BEN LUND - 19 yo (2005) - Killeen TX

Beth Lund will never forget the last time she talked to her 19-year-old son Ben Lund — four years ago.

He was calling from his home in Killeen to let his parents Beth and Craig
know his new cell phone number. They were putting a little parental
pressure on him to pay his car payment so it wasn’t the most pleasant
of phone calls for either side.

Beth thought her son sounded “different,” but he said nothing was wrong.

Tragically, that the was the last time Beth heard her son’s voice.

Ben, an Elkhart High School graduate who at one time played high school
football, has been missing since he disappeared in Killeen between June
13 and 17, 2005.

Beth tried to call Ben about a week after
their last phone call but all she got was his answering machine. She
thought he was mad about their prior conversation. She kept calling, he
didn’t answer. In early July 2005, a friend of Ben’s called the Lunds
to tell them that the city towed Ben’s 1999 Nissan Sentra for road
work. The car had been sitting on Wood Street in Killeen for two weeks.

“I regret that I didn’t call him after that last time he called us — I
waited a week. That’s something you don’t get over,” Beth said.

The Lunds first tried to file a missing person case but the police didn’t
believe he was missing. After hiring private investigators, one of them
convinced the police that Ben would not have left his car and made the
missing persons case official. His car was examined by police
detectives but no sign of foul play or evidence except for a bag of
clothes found in the car.

“For the first couple of years, especially the first six months, I was shattered. I could hardly eat or sleep,” Beth said.

Ben was last sighted withdrawing money from First National Bank at the
Harker Heights H-E-B between June 13-17, 2005, according to detectives.
He also was seen at a party on Wood Street in Killeen in mid-June, the
same street where he car was left abandoned.

In February 2006, a non-profit search organization called Texas Equusearch conducted an
extensive search in the Wood Avenue Apartment area in Killeen where he
had last been seen. The organization used a remote-controlled model
plane to take low-flying pictures of the area. Beth and the police
looked at more than 200 photos without finding signs of shoes,
clothing, etc. Beth hopes new information may make another search
possible in the future.

In June of this year, the Killeen Police Department reassigned Ben’s case to veteran detectives Karl Ortiz and Sharon Brank.

Flyers with Ben’s photo and vital statistics were inserted into the July city
water bills. The detectives are investigating the case as if it were a
cold case and developing new timelines and re-interviewing Ben’s
acquaintances.

For Beth and her family, including Ben’s younger sister Barbara who is now 16, life has not been easy.

“I
want my son to be real — it feels like he’s a shadow because of not
knowing. I want him to be home. It doesn’t ever leave you — you go on
with your normal life — laugh and have your friends — but it never goes
away. And you don’t want it to go away until you find out what
happened,” Beth said.

For Beth, memories of her son as a child playing in his Superman costume and pajamas are always there.

“He would wear his Superman pajamas day and night. If we didn’t have a cape
for him to wear, we put a dish towel around his neck,” Beth recalled.

For now, the Lunds hold on to hope, praying for a break in his missing persons case.

————

Anyone with information about Ben Lund’s case should contact the Killeen Police Department.

A nationwide missing persons tour travels to Killeen Saturday to help
two parents uncover the truth behind their son's disappearance in 2005.

Benjamin Lund, 19, disappeared from Killeen between June 13 and 17,
2005. His parents, Beth and Craig Lund of Elkhart, renewed their
already exhausting search earlier this year when Killeen police
reassigned the case to two veteran detectives.

As part of the renewal, Lund asked the CUE Center for Missing Persons
to bring its national tour, "On the Road to Remember," to Killeen. A
rally for Ben will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Killeen Community
Center at 2201 E. Veterans Memorial Blvd.

The rally comes at the most appropriate and inappropriate time for the
Lunds. They commemorated what would have been Ben's 23rd birthday
Tuesday. The rally comforts the Lunds, but it also triggers painful
memories, Beth said.

