Found Deceased NC - Kristen Ashley Bennett, 24, Carteret County, 14 Aug 2018 *Arrest*

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Here are my thoughts today:

1. Kristen lived at the house with her bf and son. The son is the "other family" - the media probably just didn't want to disclose anything about the child at that stage of reporting.
2. I think the mattress and couch on the trailer are the replacements. The first I heard about them, it started to fall into place that she was killed in the house and the original couch an mattress were disposed of. I hope beyond hope this happened while her son was out of the house. I assume so only because he is with his paternal parents (I don't think they would allow that if he was a principal witness, which is the only reason it's relevant)
3. I get chills thinking about the fact they may have him on a trail cam with her body, but they are appealing for help with where she may be and took the cars, so that tells me if they have him with her body, it is putting it into a vehicle. They very well could have cadaver dog hits but I'd expect a warrant to have been served by now if they thought she was buried anywhere around there. My guess on the evidence in the woods is just him disposing of evidence, or they found evidence (the couch and mattress, bloodied sheets, burn pit, etc)
4. I'd like to understand more about their relationship and whether there is a history of abuse. It could make all the difference in how he disposed of her. If it was pure jealousy and fear, I'd expect him to bury her. If it was anger and rage, I fear landfill or burning. Thank you to the locals for your insights on known spots nearby - the sinkhole sounds like a possibility if it is easily accessed by car and a place a 20-something guy would know and that is secluded enough. This feels like a very disorganized murder, so he didn't have a ton of time and clearly didn't use any or enough google to help LE locate her.

So where would he have considered? We are handicapped by not knowing the general timeframes LE has for when this may have happened. If he only had an hour, we can rule out things like the vast expanse north of Newport (which he may be familiar with due to family) or any complicated areas like trails or anything a car can't pull up to. Remember, bodies are really heavy and this is not a big guy - he didn't trek into the forest or up a trail or drag her very far, so I think we have to look at possible distance. I don't like that the sea is that close either - am I right in assuming any public access to the bay is just way too public and not something you'd think of? I feel like his mind went to obvious options he could drive to quickly that wouldn't have cameras. Job sites, family property, public dumps, wooded areas on turnoffs...the swamp especially worries me. If I lived somewhere swampy, that would be my first thought .

I've become quite attached to Kristen and hope she is found. I am genuinely sad about this outcome and how predictable these cases can be. It should not detract from how beautiful a mother, daughter and friend she was to those she loved.

I wonder if they will pursue the death penalty if they can find her?
 
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Vail said:
Here are my thoughts today:

1. Kristen lived at the house with her bf and son. The son is the "other family" - the media probably just didn't want to disclose anything about the child at that stage of reporting.
2. I think the mattress and couch on the trailer are the replacements. The first I heard about them, it started to fall into place that she was killed in the house and the original couch an mattress were disposed of. I hope beyond hope this happened while her son was out of the house. I assume so only because he is with his paternal parents (I don't think they would allow that if he was a principal witness, which is the only reason it's relevant)
3. I get chills thinking about the fact they may have him on a trail cam with her body, but they are appealing for help with where she may be and took the cars, so that tells me if they have him with her body, it is putting it into a vehicle. They very well could have cadaver dog hits but I'd expect a warrant to have been served by now if they thought she was buried anywhere around there. My guess on the evidence in the woods is just him disposing of evidence, or they found evidence (the couch and mattress, bloodied sheets, burn pit, etc)
4. I'd like to understand more about their relationship and whether there is a history of abuse. It could make all the difference in how he disposed of her. If it was pure jealousy and fear, I'd expect him to bury her. If it was anger and rage, I fear landfill or burning. Thank you to the locals for your insights on known spots nearby - the sinkhole sounds like a possibility if it is easily accessed by car and a place a 20-something guy would know and that is secluded enough. This feels like a very disorganized murder, so he didn't have a ton of time and clearly didn't use any or enough google to help LE locate her.

So where would he have considered? We are handicapped by not knowing the general timeframes LE has for when this may have happened. If he only had an hour, we can rule out things like the vast expanse north of Newport (which he may be familiar with due to family) or any complicated areas like trails or anything a car can't pull up to. Remember, bodies are really heavy and this is not a big guy - he didn't trek into the forest or up a trail or drag her very far, so I think we have to look at possible distance. I don't like that the sea is that close either - am I right in assuming any public access to the bay is just way too public and not something you'd think of? I feel like his mind went to obvious options he could drive to quickly that wouldn't have cameras. Job sites, family property, public dumps, wooded areas on turnoffs...the swamp especially worries me. If I lived somewhere swampy, that would be my first thought .

I've become quite attached to Kristen and hope she is found. I am genuinely sad about this outcome and how predictable these cases can be. It should not detract from how beautiful a mother, daughter and friend she was to those she loved.

