Benjamin Stanford age 17 Missing Talladega, AL(BODY FOUND)

[klaasend]

http://www.myfoxal.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=4869166&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.1.1




Police Search for Ben Stanford  
 
Last Edited: Wednesday, 07 Nov 2007, 11:34 PM CST 
Created: Wednesday, 07 Nov 2007, 11:34 PM CST 
 
Ben Stanford. 

ANNISTON, Ala.  --  Law enforcement in Alabama and Georgia are searching for the 17-year-old grandson of an Alabama state senator.

The Alabama Department of Public Safety issued a missing child alert Wednesday for Benjamin Stanford, who was last seen Monday morning in Anniston. His vehicle, a 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee, was later found on Interstate 20 in Villa Rica, Ga., police said.

Stanford is a senior at Donoho School in Anniston and is the grandson of state Sen. Jim Preuitt, D-Talladega.

"We just hope and pray that our grandson is safe," Preuitt said.

Family members described Stanford as 140 pounds with brown hair and green eyes. He was last seen wearing a white ball cap, rust colored jeans and a long-sleeved fleece shirt that was dark gray and purple.
 

[MumInOhio]

Reward offered as 2-state search continues for missing Lincoln teen
By Chris Norwood
11-09-2007

  As the search for missing Donoho School senior Ben Stanford continued into its fourth day Thursday, some new information became available, but the 17-year-old Lincoln resident had still not been found.
ERA King Real Estate, where his mother, Lynne Stanford, works, has announced a $20,000 reward for valid information “leading to Ben’s safe return,” according to a mass e-mail that went out Thursday evening.

According to Talladega County District Attorney Steve Giddens, who is heading up the multi-agency investigation, Stanford was last seen Monday between 7:30 and 7:45 a.m. in Anniston. He had spent the night at a friend’s house Sunday night, and was believed headed to school in a 2007 silver Jeep Grand Cherokee at that time. He apparently never made it to school.

Someone used Stanford’s credit card to purchase gas at the Texaco station on Alabama 77 North, near the entrance to I-20, at approximately 9 a.m. Monday, Giddens said.

It had been previously reported that the card was used at the Chevron station next door, but Giddens said this was not correct.

Investigators were in the process of reviewing the video surveillance tape from the Texaco station Thursday evening.

There has been no further activity on the card since Monday.

The vehicle was found by Georgia State Troopers just before 2 p.m. Monday in the emergency lane of I-20 East near Villa Rica, Ga., about 75 miles from Lincoln. The keys were not in the vehicle, the doors were unlocked, and the passenger side door was left open, according to the Carroll County Sheriff’s Department. The Jeep did not immediately come up as missing.

When Carroll County Sheriff’s deputies impounded the vehicle and entered it into the National Criminal Information Center database, however, it did come up missing, and law enforcement in Alabama was notified.

A search of the area was conducted on foot and by air, and surveillance video from nearby businesses was reviewed in Georgia, but yielded nothing.

“Obviously, the investigation is still ongoing, and there was a lot of work done today,” Giddens said Thursday.

A Missing Child Media Alert was issued by the Alabama Bureau of Investigation Wednesday evening. Stanford is described as being 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing about 140 pounds, with brown hair and green eyes. He was last seen wearing rust-colored Carhartt jeans and a gray and purple, long-sleeved fleece shirt, with a white baseball cap.

Students and faculty at Donoho held a special prayer assembly Wednesday morning around the flagpole for their missing classmate, and the Greater Talladega Area Chamber of Commerce has been e-mailing his picture to area businesses and other chambers of commerce in the area. Billboards displaying Stanford’s likeness have gone up in the Birmingham area, as well.

As of Thursday, the search was beginning to gain national attention, including a segment with Greta Van Sustren on the Fox News Network Thursday night and a bulletin on the “America’s Most Wanted” Web site.

Ben Stanford is the son of Bill and Lynne Stanford and the grandson of Sen. Jim Preuitt, D-Talladega.

