My friend who knows the family emailed me again today:
Good morning,
This is really horrible. No, he has siblings, but he is the baby. His
mom and dad are older, Bill is 60 and Lynn is 58. They have not
released anything yet but we were told he was shot in the head. Whether
is was homicide or suicide, I don't know. They also believe whatever
happened took place on Monday when he disappeared. They said he was
found laying on his back. Lynn and Bill were staying in a RV in a
grocery store parking lot near the exit where his Jeep was found and
this is where the authorities went to tell them. My understanding is
the law enforcement has concluded at 1:00 no result in their search
yesterday and left, but another group (TX Equusearch) continued to search and just
before 2pm found his body. This without a doubt is a nightmare for this
family. There is a 20,000 dollar reward for information and I hope this
will bring out something, although Ben was rumored to be into drug use and this could have been a deal gone bad. His granddaddy said he was their baby, the
apple of their eyes. He is a good man, he is the Talladega State
Senator. I will let you know as I find out things.