Found Deceased IL - Benedetta 'Beth' Bentley, 41, Mount Vernon, 23 May 2010 #7

After much consideration I have decided not to re-open the Beth Bentley thread.

It is really too bad for Beth. Beth and those who care about her are the ones who this effects and for that I am very sorry.

There are two reasons why I have made this decision.

1- It became apparent to me that Beth's thread was being used for certain people's own agendas. Posts were being manipulated and disputed causing too much of a problem. Which leads me to reason number;

2- Our wonderful and overworked Mods were spending too much time on Beth's thread because a group of posters kept pushing our limits. Even if we banned posters others took their place and this was not right.

There were too many rumors and too much innuendo to get to the facts of the case. It became detrimental to Websleuths and to the case.

Before anyone starts to accuse me of stopping the discussion on Beth may I point out anyone at anytime is free to discuss Beth and her case as much as they want. They just can't do it on Websleuths.

If you look at the Face Book pages set up you will see how they have become mired in rumor and arguing. You get a look at what our mods were putting up with.

I would suggest if someone wants to try and take on Beth's case to do so at any of the free forums, any of the forums out there that have little or no moderation, or to start their own forum to discuss Beth's case.

This is something I do not do lightly. Closing a discussion goes against everything Websleuths is about but because the people involved made it impossible to carry on a civilized discussion I was left with no choice.

If you do decide to carry Beth's story elsewhere I would encourage you to try and stick to the facts of the case as you know them.

There is always the possibility that I will reopen Beth's thread but for now that is just not possible.

Please do not blame the moderators. This is my decision alone.

In closing I would like to thank those posters who did work hard on Beth's case and were truly seeking real justice for her. I am very sorry.

Thank you,
Tricia

This is just another setback in this very strange and sad case. She'll probably never be found and this decision hurts because good ideas were being discussed that could've possibly of led to her discovery. No chance of that now

Thanks for the update Tricia. Can part 6 be cleaned and brought back but locked so the posts in part 6 may at least be read but no one can post? There are a lot of good posts in part 6 but they cannot be seen at all now.

Also can I ask if Beth's thread might be reopened if and when Beth's body is found? It might be helpful to LE in solving the case when and if that occurs if the true websleuther's are able to post then.

Thanks again,

Thank you for letting us know tricia. Hopefully justice will be served and the truth will come out eventually. I know this was not an easy decision for you. Unfortunately, I think if you had reopened it, it would have just been more of the same, which makes me wonder why some posters seemed to want this thread closed. More crazy stuff on the BB disappearance. We will sleuth on.. thanks again.

Poobah90 said:

This is just another setback in this very strange and sad case. She'll probably never be found and this decision hurts because good ideas were being discussed that could've possibly of led to her discovery. No chance of that now

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Why do you say this? Nothing is stopping you for starting your own discussion on Beth's case. Nothing is stopping you from going to a forum with little or no moderation and discussing Beth's case.

If there was any way I could put back the thread and not have our mods spend most of their time dealing with it I would but I know what would happen if I put it back.

If there is any new news in Beth's case I will open a new thread for discussion of the news. Let's hope there is a break or any news of any kind soon so Beth can get the justice she deserves.

sadnpod said:

Thank you for letting us know tricia. Hopefully justice will be served and the truth will come out eventually. I know this was not an easy decision for you. Unfortunately, I think if you had reopened it, it would have just been more of the same, which makes me wonder why some posters seemed to want this thread closed. More crazy stuff on the BB disappearance. We will sleuth on.. thanks again.

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Some posters had an agenda and I have to ask the question Why?

Think about it.

Yes, we can put back number 6 after it is cleaned up.

Poobah90, There is a new facebook group that has formed that is committed to finding the truth about what happen to Beth without the censorship that seemed to plague the original BETH BENTLEY...Missing Woodstock, IL Woman! fb group. Posts on the original site were being deleted by the admin that might have been important clues in solving Beth's case or if they did not pertain to their agenda.

