ISP Press Release on Bentley

Earlier this afternoon the Illinois State Police issued this press release:

ISP MAKES POSITIVE IDENTIFICATION ON REMAINS OF BENEDETTA “BETH” BENTLEY

DuQuoin, IL – Illinois State Police (ISP) officials announce the positive identification of the body of Benedetta “Beth” Bentley. The human remains, located on December 4, 2017 in rural Jefferson County, have been positively identified.

On May 23, 2010, a friend reportedly dropped off Beth Bentley at an Amtrak Station in Centralia, Illinois. Bentley was reportedly taking a train back to her home located in Woodstock, Illinois. Bentley did not return home and was reported missing. Information was developed which led the ISP to a rural location in Jefferson County where suspected human remains were recovered at the location.

The results of the joint investigation conducted by the ISP Zone 7 Investigations, ISP Zone 1 Investigations and Woodstock Police Department (WPD) have been forwarded to the Jefferson County State’s Attorney’s office for review.

No further information will be available from the ISP.

All subjects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
###

The "friend" mentioned in that release is Jenn Wyatt. Was she telling the truth at the time, when she said she dropped Beth off at the Amtrak station in Centralia?

I saw the phone records for several people on a group phone bill, and the pattern of calls was definitely suspicious.

The Woodstock Police Department was the lead investigating agency, because it was where she was reported missing. However, Woodstock is more than 300 miles from Mt. Vernon and Jefferson County, and it would have been difficult and expensive for Woodstock PD to investigate thorough.

Did the Illinois State Police get a tip to check out a burn pit? Who tipped them? Did that person seek immunity for providing the tip? 

Never lose hope in DNA testing. It might take a while; might take years. But cases get solved many years later. 

Remains are of Beth Bentley

The Illinois State Police is reporting that burned remains found approximately two years in Jefferson County, Illinois, near Mt. Vernon, are those of missing Beth Bentley, then 41, of Woodstock.

Beth was reported missing in May 2010, when she did not return from a trip to Mt. Vernon, Iowa with her friend, Jenn Wyatt. There are many articles on this blog. For a couple of years I wrote weekly about her being missing.

There were plenty of suspicions floating around about what happened to her. There were too many misdirections and red herrings. Too many stories that didn't match up. Too many sketchy circumstances.

Those closest to these stories should be worried big-time now that her remains have been found. In my mind, there is no doubt that at least six people have known since May 2010 exactly what happened to her. Until now they apparently have kept their mouths shut. Now that they know the little burning trick didn't work, maybe at least one of them will be nervous enough to speak up.

Obviously, she never took a train from Centralia, as Wyatt said. How is Wyatt going to explain now about the identity of the burned remains? Wyatt claimed then that she had driven Bentley to the Amtrak station and dropped her there, so that Bentley could take the train to Chicago and on to Woodstock. Will she stick to that story now?

Thanks to the numerous people who tipped me off to the short story in the Northwest Herald. The Illinois State Police will remain quiet; it's an open case.

The next court date on the probate of Beth's Will is scheduled for February 18, 2020. Will Judge Chmiel find good reason to hold the probate open? Can anyone explain the Motion to Impound that was filed on December 21, 2017? Is this similar to sealing court records? Why would that have been requested?

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.

Beth Bentley - gone 149 weeks

People from near and far are still contacting me about Beth Bentley. Most of them never knew Beth, just as I didn't.

But the missing mother, from Woodstock when we went missing at age 41 on May 23, 2010, has not been forgotten.

And those who have knowledge of what happened to her have not been forgotten. There are at least three with knowledge of the events of that fateful week-end. There may be others, because of Beth's wide range of acquaintances in McHenry County.

How many times did the police interview the three with whom Beth is thought to have spent the week-end in Mount Vernon, Illinois? According to one story, Beth and friend Jennifer Wyatt-Paplham drove from Woodstock to Mount Vernon on Thursday night, May 20, 2010. leaving Beth's car in Jennifer's garage and using a rental car. The car had to be rented by Beth, because Jennifer's California driver's license was expired.

It's 335 miles from the house that Jennifer was renting in Woodstock to the house in Mount Vernon that Ryan Ridge was rehabbing. Who drove? How far? Did both drive? Assuming that Beth and Jennifer left Woodstock between 9-10PM, they would have gotten to Mt. Vernon about 3-4AM.

