Bentley missing person case - WPD reports changes slightly

The monthly report of the Woodstock Police Department to the City Manager and City Council has changed ever so slightly in its mention of the Beth Bentley missing person case. Let's hope it's not just a cosmetic change or one made because of my constant harping on use of the identical report month after month.

How does it read now?

"The Woodstock Police Department continues to aggressively examine follow up on all leads in the investigation of the Endangered Missing Person Benedetta "Beth" Bentley. The Investigations Division maintains contact with the family of Benedetta Bentley, the Illinois State Police and all other Police Agencies involved in this case for updates and the sharing of intelligence/information."

Of course, only they (the family) can vouch for the frequency and quality of contact with the P.D. Are they told whether or not there are any new leads? Or if there ever were any leads? What does "contact" mean? 


Could the family have information that could help the police, but which seems unimportant to them? What about the birthday dinner with her father on the Sunday night she disappeared? When was the dinner re-scheduled from the previous week? Who re-scheduled it? Did anyone inform her father that she wasn't going to show up? Did she just stand him up? Did Scott go and have dinner with him? If so, how did he explain Beth's not being there for her dad's birthday?


Supposedly Beth called her husband at 4:00PM on Sunday. Phone records indicate it was only a two-minute call. If she was in Mount Vernon, Ill. at 4:00PM, instead of in Wisconsin, she obviously wasn't going to be back in the Woodstock area for dinner. Doesn't it seem a little strange that that 4:00PM call was less than two minutes in duration?


When will Woodstock P.D. crack this case? Have they figured out yet that it's not just a Missing Person case. Apparently, they have, but they have never re-classified it. For them and for the Illinois State Police to deny an entire FOIA request causes me to think that this is a criminal case, not a missing person case.


For starters, the police ought to be wondering why so many of Beth's friends shut down their Facebook pages or closed off access to them. If they have nothing to hide, why are they hiding?