After almost 8 years of questioning and investigating, authorities are closer to answering what happened to 41-year-old Benedetta “Beth” Bentley of Woodstock, who was last seen in the Mt. Vernon area. Her last encounter was on May 23rd, 2010. She had been staying in the Mt. Vernon area at the time, when her friend reportedly dropped her off at the Amtrak station in Centralia. She was never seen again. Investigators say that Beth never bought a ticket at the station, with no one seeing or hearing from her again. Back in December, authorities found badly burned human remains, near Saddle Club road and Miller Lake road, in the area that Bentley had been staying at when she all of a sudden disappeared. Experts are still trying to positively identify the remains, but in December of last year, a judge granted the family to have her legally declared dead. Police documents related to the case also were sealed and made not available to the public. In a November 28th motion, the Assistant Attorney General in McHenry said that allowing the records to get out could, “result in any parties responsible for Beth’s disappearance to avoid any prosecution.” Bentley was the 1st in a string of missing people in the area. On April 22nd, 2011, 75-year-old Vincent Wesselmann went missing, after last seen walking near the Breese Grain Company building at North 1st Street and North Walnut Street, and has not been seen since. July 2011, 28-year-old Jared Hanna of Jerseyville, went missing, after last being seen on the morning of July 2nd at his home. His truck was found abandoned and out of gas on July 4th, 2011 along Jolliff Bridge Road in rural Centralia. 63-year-old James “Jimmy” Romines was last seen by a neighbor on April 23rd, 2014 at his Centralia apartment. Lastly, Megan Paige Nichols was last seen on July 3rd, 2014 in Fairfield. Shortly after her remains were found in Jefferson County, another set of human remains were recovered in Fairfield. Both those remains were positively identified as parts of Megan. Friends and families of the missing are asked to contact authorities if you have any information.