When (if?) Jennifer dropped Beth off in Centralia, Ill. near the Amtrak Station on Sunday about 6:00PM, is there anyone on the planet who believes that Jennifer doesn't know what Beth's plans were? They were supposed to meet up in northern Illinois on Monday afternoon, so that Beth could retrieve her car from Jennifer's garage and get home by the time her husband, Scott, got home from work that Monday afternoon. At least, that was Jennifer's story on June 10.

But what is some riff had happened over the week-end? What if Beth left in a huff? But if she did, why didn't she take the rental car and leave Jennifer there?

The train story falls apart fast. According to Jennifer on June 10, Beth never intended to take the train to Chicago that Sunday. So, what did Beth intend to do? Hitchhike out of Centralia? Ride the rails? Walk off the edge of the Earth?

Did Beth die in the Mt. Vernon area that week-end? If she did die there, who was she with? Did those with her panic? Did they make her disappear?

Beth Bentley pal arrested

This Sunday it will be 139 weeks that Beth Bentley has been missing.

One of her Beth's pals was arrested yesterday, January 18, on drug charges and spent the night in Hotel Nygren. As of this time she is still in custody.

Robin Moore, 38, was charged with felony possession of a controlled substance (2 counts) and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. She was confined at 6:41PM yesterday and is there on a $10,000 bail. If somebody will come up with $1,000, she will breathe fresh air again.

She is scheduled to appear in Courtroom 302 on Wednesday, January 23, at 9:00AM.

Could she know something about Beth's disappearance?

Woodstock Police had a chance to "talk" with her when they arrested her for DUI on May 14, 2011. She was convicted on November 22, 2011 and it cost her $3,362 in fine, court costs and fees. Plus, probably, a big chunk in legal fees from her Woodstock attorney, Ray Flavin.

Conditions of her sentence included, in addition to the fine and costs, DUI school and 240 hours of public service.

Notice that no jail time was part of the sentence. That's how serious McHenry County is about drunk driving.

Beth Bentley - Week 127!

Week 127! Beth Bentley, of Woodstock, Ill., has been missing since about May 23, 2010!!!

Who is involved in finding her?

Woodstock (Ill.) Police Department
Mount Vernon (Ill.) Police Department
Centralia (Ill.) Police Department
Jefferson County (Ill.) Sheriff's Department
Illinois State Police, Investigations (Zone 7? Zone 1?)

Did any of them interview Nathan Ridge and Ryan Ridge, brothers that Jenn Wyatt and Beth purported visited in Mount Vernon on the fateful week-end in May 2010? Did Ryan or Nathan tell police whether or not they saw Beth early Friday morning, May 21, 2010, after Jenn and Beth supposedly drove all night from Woodstock to Mount Vernon?

It's 330 miles from Woodstock to Mount Vernon. What time did they leave Woodstock? What route did they take? Where did they stop? What tolls were paid? Where did they buy gas? Who drove and how far? Did both drive? How many miles were put on the rental car? Was there a rental car? What time did they arrive in Mount Vernon?

Beth's car was parked inside Jenn's garage that week-end. Did investigators inventory her car after taking the missing-person report on the evening of May 24, 2010? Did investigators even go through Jenn's rental house at 749 Tara Drive, Woodstock? Ever take a specially-trained sniffer dog into the house? Down into the basement?

This case continues to be classified as a Missing Person case by the Woodstock Police Department.

I say "classified", not "treated". If you are treating a case as a Missing Person case, don't you ask the public for help? Don't you remind the public that the Person is still missing? The November 11, 2010 flier is still posted on the PD's website, but with no further information than was originally posted. The expiration date for the flier is now May 11, 2013, which is 2 1/2 years after the flier was put on the PD's website.

Now that's optimistic, isn't it?

The flier states that rewards of $2,000 are offered by the Woodstock and McHenry County CRIMESTOPPERS (sic), but there may no longer be a Woodstock Area Crime Stoppers group.

Earlier this year I was told it had folded and that the remaining funds had been transferred to Crime Stoppers for McHenry County. I guess that trims the reward to $1,000. At one time there was a total of $5,000 offered as a reward.

