Beth Bentley - Missing 396 Weeks (7 yrs. 7 mos.)

There was a lot of activity in Judge Chmiel's courtroom on Thursday, December 21, in the case related to the probate of Beth Bentley's Estate. Did anyone (besides lawyers) go?

The probate case is No. 17PR000295. You can follow it at www.mchenrycircuitclerk.org

The entries in court records for December 21, 2017 are:

ORDER-IMPOUND
LETTERS OF OFFICE
ORDER-LEGAL REPRESENTATIVE APPOI
BOND-OATH
ORDER
ORDER-HEIRSHIP
ORDER
MEMORANDUM-OPINION AND ORDER
AFFIDAVIT
NOTICE
OATH
AFFIDAVIT-HEIRSHIP

These documents are all public record. Anyone can go to the McHenry County Courthouse, 3rd floor, and read them on the Court's computer system, without charge. If you want to buy printed copies, the cost will be $2.00/page.

On August 28, 2017, there was filed a PETITION-TESTAMENTARY.

Somewhere in the process Beth is going to have to be declared dead. She hasn't been seen or heard of for more than seven years. It seems to me that a Petition should have been filed for a Presumption of Death Order before the Estate was ever opened for probate, but the court must have accepted it among other papers.

If she had a Will, the Will can be read at the courthouse. I thought I had read a newspaper article that she did not have a Will. If not, then she will have died intestate. But since the August 28 filing reads TESTAMENTARY, I wonder whether there was a Will. If there was a Will, it can be read as filed.

The name of her husband at the time of her disappearance, Scott Bentley, appears in online court records as Independent Administrator of her Estate.

The lawyer for the estate is Guy Youman, of Rupp & Youman.

The Illinois Attorney General is listed as ATTORNEY - INTEREST OF. Is this normal in cases of Petitions for Presumption of Death? Or is the State interested for another reason?

The ORDER-IMPOUND may be related to any records from law enforcement agencies that police want withheld from the public view while they continue their investigation.

On December 1 Judge Chmiel issued a HIPAA QUALIFIED PROTECTIVE ORDER. There were rumors in 2010 of a health condition of Beth that, if true, would have interested police investigators. Could this Order impede a police investigation that could proceed after a Presumption of Death Petition is granted?

The Illinois State Police have assigned FOIA Response No. 17-2930 to my FOIA request, filed December 18, for the location at which suspected human remains were found in Jefferson County by the Illinois State Police. Several people from southern Illinois have told me where police activity was on December 4, but I'm waiting for official response.

The address of the property visited by Jenn Wyatt and Beth Bentley on that May 21-23, 2010 week-end is 17974 N. Miller Lake Road. It's a Mt. Vernon (Ill.) mailing address, but the house is in Jefferson County, outside the city limits of Mt. Vernon. According to Zillow.com the house was on and off the market. The listing and sales activity from Zillow.com shows

December 2010

6/13/10 Listed by Century 21 $126,000
7/31/10 Listing removed
8/5/14 Listed by owner $156,900
5/28/15 Listed by Century 21 $156,900
6/26/15 Pending sale $156,900
8/7/15 Back on market $156.900
9/9/15 Price change (-5.4%)
1/19/16 Pending sale $148,500
3/4/16 Sold $142,500

The Zillow information may or may not be complete.

Court Should Delay Issuing Death Certificate

A Petition for Presumption of Death in the disappearance of Benedetta (Beth) Bentley has apparently been filed in the McHenry County Circuit Court. It seems to be part of the probate filing on August 28 in Case No. 17PR000295.

Burned human remains were found on December 4th in Jefferson County, Ill. by the Illinois State Police, and the Woodstock (Ill.) Police Department has referred to the Beth Bentley in a press release about the ISP finding. In my opinion, it is unusual for police to refer to any particular missing-person case after remains are found, in the absence of positive identification.

The location at which the burned human remains were found may have something to do with the decision at the Woodstock Police Department to report a possible connection to Beth Bentley, who reportedly failed to return to Woodstock on May 24, 2010 from a week-end jaunt to the Mt. Vernon, Ill. area.

