Beth Bentley - gone 188 weeks

There was speculation in McHenry County in November, when a woman's body was found in a sealed-up room in an unoccupied house in McHenry County. More than one reader contacted me to ask if I thought it could be Beth's body.

It wasn't.

There is still wide interest in finding out what happened to Beth. Her friend, co-worker, traveling companion, alibi, and financial benefactress says she dropped Beth off near the Amtrak station in Centralia, Ill. on May 23, 2010. Less than three weeks later she called me and told me Beth never intended to take a train and that Beth never intended to spend the week-end at the Ridge house in Mt. Vernon.

So, what did Beth plan to do? As her "BFF", is there any way that Jenn Wyatt didn't know what Beth's plans for the week-end were?

They had plenty of time to plan the trip; Beth left her own car in Jenn's garage and rented a car. Jenn couldn't have rented it, because her California driver's license was expired. She shouldn't even have driven it (or any other car). Jenn got an incredible break in Woodstock in December 2009, when she was stopped for a seatbelt violator. The cop did not ticket her for the expired driver's license, even though the information on the ticket showed the D/L was expired.

Did the cop not notice it? Did the supervisor not question it?

If Beth and Jenn drove to Mt. Vernon on the night of Thursday, May 20, didn't they talk about their plans, especially if Beth didn't plan to spend the week-end with Jenn and the Ridge brothers? Wouldn't Beth have told Jenn what she planned to do and whether she planned to do with someone? What was Beth's plan, when those other plans fell through?

What, really, was the deal about Centralia? Would Jenn not have asked what Beth would be doing after she got out of the car? Who drove the rental car to Centralia, Jenn or Beth? Or was the rental car even used for that trip?

The Woodstock Police have always considered this case to be a Missing Person case, yet they classified Beth as an Endangered Missing Person. Why? What would make Beth eligible to be deemed "endangered"?

This case will crack open. I believe there are identifiable people who know exactly what happened to Beth Bentley. Will one of them eventually seek immunity and spill it? How about the least culpable one? Will she or he finally come forward?