In checking the Illinois Secretary of State's website today, the Woodstock Area Crime Stoppers, Inc. is still listed as Active. The next Annual Report Filing Date is December 15. Maybe they are just going to let it dissolve involuntarily, which would make it harder (impossible?) and more expensive to resurrect, if interested parties showed up in the future.

Police update on Beth Bentley case

Let's take a look at the July report of the Woodstock Police Department in the Beth Bentley missing-person case. Each month the P.D. informs the City Manager (and through him, the Mayor and the City Council) of its activity in this case. The July Report, included in the September 4, 2012, packet to the City Council read:

"The Woodstock Police Department continues to investigate and follow up on all leads in the investigation of the Endangered Missing Person Benedetta "Beth" Bentley. The Investigations Division maintains contact with the family of Benedetta Bentley, the Illinois State Police and all other Police Agencies involved in this case for updates and the sharing of intelligence/information."

Sound familiar? It should. The same two sentences appear month and month with only the slightest change. For example, previous reports have included "aggressively follow up". The July report does not. The detail is called "boilerplate". Using it month after month reflects poorly on both the sender and the recipient. It basically says, "Ain't nothin' happenin', boss."

The only nibble on the investigatory hook earlier this year was the arrest of Jennifer Wyatt on felony charges that were dismissed by a judge, before ever getting anywhere near a trial. The felony charges were embarrassingly thin and never should have been approved by the State's Attorney's Office in the first place. The P.D. didn't have even the slightest chance of proving them because they didn't meet the statute.

What would happen is MIAT were pulled into this case, even now? What if trained investigators from several law-enforcement agencies in McHenry County were assembled and started a new investigation from Day One? What's MIAT? Major Incident Assistance Team?

Is not the sudden disappearance of a 41-year-old mother, wife and employee a "major incident"? Especially when so many conflicting stories arose so quickly?

Any suggestions from readers about subjects or people for MIAT to put under the microscope?

If you are afraid to associate your name, email address, or "poser" name with comments, then email or mail them to me. If you want to fax them, call first so I can switch the line to my low-tech fax machine. The phone line for the home phone/fax machine does not have CallerID. Honest! Sources will be held in the strictest confidence.

Week 123 - Beth Bentley still gone

Who will be the first to crack?

Somebody in Woodstock or somebody who used to live in Woodstock or somebody with connections to Woodstock knows what happened to Beth Bentley on the week-end of May 20-23, 2010. That's when Beth vanished. Without a trace, so far.

Traveling buddy, sometimes alibi, friend, co-worker Jennifer Wyatt-Paplham must know more than "I dropped her off near the Centralia (Ill.) Amtrak Station and don't know what she was going to do."

Anybody believe that? Anybody?

Why would Jenn write on her Facebook page: "...its (sic) funny they are mad that I lied for my BF but she has lied more then (sic) me ... she lied for scott !!! ..."?

The Woodstock Police and the Illinois State Police should be tracking down every lie. Every last one of them. When did Beth lie "for scott"? About what?

Every aspect of Beth's life should have come under a fine microscope by now? Has it? Have the police investigators examined absolutely everything that Beth ever touched? Have the police carefully reconstructed her personal life, her health, her habits, her family relationships, her friends?

Have the police carefully examined every function she controlled in the law office of her husband where she worked? Have the police investigators tracked every dollar of law practice income and expenditures that she controlled? Was all income properly documented and reported? Were all disbursements authorized and documented?

Was all payroll handled in accordance with IRS procedures? How were work hours recorded? For example, was Jenn Wyatt an employee or was she paid for contract work or in-kind or "cash". In another legal case, Jenn claimed she had no income and could not pay down the $70,000 she owed in child support.

Yet she lived in a rental house, drove a car provided to her, must have had money for food, medical care for children, etc. Was that money a gift to her or was it paid to her for her work at the law firm?

It would be very difficult for a law firm to pay a secretarial employee on a contract basis. The IRS rules are very clear about contracted help and what a firm can and cannot expect or require from a person doing contract work. A firm cannot classify a worker as a contractor, when that person is really an employee. How did the law firm handle Social Security and income-tax withholding on work that Jenn did there?

Somebody knows where Beth is.