“It’s been a very long wait, but we have a lot of hope, and I know a lot of prayers have gone out for Ben and our family,” Preuitt said Thursday. “We’re grateful for that, and for all the friends that have come by and calling and offering to help however they can. We’re also thankful to the media for their interest and for still respecting our privacy. We still don’t know all the findings from the investigation, but from what I understand there’s not any evidence of foul play, and we’re grateful for that, too. We just want Ben back.”

Anyone with information on Ben Stanford’s whereabouts should contact the ABI at 1-800-843-5678 or call the Lincoln Police Department at 205-763-7777.
 
 

[vms]

[vms]

http://www.eraking.com/index.php?page_id=330

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6063826917

[Anna]

Ben Stanford Update

Monday marks one week since an east Alabama teenager disappeared. Seventeen year old Ben Stanford was last seen in Anniston last Monday. His vehicle was later found on Interstate 20 in Georgia. His grandfather, state senator Jim Preuitt, says his family is thankful for the support. A twenty-thousand dollar reward is being offered. The family has also placed a billboard along Red Mountain Expressway in Birmingham.


From MyFoxAL-B'ham

So there is a billboard erected about him.  That will be hard for people in the area to miss.  Hope it brings results.

.

[Jennifer34]

I have seen a few short spots here and there on the news in Birmingham.  They are not saying much at all other than he is missing. (Maybe that's all they know?)

I can't tell if they are treating this like a run away or what.  (Not that it matters, as far as finding him)

I can tell you a bill board on Red Mountain Expressway wouldn't be cheap, imo.

This would be the opposite direction of where he is from or where his car was located, but it sure doesn't seem like there is much information circulating.

Lot's of forrest and undeveloped land in Talladega.

[Jennifer34]

I have also not heard of any searches.  This is not far from me, I would def. go and help search if any body hears of one, please post.

[Anna]

Jennifer,
Tim Miller said he was going to Georgia and Alabama so I tend to think it is related to this and maybe the others missing in Snellville area.

I don't have a link to TES website but there might be something already posted there about where he was going exactly.  They should have already been searching but where to begin?

And there is always the hope the family will hear from a missing person and that they are OK.

.

[Jennifer34]

I didnt see anything on the TES website yet. 

[Anna]

I didnt see anything on the TES website yet. 

Well, maybe that's not where he is going but I think it is.  Maybe there is no one left to update the website with so many looking for Stacey and going here?

I will post if I hear anything about any searches but probably get the same news as you do being in AL also.

.

[Lala'sMom]

http://www.abc3340.com/news/stories/1107/471822.html

http://www.abc3340.com/news/stories/1107/470822.html


Just announced on ABC 3340 at 6:00 PM CST that TES was in Georgia at the location his vehicle was found taking aerial photos.

[MumInOhio]

I have seen a few short spots here and there on the news in Birmingham.  They are not saying much at all other than he is missing. (Maybe that's all they know?)

I can't tell if they are treating this like a run away or what.  (Not that it matters, as far as finding him)

I can tell you a bill board on Red Mountain Expressway wouldn't be cheap, imo.

This would be the opposite direction of where he is from or where his car was located, but it sure doesn't seem like there is much information circulating.

Lot's of forrest and undeveloped land in Talladega.

Jennifer34...Checked a map after I read your post. He was in Alliston, bought gas in Lincoln or credit card used near Alabama 77 and I-20, not sure which and then his car was found in Ga. I think this has him going west and then back east along I-20 into Georgia. If this is correct it may explain the billboard placement.

[Lala'sMom]

 The family of a missing Talladega teenager, is getting support from the family of Natalee Hollaway.  They're also getting high tech help from a Texas group that has some experience with missing teenagers.

     17 year old Ben Stanford disappeared a week ago. Now his family is looking to some high profile assistance to help find him. Help that's getting off to a fast start, first thing Tuesday morning.

     A gas station just off the interstate in Talladega County was the last place to have had any possible contact with the missing high school senior. That was last Monday. As the search for Ben Stanford enters it's second week, his mom Lynne says the family is still holding on to hope that Ben will be found soon.  "They're doing well.  We're all very, very concerned and very emotional.  But we're pulling together really tight as a team," she says.

