AZ BENJAMIN ANDERSON: Missing from Phoenix, AZ - 31 Dec 2021 - Age 41 *Found Deceased**ARREST*

Missing man's body found – his car was discovered burned in north Phoenix on New Year's Day

The search for 41-year-old Benjamin Anderson is over after a body found in the desert is confirmed to be his. He went missing on Dec. 31.

www.fox10phoenix.com

Loved ones search for missing man after car found burned in north Phoenix​

Family and friends are searching for a missing Phoenix man after his car was found burned early Saturday morning near Interstate 17 and Dunlap.

Ben Anderson, 41, was last seen at his home the morning of Dec. 31, according to a missing persons flyer shared on social media.

Phoenix Man Missing Since Friday, Car Found Burnt Out

An Arizona man was reported missing over the weekend after friends found his car abandoned at a hotel. Daniel Stahoviak told KPNX he was supposed to meet 41-year-old Benjamin Anderson for breakfast Friday morning, but Anderson called to cancel at about 8 a.m. Later, Stahoviak said, he and friend...

www.crimeonline.com

Phoenix Man Missing Since Friday, Car Found Burnt Out​

An Arizona man was reported missing over the weekend after friends found his car abandoned at a hotel.

Daniel Stahoviak told KPNX he was supposed to meet 41-year-old Benjamin Anderson for breakfast Friday morning, but Anderson called to cancel at about 8 a.m.

Later, Stahoviak said, he and friend went to Anderson’s apartment, where they found money and Anderson’s debit and credit cards, along with a wet towel on the bed, but no Anderson.

Stahoviak said he tracked Anderson’s car to a Sheridan Hotel, where he said he saw three people — none of them his friend — around the car and called 911. Police said they later found Anderson’s car torched.

Anderson is described as 6 feet tall and 250 pounds. He was probably wearing shorts and a blue zip sweatshirt or a black T-shirt. He wears glasses.

Stahoviak described two of the three people he saw near his friend’s car: a woman with a slim build, about 5 feet 11 inches with blonde hair and a pink beanie and a man of average height with dark, curly hair.


MEDIA - BENJAMIN ANDERSON: Missing from Phoenix, AZ since 31 Dec 2021 - Age 41

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Questions remain unanswered after body of missing Phoenix man was found

The body of a missing Phoenix man was found near the desert by Maricopa County officials on Friday.

www.abc15.com

Officials say they responded to a location near Table Mesa Road, west of I-17, for a body found in the desert.

MCSO: Man previously reported missing found dead in New River desert

On Monday, deputies confirmed the body was of Benjamin Anderson. Anderson was previously reported missing by family and friends when they didn't hear from him on New Year's Eve.

www.azfamily.com

Deputies say a body was found on Friday near Table Mesa Road, west of Interstate 17, in New River. On Monday, deputies confirmed the body was of Benjamin Anderson. The case is being treated as a homicide.

Police have not released any information about potential suspects. The investigation is ongoing.

 

[RoundPeg]

That was certainly an experience for his friends.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Friends of man found killed in New River plead for answers

It's been two weeks since Benjamin Anderson's body was found in the desert near New River but so far, no arrests have been made and the sheriff's office is staying

www.azfamily.com

Friends of man found killed in New River plead for answers​

It's been two weeks since Benjamin Anderson's body was found in the desert near New River, but so far, no arrests have been made, and the sheriff's office is staying tight-lipped on their investigation.

"I'm hopeful they have information, leads, but I'm also hopeful there's somebody out there who saw something and can report it," said Daniel Stahoviak, Benjamin's close friend. "We're all bursting at the seams wanting to know information but trying to keep ourselves calm, knowing that they're working on it."

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office has not released any details regarding Benjamin's death, other than that it is being investigated as a homicide.


Benjamin's friends and family have raised $25,000 for anyone who has information leading to an arrest.

"I think there are people out there that know. Somebody saw something, somebody talked to somebody — either you were on Table Mesa Road, or you were near his home somewhere on the 31st, saw his car, or maybe somebody shared something with you — it's okay to report these issues. You can even call anonymously to report to MCSO," Stahoviak said.

