Bentley missing nine weeks today

Beth Bentley, 41, of Woodstock, went to Mt. Vernon, Ill. for the week-end, leaving Woodstock on May 20. She didn't come home. She has been missing since Sunday, May 23. She has now been missing for nine weeks.

Other stories here and elsewhere have described the events that preceded her disappearance. An active Facebook page with numerous topics has more than 7,400 followers. Click here to go to it: www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=122739057758360&ref=ts

There is also an active following on WebSleuths.com; you can find the fourth of four threads for postings about amateur efforts to solve this case at www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5418139#post5418139 Three previous "threads" can be found via links on the first page of each thread. A fifth thread (continuation) will probably begin soon.

The amateur sleuths are focused on Mt. Vernon and have generally discarded first reports that Beth had gone to Centralia on Sunday and had been dropped off near the Amtrak train station there. Recently, an apparent leak of information revealed an order for pizza in Mt. Vernon was placed from Beth's cell phone at 5:16PM that Sunday, or an hour after she is reported to have spoken by phone with her husband, Scott, a McHenry attorney.

A fundraiser was held on July 16, and a bank account has been set up at CHASE Bank for donations to the Find Beth Bentley Reward Fund. A reward of $5,000 is being offered. Any tips or information should be directed to the Woodstock Police Department (815.338.2131) or Crime Stoppers at 800.762.STOP

Mainstream media are devoting little attention to this case, perhaps partially due to the virtual absence of information flowing from the several police agencies involved or the family. Family search efforts may have been expanded briefly to the Las Vegas area, but results have not yet been released.