CANADA Canada - Ben Tyner, 32, cowboy, horse returned w/o him, Merritt, British Columbia, 26 Jan 2019 - #2

[Trudie]

Excellent point, we’re all presuming a truck and trailer was involved but it’s never been stated as fact. Early on LE asked anyone to come forward who might’ve dropped off Ben and his horse with a truck and trailer. But at the same time they also asked if anyone saw somebody riding in an area known as Swakum Ridge on either Saturday or Sunday.

IMO, it was determined Gunny could not get to where she was found w/o being trailered.
It is also possible a witness said “uhm I did see Ben riding, uhm, it was either Saturday or Sunday....uhm, my days are all blurring together.” Stories change over time, details get sensationalized, people forget what they said in previous interviews, etc.
It is MOO LE has their suspect/s but would like the footage of him driving, before making an arrest.
Common sense prevails in this case, imo.
Person/s responsible had to not only have access to Gunny & her tack, but they had to know she was Ben’s horse & be familiar with the territory. All of this rules out a stranger.
Again, moo.

ETA: it was reported early on Gunny had a shoe missing. Probably linked on first thread.

 

[MistyWaters]

IMO, it was determined Gunny could not get to where she was found w/o being trailered.
It is also possible a witness said “uhm I did see Ben riding, uhm, it was either Saturday or Sunday....uhm, my days are all blurring together.” Stories change over time, details get sensationalized, people forget what they said in previous interviews, etc.
It is MOO LE has their suspect/s but would like the footage of him driving, before making an arrest.
Common sense prevails in this case, imo.
Person/s responsible had to not only have access to Gunny & her tack, but they had to know she was Ben’s horse & be familiar with the territory. All of this rules out a stranger.
Again, moo.

ETA: it was reported early on Gunny had a shoe missing. Probably linked on first thread.

Do you have a link for a missing shoe? I’ve read many media reports but I’m unable to find a source for that. If a broken rein could be found, a located horse shoe could also provide excellent evidence so I wonder why it’s not mentioned.

 

[Trudie]

Seventeen days later, Ben Tyner was presumably dead. He has not been in contact with anyone since the evening of Saturday January 26. His saddled horse was found on a logging road near his residence on January 28.

I doubt that the church fires have anything to do with Ben's disappearance. Everything he said was kosher.

Ben's truck, cell phone and dog were at home on Monday. He was most likely at home when something happened to him after Saturday. Whoever did something to him also did something to his horse. Who could even think of trying to get away with staging the murder of a cowboy by leaving his horse on a logging road - such an elaborate plan!

@otto people gravitate to what they know, imo. we’ve seen cases where the suspect liked hiking, his SO falls off a cliff, scuba divers have lost SO in diving mishaps, boaters often dispose of a body in water (Scott P.), CW knew oil fields.
In this case it is moo the perp/s have a strong tie to ranching.

It is also moo Gunny holds little interest to LE, other than how she got off the ranch, specifically the vehicle hauling her. She was found unharmed & is safe, back in WY with Ben’s family, I suspect being pampered to the nth degree.

 

[Sillybilly]

You might be thinking of the broken rein, rather than a missing shoe?

<rsbm>

No, the missing shoe was mentioned fairly early in the discussion.

 

[Sillybilly]

Hmm. It seems the info about the missing shoe was brought over from FB without a link. I have no idea whether it was from an Admin of the group or searchers, or just general commenters.

I've rummaged on the FB page but don't have any more time. Anyone else able to find the source?

 

[MistyWaters]

@otto people gravitate to what they know, imo. we’ve seen cases where the suspect liked hiking, his SO falls off a cliff, scuba divers have lost SO in diving mishaps, boaters often dispose of a body in water (Scott P.), CW knew oil fields.
In this case it is moo the perp/s have a strong tie to ranching.

It is also moo Gunny holds little interest to LE, other than how she got off the ranch, specifically the vehicle hauling her. She was found unharmed & is safe, back in WY with Ben’s family, I suspect being pampered to the nth degree.

I agree, people gravitate to what they know. My theory is Gunny is connected but the perp never intended she be found on a logging road, instead the plan went wrong at some point and she broke free and the perp was unsuccessful in recapturing her. Had she not been found, the search for Ben and his horse would’ve extended in all directions. If my theory is the least bit correct, LE are interested in that general area because that’s where the perp resides. Either she was taken from the ranch or Ben was ambushed while riding. Because she was found with tack and saddle, the later is a stronger possibility. But just my opinion....only an alternate theory that also fits the few facts that have been released.