You can view the new fb site and join that group by clicking the following link: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?t...s/Beth-Bentley-Missing/145108485513049?v=wall

Tricia said:

Why do you say this? Nothing is stopping you for starting your own discussion on Beth's case. Nothing is stopping you from going to a forum with little or no moderation and discussing Beth's case.

If there was any way I could put back the thread and not have our mods spend most of their time dealing with it I would but I know what would happen if I put it back.

If there is any new news in Beth's case I will open a new thread for discussion of the news. Let's hope there is a break or any news of any kind soon so Beth can get the justice she deserves.

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Tricia,

First, let me say that I think you and your website are amazing and that's why I'm so upset by your decision. I respect it, but don't like it because LE is doing absolutely nothing with this case! Beth has been missing a little over 12 weeks now and there hasn't been an update from any agency involved now for the past 10 weeks. Your website was the only productive part of her case. IMO, there is a strong possibilty that is why the killer(s) sabotaged the thread, for too much good information was coming out recently. With your decision, you are correct we can go elsewhere, but will the great minds on your website follow? I think not. So we are left with LE handling the case and if the next 12 weeks go like the last, we'll be no closer to finding out what happened to Beth than where we are today. It's all so very disheartening

Poobah90

Joe Friday said:

Poobah90, There is a new facebook group that has formed that is committed to finding the truth about what happen to Beth without the censorship that seemed to plague the original BETH BENTLEY...Missing Woodstock, IL Woman! fb group. Posts on the original site were being deleted by the admin that might have been important clues in solving Beth's case or if they did not pertain to their agenda.

You can view the new fb site and join that group by clicking the following link: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?t...s/Beth-Bentley-Missing/145108485513049?v=wall

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Thanks Joe and I'm on it trying to contribute in any way posible, but like I stated above I'm concerned the wonderful people here won't follow in my footsteps. I hope you will.

Tricia, Thank you for letting us know. I am so sorry it worked out that way, and I am sorry how time consuming it became. I am so grateful for the efforts the moderators proovided and the great thoughts people shared here about it.

Here's the deal.

If we could discuss the case without all the rumors it would be great.

Problem is the people with the rumors were verified people who knew Beth or were close to others who knew her.

How do I, as owner, responsibilty let these rumors keep coming out? For all I know it is an attempt to sabatoge the case.

If you all can stick to the facts as we know them to be, and if someone wants to post a rumor they have to prove to me the rumor is true, then I will consider opening it back up again. But no more allowing posts about anything just because people are verified.

Think about it. Respond on this thread and I will take it into consideration.

You might be able to solve the issue by disallowing anyone to be verified in the thread. This would force everyone into the same position, and speculation would need to be presented as such... no one would be able to present rumor as first hand fact... no additional weight would be given to anyone's opinion, as it seems to have been shown, in this case, at least, that some verified members can't be trusted to act responsibly with their verified status.

That would make the TOS easier to enforce, no?

What if we're not the only people reading the thread?

What if the LE is reading the thread?

What if the perpetrator is reading this thread?

I spent some of my life in a small town, way down south, in Alabama and with rumors and innuendoes comes the truth.

Woodstock, IL. is a small town. It’s population is around 24000 to 25000. More people are reading on Websleuths from that town and area than what is actually posting. You can bet it!!! It could just be the one call to the LE from something they have read here that will bring her home one way or the other.

You guys have to let them talk because no one else is and with silence the truth is hidden forever.

I began to notice, before the thread was closed, that some of the "verified" had a proverbial "dog in the fight" and it wasn't Beth. I also noticed some maneuvering sub-surface in their comments but that is how the truth comes out. The truth will always stay the same lies change moment to moment. Please just let them talk.

We are adults and we know, for the most part, when we are being led down the primrose path.

It maybe something said that one verified person reads or just someone in the area reads that causes them to call the LE.

