Found Deceased AZ - Benjamin Anderson, 41, Car found burned, Phoenix, 31 Dec 2021

[Ssk]

Why contact citizen? Why not ..say local news fox 10,. . channel 3, etc . ?? And how did they know that that specific car was their friends car?? If 2 friends and I saw 3 car loads of people coming at us especially in that particular part of town you can bet we would be driving crazy to get away from them

 

[Another friend of Ben]

If nothing seemed awry then why go to the lengths they did to track Ben down? Makes me wonder if Ben had disclosed some sort of trouble or disagreement he’d been having.. ex roommate? Ex colleague? Ex partner? Did someone have a problem with Ben that he hadn’t wanted to worry people about but happened to mention it to one close friend ‘just incase’ anything did happen? Had he been recently threatened but brushed it off as not serious? Then when he comes up missing the friend remembers a passing comment and it sets alarm bells ringing. I’m not sure any of my friends would start tracking my car and guessing my passwords unless there was something else going on in my life at the time that caused them to worry. All MOO

Ben was reliable so if he said he was going to do something then he did it or contacted you. The fact that his aunt couldn’t reach him nor anyone else something was wrong. At least one person would know how to find him. Even if he’s going to travel and will need to turn his phone off he tells someone. If I was there I probably would have checked hospitals and thought car accident or unexpected health issue.

We had an inside joke about if we don’t answer our phones to look and send help because something is wrong. We joked to cope but it’s based on a traumatic experience we shared. I was with hanging out with Ben and he wanted to talk to one of my relatives. She didn’t answer but since she wasn’t glued to her phone we didn’t think too much about it when she didn’t answer. The next day I found her dead (later determined to be natural causes). Ben supported me through it and we both had that guilt of what if we had called back or drove to check on her if it would have made a difference. So we agreed to always let somebody know something.

So for him not answering or showing up where he was supposed to be was out of character. If I was there I would have started looking too.

 

[whitelilac]

If nothing seemed awry then why go to the lengths they did to track Ben down? Makes me wonder if Ben had disclosed some sort of trouble or disagreement he’d been having.. ex roommate? Ex colleague? Ex partner? Did someone have a problem with Ben that he hadn’t wanted to worry people about but happened to mention it to one close friend ‘just incase’ anything did happen? Had he been recently threatened but brushed it off as not serious? Then when he comes up missing the friend remembers a passing comment and it sets alarm bells ringing. I’m not sure any of my friends would start tracking my car and guessing my passwords unless there was something else going on in my life at the time that caused them to worry. All MOO

By 6:30 pm on Dec 31 Dan realized no one had heard from Ben (it was not known at this point that his body had been found)
I believe the friends also became frightened after Ben's aunt called Dan at some point, stating that she herself was worried and it wasn't like Ben not to show up to her home as planned (to install some lamps).
When Dan and friends went to the condo, Ben's car was gone, which further caused the uneasiness.

But who knows, maybe there was another particular reason for the alarm, which we do not know about. If so I hope LE does.

 

[BradSleuth1]

Why contact citizen? Why not ..say local news fox 10,. . channel 3, etc . ?? And how did they know that that specific car was their friends car?? If 2 friends and I saw 3 car loads of people coming at us especially in that particular part of town you can bet we would be driving crazy to get away from them

Citizen is crowd sourced. No one “contacts” them. Anyone can go “live” on the site or post video or police or fire activity. The video posted to citizen was from someone who saw the fire. The angle of the video indicates they were likely at another hotel a short distance away.

 

[Ssk]

Citizen is crowd sourced. No one “contacts” them. Anyone can go “live” on the site or post video or police or fire activity. The video posted to citizen was from someone who saw the fire. The angle of the video indicates they were likely at another hotel a short distance away.

I am sorry I meant the daily beast

 

[Ssk]

Here's a scenario perhaps on his way back into town from up North he picked some thugs up who possibly were broke down on the side of the freeway they made him pull over killed him and took off with his car

 

[Kpossible44]

I think having already seen the 3 individuals in the car (they did not know/did not recognize) with Ben not present, Ben’s aunt having already reported the car as stolen should have been enough for them to recognize a crime had been committed (though perhaps they didn’t realize the extent of it or how heinous it was at the time) for them to have exercised better judgment w/regard to returning to the condo at all. IMHO, that should have been left alone from that point forward. Especially since they expressed how abnormal things seemed in the residence - wet towel, clothes on the kitchen floor, and so on.