 

[Trudie]

Hmm. It seems the info about the missing shoe was brought over from FB without a link. I have no idea whether it was from an Admin of the group or searchers, or just general commenters.

I've rummaged on the FB page but don't have any more time. Anyone else able to find the source?

@sillybilly it just dawned on me the links were on FB, as well as a few comments, regarding a missing shoe. I’m short on time at the moment too.
Can post #993 be addressed using initials only? Tysm

 

[zecats]

You might be thinking of the broken rein, rather than a missing shoe?
“It took me about 20 minutes to get him because he was pretty jumpy — something happened to him. He only had one rein,” Robinson said. “But I caught him and tied him up to a tree.”
UPDATE: Ben Tyner confirmed missing by Nicola Ranch - Merritt Herald

It was reported no tracks were found, unfortunately.

“RCMP dog services and air support as well as members from nine southern B.C. search and rescue teams continue to scour the area but police say active logging and herds of wild horses have obscured possible tracks.“
Merritt-area cattle ranch identifies missing B.C. cowboy as one of its managers

There was a statement of a missing shoe as well. I remember reading it.

 

[MistyWaters]

Hmm. It seems the info about the missing shoe was brought over from FB without a link. I have no idea whether it was from an Admin of the group or searchers, or just general commenters.

I've rummaged on the FB page but don't have any more time. Anyone else able to find the source?

One thing I have noticed is the media’s tendency to edit their original online stories, not just in this case. As an example, even the “last seen at 2pm” can hardly be found anywhere now, whereas only a week ago I noticed it was included in dozens of media articles. Rather than printing retractions or corrections, poof what was once there is just gone. So maybe there was a media source for the FB post at one time.

 

[enelram]

Outside the box......
Think for a minute. Maybe Ben drove his own truck and trailer
w/ Gunny in it, up the mountain, parked, unloaded Gunny to
go scout for strays.
Perp may live on the way to where Ben parked and saw him go by
or saw the parked trailer and stalked Ben into woods, ambushed
him, shot him dead, Ben falls to ground which spooks Gunny and
she takes off. Perp drives Ben's truck and trailer along w/ body
and uses his earth digging machine to deeply bury Ben somewhere
up on that mountain. Perp drives truck and trailer back to ranch
under cover of darkness and parks in Ben's driveway. Leaves
keys in ignition.
Did LE process his truck and trailer and saddle? Before they were
taken back to Wy. ?

 

[Trudie]

I agree, people gravitate to what they know. My theory is Gunny is connected but the perp never intended she be found on a logging road, instead the plan went wrong at some point and she broke free and the perp was unsuccessful in recapturing her. Had she not been found, the search for Ben and his horse would’ve extended in all directions. If my theory is the least bit correct, LE are interested in that general area because that’s where the perp resides. Either she was taken from the ranch or Ben was ambushed while riding. Because she was found with tack and saddle, the later is a stronger possibility. But just my opinion....only an alternate theory that also fits the few facts that have been released.

We are all entitled to our theory/opinion.
I don’t for one second believe Ben was ambushed while riding, nor do I believe he was in Swakum area (dead or alive) & I think the perp/s wanted/needed Gunny to be found ASAP, for his/their story to work.
I don’t think Gunny broke free, as I believe the person releasing her to be an experienced horse person, it is moo Gunny was unloaded as quickly as possible & the driver sped off.

 

[Trudie]

Outside the box......
Think for a minute. Maybe Ben drove his own truck and trailer
w/ Gunny in it, up the mountain, parked, unloaded Gunny to
go scout for strays.
Perp may live on the way to where Ben parked and saw him go by
or saw the parked trailer and stalked Ben into woods, ambushed
him, shot him dead, Ben falls to ground which spooks Gunny and
she takes off. Perp drives Ben's truck and trailer along w/ body
and uses his earth digging machine to deeply bury Ben somewhere
up on that mountain. Perp drives truck and trailer back to ranch
under cover of darkness and parks in Ben's driveway. Leaves
keys in ignition.
Did LE process his truck and trailer and saddle? Before they were
taken back to Wy. ?

Hopefully things were processed before being released.

