie Tibbetts Murder Suspect Was Known By Name 'John Budd'

The man charged with abducting and killing 20-year-old University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts has become known to the world as 24-year-old Cristhian Rivera, but new reports reveal that he went by another name while working for years at an Iowan dairy farm: John Budd.

That’s the name under which Rivera was hired and paid for the last four years, according to the Associated Press. His employee Yarrabee Farms announced last month that they did not use the government E-Verify system to check Rivera’s immigration status,

Rivera is being held on a $5 million cash bond. His arrest led to a national uproar and controversy surrounding his immigration status.

Tibbetts went missing after going for an evening jog on July 18. In August, Rivera allegedly ed officials to her body.

Police say he approached Tibbetts as she was running on July 18, and she threatened to call the cops, according to court documents obtained by Oxygen.com. The exchange enraged Rivera, according to the documents, and he claims he blacked out before coming to at an intersection with Tibbetts' body in the trunk of his car.

“The defendant further described during the interview that he dragged Tibbetts on foot from his vehicle to a secluded location in a cornfield,” the affidavit says.

Members of the Tibbetts family have spoken out to the press, urging against using their slain loved one's memory for political fodder regarding the immigration debate.

“Mollie was nobody’s victim. Nor is she a pawn in others’ debate. She may not be able to speak for herself, but I can and will,” her dad Rob Tibbetts wrote in a column published Saturday by the Des Moines Register.

[Photo: Iowa Department of Public Safety]