http://www.kdhnews.com/news/story.aspx?s=33809Police, parents renew 4-year-old missing person casePosted On: Sunday, Jun. 7 2009 05:50 AM
By Victor O'Brien
Killeen Daily Herald
Beth and Craig Lund will never quit searching for their son, Benjamin, 19. They have been without him since he disappeared in Killeen between June 13 and 17, 2005.
A small rosary candle sits in front of Ben's high school graduation photo on a bookshelf in the Lunds' home in Elkhart. The candle's unlit wick waits for the day Ben returns or the Lunds find closure, Beth said.
Reason for hopeThe Lunds received renewed hope last week their son's missing person case will achieve closure when Killeen police reassigned the case to veteran detectives Karl Ortiz and Sharon Brank.
The Lunds traveled 160 miles Tuesday to speak with the Killeen detectives and a Texas Ranger, hoping fresh eyes will uncover answers.
Killeen police released new information last week about a party where police suspect foul play happened.
Ben attended a party on Wood Street, in mid-June. He left with a friend in his black 1999 Nissan Sentra to buy drugs, Ortiz said. The friend returned alone to the party in Ben's car. Ben has not been seen or heard from since.
The last recorded sighting of Ben was taken by a security camera showing him withdrawing money from First National Bank at the Harker Heights H-E-B between June 13 and 17, detectives said. The party might have been the same night, detectives said.
"His existence is completely gone. He's disappeared off the face of the earth," Ortiz said.
A friend found Ben's black 1999 Nissan Sentra on Wood Street sometime later and reported it to his parents.
On July 7, 2005, Killeen street workers impounded Ben's Nissan along with other cars in preparation for a construction project. Ortiz hopes that detail will trigger the memory of Wood Street residents who might remember the car or suspicious incidents around the time.
'Starting from scratch'The detectives are investigating the case as if it were a cold case, "starting from scratch," Brank said.
Brank and Ortiz are tasked with developing new time lines and re-interviewing Ben's acquaintances in a network of known drug users.
Ben was known by friends and those in the network as "Slim Jim" and "6-2"– a misnomer alluding to his height, 6 feet, 1 inches tall.
Killeen police will place flyers in July's city water bills to remind local residents and those who knew Ben not to forget.
"Out of sight. Out of mind. You have to put reminders," Brank said.
Search leads nowhereSince Ben's disappearance, Killeen police, Texas Rangers, the FBI and private investigators hired by the Lunds have found no answers.
The Lunds listen to phone calls and door knocks in anticipation. They hope Ben or a friend with answers will be on the other end, Craig said.
Beth, desperate to grab onto hope, once visited a psychic. The psychic instigated more questions and frustration.
"You could go crazy. You'll stretch for anything when there is nothing to stretch for," Beth said.
Beth turned to online missing persons communities for help. The fellowship provided empathy, but she was overwhelmed by so many confused people in similar situations.
She keeps the unlit candle to remind her to hold onto hope. The candle sits down the hall from Ben's bedroom. The sports caps he adored as a child rest on a rack near his youth football and basketball trophies.
Last phone callBeth questions and sometimes regrets the last phone call and the calls after she did not make.
Ben called to give his parents his new cell phone number on or about June 14, 2005.
"I just keep thinking, I wish I had called him back sooner," Beth said. "If I called him the next day, he might not be ..."
They encouraged Ben to pay late car notices and to stay clean in anticipation of being removed from probation.
A troubled pastBen was a good son who struggled to find a straight path into youth from adulthood, Craig said.
He worked temporary jobs including as a Fort Hood barracks inspector at the time of his death. He was staying with friends at Terrace Heights Apartments at the intersection of Terrace and W.S. Young drives in Killeen.
Ben was a few weeks away from completing two years probation for pleading guilty to altering a government document.
He used a fake identification card to purchase cigarettes and tobacco when he was 17.
Ben arrived in Killeen in 2004 to attend Christian Farms Rehabilitation in Belton for alcohol and substance abuse.
Beth questions whether his frustration over the phone was because he was upset with them pressuring him to straighten up or because of private troubles.
Beth wishes she had kept him on the phone longer and asked more questions.
Holding on"We'd love to hear from him, but if the worst happened, we want to bring him back and do the proper thing for him. We can't ever stop looking," Beth said. Until the questions are answered, the candle's unlit wick holds their hope.
"You've got to keep hope and faith. If you don't keep hope and faith, you don't have anything," Craig said.
Anyone with information should call Killeen police at (254) 501-8905 or 501-8853. A $10,000 reward is offered.Benjamin LundAKA: "6-2" and "Slim Jim"
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 165 pounds
Disappeared: Between June 13-17, 2005.
Age at disappearance: 19, would be 23 now.
His black 1999 Nissan Sentra was recovered in Killeen on July 7, 2005.
A $10,000 reward is offered for information.
Anyone with information should contact Killeen police at (254) 501-8905 or 501-8853.Source: Killeen Police Department
The Killeen police are seeking to interview or contact these acquaintances of Lund who may have information about his disappearance.
Debra Wright, a black female
Linda Bolle, white female
Dewayne Warner, black male
Maria Aguirre, Hispanic female
Brandon Wilkerson aka "B-Love," black male
Christopher Lloyd aka "C-Lo," white male
Christopher Smith, black male
Courtney Cotton, black male
Devin Dunson, black male
Travis Dunson, black male
Pearl Smith, black female
Linwood Futrell Jr. aka "Wu-dogg," black male
Reanna Gares, unknown
Marvin Parks, white male
"Cooley," male
"Doobie," male