     The home of Ben's grandfather has been turned into a central information center.  Now there are at least two more people around.  Both with significant experience with missing teens. Beth Holloway, whose daughter Natalee has been missing from Aruba for well over a year, and Tim Miller with Texas Equu Search.  "I was aware of Ben's case.  I got called last night and how do you say no to a family that has a missing child. So i flew in this morning," Miller explains. "If there's anything that we could share as far as resources and connections we want to do that," adds Holloway.  Miller and a group of volunteers will re-search the area near Villa Rica, GA Tuesday morning where Ben's Jeep was found last Monday. Lynne Stanford says the help her family is getting is very comforting.  "This is a learn as you go process and i just put my faith in their hands," she says.

     Equu Search is looking for volunteers to help them out Tuesday morning.  If you'd like to help, go to exit 23 on Interstate 20 near Villa Rica, GA. Miller says they plan to start the ground search at 8:30. For more information call Sylvia Bentley , her numbers are 256-831-5656 or 256-310-2800.


http://www.wiat.com/news/local/11224866.html

[vms]

I have seen a few short spots here and there on the news in Birmingham.  They are not saying much at all other than he is missing. (Maybe that's all they know?)

I can't tell if they are treating this like a run away or what.  (Not that it matters, as far as finding him)

I can tell you a bill board on Red Mountain Expressway wouldn't be cheap, imo.

This would be the opposite direction of where he is from or where his car was located, but it sure doesn't seem like there is much information circulating.

Lot's of forrest and undeveloped land in Talladega.

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has listed him as endangered runaway.
Link

[Jennifer34]

Well, I am less than 45 minutes away from where they are searching and I didn't hear about this until the 10:00 news last night so it was too late for me to talk to my boss.  (I am in basically a one person office, hard to get off on short notice.)

I hope they have a decent turn out, I just hope enough people heard about the search.  I do plan on seeing what I can do to help, even though it wont be ground searching today, maybe food?  I told my husband not to make plans for the weekend yet because if they are still looking for volunteers we are going to help. (He agreed.)

You read and read so much and realize there are sooo sooo many missing and you just feel so helpless.  You can see the look on family members faces and their lives have literally stopped.  I would just like to be able to some how help some of them ...

[Magnolia]

This is the boy that Tim Miller and Beth Holloway are searching for today.  It is a rather puzzling case.

From the Talladega Daily Home newspaper today.
FBI joins search for missing Lincoln teen
By Chris Norwood
11-13-2007

As the search for Donoho School senior Ben Stanford entered its second week, there was little new information available, but the search continues to grow.
Talladega County District Attorney Steve Giddens confirmed Monday the FBI has joined in the hunt for Stanford, 17, of Lincoln, who was last seen in Anniston the morning of Nov. 5. Giddens’ office, the Lincoln Police Department, the Talladega County Sheriff’s Department, the Alabama Bureau of Investigation, and state and local officials in Carroll County, Ga., are also involved in the investigation.

Stanford was last seen at about 7:45 a.m. in Anniston Nov. 5. He had spent the night with a friend the night before, Giddens said.

When he was last seen, he was apparently heading for school in a silver 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee. He was wearing a white Polo cap, rust colored Carhartt jeans, a purple shirt and a long-sleeved gray fleece, according to a flyer being widely circulated.

Stanford is described as 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing about 140 pounds. He has green eyes and short, brown hair.

Stanford’s credit card was used to buy gas at a Texaco Station in Lincoln, which is west of Anniston, at about 9 a.m. Nov. 5. Giddens said the video surveillance tape, which was in black and white, showed a Grand Cherokee matching the description of Stanford’s vehicle, but the driver was never visible. The tape has been sent to the state forensics lab in Montgomery for enhancement.

The Jeep was recovered near the Villa Rica, Ga., exit of I-20 by Georgia State Troopers at about 2 p.m. Nov. 5. The keys were not in the vehicle, the doors were unlocked and the passenger side door was open.

While there were no obvious indications of foul play in the vehicle, it was still being examined for forensic evidence Friday. The state labs were closed Monday for the observance of Veterans Day.