It may be possible to determine whose remains have been found through DNA testing.

The next court date for the probate filing is this Thursday, December 21, 9:30AM, in Judge Chmiel's courtroom, Room 202, 2200 N. Seminary, Woodstock. The hearing should be open to the public. Hopefully, reporters will be there.

If Judge Chmiel has not already granted the Petition, he should delay it until the remains have been identified. If they turn out to be those of Beth Bentley, then an investigation into the cause and manner of her death must be intensified.

Finding these remains seven-and-one-half years after her disappearance cannot be the result of coincidence. The State Police didn't just "happen" upon them. Once the location is disclosed, one big question may be "Why wasn't that location searched then?"

If the remains were found on December 4 as a result of new information or a tip, the source of the information should be protected. It has been my opinion for more than seven years that a number of people know exactly what happened to Beth. If one of them is talking now, the others won't be happy about it.

Remains - where found?

The press release that appeared on the Facebook page of the Illinois State Police (ISP) District 13/DuQuoin about the burned human remains found in Jefferson County, Ill. and published later the same day in the Northwest Herald doesn't reveal where the remains were found. It says only "rural Jefferson County (Ill.)".

It seems to me that the location could be disclosed without harming any investigation. And so today I emailed a Freedom of Information Act Request to the Illinois State Police headquarters in Springfield. Why there?

Back in about 2013, when I tried to get information from the DuQuoin district office, I was informed that all FOIA requests must go to Springfield headquarters.

Filing the request starts the clock ticking. ISP will have a certain number of days to reply. And reply it must, even if only to deny the request. Then a Request for Review can be submitted to the Illinois Secretary of State's Public Access Counselor. All this takes time; perhaps in the meantime the Woodstock Police or the ISP will disclose the location.

As I wrote recently, it is very unusual for police to associate the finding of human remains with any missing person case, until a positive identification has been made. There must be solid grounds for doing so in this case.

Were the remains found on the property outside of Mt. Vernon owned by a Woodstock resident and in the possession of his sons? At this property?

Or were the remains found nearby, in the vicinity of Miller Lake?

And what happened to the $5,000 Reward that was offered in June 2010?

Was any of it ever paid out? Where is the $5,000 today?

If it's Beth ...

If the Illinois State Police are able to confirm that the remains found on a rural property in Jefferson County, Ill. are those of Beth Bentley, it certainly will create an interesting situation for Jennifer Wyatt-Paplham.

As you may recall, Jenn told police that she drove Beth to the Centralia (Ill.) Amtrak Station on Sunday afternoon, May 23, 2010. Police charged Jenn with Obstruction of Justice after they believed she had spoken with Beth on May 25. Those charged were dropped.

While speculation is rampant that the remains could be Beth's, one needs to remember that the police usually do not associate the finding of remains with any particular missing person, until a positive identification has been made.

How long can it take to identify the remains?

Hopefully, the Illinois State Police will soon release the rural location. That will go a long way in raising or lowering hopes.

Beth Bentley Probate filed in August

When I posted yesterday about the news release pertaining to suspected human remains in Jefferson County, Illinois, which includes the Mount Vernon area, I made an assumption that the Illinois State Police had made the news release. I first found it on the Facebook page for Illinois State Police District 13 (DuQuoin), after a southern Illinois follower of this blog emailed me.

Upon reflection I paid closer attention to the Woodstock, Ill. source line, and then the Northwest Herald published the release at 4:37PM yesterday.

The remains were found, according to the article, on December 4 at an as-yet undisclosed rural location in Jefferson County. At this time it is unknown to me whether the remains were found on the property visited by Beth and Jenn Wyatt during their get-away week-end in May 2010.

In the past, when remains have been found in southern Illinois, law enforcement officials were careful not to associate them with a name of a missing person until a positive identification could be made.

The news release repeats the "Amtrak story" that many quickly felt was "fake news". I think there is only one person on the planet who thinks that Beth went to Centralia to take a train to Chicago, and I wonder whether she really believes it. That story would be a good subject for a polygraph.