MCSO said there are no updates on this case at this time.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Two months after Benjamin Anderson’s death, no arrests

When asked for an update on the case, MCSO said there were no new updates and they also did not have any suspect descriptions.

www.azfamily.com

Two months after Benjamin Anderson’s death, no arrests​

It’s been two months since Benjamin Anderson’s body was found in a remote part of the desert off Table Mesa Road in New River. However, there are still no arrests in the case. “Being such a high profile murder--meaning, you know, where his body was found, maybe the method in which he was murdered, you would think we would have some answers,” said Susan Dzbanko, Anderson’s friend of 20 years. “It’s a constant reel in my head--all the time—of him, what happened to him? Why it happened to him? Who did it? Where are they? Why haven’t they found them?”

The Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office nor the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office have released the cause of death. However, his body was found about 30 miles north of his home. “I think somebody did this with anger or premeditation and did it for a reason and wanted to cover it up,” said Daniel Stahoviak, Anderson’s friend of 25 years. “Taking somebody out to the desert like that, 30 miles north, burning his car to the point it was burned, they were doing it to hide something. There is no way about it. It wasn’t a crime of passion, it was--he did something, he saw something, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time--let’s hide the evidence. Probably not realizing his body would be found that quickly that day.”

Stahoviak is hopeful there will be an arrest soon. “There are cameras everywhere. I have to believe they have something. I have to believe that,” Stahoviak said.


When asked for an update on the case, MCSO said there were no new updates and they also did not have any suspect descriptions.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Family, friends search for clues in Phoenix man’s murder

Benjamin Anderson is described by friends and family as a generous and helpful person. It’s still unclear if those characteristics are what led him to someone who killed him. Anderson, a …

yourvalley.net

Family, friends search for clues in Phoenix man’s murder​

Benjamin Anderson is described by friends and family as a generous and helpful person.

It’s still unclear if those characteristics are what led him to someone who killed him.

Anderson, a manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers, S.C. and a former conceierge manager at the Ritz-Carlton in Paradise Valley, was murdered sometime on Dec. 31 or Jan. 1.

While there seems to be no doubt Anderson was killed by someone else, the way in which he was killed — and by whom — seem almost as mysterious today as seven months ago.


According to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, Anderson’s death is an open and active homicide investigation. The medical examiner’s report cannot be released because of what MCSO says is sensitive case information that could jeopardize the investigation.

No arrests have been made and no names of people of interest have been announced.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

911 calls released in unsolved Benjamin Anderson homicide case when body was found

The 911 caller and authorities were confused at the time if they were looking at a burning human or mannequin.

www.azfamily.com

911 calls released in unsolved Benjamin Anderson homicide case when body was found​

It’s a homicide case that’s riddled with mystery — the disappearance and death of Phoenix man Benjamin Anderson on New Year’s Eve. His body was found burned in the desert off I-17, and his car was found burned in a parking lot shortly after. Now we’re hearing the 911 calls and details from when his body was found for the first time.

In a matter of hours, Anderson went from talking to his friends and family and making plans for NYE that night to his body found burning in the desert. But the nature of how he was found is now being revealed. The 911 caller and authorities were confused at the time if they were looking at a burning human or mannequin.

“Where’s the address to your emergency?” the dispatcher said “Um, I’m now in the desert on the 17 off Mesa Table,” the caller said. “I’m not sure if it’s a body or a mannequin, but it looks like a body to me.”

Just after 1:30 p.m. on New Year’s eve, a man out in the desert sees smoke and calls 911. “I saw the smoke and I thought to go look, and it looked like a body,” the caller said.

“It’s on fire right now?” the dispatcher asked. “Yes. It’s on fire and it’s getting wider,” the caller said

What they thought might be a mannequin was actually the body of missing Central Phoenix man Benjamin Anderson. “I believe somebody found him very quickly, and I think that in the long run will be helpful,” said Daniel Stahoviak.

Stahoviak was Ben’s best friend of 25 years and was part of a search where this story took an odd turn. While looking for Ben, Stahoviak and their friends were able to track down Ben’s Lexus along the 17 in a Sheraton parking garage, where they say they found three people inside Ben’s car. They chased them for some time before giving up.

Hours later, Ben’s friends found his car burned in a school parking lot. Unknown to his friends at the time, Ben’s body had already been found off the 17 and Table Mesa Road.

