Cops find badly burned remains of mother-of-three, 41, who disappeared NINE years ago when she went on a mystery weekend getaway to a lake with a friend
- Benedetta ‘Beth’ Bentley, of Woodstock, Illinois, was 41 years old when she went missing in May 2010
- In December 2017, Illinois State Police found burned human remains in rural Jefferson County, which now have been identified as those of Bentley
- Bentley had told relatives she was traveling to Wisconsin for a weekend, but she instead drove to Mount Vernon, Illinois, with friend Jenny Wyatt
- After spending three days with friends at a lake, Wyatt said she dropped Bentley off at Centralia Amtrak station on May 23, 2010
- Bentley never made it onto train and there has been no activity on her phone, bank account or credit cards
- Wyatt in 2012 was charged with obstruction of justice over false statements, but the charges against her were later dismissed
Police in Illinois announced that ‘badly burned’ human remains found two years ago in a rural area have been identified as those of a married mother-of-three who vanished more than nine years ago.
Benedetta ‘Beth’ Bentley, of Woodstock, Illinois, was 41 years old when she went missing in May 2010 after a mysterious weekend getaway with a female friend.
Illinois State Police found the scorched remains in December 2017 in far southern Illinois’ Jefferson County in a rural area near where Bentley was last seen.
Benedetta ‘Beth’ Bentley was 41 when she went missing in Illinois in May 2010. Her burned remains were found in Jefferson County in December 2017
A friend said she last saw Bentley when she dropped her off at the Centralia Amtrak station on May 23, 2010, after a weekend at a lake
This map shows Bentley’s movements before her death and the location where her remains were recovered in December 2017
They have forwarded their findings to that county’s state’s attorney’s office for review.
The Chicago Tribune reported that Bentley had told relatives she was traveling to Wisconsin on May 20, 2010, for the weekend, but she instead drove to Mount Vernon, Illinois, with Jenny Wyatt, her friend and colleague at Bentley’s husband’s law firm.
Bentley and Wyatt met up with Wyatt’s boyfriend and others, and spent the next three days dining and drinking at a nearby lake.
On May 23, Wyatt dropped Bentley off at the Centralia Amtrak station, where she was supposed to board a train to take her home to Woodstock, but Bentley never made it onto the train.
The married mother-of-three would have turned 50 earlier this year
Bentley’s husband, Scott, an Illinois lawyer, in 2017 had a judge declare his wife legally dead
Bentley’s cause and manner of death are pending, and no one has been charged in the case
The woman’s phone, bank account and credit cards have seen no activity since that day.
Bentley’s cause and manner of death are currently pending.
So far, no one has been charged in connection to her disappearance.
Bentley’s friend who dropped her off at the train station in 2012 was indicted on obstruction of justice charges or allegedly making false statements about driving the woman to the Amtrak station, but the charges were later dropped.
In December 2017, a judge granted a request made by Bentley’s husband, Scott Bentley, and their three sons to have her declared dead.
‘We’re trying to be as normal as possible,’ Scott told the Northwest Herald at the time. ‘Life doesn’t stop… We’ve been able to make it through.’