WI WI - Ben Wilberding, 21, Tomahawk, 24 May 1996

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hoppyfrog

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http://www.weau.com/home/headlines/10666526.html

Oct 19, 2007

The Lincoln County Sheriff's Department says it's got a new lead in the case of a Tomahawk man who disappeared nearly 11 years ago, but officers aren't saying what it is.

Ben Wilberding was 21 when he vanished.

Both officers and family still think someone in Tomahawk has answers.

Wilberding was last seen in May of 1996, at his parents' home on County Road CC.

His sister says someone else had Wilberding's Drivers License and social security card, but a former sheriff says no evidence linked that person to a crime.

If you have information, call the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department at (715) 536-6272
 
Jesikah1 said:
I hope I am posting this correctly but here is another link with a short video and a bit more information on this case.
http://www.wsaw.com/home/headlines/10656181.html
Click to expand...


Thanks for the link!
Also WELCOME to WS!!!!

I can't imagine LE not thinking a crime had been commited 11 yrs ago.
Seriously not many people vanish for 11 yrs without getting in touch with someone. Why in the world would someone have his drivers license & SS card? This case needs futher looked into.

I am very glad something new has turned up. Wi has a very huge problem with unsolved cases.......
 
The Doe Network
Ben Wilberding
Missing since May 24, 1996 from Tomahawk, Lincoln County, Wisconsin
Classification: Missing
Vital Statistics
Age at Time of Disappearance: 21 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'10"; 170 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: White male. Brown hair; brown eyes.
Dentals: Available, missing his two front teeth

Circumstances of Disappearance
On May 24, 1996 Ben Wilberding disappeared from his parents' home on County Road CC in rural Tomahawk. He spoke to his sister from his home that morning, and that was the last she or anyone else heard from him.
Weeks later police found his driver's license and social security card, on a different person. Police investigated that person, but found no evidence linking him to a crime.

Ben's last paycheck remains at Hurd Millwork Co. in Merrill where he was employed as summer help, and his vehicle is parked where it was when he went missing. His Social Security card hasn't been used and his driver's license has not been renewed.
There doesn't seem to be any reasons why Wilberding disappeared, no clues as to where he might be and no ideas if he just fled the country, or if foul play was involved

If you have any information concerning this case please contact:
Lincoln County Sheriff's Department
715-536-6272
 
Wow, this is 40 miles from me and I have never heard of him. My niece and her husband both work at Hurd and have for many years. I am going to ask them about this.
 
2011:

A year ago, Carsky put Kraemer in touch with a woman in Tomahawk, Wis., whose brother went missing in 1996. Ben Wilberding was 21 when last seen. “He was on the family property, staying with his older brother,” says Candie Wetenkamp, Ben’s sister. The investigation stalled, she says, and she confided with Kraemer about her frustrations with the police.

In late July of 2010, Wetenkamp finally got investigators with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department and the State Crime Lab to agree to search the family’s land, including the dilapidated mobile home where Wilberding and his older brother once lived. Kraemer made the four-hour drive to help out. “They needed someone to shake things up a little bit,” she says.

Police found no human remains. But days later, Wetenkamp’s family continued to search with private investigators.

Kraemer decided to talk to Arthur “Artie” Wilberding, 41, Ben’s older brother and presumed to be the last person to see him alive. “The rumors have always been that Artie killed him and hid the body on the property,” Kraemer says. “So I just went and knocked on his door.” After more than an hour, with Candie Wetenkamp waiting in her car, Kraemer walked out with what she says was an admission from Artie Wilberding.

“He was very remorseful,” she says. “He said he knew where the body was, but that [his friend] had killed him.” Kraemer and Wetenkamp went to the house of the friend, an older man and surrogate father to the Wilberding siblings. “He was canning pickles,” Kraemer recalls. “So I’m eating cucumbers and telling him what Artie had told me. He tells me Artiekilled Ben and the body was under the trailer.”

Back they went with the team of private investigators to the family property. And in the ground where the mobile home once stood, they found what appeared to be human bones. “God am I excited,” Kraemer said, hours after the discovery. “It almost feels like I found Becky. I know that must sound crazy…”

The county sheriff was alerted and Arthur was taken into custody on an outstanding warrant for a drug offense. Convicted in August 2010 of possession of THC and theft, he remained in jail in early October but hadn’t been charged with causing harm to his brother. The remains found beneath his mobile home had yet to be identified as human.
Click to expand...


https://www.milwaukeemag.com/2011/03/16/TheVigilante/
 
You have to wonder about LE in this case. In 2011 bones which were thought may be human were found under his brothers mobile home. A report from 2013 (Lincoln County helping investigate human remains found in Taylor County) confirms that tests at the time were inconclusive, not that (as reported in 2011) they had yet to be identified as human (which implies that results were still awaited). I can understand this, but what I cannot understand is that, faced with a clear suspect and unidentified bones found on his property, LE appear not to have further tested the bones in the intervening period despite the huge advances in such tests in the last 10 years.

Perhaps LE have undertaken further tests and it has just not been reported. If not the community needs better LE. I just hope they have not lost or destroyed the bones.
 
