Profile

Name: James Richard Bennett
Sex: Male
Race: White
Age Now: 65
Height: 5'7''
Weight: 240 lbs.
Hair (Color, Description, Facial Hair): Brown\rHe is going bald
Eyes (Color and Correction): Brown
Other Physical Characteristics: Has big bushy eyebrows
Wanted for: Endangering Welfare Of A Child, New York
Sexual Abuse, New York
Rape (2 cts.), New York; Nov 1987

Locations

Last seen: Corryton, TN
Possible location: Humboldt, TN Missouri California Corryton, TN
Last known: Unkown

Traits

Smokes cigarettes
May be wearing glasses
Has had heart attacks and takes heart medication
May wear leather belt with his name etched on it
May be working in a mill, driving a truck, picking crops or riding the rails
Frequents homeless shelters
His mother recently died

Case Story

Daddy's Dark Secret

James Bennett supported his family doing farm work, picking in the fields and trucking the crops during the harvest. Mrs. Bennett worked in the fields by day and returned at night to collect her children and tend house. The children loved their father, but were afraid of his temper. Police say James Bennett sexually abused his two daughters, Bessie and Ellie, for years before Bessie finally found the courage in 1985 to tell her teacher their awful secret. Bessie and Ellie were never safe from their father's advances. According to officials, he would slip into their bedroom and tell them to undress from the waist down. The girls pled with him and told him he was hurting them. But, police say, he continued to abuse them. Wherever they went, he was always watching, waiting. When the girls finally told their teacher, the police were notified. But, Bennett fled town with his wife and children before anyone could press charges.

Life On The Run

For eighteen months, Bennett dragged his four young children all over the country. The children were often denied food and water, and worst of all, police say Bennett continued to abuse his daughters. Authorities finally caught up with Bennett in upstate New York in 1987, after a neighbor reported that the children were being neglected. Bennett was arrested but released on bail. As soon as he got out, he skipped town. But, this time, he left his family behind. The children went into foster care, and authorities have been chasing him ever since.