Beth Bentley - now gone 97 weeks

What is it going to take to break wide open the missing-person case of Beth Bentley, the Woodstock woman missing since May 23, 2010?

Should the investigation start from Square One? Go all the way back to the beginning and start fresh. Has that been done?

First, did Beth ever get out of Woodstock alive? Supposedly, Jenn Wyatt and she drove from Woodstock to Mount Vernon, Ill. on the night of May 20, 2010. Did they?

There is only one person available with actual knowledge of such a drive, if it happened. So, which one drove? How far? Did they change drivers? What route? How did they pay tolls? When did they make pit stops or food stops? What time did they arrive in Mount Vernon, if they did?

Next, what do Ryan and Nathan Ridge have to say about the night of May 20 and the early morning hours of May 21?

What do Ryan and Nathan Ridge and Jenn have to say about how Friday, May 21, was spent? Friday night? And Saturday? Saturday night? And Sunday? How do they explain the frequency of telephone calls between them that week-end?

How does Jenn explain the trip to Centralia to drop Beth off near the Amtrak station? And the phone call from Beth's cell phone to Pogue's Pizza at the same time? And the failure to pick up the pizza?

And Beth's 4:00PM phone call to her husband? Only two minutes? To explain why she won't be back in Woodstock for her father's birthday dinner that evening? And no phone call to her father? Did Beth talk to any other family member during the week-end?

What, exactly, were the plans for Jenn and Beth to meet back up on Monday and return to Woodstock, where Beth's car was parked in Jenn's garage for the week-end?

Who checked out the rental car and analyzed its use, including any tolls charged to its I-Pass? How many miles were on the car during the rental period? Where was it rented? Where was it returned? Who were the authorized drivers? Where was gas purchased?

Since Jenn's California driver's license was expired, she could not have been an authorized driver. Did she drive the rental car? Probably. She didn't seem to have any problem driving daily with her expired license? It was expired when she got a seatbelt ticket in Woodstock early in December 2009, and it was expired when a McHenry County Sheriff's deputy ticketed her on June 23, 2010.

Her June 23rd ticket was nolle prossed. An Assistant State's Attorney told me that, in court on September 15, Jenn had presented an Illinois driver's license that was valid on June 23. Only, according to the Illinois Secretary of State Police, Jenn did not have a valid Illinois driver's license on June 23. Her Illinois driver's license was issued after June 23!

Who is really interested in what happened to Beth Bentley? Just as importantly, who is not interested? Or, rather, who is interested in Beth Bentley's not being found?