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 - 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?