AZ AZ - Diane Webb, 18, Phoenix, 1960

SheWhoMustNotBeNamed

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Diane Marie Webb

Endangered Missing from Phoenix, Arizona since 1960

Age: 18 -- Height: 5'2" - 5'4" -- Weight: 110 - 120 lbs -- Hair Color: Brown -- Eye Color: Gray

Diane's maiden name is White. She may have been pregnant at the time of her disappearance and possibly had a miscarriage afterwards.


Diane married Bennie Milton Webb in 1959, when she was 17 and he was 16. In 1961, Bennie wrote a letter to Diane's mother in response to one she'd sent him. He said he hadn't seen or heard from Diane in a long time. The last time he saw her was when he gave her $100 and put her on a bus to visit her parents in Kingman, Arizona. He said she wrote him once to say that she had been pregnant but had lost the child. He never heard from her again. Bennie suggested that her parents try to contact a female friend of hers in California because she might have some information.

In August 1961, 8 months after Bennie's letter, Diane or someone using her name visited a dentist's office in California. That was the last sign of her, and Bennie's current whereabouts are also now unknown. Diane's family continues to search for her.


NamUs

Charley Project
 
50-Year-Old Cold Case Mystery Heats Up

The disappearance of Diane Marie Webb didn't get much press time in 1961.

[snip]

Bennie stated that he had not heard from his now ex-wife in some time. He told in the letter of giving Diane $100 and that she presumably took a bus from where they were living at this time, in Phoenix, Arizona, to her parent's home in Kingman, Arizona. He also stated that she had written him once and told him that she had lost a baby, apparently the young woman may have been with child when she left Phoenix.

Bennie told the parents of Diane White Webb that he didn't feel she was happy with him so his wish was for her to do what she wanted to do.

[snip]

The family of Diane Marie Webb is now making a huge effort to tie her disappearance to bones that were located in the Pima Canyon in the Catalina Mountains in October, 1965.

More: http://www.examiner.com/article/50-year-old-cold-case-mystery-heats-up
 
Any idea if Bennie is his real name? There are quite a few Benjamin Webbs out there.

Also, in ancestry.com there are a number of records for a Bennie M Webb.
 
I wonder if the letter that Bennie says Diane sent to him still exists and where it was postmarked from and if he ever showed the letter to her family. Obviously she did not return to her family and it's odd that he thinks she did unless the letter was postmarked from her hometown. If nobody else ever saw the letter it would be enough to make you wonder if it ever existed, however, since there is a record of her possibly receiving dental treatment after she left her husband, maybe he did receive a letter and didn't look at the postmark or keep the envelope. If any dental records can be located and matched then we can probably rule out Bennie as having anything to do with her disappearance.
It doesn't seem as if he would be that hard to trace, especially if LE could use his SS#. Surely at some point he must have remarried, since he was so young when he married Diane. Plus, and forgive me if I missed this in the article, was she ever declared dead? If not he would have had to divorce her in order to remarry. Also I wonder why they were allowed to marry so young. I can imagine a woman of that time marrying that young but 16 seems a bit young for the man if no out-of-wedlock pregnancy was involved.
 
There is a Diane Marie White in New York that is around the same age. Does anyone know how to delve deeper? I don't have an account with ancestry or anything.
 
There is a Diane Marie White in New York that is around the same age. Does anyone know how to delve deeper? I don't have an account with ancestry or anything.

With such a common name, it might be hard to dig any deeper. If there is any contact info for her, I suppose you could call/write/email her.

You could also check Facebook to see if she is on there. If so, she might make reference to family events, etc. that might either rule her in or rule her out.
 
A major break in this long cold case is very near. I'm not sure how much info to put on here. Could someone more in the know PM me so I can run some questions by you?
 
Last report on her is July of last year. Are we waiting on dentals, DNA or both and why is it taking so long?
 
Stella - the hold up is legal red tape. I'm going to see if I can get Diane's sister to join the group. She has a wealth of info on her sister that has become hot hot hot in the last two weeks.
 
A major break in this long cold case is very near. I'm not sure how much info to put on here. Could someone more in the know PM me so I can run some questions by you?

I'm finally on this, No new news at this time waiting for DNA to come back.
 
