Badly burned remains discovered in a rural part of southern Illinois belong to a 41-year-old woman who vanished nine years ago, according to authorities and a new report.
The remains of Benedetta “Beth” Bentley, of Woodstock, who disappeared back in May 2010, were discovered in December 2017 in an area of Jefferson County, Illinois State Police said in a statement.
But it wasn’t until Tuesday that the remains were positively identified as hers, police said.
On May 20, 2010, Bentley had told relatives that she was traveling to Wisconsin for a weekend trip with friend Jenn Wyatt, the Chicago Tribune reported.
But the pals never went to Wisconsin — instead, they headed to Mount Vernon, Illinois, where they spent the weekend dining and drinking at a local lake, Wyatt told the paper a year later.
Wyatt said she had dropped her friend off at the Centralia Amtrak station on May 23 — but she wasn’t sure where Bentley was heading or how she would get there.
Police confirmed that the woman had never gotten on the train, and there has been no activity on her phone, bank account or credit cards since that day, the paper reported.
Authorities have said the remains are severely burned, and were discovered close to where Bentley was last seen, but have not gone into further detail, according to the Tribune.
The county coroner would not provide Bentley’s cause and manner of death to the paper, pending further investigation by the state’s attorney.
John Lieb, the chief of Woodstock police, which had a supportive role in the investigation, told the Tribune that state police and the Jefferson County State’s Attorney’s Office will determine the next steps.
Authorities have yet to identify any suspects in the case.
Bentley was busy working at her husband Scott Bentley’s law firm, as well as caring for her three sons, at the time she disappeared, neighbor Angela Scott told the outlet. She was looking forward to several family events, including one son’s high school graduation.
“I knew after Beth had been missing for a week that she was gone because she adored those boys and there had been nothing she wouldn’t do for them,” Angela Scott said.