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.
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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?

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.

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?

Wyatt case now in online record

The charges filed Monday against Jennifer Wyatt in the Beth Bentley missing person case are now in the public record.

Case No. 12CF000250 shows a filing date of March 20, 2012, and also shows a Charge Date of May 25, 2010, which is two days after Wyatt reportedly last saw Bentley, when Wyatt says she drove Bentley from Mount Vernon, Ill. to Centralia, Ill. and dropped her off near the Amtrak station.

The print edition of the Northwest Herald today reports that Wyatt was interviewed and arrested on Monday by the Woodstock Police Department. While it doesn't say so, Wyatt would have been transferred to the McHenry County Jail, presumably on Monday. The paper states that Wyatt was released Tuesday (yesterday) after posting 10% of a $7,000 bond.

The paper also states that Wyatt had worked in the law office of Scott Bentley, "where Beth Bentley also worked. But Wyatt was let go when the office moved to a different location in McHenry."

What the article doesn't state is that, in spite of early doubts in the minds of many about Wyatt's "Centralia story", Scott Bentley continued to employ Wyatt for months after Beth's disappearance. According to sources, only one employee moved with Scott with his new office on Bull Valley Road from Route 31.

Wyatt's compensation arrangement with the Bentley law firm (whether an employee or contract associate or if paid at all) was the subject of a child support action, also in McHenry County Circuit Court. That case, No. 10FA000340, dragged on and on after October, 2010. Although the entry for the last court date of January 20, 2012, shows a status check for a December hearing on a motion, the "result" shows an allowance of a "foreign judgment". That may be the substantial amount child support that Wyatt's ex-husband Kenneth Paplham was seeking.

The new criminal charges have a court date scheduled for today at 9:00AM, in Courtroom 302, that of Judge Condon. A public defender was appointed for Wyatt yesterday in Rights Court in the jail.

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?

Bentley credit card use

The new website for missing Woodstock woman, Beth Bentley, refers to "... no known activity on Beth's bank accounts, credit cards or cell phone since May 23, 2010."

OK, so what about activity between the time she reportedly left Woodstock on Thursday, May 20, 2010, and the time she was reported missing to the Woodstock (Ill.) Police Department on May 24th at 10:48PM?

Beth appears to have been a major source of funds for her friend and traveling companion of the week-end, Jennifer Wyatt. Did those funds dry up when Beth disappeared?

Was Beth's cell phone used to call Pogue's Pizza late Sunday afternoon to order a pizza that was supposedly never picked up?

Did Beth pop for a boat rental on an area lake on Saturday? The Woodstock Police Department has reported that it confirmed a boat rental and that "all came back." Did they (or a local law enforcement agency, such as Jefferson County Sheriff's Department or the Mount Vernon Police Department) get a positive ID on the renters by showing photos to a marina operator or employee? Was Beth's credit or debit card used to pay for a boat rental? (Local residents reportedly spoke with a marina operator who did not confirm a boat rental to a party including Beth.)

Was Beth's card used to pay for dinner in The Frosty Mug (a Mount Vernon eating and drinking establishment) on Friday night, May 21, 2010, when Beth, Jennifer, Ryan Ridge and his brother, Nathan, ate and drank there. Only Nathan didn't drink (alcohol), since he couldn't prove he was 21. (Nathan wouldn't be 21 until December 19, 2010.)

The new website (http://www.missingbethbentley.com/) contains this statement, "Given the nature of the majority of the information we do know about Beth’s case, we ask you to use your discretion in discerning what the truth might be."

Baloney! Pussyfooting around for a year has not found Beth. It's way past time to pull out all the stops and find out who knows where she is. The longer this goes, the worse it gets for those involved, because they face felony charges for concealment of a death.

New website for missing Woodstock woman

A new website has been established for a woman missing from Woodstock for more than a year. Beth Bentley, then 41, disappeared, probably in southern Illinois, on or about May 23, 2010. You can visit this new website at http://www.missingbethbentley.com/

Come on, folks. It's time to stop "talking" about the train. That part of the story blew up on June 10, if what Beth's traveling companion of the week-end said on that date was true.

I'll admit that I too fell for the bait when the story first came out. I had grabbed my Metra schedule and figured out that, if Beth had taken the 6:08PM train northbound from Centralia on that Sunday, she would have had to walk through that nasty, dark, lonely tunnel from Union Station about 11:00PM, cross Madison Street to the Ogilvie Transportation Center, catch the 12:30AM (May 24) train and arrive in Woodstock at 2:01AM (Monday). Who was going to pick up her at the Woodstock Depot? Nobody ever mentioned that.

So that story didn't make sense to me. And then, on June 10th, her traveling companion, Jennifer Wyatt, called me and told me that Beth "never intended to take that train." She told me that Beth and she were going to rendezvous in northern Illinois on Monday, so that Beth could get home (on Monday) before Scott, her husband, got home from work.

Surely, she must have told the Woodstock Police that.

So that would put the women back in Woodstock by, say, 5:00-6:00PM. Right?

Why is anyone still talking about a train? Beth wasn't going to take the train. Period.

A lot of attention is given to the lack of use of Beth's cell phone "since" Sunday, May 23, 2010. Why isn't anyone talking about the use of her cell phone on Sunday, May 23, 2010? With what other phones was Beth's cellphone connected (calls made? calls received) for either voice or text messages on Sunday?

From one of the rumors circulated on a Facebook page that started after Beth disappeared, there were many text messages on Sunday between Beth's phone and one particular telephone.

When did Beth last speak with one of her three sons in Woodstock? Sunday? Saturday? Friday? Anytime that week-end? Wouldn't that help pinpoint whether she was alive on Sunday? or Saturday? or Friday?

But let's take a look at the phone usage of her traveling companion for the week-end, Jennifer Wyatt.

From Jennifer's phone there were four calls between 2:30PM and 4:00PM on Sunday to the same phone number of the person Beth supposedly exchanged so many text messages with on Sunday. Where would this lead police investigators?

And there were four telephone calls between Jennifer's phone and Josh's phone (Josh is one of Beth's sons in Woodstock). Of course, Beth could have been using Jennifer's phone. But the family has said that Beth didn't call.

If Jennifer (and Beth) went to Mount Vernon, Illinois, for a week-end with Ryan Ridge (and his brother, Nathan), why would there be 15 telephone connections between their phones on Sunday from 9:58AM-11:46AM? Wasn't she there with him?

What happened when Jennifer called Beth's cell phone on Monday at 8:56AM? at 4:19PM? and sent Beth a few text messages during Monday?

And what about the many calls on Monday from Scott's telephone to Beth's phone, starting at 6:01AM?

At what time and where were Jenn, who supposedly was driving the car rented by Beth, and Beth to meet? At what time did Jennifer first inform Scott that she didn't know where Beth was?

Why did Scott call Jenn at 3:31PM on Monday? What was that call about? He had been calling Beth all day but apparently not reaching her. Did he want to know where his wife was? He called Jennifer again at 5:13PM and 6:03PM. Did she answer? And further calls in the evening, including several after the police received the missing-person report.

Where was Jennifer all this time? During the evening she made or received phone calls with a McHenry (Ill.) lawyer? Why would she be calling a lawyer before Beth was reported missing to the Woodstock Police just before 11:00PM (Monday, May 24)?