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

[Another friend of Ben]

I agree-- to a point
Being the last person to have "spoken" with BA
Being the main person providing info to social media/News
(which is great...everyone needs a spokes person/contact)

However, all motives, and those closest to victims should be questioned and looked at. I would suspect that is how LE does it. They question everyone.

However--- we have seen in other cases where some things are not always what they seem to be and it is good to stay open minded about ALL POSSIBILITIES.

I, personally, like to look at and evaluate all options.
I usually can grasp right away the situation of a case but in Benjamin's case... I am all over the board with possibilities.

JMO

I understand what you are saying. I’m not upset (but I’m also not listed as being involved so his other friends may not feel the same). I am a true crime addict and always trying to get it right. I can come up with some far out possibilities because I’m also a writer. It is so different when you know the people involved. What may be suspicious to others may not be to me because I have the additional information. Ben wearing shorts and a long sleeve shirt in December is perfectly normal for him. I probably saw him in shorts more than I did in pants.

 

[Mccrackenator]

I understand what you are saying.
It is like a fine line

Thank you! My mother is an MSU Spartan by the way. I normally would not take an issue with something like this but I started feeling bad for Dan. I actually really enjoy the freedom on here to throw out off-the-wall ideas just for the sake of brainstorming, but I think it’s just gone a little too far given the information, or lack thereof, that we have.

 

[Spartygirl]

ME TOO! Thank you! That may prove to be extremely useful.

HA!! I have been here about 6 yrs and just recently found that (and other) features.

Sheesh.. I am such a late bloomer here.

 

[Spartygirl]

Thank you! My mother is an MSU Spartan by the way. I normally would not take an issue with something like this but I started feeling bad for Dan. I actually really enjoy the freedom on here to throw out off-the-wall ideas just for the sake of brainstorming, but I think it’s just gone a little too far given the information, or lack thereof, that we have.

I LOVE your mother already -- GO GREEN !!!!

I do understand where you are coming from.

I do like bouncing theories /suspects etc around here to get other people's opinions and we should be able to.

I also respect the WS rules to keep it facts only ( most of the time Hahahaha..dont yell at me Mods )

 

[Another friend of Ben]

RBBM RSBM

Some people use a loved ones name as a password (or similar) and use that same password for everything and just increment it up one digit when they need to change it, and some use a random password generator or other methods to make a very difficult to guess password.

Do either of the friends of Ben on here know which way he would usually lean towards?

I don’t know but I think I could guess it. It may take a few tries or I may end up locked out. I’m that situation of him being missing I would at least try but stop short or the last attempt so not to cause a problem.

 

[whitelilac]

I would like to add one more question

FLyer and news report "Last seen--morning of DEC 31st"

MY question--BY WHO ??????

""Anderson was last seen on the morning of Dec. 31. According to AZcentral.com, Anderson had planned to have brunch with his friend, Daniel Stahoviak. He canceled the plans at the last minute, saying that he was fatigued.""

Benjamin Harrison Case: Missing Ariz. Man Is Found Dead in Desert | PEOPLE.com

Do we know whether Ben facetimed Dan at 8 am that morning, to cancel the breakfast? That would be "last seen".

The last time the phone showed activity was at 9 am according to earlier reports (from Dan I believe)

Something happened in that hour....
In that one hour, and the condo found in disarray. Was someone else in the condo between 8 and 9 am then?
Was someone WITH Dan when he called/texted/facetimed Dan at 8 am? Even overnight?

 

[Another friend of Ben]

I heard from Dan and he said it’s okay for me to share his answers to the questions you guys posed. We really just want to find out what happened to our friend.

much of the speculation is incorrect. The media did take some editorial liberty so some items were out of context.

This should clear some things up.

They knew what Ben was wearing, the zip up sweatshirt because had just received as a gift and it was gone.

Ben always wore shorts year round.

They had keys to each others places.

He knew his password as it was a common one.

Ben called him at 8 am on the dot, he didn’t text to cancel and they spoke on the phone all the time. This call was not FaceTime.

Lexus did give them the location finally.

There was no love triangle.

there were 4 of them in the car, and many others working remotely that night, there is camera footage.

The trip wasn’t made up. It can be verified.

Finally, true friends should come together in tragedy, not marginalize the ones who worked day and night in dangerous situations to find our friend.

 

[whitelilac]

^ Thank you @Another friend of Ben.

Do you know if Dan had any indication that Ben was definitely alone when Ben called him at 8 am?
Would Ben tell him if he had a guest?
(I'm guessing he would, since being close friends I don't think Ben would give Dan a white lie about being too tired for the breakfast meeting....)

