Willard Bennett

The Vanished Podcast

Wondery

True Crime, Society & Culture, Cold Case, Investigative, Find The Missing, Vanished, Missing Persons, Documentary, News, Disappeared, Exhibit C

4.5 • 15K Ratings

🗓️ 6 March 2023

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

73-year-old Willard Bennett had spent most of his life living in the Pacific Northwest. As he got older, he became a snowbird. He would travel south to Arizona in his camper-style van during the winter months, and return to Washington for the warmer ones. This was a lifestyle that Will seemed to enjoy, and it became a yearly routine for him to trek to the desert. In November of 2013, he stopped by his daughter’s home in Washington to let her know he was headed out. They made plans to keep in touch weekly via phone, and then Willard left. However, Victoria stopped hearing from her father. Her calls went unanswered. Victoria was able to check Will’s bank account and saw that he hadn’t used his debit card in weeks, which was very out of character for him. That was when Willard Bennett’s family knew they needed to report him missing. Months later, Will’s van surfaced, but there was no trace of Will. Nearly ten years later, this case has gone cold with few clues to go on, but his family is still seeking answers.

If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Willard Bennett, please contact the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department at 858-565-5200.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, prime members, you can listen to the vanished ad-free on Amazon Music. Download the app today.
0:19.0	I think I've come to terms with the fact that I and I have to be honest with you
0:22.8	I've kind of gone back and forth with like do I really want to know what happened?
0:26.0	I worry that it was horrible and painful and that he was hurt. Something bad happened
0:32.0	because I just can't think that like I feel like he met some kind of
0:38.0	corribleness, you know, like I just don't see any other outcome.
0:42.0	I mean he'd be 82 years old and I can't see him just like going off the grid
0:48.0	and being able to survive all this time in any shape or form.
0:53.0	73-year-old Willard Bennett had spent most of his life living in the Pacific Northwest
0:59.0	but as he got older like many people he became a snow bird.
1:03.0	He would travel south to Arizona in a camper-style van during the winter months
1:08.0	and returned to Washington for the warmer ones.
1:11.0	This was a lifestyle that will seem to enjoy and it became a yearly routine for him
1:16.0	to make the trek to the desert. In November of 2013,
1:20.0	he stopped by his daughter's home in Washington to let her know that he was headed out.
1:25.0	They made plans to keep in touch weekly via phone and then Will left.
1:30.0	However, Victoria stopped hearing from her father. Her calls went unanswered.
1:35.0	Victoria was able to check Will's bank account and saw that he hadn't used his debit card in weeks.
1:41.0	Something that was very out of character for him.
1:44.0	That was when Willard Bennett's family knew that they needed to report him missing.
1:48.0	Months later Will's van was found but there was no trace of Will.
1:53.0	Nearly 10 years later this case has since gone cold with few clues to go on
	...

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