In this podcast, Daniel mentions that the nature of Ben’s work could have lead to him connecting with someone in need of help, in particular needing rehab help. Do you believe that to be true based on your knowledge of his work role?

True Crime Arizona: The Strange & Grisly Death of Benjamin Anderson

 

[BradSleuth1]

I am sorry I meant the daily beast

Daniel and Sue were on Channel 3 and 5 (AZ Family), Channel 12, fox 10, AZ Republic, Yahoo, Daily Beast, People, Oxygen, etc. those are just the ones I could Google and find.

 

[whitelilac]

Here's a scenario perhaps on his way back into town from up North he picked some thugs up who possibly were broke down on the side of the freeway they made him pull over killed him and took off with his car

It wouldn't explain the wet towel on his bed though. Seems he did get home.

 

[BenjaminJAndersonAlly]

In this podcast, Daniel mentions that the nature of Ben’s work could have lead to him connecting with someone in need of help, in particular needing rehab help. Do you believe that to be true based on your knowledge of his work role?

True Crime Arizona: The Strange & Grisly Death of Benjamin Anderson

I will listen looking for that comment now so I can try to get a better feel for the context prior to addressing this (rather than just blindly posting my first inclination). Thx for sharing/posting.

 

[Mccrackenator]

It wouldn't explain the wet towel on his bed though. Seems he did get home.

yea and it would also imply that BA made the phone call that morning from the crime scene or somewhere on the way there, AND that it had either taken him a half-day to make a 2 hour drive OR that his killers decided to hold him alive and captive thru the entire night only to kill him and half-assedly dispose of him in the morning. I’m not on board

 

[Mccrackenator]

One last thought for the night: Given the absolute embarrassment of a job at hiding BA’s remains (found within hours of its assumed placement), we can assume that the killer(s) are either (A) clueless opportunists without a plan or (B) someone who spontaneously killed BA for whatever reason, and again, didn’t have a plan. I think the method of disposal of BA’s remains should immediately rule out any suspicion directed at his close friends, who have been unfairly painted as suspicious by a few sleuthers on here. A person smart enough to stage or intentionally disrupt a crime scene, create a fake car chase, basically follow a textbook formula to draw suspicion away from yourself… would have taken more care than the bare minimum to hide the most important piece of evidence

 

[CEO.SPW]

It wouldn't explain the wet towel on his bed though. Seems he did get home.

Do you live in Arizona? Or the desert? I am curious about the towel comment. For a towel to be wet on my bed, would definitely be out of the ordinary for me. I saw a comment earlier that said that they didn’t think that in Arizona, a towel would still be wet from approximately 8-9am, until 6-6:30pm, when Dan went to check on Ben. Does anyone have any thoughts about this? I’m wondering if he might have just miss spoke and meant “a towel used in the bathroom” was thrown on his bed or not neatly folded on his bed. If it’s true that it would not still be wet, then either Ben was home longer than the timeline suggests or someone else used the towel.
Additionally, I know that I am a scaredy-cat but if I would have been so worried being at his apartment in the middle of the night after being concerned about foul play. I would be so nervous that the criminals would have a key to get in and try to come there to rob his home etc. Even if a friend had a weapon, it was centrally located and convenient to meet, whatever the reason, I would have not felt comfortable being there under the circumstances.

 

[Evilxelvis138]

One last thought for the night: Given the absolute embarrassment of a job at hiding BA’s remains (found within hours of its assumed placement), we can assume that the killer(s) are either (A) clueless opportunists without a plan or (B) someone who spontaneously killed BA for whatever reason, and again, didn’t have a plan. I think the method of disposal of BA’s remains should immediately rule out any suspicion directed at his close friends, who have been unfairly painted as suspicious by a few sleuthers on here. A person smart enough to stage or intentionally disrupt a crime scene, create a fake car chase, basically follow a textbook formula to draw suspicion away from yourself… would have taken more care than the bare minimum to hide the most important piece of evidence

I can do a complicated task and do every step correct, sometimes it gives me a little false confidence and I’ll get sloppy towards the end or skip a step out of arrogance… always to my detriment.

