Beth Bentley - gone 139 weeks

Beth Bentley vanished 139 weeks ago today. That's 973 days! If someone ran away, where does she go for 973 days? On what does she live?

Or maybe she "got a little help from her friends" ...  Some friends, eh?

Maybe it wasn't the kind of "help" that was wanted...

There were rumors immediately after Beth vanished that she was pregnant. Was she? In a photo on Facebook (before some unknown person accessed Beth's Facebook account and deleted all the photos), it sure looked that way. And to more than one person.

A patient's rights under HIPAA are certainly important, but at what point can the line be crossed, allowing a doctor to cooperate with police investigators?

It shouldn't be any secret what doctor(s) Beth was seeing. Did she go to local doctors at Centegra or Mercy? Was she seen at either Centegra Hospital in McHenry County for diagnosis, treatment or lab work?

It should be of interest to the police, if Beth had been pregnant, because of other rumors about relationships, liaisons, and out-of-town trips. Did police create a matrix of all possible partners and track them down? Friends would know of the alibis that were provided.

What if police never considered this case other than a Missing Person case? Would they be able to get at the same medical information, or would they be able to dig more deeply into a health background if a crime were suspected? Or would they even try, if it's "only" a missing-person case.

What might keep a "friend" from offering up information that could help the police find Beth?

Certainly, one thing that might cause a friend to clam up is if the friend's life isn't so clean itself. What if you don't want the police snooping into your own life? What if the police might uncover "indiscretions" in your life or even participation in some criminal activity? If you keep your own mouth shut, maybe they won't nose around and find it.

How prevalent was the use of drugs among Beth's circle of friends and acquaintances? Who were the drug users at the places where she hung out? More importantly, who were the drug dealers in those places?

One of her friends was just arrested on drug charges. How hard will the police try to find out who her drug dealer is? She is starting at a felony charge. Could she get time in the Illinois Department of Corrections? Would that risk loosen her lips about her dealer?

How hard did the police agencies (Woodstock Police, Mt. Vernon Police, Centralia Police, Jefferson County Sheriff's Department, Illinois State Police) look at the possibility of a drug connection? Did Beth use marijuana? Coke? Heroin? Did police investigate that angle?

The Woodstock Police treated Beth's disappearance as a Missing Person case. There has never been any public announcement to change that. In fact, a poster still exists on a webpage of the Woodstock Police Department indicating that this is still a missing person case. The poster was placed on November 11, 2010, and is currently scheduled to remain there (invisible to almost all) until May 11, 2013. That poster still says that she was dropped off at the Centralia train station on May 23, 2010.

Isn't it more the case that one person says (only) she dropped Beth off there. Nothing else. Did she? What do the others who were with Beth that week-end have to say?

Come on, folks. Is there anyone who still thinks this is a missing person case?