"This is so near his birthday that it's a way for me to think about him
and feel like I'm still actively involved and looking for him," Beth
said. "There are periods of time when we are unable to do anything. It
doesn't feel good. It feels like you're not trying to find your child."

The Lunds hope the rally renews public interest and generates tips for Killeen police.

Ben has not been seen or heard from since he left a party on Wood
Street with a friend, who returned alone to the party in Ben's car,
police said.

The last recorded sighting of Ben was taken by a security camera
showing him withdrawing money from First National Bank at the Harker
Heights H-E-B between June 13 and 17, police said.

The CUE center's tour aims to revive missing person cases that are forgotten as time passes.

"I want Ben's face to be seen on the cameras and on the newspapers. I
want those who know anything about him to realize that we're not going
to stop looking for Ben," Beth said. "Please come forward with any
information, because I just know there are those in Killeen who have an
answer."

The CUE center's tour travels to Austin later Saturday to conduct a
rally for the 2009 tour honoree, Rachel Cooke. She disappeared during a
morning jog near Farm-to-Market 3405 in Georgetown on Jan. 10, 2002.

The tour makes 23 stops on a 4,810-mile trek across seven states to
bring awareness to 104 of the thousands of missing persons cases across
the country.

Anyone with information about Ben Lund's disappearance is asked to
contact Killeen police at (254) 501-8800, CrimeStoppers at (254)
526-8477 or www.killeencrimestoppers.com.

Craig and Beth Lund live each day on a journey no parents should ever
experience. Each day the disappearance of their son, Benjamin Lund,
haunts them.

For the two parents from Elkhart, Killeen is the worst place to visit and their best chance for answers.

"I tell Beth we just have to keep hope and faith," Craig said.

The Lunds poured sweat and tears into a rally Saturday at the Killeen
Community Center pavilion. The Lunds coordinated the rally as part of
the CUE Center for Missing Persons' "On the Road to Remember" tour.

A large banner adorned the Lunds' gold minivan with the plea "Help Find
Ben." Ben disappeared from Killeen between June 13 and 17, 2005. He was
last seen leaving a party on Wood Street with a friend. The friend
returned alone in Ben's car, police said.

Killeen police detectives Karl Ortiz and Sharon Brank said the case has progressed since they were re-assigned it in June.

"At this point, we need the public. We need their help," Brank said.

Police released the names of two persons of interest in the case Saturday.

Brank and Ortiz would like anyone who knows Ronnie Michael Cummings,
38, or Rosalind Delores Ballard, 38, to contact Killeen police.
Cummings goes by the nicknames "St. Louis," "Charlie" and "Charlie
Brown." Detectives described Ballard and Cummings as acquaintances of
Ben in 2005.

At Saturday's rally, Beth decorated a table chronicling Ben's life. She
lined rows of family photos across a table. The photos told a story of
Ben's life, but the story misses a chapter answering what happened to
Ben.

The photos began with Ben at 3 weeks old. The photos showed him blowing
out birthday candles, attending church with his sister and standing
next to his parents in an Elkhart High School football jersey.

He played wide receiver, but loved basketball most, Beth said. In many
photos he wears a Michael Jordan jersey from the University of North
Carolina.

Approximately 25 people attended the rally including members of Elkhart First United Methodist Church and CUE center volunteers.

Jessi Mays remembered Ben in song with "Here I am Lord," a hymn asking
God for help. Mays and Ben spent their teen years together at Elkhart
FUMC. Mays described Ben as a sports fanatic and loving brother to his
younger sister, Barbara Lund.

The memorial ended when everyone released dozens of yellow balloons into the air, bringing Beth to tears.

"I thought it was a beautiful memorial for my son," Beth said. "For me
this was the real event to remember him after four years of struggle."

Promoting awareness

The CUE center travels across the country each year to bring awareness
to missing persons cases through the tour. The 14-day tour carries the
message of 104 missing persons across seven states and 4,810 miles.