According to the newly released police report, the officer wrote he saw what appeared to be blood coming from the head and blood marks on the side of the wall of the wash. The officer wrote in the report, “I thought possibly the body had either fallen down into the wash from the ledge...or was tossed down into the wash rolling down the side wall.”

“Knowing that there was a body there and then knowing the condition that it was in, I think that’s…its hard,” Stahoviak said.

The officer also wrote the body had “some clothing around the legs below the butt area, and there were a pair of socks on its feet.”

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

One year after Phoenix man was left dead in the desert, his friends wait for answers

For the last year, the loved ones of Benjamin Anderson have been waiting for answers after his body was found in the desert north of Phoenix and his car burned out.

www.12news.com

One year after Phoenix man was left dead in the desert, his friends wait for answers​

What friends and loved ones don't know, and still lingers a year after his death, is all that happened on New Year's Eve 2021.

"This year has been really hard," Dzbanko said.

"We're still wondering what happened a year later," Stahoviak said.


To this day, no arrests have been made by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.

"I think somebody knows something," Stahoviak said.

Anderson's friends have raised $25,000 as a reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case. Anyone with information can contact Silent Witness anonymously at 480-Witness.

"It's never too late to do the right thing," Dzbanko said.

The friends wait with hope that they will know what happened someday, believing investigators are still working on the case.

"Whoever did this, whether it was one person or multiple people, that they're held accountable because they should be," Dzbanko said. "They should not be breathing the same air as we breathe, right? For what they did to him."

 

[Mel70]

a wet towel on the bed?

Being the car was set on fire, Often people in a fire put a wet towel over their head. Maybe the perpetrator set the vehicle on fire, Using the towel. Then went back to clean up etc. I don't think it was a stranger at all.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Public concern after two gay Phoenix men horrendously murdered in less than two years

Two Phoenix men, Bernardo Pantaleon and Benjamin Anderson were both found murdered in Phoenix less than two years apart because they were gay.

www.azfamily.com

Public concern after two gay Phoenix men horrendously murdered in less than two years​

Horrific, new details of the murder of Bernardo Pantaleon were revealed Monday, a gay Phoenix man whose family believes the attack was a hate crime.

The crime has eerie similarities to a high-profile unsolved murder of another gay man from Phoenix - Benjamin Anderson.

While we don’t know if the two could be related, there is concern that two members of the Phoenix LGBTQ community were tortured and killed in less than two years.

It’s the worst kind of evil a family could endure, receiving images of their loved one dead from the alleged killers themselves.

According to court documents, that’s what Bernardo Pantaleon’s family had to go through late last month after Bernardo, an openly gay man, was reportedly tortured and then murdered.

“To get that news, I understand. I get it. It’s horrible,” said Dan Stahoviak.

Dan Stahoviak went through something similar in January 2022 with his best friend Benjamin Anderson, who was also openly gay.

“The fact pattern around this particular situation, this murder, is a little bit too similar to Ben’s situation,” said Stahoviak.

While Phoenix PD is investigating Pantaleon’s murder, MCSO is investigating Anderson’s murder and is aware of the similarities as both investigations continue.

According to court documents, Pantaleon was shot multiple times, then his body was mutilated.

His family said he was found naked at Mountain View Park on November 26th.

Court documents showed Jose Rodriguez, Leonardo Santiago, and Manual Carrasco-Calderon carried out the gruesome murder, posted about it on social media, and then sent pictures of it to Pantaleon’s family.

His family believes it is a hate crime because the alleged killers wrote on social media that homosexuality wasn’t allowed in the northside and cheered about his death.

“This is pure anger, this is pure hatred for somebody else,” said Stahoviak.

As for Ben Anderson’s case, he went missing on New Year’s Eve heading into 2022. Stahoviak and his friends eventually tracked down his car at a Sheraton parking garage and saw three unknown people driving it, only to find it hours later completely charred in the UEI College parking lot.

Ben Anderson’s body was found burning hours later in the desert off the I-17 and Table Mesa Road.

Looking at the death of these two men, the location and circumstances are eerie. The park where Pantaleon’s body was found is just about two and a half miles away from where Benjamin Anderson’s car was seen driven by three people at the Sheraton and abandoned and burned at the school parking lot.