I'm just really perplexed about this hour between 8 and 9 am (when the phone was shut off). Maybe Ben left hurriedly for whatever reason...lured?, and the phone was deactivated elsewhere at 9 am?

Did Ben know his all his neighbors in the condo complex? Direct neighbors didn't hear or see anything?

I so hope that LE has some leads. There needs to be justice, and it's all so hard on you all, as Ben's friends.

 

[Another friend of Ben]

^ Thank you @Another friend of Ben.

Do you know if Dan had any indication that Ben was definitely alone when Ben called him at 8 am?
Would Ben tell him if he had a guest?
(I'm guessing he would, since being close friends I don't think Ben would give Dan a white lie about being too tired for the breakfast meeting....)

I'm just really perplexed about this hour between 8 and 9 am (when the phone was shut off). Maybe Ben left hurriedly for whatever reason...lured?, and the phone was deactivated elsewhere at 9 am?

Did Ben know his all his neighbors in the condo complex? Direct neighbors didn't hear or see anything?

I so hope that LE has some leads. There needs to be justice, and it's all so hard on you all, as Ben's friends.

if someone was there he would have no problem saying it he wouldn’t need to make up an excuse. I don’t think Dan was the last person he spoke with but once the phone records are retrieved that can be a clue.

I think the call that came in after is what got him out of the house.

I don’t know about the neighbors. But maybe that’s a lead. I don’t want to start accusing people. I just made up a whole scenario in my head about the neighbors. I don’t think anything happened at the house. I think whatever happened was once he left.

I’ll see if I can get an answer about the neighbors

 

[Another friend of Ben]

^ Thank you @Another friend of Ben.

Do you know if Dan had any indication that Ben was definitely alone when Ben called him at 8 am?
Would Ben tell him if he had a guest?
(I'm guessing he would, since being close friends I don't think Ben would give Dan a white lie about being too tired for the breakfast meeting....)

I'm just really perplexed about this hour between 8 and 9 am (when the phone was shut off). Maybe Ben left hurriedly for whatever reason...lured?, and the phone was deactivated elsewhere at 9 am?

Did Ben know his all his neighbors in the condo complex? Direct neighbors didn't hear or see anything?

I so hope that LE has some leads. There needs to be justice, and it's all so hard on you all, as Ben's friends.

Is anyone familiar with find my phone and how pinging works? From what I’ve read the phone is not constantly pinging. I’m reading a lot of conflicting information so it will depend on the towers, service providers and many other factors. So he could have left the house but still be in the same tower range to not need to ping again.

 

[JJ Ray]

I would like to add one more question

FLyer and news report "Last seen--morning of DEC 31st"

MY question--BY WHO ??????

""Anderson was last seen on the morning of Dec. 31. According to AZcentral.com, Anderson had planned to have brunch with his friend, Daniel Stahoviak. He canceled the plans at the last minute, saying that he was fatigued.""

Benjamin Harrison Case: Missing Ariz. Man Is Found Dead in Desert | PEOPLE.com

Excellent...all we have is a phone call to/from DS and a text a few minutes later. We presume he was home at this time as far as I can tell from reporting.

 

[JJ Ray]

if someone was there he would have no problem saying it he wouldn’t need to make up an excuse. I don’t think Dan was the last person he spoke with but once the phone records are retrieved that can be a clue.

I think the call that came in after is what got him out of the house.

I don’t know about the neighbors. But maybe that’s a lead. I don’t want to start accusing people. I just made up a whole scenario in my head about the neighbors. I don’t think anything happened at the house. I think whatever happened was once he left.

I’ll see if I can get an answer about the neighbors

Agreed, MO also.
.

 

[Another friend of Ben]

Excellent...all we have is a phone call to/from DS and a text a few minutes later. We presume he was home at this time as far as I can tell from reporting.

I have strong reason to believe he was at home based on his cell phone. So the time frame after 8:50 am until the time his body was found. Someone said it takes about 30 minutes to get to that location.

Does anyone know what time the call was made saying a body was found? I saw the retrieval time. But was it a short timeframe or possibly there for hours between the call and pick up?

I remember there was a body dumped near my office and even though multiple people called it in there was a delay in someone coming out to get it.

