I have lived in the tomahawk community for most of my life. I believe this to be a tight knit community and one that comes together in a time of need. Which has been shown numerous times. I am currently looking for any and all information reqarding the disappearance of one of our towns people. Ben Wilberding disappeared 11 years ago from his mothers residence on Hwy CC. 11 years have passed and no leads have surfaced. Any information can be replied to me, his sister, or to the lincoln county sherrifs department in merril

let's keep this posted for more than one day.............maybe someone out there can help.

Hi aimless,

If you could supply more information about Ben it might be helpful for anyone that may have information. Information such as how old he was when he disappeared, his ethnicity, obvious scars or distinguishing characteristics, did he wear glasses, what color are his eyes, etc. would help in identifying him now years later. Also, what can you say about the events that lead to the disappearance. Only giving his name and the fact that he disappeared 11 years ago really doesn't help much.

Good luck in your search.....

_________________
Ken Martell
kenmartell@gmail.com
Thankful to be alive and healthy. Proud to call Tomahawk my hometown.

Ben was 21 years old at the time of his disappearance. Now he would be 32. He had dark brown eyes, brown hair, weighed about 160 pounds and about 5'8. He had just returned home to visit from living and working in Iron River. He was last seen supposedly getting into a vehicle at his mothers residence one morning in May. There has been no trace of him since. Ben was/is a very quiet person that kept mostly to himself and loved doing farm work. He moved to Iron River when he was 16 and worked on a farm and graduated high school. He had made periodic visits home to visit family memebrs and catch up on family news. There had been nothing out of the ordinary with his behavoir prior to him going missing. He routinely kept in contact with me and his mother by calling one of us almost weekly.

I have absolutely no experience in what I'm going to say so please take it for what it's worth....or not worth.

Have you thought about using a private investigator who specializes in missing persons to help track down Ben? A Social Security number might show whether there was SSI paid into his number meaning he is alive and working somewhere. He has such a unique last name that a missing persons search (by a professional, not just someone like us using Google) would probably produce some results if he continued to use his last name. A PI would also know how to check with police agencies to see, God forbid, if there had been any unidentified persons reported found 11 years ago. He could also check with Ben's previous employer and hospitals in Iron River. There are lots of avenues that a PI could explore.

If you're serious about finding him I wouldn't limit your search to just the Leader Message Board. But who know, somebody might have some information. But you might think about professional help with this.

_________________
Ken Martell
kenmartell@gmail.com
Thankful to be alive and healthy. Proud to call Tomahawk my hometown.

Ben has been placed on the missing persons list and has been there since his disappearance in May of 1996. There are investigators working the case. But there has been to hits or leads. Its almost like he never existed. So this case is more than just family looking into it. The proper officials are also working it. But if someone somewhere out there has heard anything, seen anything, or knows anything, no matter how trivial, it may lead to something towards the finding of Ben

Aimless,
I have read your postings and I'm sorry of your loss. I'm a journalist for the Tomahawk Leader and I'd like to get your story out to the public. If you would like me to write an article for the paper I'd be more than happy to do so. I could speak with you and the investigators and try to get as much information out to the public as possible.
If this is something you'd be interested in please email me at jbuelow@tomahawkleader.com.

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Gone Fishin'

My heart goes out to you and your family.Can't imagine living with this loss and not knowing from day to day! Don't give up hope! My prayers are going up for you and your family. Keep us posted if you have any news. Jed has a wonderful idea! Hope you see his post and we can keep this at the top - exposure will lead to an answer.

Saw the article published on the front page of our town newspaper. I am hoping that someone will come forward with information for this family. I suppose you can't release if you have gotten any leads or information on here, but I'm wondering if the article helped or by being also
on the news? Thank you...prayers going up for the family.

This is about 2 years late, but it looks as though he may have been found, unfortunately deceased. I found this on a google search. God Bless, RIP.
http://www.waow.com/Global/story.asp?S=12930741

The bones found on the property came back as not human, so the whereabouts of Ben Wilberding are still unknown. Just wanted to pass along so people aren't confused.

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Gone Fishin'

Just for the record... the bones came back inconclussive. Which means they could not be determined due to not enough dna left in them for testing. Cadavor dogs did hit for human remains. We are still searching for leads and anything else that will break this case open. May became the 16th year of Ben's disappearance. How long must we wait?