Found Deceased IL - Benedetta 'Beth' Bentley, 41, Mount Vernon, 23 May 2010 #1

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But the fact that they are saying the phone results are inconclusive makes me wonder about the timing or existence of the phone call to her husband now...
 
I have just read through this whole thread and am very pinged off (put nicely) at all the inconsistencies with these people....

One has her driving to....One has her catching a train to her destination.....
The husband says she never told him re train......another says her and hubby planned for her to go back by train....
One has the friend seeing her board the train, the other that she was dropped off.....

There is definitely more to this one and if just one bit of info can be confirmed as reality then we maybe get some ideas as to what may have happened....

Someone posted that a friend dropping of posters at the station talked to a vendor who CONFIRMED seeing her at the station......now if we could just find out if this is fact then we have a starting point......

Who knows maybe she was running of from the hubby and her and the friend planned it from the beginning and she wasnt where she said she was in the first place....

But until something is rock solid confirmed re being at the station/getting on the train then really anything could have happened...

Frustrating hey....
 
JennaLee said:
"Satellite pings to Bentley's cell phone have produced no conclusive results, Lowen said."

:( I wonder what they mean by "conclusive results?" If they were not getting any info at all from the pings, wouldn't they just say so? The word "results" (conclusive or not) gives the impression they have been able to ping it. Or maybe I'm interpreting that line incorrectly. :waitasec:

Source: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...DB9C7A6D449BC98C86257738006B7632?OpenDocument
Click to expand...

I live in Illinois and am not familiar with the town she was supposedly boarding the train. It sure is way out - and I'm wondering how many towers are out that way - maybe not many? That could be the reason for the words 'no conclusive results'. moo
 
This reminds me of the disappearance of Garren Beller, who is still unaccounted for:

(Sgt. Jim) Alderman described Beller as a "very communicative" person and said it would be unusual for him to go a month without talking with anyone.
Beller was in Northwest Indiana from Nov. 15 to 19 and spent time at a Lake Eliza house. He reportedly was dropped off at a Chicago train station Nov. 19 to take an Amtrak train to Oregon, but he never used his ticket. He was reported missing Nov. 25, four days after he was supposed to be home.

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/article_762af2dd-e1e7-537b-9ae1-54d229eca7e4.html
 
Inconclusive results may mean they just can't tell if the last ping showed she was at the place she was staying or at the train platform. If the two locations are close together and there aren't enough towers in the area to triangulate then it may not be possible to get a reliable fix.
 
Calliope said:
Given what friends and husband have said about her (that she stays in contact, etc.), what the family friend said makes the most sense:

"The 41-year-old mother of three was expected to be back at her home Sunday, May 23, called her husband to report her friend wanted to stay an extra day, and the couple made arrangements for Bentley to get on a late afternoon train in Centralia, arrive in St. Louis at about 10 p.m., then take the Metra from Union Station to Woodstock."

I believe this is what really happened.
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Except that train does not go to St. Louis. Metra is a Chicago Mass Transit. The train station in Centralia is creepy, I don't know if it is ever manned. When I have taken it to Chicago, I bought my ticket via a travel agent, but, I think some people paid the conductor (it has been a couple years since I took that one).

I am posting before reading the phone thread, but, want to mention this, there is an IL Prison near Centralia and the last time I road the train (this was on a Mon or Tues evening through) while DH and I were waiting (he waits till I am on the train), a DOC bus pulled up and let one man off who got on the train. He was creepy and I was glad he got in another car. I remember thinking I would never take the train home to Centralia (as opposed to St. Louis which has a bigger station) as at least in STL there are people around. I wouldn't want to get off in Centralia and risk DH being late or something.


I just heard of this today and I am about 40 miles away.
 
grayjay said:
A bodacious sparkling woman with a pink and orange bag doesn't go quietly unless there's nobody else around. In which case, it might just be nobody hears something rather than she didn't make any noise.

I would think a conductor on the train would definitely remember her. She's pretty darn well-endowed. I hope she didn't have to wait at the station for an hour and a half as the timeline implies. That would make me question her friend's loyalty towards her well-being.

Does anyone know, if the Centralia stop is where people from St Louis come, to take the train up to Chicago? I'd like to get a feel for how busy it might be on a weekend afternoon.
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BBM No There is a train from ST Louis to Chicago that does not go through Centralia. The one through Centralia is a separate train.

The Centralia station is small - I have never seen it manned. Maybe it is sometimes. During the week, the 6 o'clock might have 6 people board, thereabouts. Not sure one weekend. I doubt many then. I think they have a station still because of the prison.

I can't imagine waiting there an hour and a half. It is not in a great part of town, just north of the business district. On the other hand, on a whole Centralia has always struck me as a charming town. The DT is like many in Southern IL, a lot of businesses are empty. I think in afternoons during the week it is pretty dead. It must be very empty/dead on Sundays.
 
cluciano63 said:
But one article said her friend watched her board a train at 5:30, that is pretty specific...and this friend sounds really frantic on FB...
Were there no cameras where she would have had to change trains, if she did? I guess they would have checked along the route...? I don't know what to think, this is one of the weirdest stories, or weirdest in the way it is being reported, in any event...:( She sounds like she would be hard to miss, no offense. but she looks like she would stand out. People look at big, pretty blond women, as a rule, they just catch your eye, IMO...
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If she was going to Chicago, she didn't have to get off until she arrived at Union Station. The Metra is very close, like next door.
 