Wyatt charges thrown out

It was no surprise that the felony charges against Jennifer Wyatt in the Beth Bentley missing person case were thrown out today. Woodstock Police had charged Wyatt with two counts of obstruction of justice. The State's Attorney's Office authorized the filing of the charges.

The charges looked weak from the get-go. Public Defender Kim Messer had filed a motion to have the charges dismissed, and the motion was granted this morning.

Why did Woodstock Police file them in the first place? And why did the State's Attorney's office authorize the filing of them?

Beth Bentley gone 113 weeks. Lawyer: dismiss case

Beth Bentley vanished in May 2010. She disappeared sometime between May 20-23. She was last seen in Illinois.

Sure glad I wrote my article about Jenn Wyatt's charges on Tuesday because, on Wednesday, her attorney appeared in court and asked for charges to be dismissed.

Her argument? Sure sounds like it was close to mine, and mine wasn't even new. Shortly after the felony charges were filed against Jenn back in March, I wondered out loud whether the Woodstock Police would be able to make them stick.

Jenn's attorney is Kim Messer, Assistant Public Defender in McHenry County.

Felony charges have to be approved by the State's Attorney's Office. A police department can't just file felony charges. So what do you suppose led the Woodstock Police Department and the McHenry County State's Attorney's Office to believe they'd be able to successfully prosecute Jenn on these charges?

Maybe they'll surprise Jenn and her lawyer and be able to do it. On the face of it, they shouldn't be able to, because the Woodstock Police have never spoken of any "crime" having been committed. Beth Bentley is "just" a missing person. Of course, that's if you believe the Woodstock Police Department.

When you start asking around, no one believes Beth Bentley is a missing person. The good people of southern Illinois have rallied from the start and assumed that Beth had vanished from southern Illinois. But did she?

Did Beth vanish from Centralia, Ill., where Jenn says she dropped Beth off near the Amtrak Station on Sunday, May 23, 2010?

Or did Beth vanish from Mount Vernon, Ill., where Beth and Jenn had reportedly visited Ryan and Nathan Ridge? Has either Ridge ever been interviewed by the Woodstock Police Department, the Mount Vernon, Police Department, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office or the Illinois State Police in this case?

Or did Beth really ever leave Woodstock on Thursday night, May 20, 2010?

Jenn knows. Ryan Ridge knows. Nathan Ridge knows. My guess is that another half-dozen people in Woodstock know.

When the Woodstock PD officers interviewed Jenn on May 23-24, did she tell them that she had driven the rental car 300 miles back from Mount Vernon on May 24? Did they ask her for any photo identification? Did she show them an expired California Driver's License? Did they notice at the time that it was expired and raise the question about her legal authority to operate a motor vehicle in Illinois? Did she drive away from the interview that night?

Beth Bentley - gone 99 weeks now

Beth Bentley, mother of three and age 41 in May 2010, has now been missing for 99 weeks.

Are there any new leads?

Are any old leads being re-investigated?

Is there still any reward being offered? Two Crime Stoppers groups each offered "up to" $1,000 for information. Typical Crime Stoppers rewards actually paid averaged $300, so who is going to cough up information for $300?

Or even for $1,000?

And the other $3,000 that was initially offered? Has that faded into oblivion with most of the Missing Person posters?

Should any significance be attached to the absence of any meaningful reward or of any ongoing public attention to this case?

Beth Bentley - 98 weeks and counting

And now she has been gone 98 weeks. Beth Bentley vanished sometime on the week-end of May 20-23, 2010.

She supposedly traveled that week-end with her friend, Jennifer Wyatt, from Woodstock to Mount Vernon, Ill. on Thursday night, May 20. Leaving Woodstock after her son's baseball game and a trip to Dairy Queen, they might have hit the road about 9:00-10:00PM. Beth's car had been parked in the garage of Jenn's rented home at 749 Tara Drive, Woodstock, and they were using a rental car.

Jenn didn't have a valid driver's license. Her California driver's license had expired on her birthday in November 2009. The rental car agency would not have accepted her as an authorized driver. So did Beth drive all 300+ miles to Mount Vernon?.

