Case Details

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This person was missing Missing Since 02/16/1983

Missing Since:

Missing Since 02/16/1983

Missing From:

Missing From Los Angeles, California

Classification:

Classification Endangered Missing

Gender:

Male

Race:

Race White

Date of Birth:

Date of Birth 02/01/1932 (92)

Age:

Age 51 years old

Height and Weight:

Height and Weight 5’10, 170 pounds

Clothing/Jewelry Description:

Distinguishing Characteristics:

Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Black hair, blue eyes. Bennett has unspecified tattoos on both of his arms. He may have been balding at the time of his 1983 disappearance. Bennett may wear eyeglasses. He has Type A blood.

Details of Disappearance:

On February 16, 1983, Bennett, a supervisor at a sanitation plant in Los Angeles, vanished. He drove off with his coworker, John Alcantara, in his work truck and was never seen again. His wife reported him missing that night.

Police found a lot of Bennett’s blood at the plant and in a dump truck, along with tire tracks from both vehicles. Alcantara claimed Bennett ran off with another woman, but this was untrue. Bennett’s family said he was happy and had no reason to disappear.

Alcantara, who had a history of theft, drug use, and vandalism, had applied for a promotion Bennett denied. Alcantara also acted strangely at work, and had even threatened a coworker who also wanted the promotion. This coworker told Bennett, who said he’d confront Alcantara the next day (the day Bennett disappeared). This information wasn’t given to the police until much later.

Police believe Alcantara killed Bennett, possibly shooting him and disposing of the body. Another coworker, now deceased, allegedly helped dispose of the body at a landfill.

Alcantara was a suspect early on, but it took a witness coming forward in 2004 to get enough evidence to charge him. Alcantara was convicted in 2008 and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, though Bennett’s body was never found. The case is considered a murder.

Agency:

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department 562-465-7816

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