Badly Burned Remains Identified As Woman Missing 9 Years

CENTRALIA, IL — Badly burned remains found in Centralia in 2017 have been identified as a 41-year-old Woodstock woman who went missing more than nine years ago. A friend of Benedetta "Beth" Bentley told authorities the woman had boarded a train with plans to head back to her family in Woodstock the day she went missing.

Illinois State Police said "information was developed" that led investigators to the location where the remains were found in rural Jefferson County in December 2017. On Tuesday, state police announced the remains have been positively identified as Bentley.

Police said a friend dropped Bentley off at the Amtrak station in Centralia on May 23, 2010. She was supposed to get on the 6 p.m. train back to Woodstock, but she never returned home, and her family reported her missing.

Jennifer Wyatt-Paplham, the friend who reportedly drove Bentley to the station, was at one point charged with obstruction. Police alleged she lied about not having contact with Bentley on or after May 25, 2010 — two days after she vanished. They also claimed Wyatt-Paplham lied about dropping Bentley off at the Centralia train station. Those charges were dropped in 2012.

Three days before Bentley left, the mother of three told her husband she was going to Wisconsin with Wyatt-Paplham to visit Wyatt-Paplham's relatives, the Chicago Tribune reported. Instead, the two reportedly drove to Mt. Vernon to visit Wyatt-Paplham's boyfriend and spend a weekend at a nearby lake.

Three days later, Wyatt-Paplham told authorities she dropped Bentley off at the train station. After that, police said there was no activity on her cell phone, bank account or credit cards.

Days after the burnt remains were found in 2017, a McHenry County judge granted the request of Bentley's husband, Scott Bentley, to have her ruled presumed dead.

The Woodstock Police Department assisted in the investigation into Bentley's disappearance. The findings from the investigation have been sent to the Jefferson County State's Attorney's Office for review, and the county's coroner's office is not providing the cause or manner of Bentley death until prosecutors have reviewed the case, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Shannon Antinori, Patch National Staff, contributed to this article

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