Criminal defense attorney Russ Richelsoph said investigators should be asking these three men in custody questions.

“Where were these individuals at the time of the first crime? Do they have an alibi? Can we rule them out as suspects?” Richelsoph said.

 

[GrandmaBear]

Public concern after two gay Phoenix men horrendously murdered in less than two years

Two Phoenix men, Bernardo Pantaleon and Benjamin Anderson were both found murdered in Phoenix less than two years apart because they were gay.

www.azfamily.com

Public concern after two gay Phoenix men horrendously murdered in less than two years​

Horrific, new details of the murder of Bernardo Pantaleon were revealed Monday, a gay Phoenix man whose family believes the attack was a hate crime.

The crime has eerie similarities to a high-profile unsolved murder of another gay man from Phoenix - Benjamin Anderson.

While we don’t know if the two could be related, there is concern that two members of the Phoenix LGBTQ community were tortured and killed in less than two years.

It’s the worst kind of evil a family could endure, receiving images of their loved one dead from the alleged killers themselves.

According to court documents, that’s what Bernardo Pantaleon’s family had to go through late last month after Bernardo, an openly gay man, was reportedly tortured and then murdered.

“To get that news, I understand. I get it. It’s horrible,” said Dan Stahoviak.

Dan Stahoviak went through something similar in January 2022 with his best friend Benjamin Anderson, who was also openly gay.

“The fact pattern around this particular situation, this murder, is a little bit too similar to Ben’s situation,” said Stahoviak.

While Phoenix PD is investigating Pantaleon’s murder, MCSO is investigating Anderson’s murder and is aware of the similarities as both investigations continue.

According to court documents, Pantaleon was shot multiple times, then his body was mutilated.

His family said he was found naked at Mountain View Park on November 26th.

Court documents showed Jose Rodriguez, Leonardo Santiago, and Manual Carrasco-Calderon carried out the gruesome murder, posted about it on social media, and then sent pictures of it to Pantaleon’s family.

His family believes it is a hate crime because the alleged killers wrote on social media that homosexuality wasn’t allowed in the northside and cheered about his death.

“This is pure anger, this is pure hatred for somebody else,” said Stahoviak.

As for Ben Anderson’s case, he went missing on New Year’s Eve heading into 2022. Stahoviak and his friends eventually tracked down his car at a Sheraton parking garage and saw three unknown people driving it, only to find it hours later completely charred in the UEI College parking lot.

Ben Anderson’s body was found burning hours later in the desert off the I-17 and Table Mesa Road.

Looking at the death of these two men, the location and circumstances are eerie. The park where Pantaleon’s body was found is just about two and a half miles away from where Benjamin Anderson’s car was seen driven by three people at the Sheraton and abandoned and burned at the school parking lot.

Criminal defense attorney Russ Richelsoph said investigators should be asking these three men in custody questions.

“Where were these individuals at the time of the first crime? Do they have an alibi? Can we rule them out as suspects?” Richelsoph said.

Yeah they should rule them out at least and it sounds awful but one has to also consider two gay men in two years in a city the size of Phoenix?? How many gay men are there (a lot I am sure) and how many murders of any kind? And I did go into and read the link. Possible but they fail to connect them imo, however, it shouldn't be ignored of course. I though saw no reason to think they are connected, it is a big city, wide time frame of a couple of years, etc. Considered and checked out of course it should be. Assumed the samed or connected? Of course not. Jmo.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

$25,000 reward offered for information that leads to arrest in Benjamin Anderson's murder

Benjamin Anderson's body was found burned in the desert. His car was found burned 30 miles away.

www.12news.com

$25,000 reward offered for information that leads to arrest in Benjamin Anderson's murder​

New Year's Eve marks two years since Benjamin Anderson, a beloved Valley man, went missing and was later found dead.

Anderson's car was found burned near the I-17 and Dunlap and his body was found 30 miles away off the I-17 near Table Mesa Road, 30 miles from his car.

It's been two years and there are still there are far more questions than answers.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office has been investigating Anderson's horrific death since Dec. 31, 2021, but despite the shocking nature of the crime, no suspects have been publicly identified and no arrests have been made.