I have two brothers that work as LE. They always say it is usually just one call by one person that breaks the case or one statement made that doesn‘t add up.

Ban people when it comes to personal attacks on others and flagrant violations but let the rest talk.

I don’t know Beth’s family personally but I know her children need to know what happened to their mom.

The quote, by Agatha Christie, at the bottom of my post says it all. Just let them talk.

If people weren’t interested Beth’s thread would have gone the way of a thousand others on this site. If there wasn’t something left to say by people close to the case this thread would be on page (double digit). God knows the main stream media doesn't care anymore.

We spend so much time here looking for clues, making speculations, suggestions, and trying to find out what happened to missing kids that I feel the adults are left out sometimes. People forget, I know they don’t mean to, but the missing adults are usually a poor child’s mom or dad.

Please reopen the thread and let the cards fall where they may.

Crystalgenie, I appreciate your post more than you can imagine, but WS is more than just Beth's thread. And it is taking too much time to moderate it to keep it within TOS. Mods are volunteers; they are here for the same reason you are and they have lives. And WS is tightly moderated which is why many like to come here.

If someone wants a free for all, there are many many places out there on the WWW to go...in the end no one is being served here. Certainly not Beth. JMVHO after lurking on the threads for a while....

Great post Crystal, and believe 09. I hope that you can give Beths thread one more try. Its true that websleuths is way more than just Beths thread. Im a very proud member of this site and value the attention cases get here that they may not receive any where else. Im proud of the sleuthers here that have helped LE. I think its possible on Beths case as well. But in this particular case, I think mods may have to just drop the dreaded "banned" when TOS is broken or pushed to the limit. Verified members should take responsibility for what that means or be banned from participating. Thank yo Tricia for even considering reopening it. Thank you mods for your time and devotion.. sorry for the times ive made you work harder.

believe09 said:

Crystalgenie, I appreciate your post more than you can imagine, but WS is more than just Beth's thread. And it is taking too much time to moderate it to keep it within TOS. Mods are volunteers; they are here for the same reason you are and they have lives. And WS is tightly moderated which is why many like to come here.

If someone wants a free for all, there are many many places out there on the WWW to go...in the end no one is being served here. Certainly not Beth. JMVHO after lurking on the threads for a while....

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TY believe. I agree. I for one am not interested in re-opening the thread. I do not have the time it took to moderate Beths thread as at times it was taking 1-2.5 hours per day a few times a week.

Beths case still has the info and family support thread open in the non discussion area of the forum. Not all missing persons cases have discussion threads here at WS and without any new media articles since a week or so after Beth went missing there is too much rumor and nothing to work with.

If the thread is re-opened I do not have the time to watch it like it had been.

MOO

Please understand I know LE reads here and perps read here.

If LE ever requests a thread to remain open of course I would do it.

You have to understand we have over 5 million posts, hundreds of thousands of threads, there is no way, like Cubby said, that Cubby or any other mod could continue on with Beth's thread.

We have to follow our rules we set up. If we did not then Websleuths as we know it would crumble.


Let's do this, if something new happens in Beth's case I will look at reopening it. If it is reopened there is no way we can allow what went on before to happen again. Our moderator's time is too valuable.

Again, just look at some of the face book discussions about Beth and you will see how out of control some of them are.

I go back to my first post. There is an effort to disrupt and control information about Beth. Why? I don't know but agendas were all over the place and those agendas are being acted out on face book and other places on the net.

Tricia said:

... If we could discuss the case without all the rumors it would be great. ... Problem is the people with the rumors were verified people who knew Beth or were close to others who knew her. ... if someone wants to post a rumor they have to prove to me the rumor is true ...

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Thanks, Tricia. Respectfully, how does someone prove a rumor is true? Do they only have to prove that the rumor exists, and not what the rumor is true? (No answer is really needed.)