When I originally brought up my doubts on his “friends” all I was thinking/ asking for is if there were multiple people together that saw the “3 suspects”, and aboard for the “car chase” then where is the footage from their phones??? Does LE have it? Or does it not exist because it never happened?

 

[branmuffin]

To clarify, Daniel told the Daily Beast that nothing was awry. What stood out the most was the wet towel. He noted that it seemed Ben left in a hurry. This doesn’t appear to be what one would typically consider a crime scene.
Missing Phoenix Man Found Dead After Car Was Spotted With Mystery Trio and Then Torched

If nothing was awry why did they turn his apartment upside down looking for clues to his absence?

 

[BenjaminJAndersonAlly]

In this podcast, Daniel mentions that the nature of Ben’s work could have lead to him connecting with someone in need of help, in particular needing rehab help. Do you believe that to be true based on your knowledge of his work role?

True Crime Arizona: The Strange & Grisly Death of Benjamin Anderson

While connecting with someone in need of assistance of some type is possible, I do not necessarily have reason to surmise it would have been any more probable for it to have been related to his work role or for the person needing help to have been associated with PriceWaterhouseCoopers than for it not to have been work related.

Ben cared about and for everyone. Think Michael Jackson’s “Heal the World.” He truly did his part AND THEN SOME in life to make this world a much better place for many, MANY PEOPLE.

If he was assisting someone in need, the time of day strikes me as odd (pretty early morning NYE), but it could have just as likely been someone he had recently met elsewhere - a friend of a friend, a “kind” stranger who appeared down on his luck, or the like.

Ben was a genuine, kind, bright, being, and he was an inspiration to many. Ben possessed a unique ability to spark one’s soul … To ignite one’s spirit. No matter how challenging the day, Ben could neutralize negative energy and help shift friends’ mindsets back to an attitude of gratitude.

Ben was the most generous and compassionate man I have ever known. @Another friend of Ben’s described him as “too trusting.” Perhaps this was his tragic flaw.

 

[BenjaminJAndersonAlly]

I can do a complicated task and do every step correct, sometimes it gives me a little false confidence and I’ll get sloppy towards the end or skip a step out of arrogance… always to my detriment.

When I originally brought up my doubts on his “friends” all I was thinking/ asking for is if there were multiple people together that saw the “3 suspects”, and aboard for the “car chase” then where is the footage from their phones??? Does LE have it? Or does it not exist because it never happened?

ALL THE YES! (Thank you.)

 

[BradSleuth1]

If nothing was awry why did they turn his apartment upside down looking for clues to his absence?

They were looking for clues to his disappearance. This was addressed in multiple articles and in his on camera interview.

 

[BradSleuth1]

ALL THE YES!

This is addressed in this thread. The Sheraton has surveillance video of the people driving his car. Several people spoke to the front desk and at least one person spoke to the security guard who confirmed they have video. It’s unclear if MCSO has it at this point but I assume they do.

 

[Mccrackenator]

If nothing was awry why did they turn his apartment upside down looking for clues to his absence?

maybe they searched it and as a result of the search, determined that nothing was awry. If I was looking for someone that might be missing and was in their house, I too would search around looking for anything out of the ordinary (missing valuables, signs of a burglary or physical struggle, notes, evidence of how long they have been away from home, etc.) it seems like they are just friends who really cared about their buddy

 

[Kpossible44]

While connecting with someone in need of assistance of some type is possible, I do not necessarily have reason to surmise it would have been any more probable for it to have been related to his work role or for the person needing help to have been associated with PriceWaterhouseCoopers than for it not to have been work related.

Ben cared about and for everyone. Think Michael Jackson’s “Heal the World. He truly did his part AND THEN SOME in life to make this world a much better place for many, MANY PEOPLE.

If he was assisting someone in need, the time of day strikes me as odd (pretty early morning NYE), but it could have just as likely been someone he had recently met elsewhere - a friend of a friend, a “kind” stranger who appeared down on his luck, or the like.

Ben was a genuine, kind, bright, being, and he was an inspiration to many. Ben possessed a unique ability to spark one’s soul … To ignite one’s spirit. No matter how challenging the day, Ben could neutralize negative energy and help shift friends’ mindsets back to an attitude of gratitude.

Ben was the most generous and compassionate man I have ever known. @Another friend of Ben’s described him as “too trusting.” Perhaps this was his tragic flaw.

Thank you. This makes me wish I had known him!