Beth Bentley - now it's 124 weeks

Beth Bentley, missing woman from Woodstock, Ill., vanished 124 weeks ago.

She was reportedly last seen on May 23, 2010, in Centralia, Ill.

At least three people should know if she really ever was in southern Illinois that week-end. Her traveling companion, Jenn Wyatt, and two brothers, Ryan and Nathan Ridge, should know. Jenn says that Beth and she drove to Mount Vernon, Ill. on the night of Thursday, May 20, 2010, and arrived at the Ridge house in the country outside Mount Vernon early on Friday morning.

Seems like someone said they got there about 2:00AM. You can't leave Woodstock at 10:00PM on Thursday and get to Mount Vernon by 2:00AM.

Well, you can, but you'd have to average 83MPH. Not likely.

I thought about Beth as I drove on Route 31 in McHenry yesterday. What was her last week at work like? She was the office manager in her husband's law practice. She would have known about the clients of the firm. Did she handle the money in the office?

When clients paid their legal fees, how did they pay them? By check? In cash? Were receipts given for all cash transactions? Were complete records kept of all income to the practice, whether fees were paid by credit card, check or cash? Where was money kept in the office?

Was a forensic analysis made of the office ledgers for the past year, in an attempt to find any clues to her disappearance? Were open legal cases matched with the income ledger?

The description of Beth's attire and traveling clothing doesn't match that of a woman planning to vanish. Yet the Woodstock Police have never called this case anything but a Missing Person case. The P.D. did add "Endangered", but it never has explained what "endangered" meant.

If it meant that Beth was at risk, just what was the risk? Was it health-related? Medication? Mental stability? In harm's way because of some knowledge or belief she was thought to have? Had she been threatened?

One hundred twenty-four weeks. That's a long time.