 

[desertmama]

There was mention a while back of vanity lights and a bag belonging to Ben in the back of his car. I've been wondering if the contents had been gone through or it was too damaged to tell.
U




I

 

[Another friend of Ben]

It looked too damaged to tell in my opinion. But you never know what may survive a fire. If they already have the vehicle may as well go through his bag. Maybe they took out what was useful and left the bag for whatever reason.[/QUOTE]

 

[BenjaminJAndersonAlly]

I hope to god Dan never reads through this thread. It would be pretty depressing to see people questioning his motives when he’s already dealing with such a sudden tragic loss. I wish people would leave him and the other friends out of discussion unless it involves reporting new *facts*

Please remember, some of us may have facts and information to which you are not privy, we may be in communication directly with LE, etc.

All available information cannot be shared publicly for our own safety as this is an active homicide investigation, and whoever is responsible for these crimes is/are still free.

Truly, I can only speak for myself, but, to my knowledge, I do not believe anyone here has expressed dislike for Dan, has any desire to tarnish his name, or otherwise cause him emotional disturbance.

Even so, being sure not to further depress Dan in his time of loss cannot be my top priority at this time. We, at Web Sleuths, simply cannot be walking on eggshells/tiptoeing around not hurting Dan’s feelings when drafting our every post. To suggest otherwise is absurd.

Had I been in Dan’s position, I would not be thrilled about it, but I would certainly understand the scrutiny and suspicion directed toward me following the release of the MSM reports describing Ben’s disappearance, surrounding events, and his subsequent death.

 

[BenjaminJAndersonAlly]

There was mention a while back of vanity lights and a bag belonging to Ben in the back of his car. I've been wondering if the contents had been gone through or it was too damaged to tell.
U




I

Great question.

 

[BradSleuth1]

I heard from Dan and he said it’s okay for me to share his answers to the questions you guys posed. We really just want to find out what happened to our friend.

much of the speculation is incorrect. The media did take some editorial liberty so some items were out of context.

This should clear some things up.

They knew what Ben was wearing, the zip up sweatshirt because had just received as a gift and it was gone.

Ben always wore shorts year round.

They had keys to each others places.

He knew his password as it was a common one.

Ben called him at 8 am on the dot, he didn’t text to cancel and they spoke on the phone all the time. This call was not FaceTime.

Lexus did give them the location finally.

There was no love triangle.

there were 4 of them in the car, and many others working remotely that night, there is camera footage.

The trip wasn’t made up. It can be verified.

Finally, true friends should come together in tragedy, not marginalize the ones who worked day and night in dangerous situations to find our friend.

Thank you for being a good friend to Ben and speaking to Dan to help clarify some of the speculation on here about him. Sounds like you have spent some time with him in the past to some extent. Anything else he can share with you?

 

[LaborDayRN]

My only update I have would be with regard to our grieving process.

One thing I don’t believe anyone has mentioned yet is how wonderful Ben was with children though he did not have children of his own.

My children have been having an exceedingly difficult time with his death. Their grandfather passed away last year, and they are having a MUCH harder time processing Ben’s death. Still in denial about it.

The youngest is still convinced he surely MUST have just gone to Hawaii.

“He likes it there! Don’t worry. He will be back by ____’s (his sibling’s) birthday because he said he would come to the party at Chuck E. Cheese. He wouldn’t miss it. Don’t worry!!! He will have plenty of time to get a new car by then, and those bad guys who ruined his car really need to say sorry to him because it was SO BEAUTIFUL. It’s going to be fine. He has to be okay, because we just saw him, right?” **tear**

They LOVED HIM SOOOO MUCH. This breaks my heart.

Oh Lord. This just breaks my heart and brought tears to my eyes. The innocence of children is a beautiful thing but also so darn heartbreaking when we realize they will have to understand the truth at some point.
I remember hearing that my father had died when I was 7. I didn't understand it. I mean I heard the words but didn't understand the real world consequences that those words entailed. I wanted to go ride my bike and get away from what the adults were telling me. It look time for me to really process what had happened and begin the grieving process. My father was an amazing man and I loved him dearly.

 

[BenjaminJAndersonAlly]

Oh Lord. This just breaks my heart and brought tears to my eyes. The innocence of children is a beautiful thing but also so darn heartbreaking when we realize they will have to understand the truth at some point.
I remember hearing that my father had died when I was 7. I didn't understand it. I mean I heard the words but didn't understand the real world consequences that those words entailed. I wanted to go ride my bike and get away from what the adults were telling me. It look time for me to really process what had happened and begin the grieving process. My father was an amazing man and I loved him dearly.

Oh my. What a young age to have had to process the death of your father. I can feel through your words the love you had for him. Thx so much for your contributing your thoughts and the parallels in your shared story. So sorry for your loss.