I wonder if they will pursue the death penalty if they can find her?
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I was driving on 24 last night and thinking about where he could have put her. For the first time I noticed how dark 24 is at night. I am usually pretty observant and find myself always looking at the sides of the road for stopped cars and people. Maybe it's watching too much crime tv or reading the many cases I've read about here but I always look at the sides of the road as I'm driving, you know, just in case. As I drove past the trailhead where Bob's Sinkhole is I realized that, depending on the color of the car, if you were to drive by at night and weren't really looking for it, you may not notice a car parked there. There aren't any lights in the parking lot and the business next door isn't lit up enough to shine on the parking lot. The sinkhole is about 50 yards from the parking lot.
My bet is on TB taking some back road that goes into the Croatan. There are plenty of places within a short distance of the house that you can drive into the woods and not be seen. For instance, Pringle Rd leads to a one of the sites people take their trash. It's a long dirt road that leads directly into the Croatan Forest, no houses, no lights, no people and is easily accessible at night. There are a bunch of those kinds of roads all over this area. There a few places that you can access the sound that aren't public and might be able to access at night without being seen but I'm not convinced he put her in the sound. The dumps aren't accessible at night, they are surrounded by tall fencing and locked up tight and are heavily monitored in the day. I'm not sure the swamps would be a good choice either. IMO there are too many houses and people around them to not be noticed. I could be wrong on that though.
I am baffled by the furniture. Why is it still there? I think another factor to consider is where was her son at the time? If he was home that may play a huge part in where he would have disposed of her body and how far away he went and how much time he took to do it.
 

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I keep thinking back to the rumor that her phone pinged or was found on the steps of the church. There is a small body of water behind the church on another property. Also, it’s very wooded there. Is that the “nearby wooded area”?

Looking at the town of Newport, my heart sinks. There are just so many places she could be. So many wooded areas, so many bodies of water :(
 
mrskeev said:
I was driving on 24 last night and thinking about where he could have put her. For the first time I noticed how dark 24 is at night. I am usually pretty observant and find myself always looking at the sides of the road for stopped cars and people. Maybe it's watching too much crime tv or reading the many cases I've read about here but I always look at the sides of the road as I'm driving, you know, just in case. As I drove past the trailhead where Bob's Sinkhole is I realized that, depending on the color of the car, if you were to drive by at night and weren't really looking for it, you may not notice a car parked there. There aren't any lights in the parking lot and the business next door isn't lit up enough to shine on the parking lot. The sinkhole is about 50 yards from the parking lot.
Click to expand...

When I read the word sinkhole I immediately thought of the movie “The Lovely Bones”, and how the girls body was dumped in the sinkhole at the end. I looked up Bobs sinkhole, but there’s very little information available. I was curious to see how deep it is. Is it a location that someone would/could dump a body and it never be found?
 
Gary Bumgardner said:
It's hard for our family not to know where she is at. Please find Kristen before the hurricane ces please
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As I've been prepping for the hurricane today I have kept your family in my thoughts. I pray that she is found before the storm hits, Gary. Have they been doing any searches for her?
 
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Hdengland81 said:
When I read the word sinkhole I immediately thought of the movie “The Lovely Bones”, and how the girls body was dumped in the sinkhole at the end. I looked up Bobs sinkhole, but there’s very little information available. I was curious to see how deep it is. Is it a location that someone would/could dump a body and it never be found?
Click to expand...

I don't think they know how deep the sinkhole is but it is super easy to get to. It is about just off of a trailhead located on hwy 24. I posted some pictures of the area upthread. During the day it can be seen from the road. When I drove past it the other night I noticed that it was pretty dark in the parking lot and if it was really late at night you might be able to park there and not be seen. It is just off of a 4 lane hwy though so I'm not sure.
 
mrskeev said:
I don't think they know how deep the sinkhole is but it is super easy to get to. It is about just off of a trailhead located on hwy 24. I posted some pictures of the area upthread. During the day it can be seen from the road. When I drove past it the other night I noticed that it was pretty dark in the parking lot and if it was really late at night you might be able to park there and not be seen. It is just off of a 4 lane hwy though so I'm not sure.
Click to expand...
Thank you for responding, and for all of the info! The pictures you posted definitely helped me get a better understanding of what the sinkhole was like. It doesn’t sound like it would be the first choice for some where to dump a body or furniture. I hadn’t realized how close it is to the hwy. He would have to be really bold to use it as the dump site.
 
Hdengland81 said:
Thank you for responding, and for all of the info! The pictures you posted definitely helped me get a better understanding of what the sinkhole was like. It doesn’t sound like it would be the first choice for some where to dump a body or furniture. I hadn’t realized how close it is to the hwy. He would have to be really bold to use it as the dump site.
Click to expand...

No problem! If y'all need any other pictures or video of an area, just holler. In these cases I find it's always easier for me to see things the way a local would.
Agreed, it probably wouldn't be a great choice when there are so many other places to go around here. IMO it's more likely that he took one of the back roads or open forestry roads. There are no houses and no people to worry about. There are quite a few within just a few miles of the house. I wish we knew if LE was actually conducting searches.
 
Just to clear some things up with out going into to much info, the furniture outside has been out there for months because of pest problems. I know there is a website claiming her son was with them when it happened he was not.

Kristen is my cousin and the only thing we are wanting right now is to find her. I know there is alot of things that everyone following the story is wantjwa to know however it has not been made public for certain reasons.

If anyone has anything they may know that could help out we are highly recommending to please call the police department.
 
LaylaD said:
I have no idea about how search warrants work. Is it possible that the search warrant only covered the interior of the house (along with the cars)? And, if so, why didn't they go back for possibly additional evidence?
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Police may only search the particular area and seize the specific items called for in the search warrant. For example, they cannot search the interior of the house if the warrant specifies the backyard, nor can they search for weapons if the warrant specifies marijuana plants (just an example, not related to this case) Police may search outside the scope of the warrant only if they are protecting their safety or the safety of others, or if they are acting to prevent the destruction of evidence. Police may seize objects not specified in the warrant only if they are in plain view during the course of the search.
 
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