Posted on 11/11/2007 6:32:46 PM PST by girlangler
Thanks. No doubt you’ll be hearing some news on this, since the young man’s car was found there.
I do like to fish, so glad you like the tagline. You have some decent fishing up your way too. I’m on the Clinch River above Knoxville TN. Surrounded by lakes too.
All,
I know this is short notice, but this is the latest I have on the missing young man.
Any of you Georgia freepers who can help, or know someone who can, please see below:
Texas EquuSearch is organizing a search for Ben in Villa Rica, GA at 8:30 central standard time Tuesday, and we need to recruit 30-50 people with 4-wheelers to aid in the search. If you are able to help, or know someone who can help, please contact Sylvia Bentley ASAP at 256-831-5656 or 256-310-2800.
Thanks Diana. It doesn’t look good at all, and this family needs all your prayers.
If this were my son, I’d be going nuts right now. I’d be any police officers worst nightmare.
More prayers up. *SIGH*
Made some calls to LE buddies....They are being very tight lipped. Probably because of the grandpa.
Wished I could help with the search, but I’m currently in the Albany area down in SW GA. I know all the woods(what is left anyway) around VR like the back of my hand.
Good luck and prayers for the family.
Thanks VC. Let us know if you hear anything else.
Talked to my sister last night and she said there is another young man about this age missing from the Tuscaloosa area. Same thing, got in his car to go somewhere and was never seen again.
They found the body of the missing teen in GA near where his jeep was found. It was just on the local news.
This (below) is from the hometown newspaper where the young man is from.
This is so tragic for this family.
Preliminary ruling of suicide in Stanford death
By Chris Norwood
11-15-2007
Although none of the law enforcement agencies involved offered any public comment Wednesday, Carroll County, Ga., Coroner Sammy Eady announced the death of Benjamin Stanford, 17, of Lincoln would be ruled a suicide.
According to Eady, Stanford died of a single contact gunshot wound to the head. The weapon was a .25 caliber automatic handgun, he said.
“When I arrived at the scene yesterday (Tuesday), I said there was no visible trauma,” Eady said. “The entrance wound was in his hair, behind his ear, so it was difficult to see at first.”
He said Stanford was probably already dead when his vehicle was found abandoned on I-20 near Villa Rica, Ga., Nov. 5. He said he was not aware of a suicide note.
According to Eady, a toxicology screen was ordered, but the results will not be available for another 90 days.
Carroll County chief deputy Brad Robinson said Wednesday he would not be releasing any information on Stanford’s case to the public until he had met with representatives of all of the other agencies involved. That meeting is expected to take place today in Lincoln.
“I don’t have a problem with what the coroner released earlier today, and I’m not disputing that,” he said, “but I don’t want to release anything until I’ve met with everyone else involved. I don’t have any suspicions, but with multiple agencies involved, I want to make sure the investigation was as thorough as it can be. I don’t want to leave any questions unanswered or any stone unturned,” Robinson said.
Robinson also declined to comment on what items were found on Stanford’s person and whether or not there was a suicide note.
FBI spokesman Paul Daymond said Wednesday he had no comment on Stanford’s cause of death or any other aspect of the investigation.
ABI spokeswoman Martha Earnhardt also declined to comment, saying the ABI would likely defer to the FBI for a public statement Thursday.
Talladega County District Attorney Steve Giddens also said his office would not have a public comment until after the meeting in Lincoln.
Stanford’s family will receive friends today at the Speed Channel Dome at the Talladega Superspeedway from 5 to 7 p.m.
A memorial service will be held at the same location Friday at 11 a.m. The Rev. Bob Blackwell, former pastor of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, of which Stanford was a member, will officiate.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Texas Equusearch, the organization that helped find Stanford’s body Tuesday.
Stanford was a senior at the Donoho School in Anniston, where he also played baseball. He was last seen alive between 7:30 and 7:45 a.m. leaving a friend’s house in Anniston, where he had spent Sunday night.