Several years ago pieces of a burned brassiere were found in a burn pit by a downstate woman who was searching for Beth. I never learned at the time if the pieces were turned over to law enforcement authorities.

On August 22 I wrote a long article on this blog about Beth and mentioned the seven-year statute for filing a Presumption of Death Petition. At that time there was no record in the McHenry County Circuit Court online records of any legal activity beyond attempts in 2012 and 2014 by two apparent creditors to collect monies owed by Beth.

On August 28 a court filing (17PR000295) was made to open Beth's Probate Estate. Reading of this filing yesterday caused me to wonder when, or if, a Petition for a Presumption of Death Determination had been filed, heard or granted. You can follow this case on www.mchenrycircuitclerk.org

On October 24 a Motion of some type was filed in this case.

On December 1 a Motion was filed and granted for a Protective Order. I've been watching court cases for years and this is the first time I've seen a Protective Order in an estate matter.

On December 5 a Hearing was conducted by Judge Chmiel on a Petition pertaining to Administration of the Estate. Could this be the Presumption of Death Petition?

On December 21 at 9:30AM Judge Chmiel will hear more on a/the Petition pertaining to Administration.

On October 16, 2018 Judge Chmiel will conduct a conference in the Estate matter. This is probably scheduled as a routine court date six weeks before a normal Estate closing hearing.

If there is a local reader who would like to go to the courthouse and read the October 24, December 1 and December 5 Motions, I would appreciate your assistance. If I were in McHenry County, I would go. I don't need copies of the Motions, unless they warrant close inspection. They are available online through a paid-for subscription that attorneys maintain.

Please contact me for authorization regarding a purchase of any court documents. Confidentiality assured. Email gus@woodstockadvocate.com or call 847/971-7083.

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.

Beth Bentley - gone 41 weeks now...

It has been 41 weeks since Beth Bentley disappeared.

From where did she disappear? Centralia, Ill.? Mount Vernon, Ill.? Woodstock?

Finding her ought to be like sliding down the inside of a funnel. You start at the top, on the rim. As you get closer and closer to the spout, you get closer and closer to finding her. No one should be ruled out. Those closest to her (inappropriate relationships, family, co-workers, friends, acquaintances, occasional contacts, disgruntled friends) get put under the microscope.

It's too bad that so many postings have been removed or deleted from the several Facebook (FB) pages. The Beth Bentley Missing FB page (BBM-1) at one time had almost 8,000 followers. Then one of the "administrators" did a slice and dice and chopped a large number on her own volition. Many concerned followers had posted comments that might just lead investigators to Beth, but those comments are gone.

A second FB page ("BBM-2") initially promised not to censure or delete comments, but it happened there, too. Most recently, a poster using the name "Amy Bee" posted very insightful comments - many of them. They are gone now, as if "Amy Bee"'s FB name. If she deleted her account, all her comments went with it.

Some people get concerned about "posers", who are those who don't use their true names. Flaming someone while using a poser account is the chicken's way of commenting; however, if you have information that might just be quite good, but you are afraid to use your true name, then why not use a "poser" name.

I'm not in favor of waterboarding (although, after watching the movie Unthinkable, I might change my mind), but there are slightly less objectionable methods of sweating information out of people who might just have information about what happened to Beth. Are there some gaps in some of the stories?

Right now only the detectives know. Has there been an intense analysis and group meeting between detectives from Woodstock and Mount Vernon PDs and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office?

Maybe it's time to start fresh from the beginning - from the night of the baseball game in Woodstock on May 20, 2010, and once again trace every step. Even back earlier, when the car was rented (if one was).

Jefferson County re-elected a gentleman as Sheriff

On November 2nd voters in Jefferson County, Ill. re-elected a gentleman as Sheriff. The incumbent, Roger Mulch (Dem.), received 7,311 votes (59%). Republican challenger Eric Breeze received 4,593 votes (37%), and Independent challenger Rick Taaka received 489 votes (4%).

Why do I call Sheriff Mulch a gentleman?