In the past month, Phoenix PD has linked two North Phoenix homicides to 21-year-old Leonardo Santiago.

Records show both victims, Bernardo Pantaleon and Osvaldo Hernandez Castillo, may have been targeted because of their sexuality.

Anderson was gay, too, leaving loved ones wondering if the suspect in those cases also killed him.

MCSO tells 12News Santiago and the gang members he's associated with are not their suspects.

 

[GrandmaBear]

$25,000 reward offered for information that leads to arrest in Benjamin Anderson's murder

Benjamin Anderson's body was found burned in the desert. His car was found burned 30 miles away.

www.12news.com

$25,000 reward offered for information that leads to arrest in Benjamin Anderson's murder​

New Year's Eve marks two years since Benjamin Anderson, a beloved Valley man, went missing and was later found dead.

Anderson's car was found burned near the I-17 and Dunlap and his body was found 30 miles away off the I-17 near Table Mesa Road, 30 miles from his car.

It's been two years and there are still there are far more questions than answers.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office has been investigating Anderson's horrific death since Dec. 31, 2021, but despite the shocking nature of the crime, no suspects have been publicly identified and no arrests have been made.


In the past month, Phoenix PD has linked two North Phoenix homicides to 21-year-old Leonardo Santiago.

Records show both victims, Bernardo Pantaleon and Osvaldo Hernandez Castillo, may have been targeted because of their sexuality.

Anderson was gay, too, leaving loved ones wondering if the suspect in those cases also killed him.

MCSO tells 12News Santiago and the gang members he's associated with are not their suspects.

MCSO tells 12News Santiago and the gang members he's associated with are not their suspects.

This is an interesting statement. It sounds as if they have suspects but that it is not this guy...

 

[GrandmaBear]

911 calls released in unsolved Benjamin Anderson homicide case when body was found

The 911 caller and authorities were confused at the time if they were looking at a burning human or mannequin.

www.azfamily.com

911 calls released in unsolved Benjamin Anderson homicide case when body was found​

It’s a homicide case that’s riddled with mystery — the disappearance and death of Phoenix man Benjamin Anderson on New Year’s Eve. His body was found burned in the desert off I-17, and his car was found burned in a parking lot shortly after. Now we’re hearing the 911 calls and details from when his body was found for the first time.

In a matter of hours, Anderson went from talking to his friends and family and making plans for NYE that night to his body found burning in the desert. But the nature of how he was found is now being revealed. The 911 caller and authorities were confused at the time if they were looking at a burning human or mannequin.

“Where’s the address to your emergency?” the dispatcher said “Um, I’m now in the desert on the 17 off Mesa Table,” the caller said. “I’m not sure if it’s a body or a mannequin, but it looks like a body to me.”

Just after 1:30 p.m. on New Year’s eve, a man out in the desert sees smoke and calls 911. “I saw the smoke and I thought to go look, and it looked like a body,” the caller said.

“It’s on fire right now?” the dispatcher asked. “Yes. It’s on fire and it’s getting wider,” the caller said

What they thought might be a mannequin was actually the body of missing Central Phoenix man Benjamin Anderson. “I believe somebody found him very quickly, and I think that in the long run will be helpful,” said Daniel Stahoviak.

Stahoviak was Ben’s best friend of 25 years and was part of a search where this story took an odd turn. While looking for Ben, Stahoviak and their friends were able to track down Ben’s Lexus along the 17 in a Sheraton parking garage, where they say they found three people inside Ben’s car. They chased them for some time before giving up.

Hours later, Ben’s friends found his car burned in a school parking lot. Unknown to his friends at the time, Ben’s body had already been found off the 17 and Table Mesa Road.

According to the newly released police report, the officer wrote he saw what appeared to be blood coming from the head and blood marks on the side of the wall of the wash. The officer wrote in the report, “I thought possibly the body had either fallen down into the wash from the ledge...or was tossed down into the wash rolling down the side wall.”

“Knowing that there was a body there and then knowing the condition that it was in, I think that’s…its hard,” Stahoviak said.

The officer also wrote the body had “some clothing around the legs below the butt area, and there were a pair of socks on its feet.”