He apparently told friends he was going to school that morning, but never arrived. Instead, he apparently purchased a small amount of gas at the Texaco station on Alabama 77 in Lincoln about 9 that morning.
The 2007 silver Jeep Grand Cherokee he was driving when last seen was found abandoned in the emergency lane of I-20 East near Villa Rica at about 2 p.m. Nov. 5. The passenger side door was open and the vehicle was unlocked, but the keys were not inside.
The Alabama Department of Public Safety issued a missing child alert Nov. 7, and Stanford’s information also was posted nationally by The Center for Missing and Exploited Children and “America’s Most Wanted.”
His body was recovered between three-fourths of a mile and one mile away from where the vehicle was recovered Tuesday afternoon. Robinson said Tuesday the area was covered with dense foliage, which is why several aerial searches of the area had come up empty.
Stanford’s disappearance prompted a massive outpouring of prayers, sympathy and support, particularly for his parents, Bill and Lynne Stanford, and grandparents, Sen. Jim and Rona Preuitt.
Lynne Stanford’s employer, ERA King Real Estate, posted a cash reward, and numerous friends, individuals and organizations mass e-mailed his picture and description all over the state.
The family announced Monday that Texas Equusearch, a nationally known mounted search and rescue organization, would begin searching for Stanford’s body around Villa Rica Tuesday morning, and that volunteers to assist in the search would be needed.
Equusearch founder Tim Miller said about 60 volunteers would normally be needed for a search like Tuesday’s. More than 100 volunteers came out on less than a day’s notice.
About Chris Norwood Chris Norwood is a staff writer for The Daily Home.
is devastating.
What a shame. I hope the family find peace. It won’t be easy.
Hi All,
Just thought I’d post a followup. Thanks so much for your prayers for this family.
Right now LE officials are saying it looks like a suicide, although the boy’s family don’t believe it. There were no indications of any kind that he was depressed, etc. They are waiting on toxology reports, etc.
Read today the Lt. Gov. of Alabama and numerous state senators attended the funeral. This has really been a blow for the entire community.
AREA NEWS
Stanford investigation ‘will likely continue into next week’
By Chris Norwood
11-16-2007
Hundreds of people visited with the family of 17-year-old Ben Stanford Thursday evening at the Talladega Superspeedway Channel Dome in Lincoln. Stanford is the son of Bill and Lynne Stanford and the grandson of Sen. Jim and Rona Preuitt of Talladega.
Representatives of all of the law enforcement agencies involved in the hunt for Ben Stanford met in Talladega Thursday, but the investigation will likely continue into next week, according to Carroll County, Ga., chief deputy Brad Robinson.
“We’ve got some other tests pending through the state crime lab, and we’re waiting on some other information from the pathologist. I’ve asked for a rush to be put in those tests, so hopefully it will be here in the next five or six days. And I don’t mind reporting on anything then.”
One of the test results still outstanding is the toxicology report. Robinson did not elaborate on what other specific test results he was waiting for.
Stanford, a 17-year-old senior at the Donoho School in Anniston, was reported missing Nov. 5. He was last seen in Anniston about 7:45 that morning, although his gas card was used in Lincoln about an hour and a half later and his vehicle was found abandoned near Villa Rica, Ga., that afternoon. The body was found Tuesday following an exhaustive search involving more than 100 volunteers and the group Texas Equusearch.
According to Carroll County Coroner Sammy Eady, Stanford died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, fired from a .25 caliber automatic handgun.
According to Robinson, Stanford did not leave a suicide note.
Robinson said investigators did know where the gun came from, but did not wish to disclose that information Thursday.
A memorial service is scheduled for today at 11 a.m. at the Speed Channel Dome at the Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, with the Rev. Bob Blackwell officiating.
Stanford is the son of Bill and Lynne Stanford, and the grandson of Sen. Jim and Rona Preuitt of Talladega.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.