They were to hang out with Ryan Ridge (reportedly, Jenn's boyfriend at the time) and his younger brother, Nathan

What time did they get to Mount Vernon? Did they sleep? How late on Friday did they sleep? And then what did they do? Did they have dinner at the Frosty Mug, where a waitress said she refused to serve Nathan Ridge, because he was under 21? What did they do Friday night after dinner?

And Saturday? Did they really rent a boat? Were there four men and the two women on the boat? Woodstock Police say they confirmed the boat rental. A local resident said she talked to the marina operator and it never happened. Saturday night? Was there a party at the house being rehabbed by Ryan Ridge or did they go to town?

And Sunday? What did they do during the day? Why were there so many phone calls from Jenn's phone to Ryan on Sunday morning? Weren't they together? And was a pizza really ordered from Beth's phone, right about the time Jenn says she was dropping Beth off 25 miles away near the Centralia Amtrak station?

And what were the original plans for Beth and Jenn to meet back up near Woodstock, so they could return to Jenn's house, so that Beth could pick up her car and get home before Scott got home from work?

So many unanswered questions... One person knows most of the answers. Others know some of the answers.

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?

Wyatt did NOT have valid license

On June 23, 2010, Jenn Wyatt was ticketed by a McHenry County Sheriff's Dept. deputy after a traffic contact in which Wyatt presented an expired California driver's license. This was only one month after Beth Bentley disappeared. Wyatt was still driving a Volvo sedan that Beth had bought for her to drive.

Wyatt didn't show up for her first court date on July 21, 2010.

At her next court date, on September 15, 2010, while being represented by Attorney John Ridgeway (at that time he shared office space in McHenry with Beth's husband, attorney Scott Bentley), there was, supposedly and miraculously, an Illinois driver's license that was valid on June 23rd.

Anyone smell a rat? I did. Why would Wyatt present an expired California driver's license on June 23, not have a valid Illinois driver's license and the deputy find no record of a valid Illinois driver's license, assuming he queried DMV records via computer or radio? The reason that the deputy did issue the ticket is because she did not have a valid license.

When I asked the Assistant State's Attorney why the case was nolle prossed, he stated he had been shown an Illinois driver's license that was valid on June 23.

The Illinois Secretary of State Police have now confirmed that Wyatt did not have a valid Illinois driver's license on June 23, 2010.  Her Illinois license was issued after that date.

Why is this important? Then, and now, police have an opportunity to "persuade" Wyatt to tell all she knows about Beth Bentley's disappearance.

What document was the Assistant State's Attorney shown? Did he just read the date wrong? Or is it possible that he was shown a license that had been altered? Or did he mean to tell me that he excused the ticket, because Wyatt had obtained an Illinois driver's license a, even if after the ticket date, and that was good enough. Does everyone get that kind of break if caught driving without a valid license?

96 weeks Beth Bentley has been missing

Beth Bentley, age 41 in May 2010, has been missing for 96 weeks.

There is virtually no clamor to find her. No one around Woodstock mentions her name. No Missing Person posters are seen around town. Certainly, no billboards remain to broadcast her picture and plea for help in finding her.

What really happened to Beth? Did she make it to Mount Vernon, Ill. on the night of May 20, when Jenn Wyatt says that Beth and she drove there? Did she really get dropped off near the Amtrak station in Centralia, Ill. on Sunday, May 23.

The police have known since mid-June 2010 that Jenn told me that Beth never intended to take a train that afternoon. So, if it's even true that Jenn dropped Beth off in Centralia, then whom was Beth planning to meet? Supposedly, Jenn has said that she doesn't know. Now that certainly does seem strange, coming from a woman who may have been Beth's closest friend, frequent traveling companion, recipient of a job, rental house, loaned car and what knows what else, and sometimes alibi for Beth.

Did Beth even ever get out of Woodstock on the night of Thursday, May 20, after her son's baseball game and being seen at the Woodstock Dairy Queen?

Did the police get a search warrant and tear apart the house at 749 Tara Drive, where Beth's had been parked in the garage while they were gone for the week-end, using a rental car instead of Beth's car or Jenn's car? How carefully did the police go through Beth's residence looking for clues? At all?

Somebody is going to slip up one of the days. Somebody is going to get a DUI or get arrested on a serious drug charge, and then the lips are going to loosen.

