Wyatt case now in online record

The charges filed Monday against Jennifer Wyatt in the Beth Bentley missing person case are now in the public record.

Case No. 12CF000250 shows a filing date of March 20, 2012, and also shows a Charge Date of May 25, 2010, which is two days after Wyatt reportedly last saw Bentley, when Wyatt says she drove Bentley from Mount Vernon, Ill. to Centralia, Ill. and dropped her off near the Amtrak station.

The print edition of the Northwest Herald today reports that Wyatt was interviewed and arrested on Monday by the Woodstock Police Department. While it doesn't say so, Wyatt would have been transferred to the McHenry County Jail, presumably on Monday. The paper states that Wyatt was released Tuesday (yesterday) after posting 10% of a $7,000 bond.

The paper also states that Wyatt had worked in the law office of Scott Bentley, "where Beth Bentley also worked. But Wyatt was let go when the office moved to a different location in McHenry."

What the article doesn't state is that, in spite of early doubts in the minds of many about Wyatt's "Centralia story", Scott Bentley continued to employ Wyatt for months after Beth's disappearance. According to sources, only one employee moved with Scott with his new office on Bull Valley Road from Route 31.

Wyatt's compensation arrangement with the Bentley law firm (whether an employee or contract associate or if paid at all) was the subject of a child support action, also in McHenry County Circuit Court. That case, No. 10FA000340, dragged on and on after October, 2010. Although the entry for the last court date of January 20, 2012, shows a status check for a December hearing on a motion, the "result" shows an allowance of a "foreign judgment". That may be the substantial amount child support that Wyatt's ex-husband Kenneth Paplham was seeking.

The new criminal charges have a court date scheduled for today at 9:00AM, in Courtroom 302, that of Judge Condon. A public defender was appointed for Wyatt yesterday in Rights Court in the jail.