Look at what he said to reporter Tesa Culli of the Mt. Vernon Register-News: “I’m thankful to the citizens of Jefferson County for casting their ballots and exercising their rights to vote,” Mulch said. “I wish the best of luck to both my opponents, and I’m looking forward to serving the citizens of Jefferson County as their sheriff for the next four years.”

Why is Sheriff Mulch's name known now in northern Illinois? Jefferson County includes Mount Vernon, where it is suspected that Beth Bentley disappeared on May 22-23 of this year. Suspicion centers on a home there owned by the Ridge family, where it is believed Beth was a visitor with her traveling companion of the week-end, Jennifer Wyatt.

Sheriff Mulch's jurisdiction includes Rend Lake, where one story about the week-end indicates two women (Beth and Jenn) and four men may have used a boat rented at a lake marina. No civilian has yet been able to confirm that boat rental, and it is unknown whether a law enforcement agency had any luck in doing so or identifying the four men.

Beth Bentley - Day 34

Beth Bentley, 41, went missing on May 23, 2010.

Why hasn't there been a press conference in Woodstock? Wouldn't you think that the Woodstock Police Department and Scott Bentley would have conducted several press conferences by now?

Beth was reported missing to the Woodstock Police Department on Monday, May 24, as of 10:48PM, according to the second missing-person press release of WPD. Not the first.

When was the first press release delivered to the press? On its preparation date of May 27?

On May 30 Chicago Tribune "Breaking News" carried a story that "friends and relatives" were asking the public's help, not that the Woodstock P.D. had announced that she was missing.

On or about June 9 the Woodstock PD finally put the May 27 press release on its website but buried the second press release behind a tab that most internet users would believe held only older news. That June 9 press release has since been moved to the WPD first page of press releases.

But still there has been no organized, ongoing public appeal for information that might lead to finding Beth. CrimeStoppers announced a $2,000 reward, which has since increased to $5,000.

The 6:08PM train story has pretty much been blown off the tracks. Speculation is rampant. Beth's Facebook "missing" page has 6,626 followers. A few followers from out-of-town are hard chargers and anxious to see less talk, more walk.

Even the fundraiser that has been announced will not be until July 16. Where is the sense of urgency about finding her?

Those who were with her in Mt. Vernon need to be under the microscope until every grain of truth about the week-end comes out.

What law enforcement agency is really in charge? Woodstock PD? Mt. Vernon PD? Jefferson County SO? Illinois State Police? If WPD is the lead investigatory LE agency, how do you manage a missing-person case from 330 miles away?

The fundraiser ought to happen right now, so money can be raised for a private investigator and an organized public effort of search parties in Mt. Vernon. A PayPal link could be placed on the http://www.bethismissing.com/ website (which has gone stale), with assurance that any money donated would be publicly accounted for and used for searching for Beth. If 6,000 people donated $2, it would be a good start.

"Bad" drugs in Mt. Vernon

Through a message received directly from a Mt. Vernon, Ill. resident I've learned that it is believed there is a "bad" batch of heroin being distributed in the Mt. Vernon area. Now, I'm one who would say that there is no "good" batch. A "bad" batch is, to me, one that results in fast and/or abnormal reaction to the drug. To a new or infrequent user it could be almost instantly fatal.

This information was sent to me in connection with the Beth Bentley disappearance.

If anyone - anyone - has knowledge of drug use by anyone being associated with any of the parties connected to Beth or this case, contact the Woodstock (Ill.) Police Department at 815.338.2131 with information. It couldn't hurt also to contact the Mt. Vernon Police Department and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, just to be sure that everyone gets the same information fast.

Or you can call the Crime Stoppers Coalition of McHenry County at 800.762.STOP. Crime Stoppers' phone lines are supposed to be confidential; this one is answered at a local police department. Rules in certified Crime Stopper organizations may be in place to tightly control who has access to the list of numbers from which calls are received, but the McHenry County Coalition is not a certified group. If you want to be sure that your number is not revealed, use a Calling Card. But call, and call today.

Every tip could be useful in finding Beth. You never know how it might be connected with another tip, which could then lead to locating Beth. Every day that passes reduces the odds of finding her.