When I came in tonight to read the recent post today, I landed on this one first somehow, thought it was new and so I read it. I see I had hit a reaction to it before so apparently I did read it back when but this read leaves me with some questions.

His friends actually find his car in a hotel parking garage? I can't recall past details from years ago, was Ben known to be staying at this hotel or something that they looked there?

And then when they found it three people were in it and all managed to get out and despite being chased managed to escape from the kids/Ben's friends chasing them? So at that point the car was still in the garage then right? Did they call it in since Ben they thought was still being looked for?

And then hours later they found it burned somewhere completely different in a school parking lot? The same friends that found it the first time? Did cops not come take possession of it the first time or respond? I am guessing they weren't called. And then what happened, the same three people chased off possibly came back and took off with it and burned it somewhere else? Why did they look in this school parking lot, had they realized the car was gone again and they had left it? And why the school and they found it again? Did they call cops this time?

I think I only read the post, I better go read the link but this is really odd and brings some real questions.... I of course can't 'recall all the initial details of the case, where Ben was when last alive, etc. so that doesn't help.

This is odd, I can't believe when I read this post back when I never noticed that. But maybe the link explains and that's why I didn't wonder. I'll go look first.

 

[GrandmaBear]

When I came in tonight to read the recent post today, I landed on this one first somehow, thought it was new and so I read it. I see I had hit a reaction to it before so apparently I did read it back when but this read leaves me with some questions.

His friends actually find his car in a hotel parking garage? I can't recall past details from years ago, was Ben known to be staying at this hotel or something that they looked there?

And then when they found it three people were in it and all managed to get out and despite being chased managed to escape from the kids/Ben's friends chasing them? So at that point the car was still in the garage then right? Did they call it in since Ben they thought was still being looked for?

And then hours later they found it burned somewhere completely different in a school parking lot? The same friends that found it the first time? Did cops not come take possession of it the first time or respond? I am guessing they weren't called. And then what happened, the same three people chased off possibly came back and took off with it and burned it somewhere else? Why did they look in this school parking lot, had they realized the car was gone again and they had left it? And why the school and they found it again? Did they call cops this time?

I think I only read the post, I better go read the link but this is really odd and brings some real questions.... I of course can't 'recall all the initial details of the case, where Ben was when last alive, etc. so that doesn't help.

This is odd, I can't believe when I read this post back when I never noticed that. But maybe the link explains and that's why I didn't wonder. I'll go look first.

No further clue in there. It was a Lexus, is it possible an owner could track it or something? Maybe Ben's parents owned it and somehow had GPS access or something?

 

[GrandmaBear]

View attachment 13574

Missing man's body found – his car was discovered burned in north Phoenix on New Year's Day

The search for 41-year-old Benjamin Anderson is over after a body found in the desert is confirmed to be his. He went missing on Dec. 31.

www.fox10phoenix.com

Loved ones search for missing man after car found burned in north Phoenix​

Family and friends are searching for a missing Phoenix man after his car was found burned early Saturday morning near Interstate 17 and Dunlap.

Ben Anderson, 41, was last seen at his home the morning of Dec. 31, according to a missing persons flyer shared on social media.

Phoenix Man Missing Since Friday, Car Found Burnt Out

An Arizona man was reported missing over the weekend after friends found his car abandoned at a hotel. Daniel Stahoviak told KPNX he was supposed to meet 41-year-old Benjamin Anderson for breakfast Friday morning, but Anderson called to cancel at about 8 a.m. Later, Stahoviak said, he and friend...

www.crimeonline.com

Phoenix Man Missing Since Friday, Car Found Burnt Out​

An Arizona man was reported missing over the weekend after friends found his car abandoned at a hotel.

Daniel Stahoviak told KPNX he was supposed to meet 41-year-old Benjamin Anderson for breakfast Friday morning, but Anderson called to cancel at about 8 a.m.

Later, Stahoviak said, he and friend went to Anderson’s apartment, where they found money and Anderson’s debit and credit cards, along with a wet towel on the bed, but no Anderson.

Stahoviak said he tracked Anderson’s car to a Sheridan Hotel, where he said he saw three people — none of them his friend — around the car and called 911. Police said they later found Anderson’s car torched.