Ben's case is an "underdog" case because missing adult males receive
the least media attention among all missing persons cases, CUE Director
Monica Caison said.

The tour achieves results. Each year one case gets solved as a result
of the tour, Caison said. The tour solved a 28-year-old missing person
case in Florida last year.

"I'm hoping we get resolution here. I know it will take time, but I'm not giving up," Beth said.

Anyone that knows Ronnie Cummings or Rosalind Ballard and or has
information regarding the disappearance of Ben Lund is urged to contact
Killeen police at (254) 501-8905 or 501-8853. A $10,000 reward is
offered for information.

For more information on the CUE center go to, www.cuecenter.org

Contact Victor O'Brien at vobrien@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7468.

Have you seen Benjamin Lund?

AKA: "6-2" and "Slim Jim"

Height: 6'1"

Weight: 165 pounds

Disappeared: Between June 13-17, 2005.

Age at disappearance: 19. He would be 23 now.

His black 1999 Nissan Sentra was recovered on July 7, 2005.

Police released the names of two persons of interest in the case.
Anyone who knows Ronnie Michael Cummings, 38, or Rosalind Delores
Ballard, 38, should contact Killeen police at

(254) 501-8905 or 501-8853. A $10,000 reward is offered for information.

Beth Lund:

What brought you to Peace4? What are you most hoping to accomplish here?

I have a son named Ben who has been missing since June of 2005. He was 19 years old at the time and his car was found abandonded and locked in Killeen, TX ,with no signs of forced entry, However, we know that he was involved in drugs.

He was supposed to be working in the Killeen area until he was off of probation. Ironically, his probation was for using a fake I.D. and not drug related. We were doing the "tough love " thing because he kept violating the rules of his probation. I had gotten him into various re-hab programs in order to keep him from going to jail. We had been trying to keep him in programs until he was off of probation but he managed to get kicked out of the one near killeen. We told Ben that he needed to work and make car payments for the car that his Dad had purchased for him. We also were not allowing him to come home to visit us until he finished out his probation. The last phone call we had from Ben was around June 13th. About a week after that I tried to call him but got no response. I thought he was mad at us for not letting him come home. About 3 weeks later we found out from one of his friends that Ben's car was towed away because it had been parked on the street for too long.

We have hired private investigators and Texas Equusearch conducted a limited search in Feb. '06. The people who knew my son in that area all claim not to know anything.

We contact the Killeen Police Department regularly and a Detective was assigned to Ben's case after a lot of convincing from one of the private detectives that we had hired. I could not get anywhere with the police Department initially.

The problem now, after 3 1/2 years of false leads and waiting endlessly, is this: One person, who might know something about what happened to Ben, has been located in anoother state near Texas. I got theis information, not from the Killeen police Department, but from the Missing Persons part of the TDPS (TX Dept. of Public Safety). This information was passed on to the Killeen police detective back in late April "08. I have been told at least four or five different times that the police detective was going to interview this person. It still hasn't happened. Now, I am told it won't be until sometime after Jan. 1rst. The individual to be interviewed is on probation and will be released sometime in August "09. I'm afraid that the close it comes to August the less incentive this person will have to say anything truthful about what happened to Ben. It's so discouraging. I feel like I'm doing nothing and that Ben is just a forgotten ghost. What can I do to get thi police detective to move? He always has an excuse,even though I know they are over-worked. I feel like I'm banging my head against agiant brick wall or that i'm locke in a dark basement and can't get out.

Ben's flier can be seen on the Texas Equusearch eb sight: texasequusearch.org under Ben Lund or Benjamin Lund
He is also listed with the Texas Department of Public Safety Clearing Hoouse for Missing Persons: also, National Department for Missing and Exploited Children (Adults). Thanks. Beth Lund

How did you hear about Peace4?
I found it while I was looking for a detective that specializes in missing person cases in the internet

http://peace4missing.ning.com/profile/BethLund

Please pray for some answers to Ben's case. ( Beth Lund, Ben's mother)