Beth Bentley - now it's 133 weeks

Bent Bentley, then 41, mother, wife, employee, resident of Woodstock, vanished in May 2010.

Where is she? Did she disappear on her own? Without assistance from friend or foe? Without a good-bye to children, family, co-workers, drinking buddies? Without assets, clothing, money?

Really? Just walked away?

The Woodstock Police Department still considers this a Missing Person Case. Its most recent flier is posted on its website at www.woodstockil.gov  Hover over City Departments; hover over Police; click on Press Releases; click on "Bentley-missing flier". It was posted November 11, 2010. That's more than two years ago.

Should the flier be updated?

Is it still believed that Bentley was staying in the Mount Vernon, Illinois area on May 21 and 22, 2010? That's a Friday and a Saturday. Was it ever proven that she was there? What was her credit card usage on May 21-22-23? Cell phone usage on those days? (I've seen the cell phone records - scanty; to say the least, for someone who was described as a "serial texter".)

What happened to where she was staying on Sunday, May 23? The missing-person flier said she was "dropped off" by the Centralia Illinois (Amtrak) train station about 6:00PM on May 23. Was the station open at that time? My recollection is that it wasn't, so it wasn't possible for anyone to buy a ticket "at" the station on a Sunday. Most likely, someone boarding a train would buy a ticket on the train, and no evidence of such a purchase by Bentley has ever surfaced.

Bentley's taking a train for Chicago was a "red herring". But searchers may have gone to Chicago the next week-end and reportedly put up missing-person fliers. Who went, and why?

The silence surrounding this missing-person case is deafening. That in itself borders on suspicious. Why isn't there an ongoing clamor to find Bentley?

Her husband is in Woodstock. Her children are in Woodstock. She has a brother who is employed in Woodstock. Her father may still live in McHenry County.

I've always felt that her father could provide valuable information to the police. Plans for the celebration of his 2010 birthday should analyzed. Who made the initial plans? Who changed them? When was he first informed that Beth wasn't going to be in McHenry County for his Sunday night dinner? Who called whom, and when? Who thinks a daughter is going to stand up her father for his re-scheduled birthday dinner? Anyone?

Has the Woodstock PD "moved on"? Is anyone at the Woodstock PD pro-active on this case? Have rotations in assignments moved investigators off this case? Are officers and/or detectives just waiting for someone to show up with a lead? Do detectives have a list of prime contacts? Apparently, they have no suspects or "persons of interest". Really?

Can the mystery of Beth's disappearance be solved in 2012?