Jenn Wyatt could be facing prison time, if she gets convicted on the current felony charges. Will her memory suddenly improve? Or could she be afraid to talk, if harm against one of her children has been threatened? She'd be well-advised to re-read the Condition of her bail bond. She can't leave the State of Illinois without the court's permission.

Wyatt's next court date is April 25 at 9:00AM in Courtroom 302. According to online court records, she is represented by the McHenry County Public Defender's office. Will they continue to represent her, if her actual income is significantly higher than she stated on her financial affidavit, when she asked for the public defender. She may have omitted a chunk of additional monthly child support. And, if she is working somewhere in or near Woodstock "for cash", that's "income" and has to be disclosed.

Beth Bentley - gone 97 weeks

Susan Powell - still a missing person case. Yeah, sure. The husband takes children on a night camping trip in freezing weather. Mom disappears. One of the kids says that mom was in the trunk. A few weeks later, "Mom is dead."

"This case began as a missing person case and remains as such," he said. "But due to the suspicious nature ... murder and kidnapping have not been excluded." So said a sergeant of the police department of West Valley City, Utah. He should have kept his mouth shut.

If police cases, such as the Susan Powell disappearance (likely murder), were not so serious, this statement would be laughable. All that's left is to find the body.

Now, Beth Bentley vanished in 2010. Could similar words be uttered in a statement from the Woodstock Police Department?

Why has there not ever been a definitive statement by the Woodstock Police as to where she was last seen? So far, only the words of Jenn Wyatt explain the week-end of Beth's disappearance.

Was Beth ever really seen in Mount Vernon? Did Beth and her traveling companion, Jenn Wyatt, really arrive in Mount Vernon early on Friday morning, May 21, 2010, at the house that Ryan Ridge was rehabbing? Was Nathan there? What did they do on Friday? Did the four of them really have dinner at The Frosty Mug in Mount Vernon on that Friday night? What did they eat? Where did they sit? What did they do after dinner on Friday night? All day Saturday and Saturday night? All day Sunday? How did the pizza from Pogue's Pizza get ordered from Beth's phone at the time she was supposedly on the way to Centralia?

What does Ryan have to say about the week-end? What does Nathan have to say about the week-end? Separately, I mean.

Will a note from Beth be found? Has one already been found?

How soon did Woodstock Police start to smell a rat? When Beth was reported missing on Monday night, May 24, 2010, to the Woodstock Police Department, how quickly did officers and detectives begin taking opposing views and investigating all possibilities?

Has the house Jenn rented on Tara Drive ever been searched? Even now, it could be searched. Just contact the owner in California for permission. Of course, it would have been better to search it on May 25, 2010. Maybe it was. Was Beth's car searched on May 25, 2010? When was the rental car returned? Was it returned to the same location from which it was rented? If not, why not? And on whose instructions was it returned elsewhere, if it was?

It took almost 22 months to decide to file charges against Wyatt for lying to police two days after Beth disappeared? Have they not yet trapped others with inconsistent statements? When someone in the close circle of Beth's acquaintances has run afoul of liquor, drug or driving laws, have the police "given them an opportunity" to cough up some information?

What is Jenn Wyatt's legal name?

Recently a Woodstock woman was arrested in the Beth Bentley missing person case. Jennifer Wyatt-Paplham was charged with two counts of lying to a Woodstock Police detective, when she was questioned in this case.

Just what is her legal name? Should she be charged under her true name?

Jennifer Wyatt Paplham was divorced in 2005 and her former name was restored on the divorce papers. When the judge drops the gavel and the marriage is over, isn't that the last time the woman should use her former married name?

If her name, Wyatt, was restored in 2005, should she not have changed her driver's license to reflect her true name?

Did she lie a third time, when she told the Woodstock Police that her name was Jennifer Wyatt Paplham? Should the police amend the Complaint, in order to avoid a challenge in court? Why is she still using a name of a former husband after six years' time since the divorce?

Beth Bentley - gone 96 weeks. One arrest

The ground didn't shake last week, when Woodstock Police arrested Jennifer Wyatt on two felony charges connected to the Beth Bentley missing person case. Woodstock Police interviewed her and then arrested her on Monday, March 19. The question on the lips of many who have been following Beth's disappearance was, "What took so long?"