The state Department of Public Safety issued a Missing Child Alert Wednesday, and ERA King Real Estate, where Stanford’s mother, Lynne, works, has posted a $20,000 reward for information leading to his safe return.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has posted information on Stanford, listing him as an “Endangered Runaway.” A spokeswoman for the center could not comment on this specific designation other than to say that all information posted comes either from law enforcement or the guardian of the missing child.

Giddens said he did not know what the criteria for listing someone as a runaway was, but said that information did not come from his office.

Although to date there is no evidence that a crime has been committed, Giddens said his office got involved in the search early on because of the forensic computer labs recently established through the state District Attorneys Association.

“We’re willing to help anybody that asks us,” he said. “We have the technology to do things like track cell phone transmissions and credit card purchases that some law enforcement agencies normally would not have access to,” he said.

Stanford has not shown any financial activity since the morning of Nov. 4, however.

Giddens declined to comment on whether or not Stanford’s home had been searched. “We have a lot of different people running different aspects of the search,” he said. “I couldn’t comment on some of those specifics. But we are still getting calls every day, and we’re continuing to look into all of them. We’re still doing everything we can.”

In addition to the various public agencies involved, some private groups are also joining in the search.

Equisearch of Dickinson, Texas, will be searching the area around the Villa Rica exit on foot, horseback and four-wheelers today starting about 8:30 a.m. Volunteers 18 years and older with a valid identification are being sought for the search.

According to administrative assistant Cheryl Lawless, Equisearch is a non-profit search and rescue organization established in 2001 by Tim Miller. Miller’s daughter was murdered in 1984, but it was 17 months before her body was recovered, Lawless said.

The organization was most recently involved in the search of Stacy Peterson in Illinois, Lawless said. Although that search was not ultimately successful, Lawless said the organization does have a strong track record, including more than 300 missing persons returned home safely and 73 bodies recovered.

“We never approach the family, we wait to be contacted by them or by law enforcement,” Lawless said. In this case, Stanford’s mother was the one making the call, she added.

Parties wishing to assist in the search should meet at the McDonald’s on exit 23 of I-20 near Villa Rica.

“We’re here to help families get closure,” Lawless said. “That’s important.”

Locally, Sharon Smith of Big Wade’s Bail Bonds has posted Stanford’s picture on her Myspace page, and is encouraging other Myspace users to substitute Stanford’s picture for their own on their individual pages.

The search has also garnered national news coverage on Fox News, and in various newspapers all over the country. Stanford’s classmates at Donoho held a special prayer assembly for him last week, and a day of public prayer was held in Sylacauga Sunday.

Digital billboards bearing Stanford’s likeness have been reported in Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, and countless billboards in the Talladega area encourage passersby to pray for his safe return.

Anyone with information on Ben Stanford’s whereabouts should contact the ABI at 1-800-843-5678 or call the Lincoln Police Department at 205-763-7777.
 
 



About Chris Norwood  Chris Norwood is a staff writer for The Daily Home. 


Contact Chris Norwood Phone:
FAX:
E-mail:
 256 299-2114
256 299-2192
news@dailyhome.com
 

[Magnolia]

Sorry, I did not scroll down far enough before I posted this.
Please delete.
Thanks....again I apologise.

[klaasend]

Just posted on Greta's blog:

November 13th, 2007 3:27 PM Eastern
Sad News…. Reported to Me By Beth Holloway
by Greta Van Susteren
 

I just spoke to Beth Holloway who is in Georgia with the family of Benjamin Stanford - the 17 year old High School who has been missing since Monday.  His Jeep Cherokee had been found along the highway in Villa Rica, Georgia.

Beth told me that they have just discovered the boy’s body.  Searchers apparently found the body.

I asked Beth if this is a suicide, accident or homicide. She said the family does not yet know.  I will keep you posted.

 

http://gretawire.foxnews.com/

[Jennifer34]

So sorry to hear this.  I guess Equusearch found him?  I was hoping he would be found as a run away.  Haven't heard any news locally yet.

God Bless his family and Equusearch for bringing some kind of closure to his family.

[Nut44x4]

Oh Damnnnnnn.....I thought this boy would be found alive. Condolances to family and friends. So sad...