Beth Bentley - missing 7 years

In May 2010 Benedetta (Beth) Bentley, Woodstock mother, wife, neighbor, employee, friend of many, took a road trip with a girlfriend to Mount Vernon, Illinois. And vanished.

She left on a Thursday night with her friend. They reportedly drove overnight to Mount Vernon. Her friend returned on Monday without her. Beth was reported missing on Monday night to the Woodstock (Ill.) Police Department, and that department claimed the lead in the investigation, in spite of being more than 300 miles from where Beth was last seen.

There was much speculation at the time. Did she just run away? Did she run off with someone? Was there a "party" at the house outside the city limits in Mount Vernon that resulted in an incident that precluded her return to Woodstock? Was she dropped off at the Centralia Amtrak Station on that Sunday?

Her body was never found and so there is no "proof" that a crime was ever committed. It is, of course, impossible to search every cave, mine shaft and well in southern Illinois.

Is Beth dead or alive? Did she die near (or in) Mount Vernon that week-end?

Nothing has persuaded me that she didn't die that week-end in southern Illinois. I believe that a number of her "friends" know exactly what happened to her.

There is a Presumption of Death statute in Illinois. See 755 ILCS 5/6-20. Presumably, Beth had a Will. After all, her husband was a lawyer and she worked in his office. She had minor children. Why wouldn't she have a Will? Will a Will be filed soon in McHenry Circuit Court?

There were rumors of substantial life insurance on Beth. As a former life insurance agent, I know that there are some companies that will issue extremely high amounts of insurance popularly known as Wife Insurance. Insurance death benefits pass by beneficiary designation, not under a Will. But an insurance company will expect a death certificate. If a claim for insurance benefits is made, will the insurance company undertake an investigation?

Were Social Security benefits applied for, for the minor child at home?

What will it take to uncover/discover exactly what happened to Beth? Are Woodstock Police still investigating? What about Mount Vernon Police and the Jefferson County (Ill.) Sheriff's Department? Did the Illinois State Police (Investigations) ever really get involved?

If you vanished, would you want people to just forget you? I don't think so.

On this blog you can search for "Bentley" and find many articles.

Email POTUS? Yeah, sure...

Have you tried to email President Trump?

The website at which to do is: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

But you can't do it, because the webpage offers only a choice of recipient (POTUS or Help with a Federal Agency) and a dropdown box for Prefix (ex., Mr.).

You're out of luck if you want to write a message!

I guess that fits the current situation, though. Trump wants us to listen to him, but he doesn't want to hear from us.

You can call, if you are patient. Call 202/456-1111. Make a pot of coffee, before you dial. Then put your phone on Speaker and sit back. Try not to forget why you are calling. A recording will tell you that "All comment line volunteer operators are currently assisting other callers. Please continue to hold."

Impeach Trump?

Much as I hate to say it, now is the time to impeach Donald Trump.

I voted for Trump but, as I have said before, I would have voted for Mickey Mouse before I would have voted for Hillary Clinton.

Trump is acting like a loose cannon, and I believe he cannot be trusted as President. Some of his other shenanigans were bad, but the way he fired James Comey was rotten. Did he have a flashback to his TV show? He didn't even have the guts to fire Comey face-to-face.

Then Trump believes he can "share" classified information with Russia.

I. Don't. Think. So.

And National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster rushes to his defense. What else is he going to say? Let's see; who appointed McMaster? Where does he want to work next?

Now some Fox News mouthpiece is saying that she is "in talks" to replace Sean Spicer. Imagine you are Spicer and you hear that on the news. If I were Spicer, I'd walk out - now. Are you working on your book, Sean?

Just to keep the record clear, I am not in talks with the White House to replace Sean Spicer! And I confirm this.

Did Trump ever call me?

I refuse to confirm or deny that Donald Trump contacted me before firing FBI Diretor James Comey. It would be inappropriate for me to make any statement about whether I have any recorded conversations between Trump and me or whether Russia was ever mentioned or discussed between us. While I'm certain that Trump records everything said in the Oval Office or on most of his phones, I shall make no similar statement about anything said in my office or on my phone(s).

However, having said that, Donald Trump "better hope that there are no 'tapes' of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press..."

I have never been informed that he might record any of our conversations, surreptitiously or otherwise. I have never given my consent to him to 'tape' anything said between us. Further, I refuse to confirm whether there has ever been even one conversation between us.

I rather suspect that Trump, if questioned by the press about any direct communication with The Woodstock Advocate or me, might just resort to saying, "Gus who?"

Will Comey suffer VFS?

Will James Comey suffer V.F.S.? You know - Vince Foster Syndrome ...

His sudden ouster on Tuesday is, to me, suspicious. Trump just threw him under the bus. Imagine your surprise when you doing your job on the West Coast, and your boss sends the goons to your office on the East Coast to deliver your boss' message, "You're Fired!"

And you hear about it on the news...

I am very disappointed with Trump. Yes, I voted for him. I would have voted for Mickey Mouse to keep Hillary out of the White House.  But Trump is acting like a spoiled brat.

I didn't vote for Jared and Ivanka and the Trump tribe. I didn't vote for Kellyanne Conway. Now there is somebody Trump ought to fire.

If I were Comey, I'll tell any Congressional Committee to take their job and shove it. If they wanted me to appear, it would be $100,000/hour, with a five-hour minimum, plus expenses and bodyguards. And I'd be increasing my life insurance - fast!