Wyatt was charged with two counts of lying to police, according to the Complaint on file at the McHenry County courthouse. Count One says she furnished false information when she said that did not have contact with Beth Bentley on May 25, 2010, at 4:00PM. That day and time are 48 hours after Jenn said she dropped off Beth in Centralia near the Amtrak station.

Count Two says that Jenn furnished false information to the police when she said she drove Beth to the Amtrak Station in Centralia for the purpose of Beth taking an Amtrak train back to Chicago.

Count One seems to hinge on telephone records that show two calls from Jenn's cell phone to Beth's cell phone on May 25. The first is for one minute; the second is for a six-minute duration.

Many cell phone services ding you for one minute, if you reach a voice mailbox. No answer? No ding. Now, the second call. What if Jenn left a long message on Beth's cell phone, asking, for example, where Beth was and pleading with her to get in touch? Can you leave a lengthy message in a cell phone voice mailbox? (Call your own phone and find out.) If you leave a message, is that "contact" with the person whose phone it is?

Count Two is so vague that it probably won't stick. And, without Beth, who can say why she drove Beth to Centralia if, in fact, she did? Is the lie 1) that she drove Beth to Centralia or 2) that she drove Beth to Centralia to take a train to Chicago? Again, without Beth, what can be proven?

Count Two says "back to Chicago". Had Beth taken a train to Centralia? Or is this merely a linguistic slip, like saying "returning back to" somewhere. Early reports were that Beth and Jenn had driven from Woodstock to Mount Vernon, Ill. on Thursday night, May 20, 2010. But only Jenn is around to say that. What do Ryan and Nathan Ridge have to say about what time Beth and Jenn arrived in Mount Vernon on Friday morning, May 21?

Check out the phone records for Thursday night/Friday/Saturday/Sunday. They tell a story by the calls that were made (and the absence of calls that one might expect would have been made).

The Woodstock Police have known since June 2010 that Jenn told me on June 10, 2010, that "Beth never intended to take a train." So this is a problem for Jenn, if she gave a written statement to police that she took Beth to Centralia so that Beth could take a train. Why did it take from June 2010 to March 2012 for this to result in a felony charge?

What should Jenn do now? If I were Jenn, I'd

1. Keep the Public Defender assigned to me. Kim Messer will represent her well.
2. Not bail on the Public Defender and go with an attorney who has any ties, connections, friendships with anyone else even remotely connected to this case or known in the circle of Beth's friends or acquaintances or business contacts. Since she has a Public Defender, she must not have funds for a private attorney.
3. Keep my mouth shut, no matter how tempting it might be to talk to anyone except my attorney.
4. Find one trusted (professional) ally, sit down in front of a videocamera, and make a complete accounting of my friendship with Beth and all the people around her. I'd tell it all - the good, the bad and the ugly. I'd get it all on a record, "just in case" something happened to me. That "something" being an unplanned, premature demise, even if it looked like a natural death or accident. Call such a recording "insurance".

Has Jenn been threatened? Does she know anything about drug deals (use, purchases, sales, dealer's names), misappropriation of funds, non-reporting of income (personal or business), payment of "cash wages" not reported to IRS or Illinois Dept. of Revenue (cash wages aren't necessarily "wages"), pregnancies, affairs, getaway week-ends.

It's not unlawful to pay workers in cash. But what is unlawful is to classify an office worker as a contract worker without meeting specific requirements in the Internal Revenue Code. It's unlawful to pay a contract worker more than $600 without issuing a Form 1099. If the worker in the office is actually an "employee", then the employer must withhold, and remit, for Social Security and Federal and State income taxes; also, the employer must cough up for Unemployment Insurance and Workers Comp. Were required Forms W-2 or 1099 issued to Jenn for all earnings at the Bentley Law Firm? If an office worker receives any "consideration" for services, (use of a vehicle, house rent, travel money, food money, etc.), that's reportable income.

How big a problem is it for the person who asks for a Public Defender but understates his (or her) monthly income on the financial affidavit? Does anyone from the court follow-up and verify that information? Or check on how many persons are actually supported? If the financial affidavit given under penalty of perjury?

