Beth Bentley - gone 171 weeks

As I rode past Mt. Vernon, Illinois, yesterday and saw exit signs for Rend Lake, Mt. Vernon and Dix Road, I thought a lot about Beth Bentley.

I thought about stopping at the Frosty Mug and asking about a Friday night, May 21, 2010, when Beth and Jennifer Wyatt and two men were supposed to have had dinner there.

I thought about stopping at the marina and asked about a boat rental on Saturday, May 22, 2010. The Woodstock Police Chief said a boat was rented and all who went out on it, came back. But a local resident said that the marina operator told me no boat like that went out. It can't be both ways. Which is true?

I thought about Dix Road and how it leads east from I-57 to the house in rural Mt. Vernon, to which Beth and Jennifer may have driven early Friday morning, May 21, 2010.
I wondered whether any detectives might be in their offices on Saturday afternoon at the Mt. Vernon PD or the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. And whether they would talk to me.

My last FOIA request to the Woodstock PD was denied because releasing information might jeopardize an ongoing investigation. Of what? Beth's disappearance has never been called anything but a Missing Person case. Unless ...