Anderson is described as 6 feet tall and 250 pounds. He was probably wearing shorts and a blue zip sweatshirt or a black T-shirt. He wears glasses.

Stahoviak described two of the three people he saw near his friend’s car: a woman with a slim build, about 5 feet 11 inches with blonde hair and a pink beanie and a man of average height with dark, curly hair.


MEDIA - BENJAMIN ANDERSON: Missing from Phoenix, AZ since 31 Dec 2021 - Age 41

This one said he tracked the car to a Sheridan hotel. He must have had some way of doing that. Anyone have any ideas other than GPS? It also said he was last seen at home not at a hotel.

 

[Regina]

Re article in post #31, I wonder why those gang members aren't suspects.
I don't know whether LE thinks this crime even is gang-related but it certainly looks that way to me and those particular individuals appear to me to be very strong suspects.

 

[GrandmaBear]

Re article in post #31, I wonder why those gang members aren't suspects.
I don't know whether LE thinks this crime even is gang-related but it certainly looks that way to me and those particular individuals appear to me to be very strong suspects.

I don't know but I trust they have something and know something we don't. It isn't like they are protecting Santiago or his gang as he is already linked to a couple of other crimes. It could be based on Ben's friends description of the three people they saw in Ben's car but i suspect it's something more than that and they know it isn't Santiago or his gang.

I trust there is some reason they know better.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

MCSO: Charges planned in unsolved Phoenix murder of Benjamin Anderson

MCSO said it “will be submitting charges against those alleged suspects” but didn't give a timeline.

www.azfamily.com

MCSO: Charges planned in unsolved Phoenix murder of Benjamin Anderson​

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office told Arizona’s Family on Thursday that investigators have their eye on people as possible suspects in the unsolved murder of Benjamin Anderson in Phoenix.

An MCSO spokesman said in an email the agency has “persons of interest targeted as good suspects” and “will be submitting charges against those alleged suspects.” Detectives said they still have to go through some digital data and records to get more information before the case moves forward. MCSO didn’t say when those charges would be filed.

Thursday’s announcement is the first time the sheriff’s office has said anything about Anderson’s murder case since he was killed. Details in the case are extremely strange and there is at least some clarity that detectives believe there are likely multiple involved in the murder. “That to me tells me that they know obviously a lot more than we thought they did,” said Dan Stahoviak, Anderson’s longtime best friend.

Investigators have been tight-lipped about what happened to Anderson. The question that remains is how many people and what charges they will face. Anderson’s friends don’t know who the people they saw in his car were but believe one or more of them may have met Anderson recently and may be the “good suspects.” “I don’t think it was random but I don’t know what the connection was,” said Amanda Smith, Anderson’s friend.

MCSO said it’s committed to getting the best case to prosecutors. Detectives said the Anderson case is not related to any other criminal cases in other cities or towns.

 

[GrandmaBear]

MCSO: Charges planned in unsolved Phoenix murder of Benjamin Anderson

MCSO said it “will be submitting charges against those alleged suspects” but didn't give a timeline.

www.azfamily.com

MCSO: Charges planned in unsolved Phoenix murder of Benjamin Anderson​

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office told Arizona’s Family on Thursday that investigators have their eye on people as possible suspects in the unsolved murder of Benjamin Anderson in Phoenix.

An MCSO spokesman said in an email the agency has “persons of interest targeted as good suspects” and “will be submitting charges against those alleged suspects.” Detectives said they still have to go through some digital data and records to get more information before the case moves forward. MCSO didn’t say when those charges would be filed.

Thursday’s announcement is the first time the sheriff’s office has said anything about Anderson’s murder case since he was killed. Details in the case are extremely strange and there is at least some clarity that detectives believe there are likely multiple involved in the murder. “That to me tells me that they know obviously a lot more than we thought they did,” said Dan Stahoviak, Anderson’s longtime best friend.

Investigators have been tight-lipped about what happened to Anderson. The question that remains is how many people and what charges they will face. Anderson’s friends don’t know who the people they saw in his car were but believe one or more of them may have met Anderson recently and may be the “good suspects.” “I don’t think it was random but I don’t know what the connection was,” said Amanda Smith, Anderson’s friend.

MCSO said it’s committed to getting the best case to prosecutors. Detectives said the Anderson case is not related to any other criminal cases in other cities or towns.