Arthur jr was seriously a troubled guy, with many arrests and felonies. His father was sent to prison for moral charges - with a minor - and about ten years before that he was put on probation for the same thing. It’s time for them to test these bones again.
 

​

Ben Wilberding was last seen leaving from his parents’ home in a maroon vehicle with two other occupants on May 24th, 1996 on County Road CC in rural Tomahawk, Wisconsin.
35529d_7823753e22d04a869f6d4a6368b310f5~mv2.jpg


Ben had called his sister from his home that morning and that was the last anyone had heard from him.

Ben is a white male, 5’10”, and 170 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing blue jeans and a t-shirt.

He goes by Ben but his full name is Benjamin.

Weeks after his disappearance, police found his driver’s license and Social Security card in the possession of another person. That person was investigated and there was no evidence linking him to any crime.

35529d_8ac339eefcb04b0b867bf67b117feac5~mv2.jpg


Ben worked at Hurd Millwork Co in Merrill, Wisconsin, where he was employed for summer help. He never picked up his paycheck. His vehicle is parked where it was when he went missing. His Social Security card has not been used and his driver’s license has not been renewed.

There does not seem to be any reason at all why Ben disappeared. There are no clues as to where he might be and uncertainty around whether he left of his own free will or if foul play was involved.

Ben was 21 years old when he went missing. He would be 46 years old today.

www.wimissing.org

Ben Wilberding

Ben Wilberding was last seen leaving from his parents’ home in a maroon vehicle with two other occupants on May 24th, 1996 on County Road CC in rural Tomahawk, Wisconsin. Ben had called his sister from his home that morning and that was the last anyone had heard from him. Ben is a white male...
www.wimissing.org www.wimissing.org
 
IMO, if I were an investigator, I would look further into his brother, ex-con felon Arthur R Wilberding. In relation to another murder, according to a news report, Arthur R Wilberding was named as the murderer of Rochelle Anderson, 25, of Irma, WI, March 22, 2008, by the person who was arrested on charges of first-degree intentional homicide and armed robbery. That person was Derek K. Domke, age 18. In that article, Derek Domke named Arthur Wilberding as the killer. Arthur even gave a deposition in Domke's wrongful death lawsuit, Lincoln County Case Number 2010CV000044 I.R.H. vs. Derek (inmate#449548) Domke et al, for the death of Rochelle Anderson. Why would Domke even name Arthur Wilberding as the killer? What's the story behind that?

www.wrn.com

Murder suspect points the finger at someone else

The attorney for a Tomahawk teen charged with robbing and killing a gas station clerk in March says someone else killed the victim. Derek Domke's attorney claims another person killed Rochelle…
www.wrn.com www.wrn.com

Derek Domke's attorney claims another person killed Rochelle Anderson at the Zephyr gas station where she worked, but is waiting for analysis on that person's DNA before he can raise the defense.

The third person, identified as Arthur Wilberding, gave his DNA to investigators Monday but it could take two weeks for the state crime lab to analyze the sample and compare it to blood mixtures from the crime scene.
Click to expand...

According to newspaper accounts and Wisconsin Circuit Court Access, Arthur Wilberding had numerous charges of burglary, theft and drug charges. He also was arrested numerous times for weapons offenses. One such offense was because of a confidential informant who tipped the police sometime before Ben Wilberding disappeared. Ben and Arthur Wilberding were living together with another man on their property when Ben disappeared. That man (an older man and surrogate father to the Wilberding siblings? Really, a surrogate father?) said Arthur killed Ben and Ben's brother, Arthur, said that the older man killed Ben. They used the "he said, she said" ruse. (See Rayemonde's post #9 above) IMO, I'm guessing it was Ben who was the confidential informant. He disappeared near the property, two people who lived on the property accused each other of his murder and, IMO, both probably cooked up the scheme to bury some non-human bones under the trailer to throw off investigators. Was that "older man" ever named in the investigation?

Wisconsin Circuit Court Access

wcca.wicourts.gov wcca.wicourts.gov

www.wausaudailyherald.com

The last homicide in Tomahawk was in 2008. Here's our coverage.

Derek Domke, 18 at the time, was convicted of killing 25-year-old Rochelle Anderson outside a Tomahawk convenience store where she worked.
www.wausaudailyherald.com

wilberdingpropertysearch.jpg

wilberdingbrother.jpg

Sheriff's Dept. searches property for remains of missing man - Merrill Foto News

Investigators from the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department and The Wisconsin State Crime Lab used cadaver dogs and backhoes to search an area around an abandoned home in the Town of Wilson last Thursday and Friday searching for the remains of a man who has been missing since 1996.
merrillfotonews.com merrillfotonews.com

Arthur R. Wilberding died December 24, 2022.

www.generationsfuneral.com

Obituary information for Arthur "Art" R. Wilberding

View Arthur "Art" R. Wilberding's obituary, contribute to their memorial, see their funeral service details, and more.
www.generationsfuneral.com www.generationsfuneral.com

bones.jpg
 
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