I wonder if the letter that Bennie says Diane sent to him still exists and where it was postmarked from and if he ever showed the letter to her family. Obviously she did not return to her family and it's odd that he thinks she did unless the letter was postmarked from her hometown. If nobody else ever saw the letter it would be enough to make you wonder if it ever existed, however, since there is a record of her possibly receiving dental treatment after she left her husband, maybe he did receive a letter and didn't look at the postmark or keep the envelope. If any dental records can be located and matched then we can probably rule out Bennie as having anything to do with her disappearance.
It doesn't seem as if he would be that hard to trace, especially if LE could use his SS#. Surely at some point he must have remarried, since he was so young when he married Diane. Plus, and forgive me if I missed this in the article, was she ever declared dead? If not he would have had to divorce her in order to remarry. Also I wonder why they were allowed to marry so young. I can imagine a woman of that time marrying that young but 16 seems a bit young for the man if no out-of-wedlock pregnancy was involved.

I've tried to get police to look up Diane's SS# if they have they have no told me they found it or not. I've gone through the ss and they told me if I had her number I could send a letter in care of ss due to the fact my parents have died only and they would forward it to her if it is an active number and it would be up to her to reply. The issue is I don't have her ss number anywhere.

I've also talked to dentist and he went through his old records and could not find any records. The Lab is Tucson Arizona has some info on dental but not enough to get us anywhere.
 
Last report on her is July of last year. Are we waiting on dentals, DNA or both and why is it taking so long?


DNA has been sent to a new lab, the orginal DNA submitted last year could not extra any DNA from remains. It is now in a lab that is more sensitive and hopefully they can extract a sample out of the remains.
 
With such a common name, it might be hard to dig any deeper. If there is any contact info for her, I suppose you could call/write/email her.

You could also check Facebook to see if she is on there. If so, she might make reference to family events, etc. that might either rule her in or rule her out.

Thank you but I've already done all this. Thanks for your input.
 
Last report on her is July of last year. Are we waiting on dentals, DNA or both and why is it taking so long?

Stella, police will not do anything until DNA comes back from new lab. I've called, emailed everything but Det. said his boss won't let him move until the report is back in May....
 
I wonder if the letter that Bennie says Diane sent to him still exists and where it was postmarked from and if he ever showed the letter to her family. Obviously she did not return to her family and it's odd that he thinks she did unless the letter was postmarked from her hometown. If nobody else ever saw the letter it would be enough to make you wonder if it ever existed, however, since there is a record of her possibly receiving dental treatment after she left her husband, maybe he did receive a letter and didn't look at the postmark or keep the envelope. If any dental records can be located and matched then we can probably rule out Bennie as having anything to do with her disappearance.
It doesn't seem as if he would be that hard to trace, especially if LE could use his SS#. Surely at some point he must have remarried, since he was so young when he married Diane. Plus, and forgive me if I missed this in the article, was she ever declared dead? If not he would have had to divorce her in order to remarry. Also I wonder why they were allowed to marry so young. I can imagine a woman of that time marrying that young but 16 seems a bit young for the man if no out-of-wedlock pregnancy was involved.

My parents contacted Bennie, Dad even went to N.Mex to look for him and was stonewalled by his family. One would think they would try to help espically since they were cops in the area. As I wrote I've asked the police to get her ss#, don't know if they have they won't reply to me on this matter. My parents were unhappy about the pregnancy but Mom went to Calif. to sign for them to marry due to Diane being p.g. remember it was in the 50's!! The first thing the police did was send for dental records it took until 1967 to get them and that was very little.

The police now are saying how this whole case has been botched up from the beginning. Thanks for your imput.
 
I would like to hear more about the report that Diane or someone using her name, visited a dentist's office in California in August, 1961. How was that learned of and is there any more information about it? Were dental x-rays taken, for example, etc.

Unfortunately, family members of someone being sought are usually the least likely to provide assistance. That one or more of them were in law enforcement might make them even less likely to co-operate.
 
You know I have to wonder in light of the 1888 vintage firearm and the Cavalry regalia if possibly they botched the estimation of how old the bones actually were?
 
My parents contacted Bennie, Dad even went to N.Mex to look for him and was stonewalled by his family. One would think they would try to help espically since they were cops in the area. As I wrote I've asked the police to get her ss#, don't know if they have they won't reply to me on this matter. My parents were unhappy about the pregnancy but Mom went to Calif. to sign for them to marry due to Diane being p.g. remember it was in the 50's!! The first thing the police did was send for dental records it took until 1967 to get them and that was very little.

The police now are saying how this whole case has been botched up from the beginning. Thanks for your imput.

I hope your family gets some news soon. And yes, this case seems terribly botched. Even in the 50s, they knew to suspect the husband, and if they never asked for the letter, then that is insane. His family members being cops in the area could imply something really bad - a cover-up.
 

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