Benita Elizabeth Moore Spears
Full name: Benita Elizabeth Moore Spears
Age: 23
Missing since: October 24, 1989
Last known location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Case status: Missing; unsolved
https://namus.nij.ojp.gov/case/MP3841
https://charleyproject.org/case/benita-elizabeth-moore-spears
Benita Elizabeth Moore Spears vanished from Gary, Indiana, on October 24, 1989, at the age of 23. She was last seen by her mother while the two attended classes at Indiana University's Northwest campus. After leaving campus, Benita was expected to report to her temporary clerical job at Inland Steel Company in East Chicago, but she never arrived. She has not been seen or heard from since.
Before her disappearance, Benita had recently ended a troubled marriage to John Lee "Johnny" Spears Jr. The couple shared two young sons, and court records documented a history of domestic violence. In 1988, Johnny was convicted of criminal confinement after abducting Benita at gunpoint and transporting her across state lines. She filed for divorce following the incident.
Investigators focused considerable attention on Johnny after Benita disappeared. He had been released from jail only hours before she vanished and was later observed driving her 1981 Oldsmobile Omega. Although the car had initially remained at Benita's residence, it later disappeared and was eventually recovered abandoned in a commuter parking lot in East Chicago, Illinois, nearly a month later.
Johnny declined to take a polygraph examination during the investigation and has never been charged in connection with Benita's disappearance. Authorities have publicly identified him as the primary suspect, but the case has remained unresolved. In a separate case the following year, he was arrested and charged with attempted murder.
At the time she disappeared, Benita was balancing college classes with a temporary office position while raising her family. Friends and relatives described her as someone who enjoyed cooking, sewing, and playing the piano. Investigators believe foul play was involved, and her disappearance remains unsolved.
