VT - Ben Johnsen, 19, Woodstock, dead after car accident, 28 Nov 2025

[RobertCatesby]

I'm not sure if this meets the criteria for being posted here, this is my first time posting so my apologies if not.

Late on the night of November 28, 2025, police in Woodstock, VT responded to a report of a car that had crashed into a tree. They found the 2013 Infinity Sedan at the scene, which belonged to 19-year-old Benjamin Johnsen, a sophomore student studying finance at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. He had stayed at a friends house for a get-together previously, and was on his way back home to his parent's house in Hartland, VT when the crash occured.

The mystery in this case, however, is that Johnsen was not in the car or near the scene when police arrived. Police and fire personnel searched for him but failed to locate him overnight. 17 hours later on November 29th, he was found dead on a bank of the Ottauquechee river, on the other side of the river across from the crash site. How did he wind up there? Police have said foul play is not suspected.

Link to article: Family seeks answers in son's tragic death in Woodstock - Valley News

 

[Muddy K]

Thanks for linking the article about this all-too-common tragedy. I agree with Benjamin's father that his injured, disoriented son wandered off in search of help while having little to no awareness of the vulnerable state he was in.

Findings as to the cause of death will be helpful here, IMO.