Mollie Tibbetts’ mom confronted her daughter’s killer, for the first time on Monday as she read a powerful statement before he was sentenced to life in prison. She recounted to Cristhian Bahena Rivera having to tell family members in 2018 that Tibbetts’ remains had been found in an Iowa corn field. “Can you imagine, Mr. Rivera, as a father, having Paulina’s mother taken away from you, and to have to tell your daughter that she will never come home?” Laura Calderwood said.

She revealed that her son is friends with a student whose family had fed and housed Rivera before the murder. Afterward, the family had to flee town, and the student was instead taken in by Tibbetts’ family. Rivera’s employer lost all his workers because they were scared, she added, and Tibbetts’ boyfriend was never able to give her the engagement ring he’d bought. One day, Rivera’s daughter will have to explain to her kids what happened, Calderwood said. “This is the legacy you left behind for your only child, Mr. Rivera. I don’t know whose situation is worse.”