Remains Found in 1963 Buick Pulled from Mississippi River May Solve Decades-Old Minnesota Cold Case

NEED TO KNOW

• Divers pulled a 1963 Buick from the Mississippi River on Aug. 13, finding human remains inside, per the Stearns-Benton County Sheriff’s Office

• Investigators say the car matched the one driven by 59-year-old Roy Benn, who vanished after leaving a supper club in 1967.

• The remains were sent to the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office for identification and cause-of-death analysis, per the Sheriff’s Office

Divers searching the Mississippi River in Minnesota may have cracked a 58-year-old cold case this week when they pulled a 1960s Buick — with human remains inside — from the water.

On Wednesday evening, Aug. 13, the Stearns-Benton County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team recovered the vehicle near Riverside Avenue North in Sartell, according to a news release from the Sheriff’s Office. The car was taken to the Sartell Police Department for processing, where investigators confirmed it contained human remains.

The Sheriff’s Office said the car’s VIN matched a 1963 Buick Electra registered to Roy George Benn, a 59-year-old Sauk Rapids man who disappeared on September 25, 1967. According to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Benn was last seen leaving the King’s Supper Club in Sartell carrying a large sum of money and wearing a dark suit, a French-cuffed white shirt and gold-and-pearl cufflinks.

Benn’s Buick was described at the time as a metallic blue four-door 1963 Electra with Minnesota license plate number 6DU-516 and serial number 8J4036010, according to KNSI.

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Benn, a widower who owned an apartment building and an appliance service business in nearby St. Cloud, was considered financially comfortable and known to carry substantial sums of cash. Authorities at the time said he may have been carrying thousands of dollars when he vanished, according to the outlets.

The remains have been sent to the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office for identification and to determine a cause of death, according to the Sheriff’s Office. The case has been turned over to the Benton County Sheriff’s Office for further investigation.

Benn was declared legally dead eight years after his disappearance, per KNSI. His loved ones have maintained that he was happy with his life and would not have abandoned his family.

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