Not related to any other cases. Which matches what they said a it upward in this thread not far where they said something like the ones in another gay murder aren't their suspects or something like that which made it sound as if they HAD suspects and apparently they did and it sounds like more than one... Maybe a group BUT NOT the ones in any of the other hate crimes as they pretty much say that as well...

On rereading some of this recently, it brought some questions, most of which I never mentioned. I think though answers are going to come for a lot of them it now seems.

Unless this is a ruse to worry the perps. I think that unlikely but who knows... Kind of interesting they say or share anything and share that they just need to go through some digitial data and records for more info first...

Not sure about anyone else but I have a couple of thoughts and then on top of those is that it may be something entirely different but I doubt it.

It may or may not be a hate crime still but they are as much as saying the perps aren't anyone responsible for any other hate crime around NOR are any of those connected to this case. That would lead one to logically think of someone known to Ben. Yet they talk as if its more than one or two.

Did he meet some new bunch of people that day or in recent times that no one else knew of or was it people he was close to?

No idea but it seems those answers may come.

I hope it's not a ruse. If it is, I pray it works.

Watched a lot of Adelson in recent weeks and a ruse was used. It IS done.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Body-cam shows moment deputies find Benjamin Anderson’s body burning in desert north of Phoenix

Anderson went missing on New Year’s Eve 2021, and his car was later found torched in Phoenix. His body was discovered 30 miles away.

www.azfamily.com

Body-cam shows moment deputies find Benjamin Anderson’s body burning in desert north of Phoenix​

Hours of body camera video was just released by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, some of which shows the moment when deputies found Benjamin Anderson’s body burning in the desert more than two years ago.

Anderson went missing on New Year’s Eve heading into 2022, and his car was later found torched in Phoenix. His body was discovered 30 miles away, north of Phoenix, after a man searching the desert for a place to target practice found the fire.

Deputy: “Is it a mannequin?”

Deputy: “Jesus.”

It was a rainy New Year’s Eve on Dec. 31, 2021. Early that afternoon, body cameras were activated as MCSO got a call that a body, or possibly a mannequin, was on fire off the I-17 and Table Mesa Road in New River.

The video shows a deputy climbing down a small cliff, piecing together what he’s seeing.

Deputy: “He might have slipped and fell, and I might have … but I don’t know what would have set him on fire.”

Deputy: “I think we have a dead body here, Sergeant.”

Sergeant on the phone: “Alright, well, treat it as a crime scene.”

We now know that was the burning body of 41-year-old Benjamin Anderson, a Phoenix man who went missing earlier that day.

This is the first time his best friend, Dan Stahoviak, has seen the moment Anderson’s body was discovered.

“I can’t watch it. I saw the fire and I just … because he was alone,” Stahoviak said through tears. “Seeing it is a whole different story.”

Earlier that same day, Stahoviak and his friends found Anderson’s car in a Sheraton parking garage, saying there were three strangers inside. They followed the car for a while until the pursuit got too dangerous.

An hour later, they found Anderson’s car torched in a college parking lot. They didn’t know until days later that officers had already found Anderson’s body in the desert.

The body camera footage revealed another bizarre mystery.

Deputy: “It looks like there’s hair on his legs, and he’s got like, fishnet stockings on.”

Deputy: “His hair is short. I think it’s a guy dressed as a girl.”

This perplexes Stahoviak.

“Did they put them on him? Was it used to, you know, as part of like to tie him up? Everything goes through my mind because I’ve never known Ben to wear fishnet stockings,” said Stahoviak.

In the video, the deputy relays a theory to his sergeant of what he believes happened, before you can see firefighters arriving to the scene.

Deputy: “There’s blood up here at the top of the hill. It looks like a body dump, Sergeant. Somebody drug him and threw him off this little cliff.”

MCSO confirmed they have good, targeted suspects in the case, and charges will be coming.

Stahoviak said he and his friends have talked about the difficulties they know are ahead.

“We have to prepare ourselves for that moment we find out why,” said Stahoviak.

MCSO didn’t give Arizona’s Family a timeframe of when charges could be filed in Anderson’s case but told us in January they were finishing up going through some digital data and records before they could move forward.