Idk how far we can go with your theory/questions without breaching tos. I’m on a dif’ page.

 

[Trudie]

B.C. RCMP suspend renewed search efforts for missing cowboy

Nothing new, really. Only a recap to my previous link regarding suspension of latest search.

 

[MistyWaters]

Outside the box......
Think for a minute. Maybe Ben drove his own truck and trailer
w/ Gunny in it, up the mountain, parked, unloaded Gunny to
go scout for strays.
Perp may live on the way to where Ben parked and saw him go by
or saw the parked trailer and stalked Ben into woods, ambushed
him, shot him dead, Ben falls to ground which spooks Gunny and
she takes off. Perp drives Ben's truck and trailer along w/ body
and uses his earth digging machine to deeply bury Ben somewhere
up on that mountain. Perp drives truck and trailer back to ranch
under cover of darkness and parks in Ben's driveway. Leaves
keys in ignition.
Did LE process his truck and trailer and saddle? Before they were
taken back to Wy. ?

Maybe a thought right out of left field, but I wonder about any of the recent wild fires which have been determined to be human-caused. And if LE is taking a close look. Because if somebody wanted to bury a body, masking the location by wildfire would destroy evidence of disturbance to ground cover. JMO

April 8, 2019
“A total of six wildfires have sparked in the Nicola Valley in the past week......”
UPDATE: Spences Bridge fire extinguished - Merritt Herald

 

[otto]

Good Morning Everyone,
Otto, you're asking great questions.
My opinion is that initially, the discussion of tracks or no tracks
leaving the ranch and no tracks around found horse were facts
that were originally brushed over.
If you go back and read the msm articles, RMCP were guessing
about the tracks or no tracks. It didn't sound to me like anyone
really tried to follow tracks early on. Someone said they couldn't follow tracks around the logging area. The mention of someone
trailering the horse to where it was found was because no one
found tracks for any other explanation.
Then the 'trailering of the horse' story grew legs and they went
with it. Not because they had any facts to support that theory but because no one found tracks- I think they missed the boat on
early tracking or someone covered up the tracks leaving the
ranch and there was no good tracker in the logging area, maybe
a bunch of locals, not trackers?

We know that RCMP have requested dash-cam footage from the weekend of January 26 - 27. It's possible they are hoping to see Ben and his horse near the road, but it's more likely that they are looking for a vehicle.

"The RCMP is asking anyone who may have seen Ben Tyner during the weekend of January 26 and 27 or a truck and trailer that may have transported him to the Swakum Mountain or OK Forest Service Road off Mamit Lake Road, to contact the SED MCU tip line at 1-877-987-8477."​

RCMP in British Columbia - Tyner Family Plea for Information Relating to Ben’s Disappearance

 

[otto]

No, they were hooked together. IIRC, it was shown during a video. It wasn't a still photo.

If the horse trailer was hooked up to the truck, and Ben was last seen on Saturday evening but not at the ranch, then someone must have hooked up the trailer after Saturday. If Ben hooked up the trailer and drove to the logging road, how did his truck get home?

 

[otto]

What could possibly be the purpose of saddling up Gunny, then hauling her off the ranch and traveling miles to get her up the mountain? For what purpose? Where would you turn that big rig around up there? What if Gunny just followed the rig back down to the Valley...what would be gained? Why take all that risk of being seen and possibly recorded?

It looks like it would not be that difficult to turn a truck with a single horse trailer in the area where the horse was found.

 

[Trudie]

It looks like it would not be that difficult to turn a truck with a single horse trailer in the area where the horse was found.

View attachment 179535

View attachment 179536

I don’t think so either, we do it all the time. Many places we go look much worse. Plus, we don’t really know where Gunny was dropped.

Logging vehicles get in & out of the same area.
Plus, Gunny May have been dropped miles from the images showing where she was found.

 

[Trudie]

If the horse trailer was hooked up to the truck, and Ben was last seen on Saturday evening but not at the ranch, then someone must have hooked up the trailer after Saturday. If Ben hooked up the trailer and drove to the logging road, how did his truck get home?

I tried to find the referenced video with no success. A lot of links asked about or requested are on the first thread. I haven’t the time to go thru every post.
I think I saw a still shot but the trailer was not near the truck.

 

[Trudie]

Considering the resources used during the last search, I think LE had reason to suspect the feed yard/compost area.