On June 28, 2022, Luke Benoit, a husband and father of four, went missing in Portsmouth, RI.
Several days after Lukeās disappearance, I searched for him alongside his coworkers, friends and wife Stephanie. After hours in the sweltering heat, the sun went down, it started to downpour and we had to call off the search. I donāt think Iāll ever forget Stephanieās reaction when she realized we had to call it quits without finding him.
We created a flyer and blasted Luke across
@UnsolvedRI. Community members jumped to carry out additional volunteer foot, boat and drone searches. Stephanie and Lukeās sister created a FB group dedicated to finding him. I looped in our friends at
@uncovered and they made him a case page to keep everything organized in one place. Iāll link that below. Stephanie was suddenly a single mom of four young kids, so someone made a GFM and everyone chipped in what they could, hoping Luke would be found soon.
He wasnāt.
Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months and, while work continues behind the scenes, Luke still hasnāt been found, 17 months after he was last seen.
A few months ago, I looped in a more senior PI, a former officer, to help me review every single piece of the case again. We went to visit with Stephanie at home and, while going through everything together, her curious kids kept trying to overhear details. Of course they did ā they knew we were there about their missing dad.
At one point, a tiny black kitten walked over to me. Lukeās namesake ā with the same dark hair and eyes ā took the opportunity to introduce his new pet. The whole time, he kept eyes on his strong, amazing mom. I saw a sweet boy who had to grow up way before he should and told him, āYouāre doing an awesome job.ā I didnāt just mean how he cared for his kitten. He looked so serious when he nodded back. He knew.
Some cases catch your interest because of the puzzle. Some, because of the people. Lukeās is one of the latter for me. All I hope for is the day we can knock on Stephanieās door and tell her heās been found. All I want is for their four kids to know what happened to their dad. I wonāt let that little boy grow up to go looking for answers on his own. No child should have to wonder what happened to their parent.
Anyway, tonight I saw this status Stephanie shared and had an idea. Iād like to see our community remind this family theyāre not alone or forgotten, and show those kids Christmas magic still exists.
If anyone would be willing to support, please let me know. I hate asking folks to donate more so soon after the Thanksgiving dinner drive, but Iād love to get something together for Stephanie to be able to give her babies the best Christmas. If youāre interested in helping, let me know and Iāll set something up.