There has to be cameras in these stations, especially if unmanned...I can't believe there would not be...
 
eyes4crime said:
No credit card use - wonder how she paid for the tickets?
Click to expand...


I THINK you can pay cash. I KNOW you can on the Chicago Commuter CTA or Metra trains because I have there. On Amtrak, you can buy a ticket online, and I guess they will mail them if you order early enough, or you order through a travel agent and get there. I know that two years ago, in Centralia, there was a travel agency a couple of blocks from the station where you could walk in and buy one, without any prior contact. (But this was during the week, and I believe they closed at 5 or 6 pm.) The time I was buying one there, we got there to make the business hours of the TA and then I had well over an hour for the train, so we went and grabbed a bite.

But, I have seen people buying from the conductor, just on Amtrak I have never been on that crowded a train where they were right near me so I could really see/hear the transaction. Also, in Chicago, they have a ticket counter in the station (CTA) that you buy from a person with cash or card. Or you can buy on the train. As i said, on the commuter you can pay cash for sure. Maybe plastic on the train, not sure. The last time I was on a Metra (last month) we paid cash for our ride, the other near us had them already (either on a return ticket or they bought in the station or had passes).
 
cluciano63 said:
There has to be cameras in these stations, especially if unmanned...I can't believe there would not be...
Click to expand...

Centralia is a small city in Southern IL far from Chicago. The platform/station is not much. On one hand you would think now a days there would be a camera, but, then again I am not surprised.
 
Hi this is my first post here. Sorry to interject in the middle of this thread, but I was searching for stuff about Beth yesterday and so I have been reading the posts here with great interest. You guys are all wonderful, you are figuring things out about her disappearance that I have been thinking hard about, too from reading the FB page - coming across and being frustrated by all the inconsistencies and working diligently to figure out what is correct and true. The info has changed in the last couple of days with her husband finally being interviewed directly. The article in the Northwest Herald dated June 2, the video footage and story on ABC 7 Chicago's website from June 3 and the CNN AC360° blog also from June 3 are the most up-to-date and accurate articles out there now. Scott did not know Beth was supposed to be taking a train home. The story that the travel plans had changed at the last minute came from Beth's friend. I am certain Beth would have told her husband about this. I am of the opinion that Beth was never at the Amtrak station in Centralia. I don't know if it was ever posted where "J" has a lawyer. That is straight from her sister, Letricia W's post on Beth's FB page: "On my sisters behalf, she was told by her attorney not to go public with any statement. You should pay more attention to spreading the word about Beth and the fact that she is missing, and spend less time playing detective." Thursday at 9:56pm This is in a comment under Vera's post. I'm not trying to be cryptic, I just don't want to put the full name because it seems like maybe I'm not supposed to? Anyway, like I said, keep up the good work. I will monitor this and post if I see fit. Thanks so much!
- A friend of Beth
 
The banner is wrong. A well-meaning person made it, of their own accord without being asked to, and it is wrong.
 
Beth was married once before. Maiden name: Rogers, First marriage: Velmont (you will notice another error in one of the reports that lists her sons last name as Belmont, that is wrong), Second marriage: Bentley. The two older sons are Velmont, the youngest is Bentley
 
WholeLottaRosie said:
Except that train does not go to St. Louis. Metra is a Chicago Mass Transit. The train station in Centralia is creepy, I don't know if it is ever manned. When I have taken it to Chicago, I bought my ticket via a travel agent, but, I think some people paid the conductor (it has been a couple years since I took that one).

I am posting before reading the phone thread, but, want to mention this, there is an IL Prison near Centralia and the last time I road the train (this was on a Mon or Tues evening through) while DH and I were waiting (he waits till I am on the train), a DOC bus pulled up and let one man off who got on the train. He was creepy and I was glad he got in another car. I remember thinking I would never take the train home to Centralia (as opposed to St. Louis which has a bigger station) as at least in STL there are people around. I wouldn't want to get off in Centralia and risk DH being late or something.


I just heard of this today and I am about 40 miles away.
Click to expand...
She was going from Centralia to Woodstock.

The friend (FB and media-interviewed friend, not the one on the trip) said she went back to Centralia to post flyers, etc., and that a vendor saw Beth either at the station or get on the train (I can't recall which).

http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer/AM_Route_C/1241245664293/1237405732511

Sunday, June 6, 2010
From: Centralia, IL (CEN)
To: Chicago, IL - Union Station (CHI)

Depart: Sun 6:08 pm

Arrive: Sun 10:45 pm

Connection: Direct

Duration: 4 hr, 37 min

Route : Illini

Train (Bus) # 392

Price of ticket $52

http://tickets.amtrak.com/itd/amtrak
 
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