Wyatt arrested. See NWHerald.com

(9:40PM) At 1:34PM today the Northwest Herald published an article about Jennifer Wyatt's arrest on an obstructing justice charge. The article was updated at 7:19PM. Seethe Northwest Herald article here.

Readers called me at 1:44PM, 1:54PM and 2:27PM. Thank you!!!

I was working at a Woodstock polling place today and tried to post using a SmartPhone. It's not so smart as I had thought it was. It would let me write a headline but not add any article or text. So I'll now have to refer to it as a DumbPhone.

Unfortunately, the Northwest Herald story is a masterpiece of nothing. A reader cannot even figure out what Jennifer Wyatt is alleged to have done.

On June 10, 2010, Jenn called me and told me that she had dropped off Beth near the Centralia, Ill. Amtrak station and that Beth had never intended to take a train. What did Jenn originally tell the Woodstock P.D., after a missing person case was filed by Bentley family members on Monday night, May 24, 2010? Did she tell them that she had dropped Beth off to take a train or just that she had dropped off Beth near the Amtrak station.

I know that I made an erroneous assumption immediately that Beth had taken the 6 o'clock train north toward Chicago. I checked the Amtrak schedule for its arrival time in Chicago and for the Metra to Woodstock. I wondered who was picking Beth up at 2:05AM, when the Metra train arrived in Woodstock.

But did Jenn really tell police that Beth had taken the train? Or did everyone assume that?

Since I've been writing about this since June 2010, why did it take 21 months for police to charge Wyatt with lying about the train?

And who charged her? You certainly cannot tell from the article. Did Woodstock Police charge her, or did the Illinois State Police charge her? As of tonight there is no case against Wyatt in the online records of the McHenry County Circuit Clerk. Was she charged downstate and arrested locally on a warrant?

Seems to me that, if she was arrested and already being released on Tuesday on a $7,000 bail from the McHenry County Jail, then there ought to be some local record online, if there is to be a local record.

The reporters also wrote, "Police now say Wyatt was lying when she said she did not have contact with Bentley two days later, according to the criminal complaint."

What does that mean? "Two days later" after what date? Two days after the reported drop-off on Sunday, May 23, in Centralia? Two days after Jenn returned to Woodstock on Monday, May 24? Two days after Beth and Jenn were supposed to have left Woodstock on Thursday, May 20?

And so, if Jenn is alleged to have lied about not having contact with Beth "two days later", does that mean that the police believe Jenn did have contact with Beth? Could that be two days after the Sunday Jenn dropped Beth off?

Is the mystery starting to clear up, or is it getting murkier?

Criminal-case interviews in the Bentley case?

Is the Beth Bentley missing-person case changing into a criminal case?

On January 30th I filed a FOIA request with the Illinois State Police in the Beth Bentley missing person case.

Among other things, I asked:

* Please identify the primary (lead) investigating agency at this time. Is it the Illinois State Police or the Woodstock Police Department or another agency?

* Please identify the last date on which there was communication with the Woodstock Police Department in this matter.

* Please identify how you currently classify this case in your records: Active, Inactive, or by another category.

I also asked for a summary of the case.

 

On February 14th the Illinois State Police denied my request in its entirety, based on the following reasons:

"The information requested, if disclosed, would interfere with a pending law enforcement proceeding. Your case is still pending adjudication.

"The information requested could create a substantial likelihood that a person will be deprived of a fair trial or an impartial hearing if the information were made public, as your case has not yet been adjudicated.

"Release of the requested information would obstruct an ongoing criminal investigation by the Illinois State Police, as interviews are currently being conducted."

Now, should we take hope at that last reason?

Or should we think that the answer is all smoke and mirrors? Because the ISP would not even disclose that last date of contact with the Woodstock Police Department, I am highly suspicious of its entire response. And  because the ISP FOIA Officer referred to "my" (his word, your) case, I tend to think I got a standard, boiler-plate denial. Should I make them prove it by filing a Request for Review with the Attorney General's Public Access Counselor?.

Because the boiler-plate monthly summary by the Woodstock Police Department to the City Manager (and Woodstock City Council) has not changed for six months, except for a little fine-tuning of grammar. What do you suppose the secret is about the last date of contact.

But let's go with the positive note in the response. What "interviews" do you guess might be underway at this time? Who has been in the little room with the one-way mirror?