I was under the impression that rumors could be posted, if they were so labeled. I think rumors can lead to investigations, which can lead to clues, which can lead to POIs and suspects, which can lead to solved crimes.

I'm obviously not familiar with any legal liability you might incur by allowing relatively anonymous sleuthers to post anything they want. A lawyer will tell you that you can sue a person or company for just about anything, as long as you stay on the correct side of frivolous. And then you would have to spend a ton of money to defend yourself.

Thanks for running a great website.

Tricia said:

Please understand I know LE reads here and perps read here.

If LE ever requests a thread to remain open of course I would do it.

You have to understand we have over 5 million posts, hundreds of thousands of threads, there is no way, like Cubby said, that Cubby or any other mod could continue on with Beth's thread.

We have to follow our rules we set up. If we did not then Websleuths as we know it would crumble.


Let's do this, if something new happens in Beth's case I will look at reopening it. If it is reopened there is no way we can allow what went on before to happen again. Our moderator's time is too valuable.

Again, just look at some of the face book discussions about Beth and you will see how out of control some of them are.

I go back to my first post. There is an effort to disrupt and control information about Beth. Why? I don't know but agendas were all over the place and those agendas are being acted out on face book and other places on the net.

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I respect your right to close the thread, but i'm sad. If we aren't looking for Beth then who is?

When I came back from vacation and found Beth's thread shut down, I was devastated.

Some supposed 'concerned citizens' have shut down a potentially effective avenue that could lead towards Beth's recovery. Basically, their callous actions have victimized Beth. All of us are fortunate enough to be able to continue with our daily lives, while Beth remains alone and missing.

Several years ago, I was the victim of a stranger abduction. I was walking home from a friend's house when I was kidnapped at gunpoint. He forced me into his car, onto the floor and covered me with a blanket. He drove for a while and threatened me the whole way. Once we got to his destination, horrible things happened to me. I was eventually released in a strange city, and was able to return home.

During my absence, the police focused on my best friend (the last person to see me) and my immediate family. Meanwhile, I was being held against my will by a total stranger and being raped repeatedly. I was very, very scared, alone, and lost in the world. I prayed that someone would find me and rescue me.

My point is that IF Beth is being held against her will, she's feeling very, very scared and alone. There's no way to describe the feeling of knowing that your life is in danger and NO ONE knows where you are.

To those desructive people who managed to get this thread shut down: Now is not the time to play immature games. A woman's life could be at stake. This is not a reality show, this is REAL LIFE. Any forum that could lead to Beth's recovery is helpful and necessary. I guarantee that right now Beth doesn't care what positive or negative facts come out. She doesn't care what anyone has to say about her lifestyle, her choices, and her actions. She just wants to be found and returned to her family. She doesn't care if every skeleton is dragged out of her closet and scrutinized by total strangers, if that's what leads to her recovery then so be it. She sure as heck doesn't care. She just wants SOMEONE, ANYONE, to find her and bring her home.

When/if Beth is brought home, she will learn about what happened during her investigation. She'll see the FB pages and she'll see the WS pages.

She'll know who helped and who hindered. She'll be astonished and very upset to see how some people acted. AND she'll be very grateful to those who were really trying to put the pieces together.

For all we know, Beth DOES get to see these pages. It has happened in other missing person's cases where the missing person has had limited access to various media.

Tricia, although I didn't see the last thread, I completely understand your position. There are very few rules on your site and they all boil down to: "Have good manners and be nice to each other". It's too bad that there are people who can't see the world beyond themselves. They are so petty and narrowminded that they have to use a FORUM ON A MISSING WOMAN as a platform for their own delusions of grandeur.

When the mods have to become babysitters while a few people act like 4 year olds, then it is time to shut things down.

thank you, Cubby (and all the mods), for all the time and effort you put into moderating those difficult threads.

I do appreciate everything this site does and I will continue to follow other missing persons cases. Hopefully, there will be new information and Beth's thread can be reopened for discussion. If it is, I'll be there.