Where is Beth Bentley? Week 131

Little did I think, over two years ago, that I would still be asking every week where Beth Bentley is.

Bentley, then 41, disappeared in May 2010. If you like playing "Pin the Tail on the Story", by now you probably have concluded thinking about this "missing person" case and decided what you think happened.

Is it a "missing person" case? That's what the Woodstock Police Department (WPD) continues to call it.

Was it ever considered otherwise? Is there an officer at WPD who believes it is not? Some departments have officers who latch onto a case and keep the investigation going. WPD rotates its officers in and out of the Investigations Division "to get everyone a chance". After paying for expensive training and experience, they go back on the street. A good plan?

Earlier this year WPD tried to "nail Jello to the wall" and arrested Jennifer Wyatt-Paplham on two felony charges related to Beth's disappearance. Months later, a judge threw the case out. If you read the statute, it never should have been filed in the first place by WPD, and the McHenry County State's Attorney's Office never should have authorized the felony charges.

WPD says it is in charge of the "investigation". Yet they seem to be hanging onto a thread that Beth disappeared from Centralia, Ill. (or maybe from rural Mount Vernon, Ill.). Woodstock is over 300 miles from Mount Vernon.

A cold case in Colorado involved authorities who argued about jurisdiction - the sheriff's department where the girl disappeared or the sheriff's department where she lived. In that case, neither wanted it, so they just pointed fingers and said, "Not me."

Starting with the house where Beth's car was parked in the garage over the week-end, did WPD ever take that house apart? Any lab guys ever go over Beth's car? Or the rental car? Did WPD ever borrow a sniffer dog and take it through the car or the house? Of course, it would have picked up Beth's scent in the car. Anywhere else in the house? Downstairs living areas? Upstairs bedrooms? Basement?

Is the Illinois State Police, Zone 7 Investigations (Effingham, Ill., for Jefferson County), really involved? WPD Chief Lowen said at one point that the Illinois State Police were involved. In what way?

If it's a "missing person" case, why isn't there any information or ongoing appeal to the public? Some say, if the family wanted it, they'd be asking for it. Sorry; not good enough. Beth Bentley is a person - a person, a woman, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances. The town, the City of Woodstock, the People of Woodstock owe her the inquiry.

If you had been missing 2½ years, would you just want a file stuck in a filing cabinet at the P.D.? Would that be good enough?