Guide Note

Brooke Bennett vanished on June 25, 2008. Bennett was supposed to meet a friend and visit a patient at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire.

Bennett's uncle, Michael Jacques, was been charged with the kidnapping. According to an affidavit, an unidentified minor told police that Bennett was being groomed by her uncle to join a sex ring called Breckinridge.

The remains of Bennett's body were found by police on July 2, 2008 near her uncles home.

Fast Facts

1. Date last seen: June 25, 2008
2. Time last seen: 9:00 a.m. EST
3. Place last seen: In front of a Cumberland Farms convenience store in Randolph, Vermont
4. Search began on June 26, 2008
5. Body was found on July 2, 2008 in shallow grave¹
6. Bennett's uncle, Michael Jacques, arrested on June 29, 2008
7. Jacques originally charged with sexual assault involving a minor in an unrelated case²
8. Jacques is a registered sex offender and was one of the last people seen with Bennett before she vanished
9. Jacques charged with kidnapping Bennett on July 2, 2008
10. Could face death penalty depending on how Bennett died

On June 29, 2008, Bennett's uncle, 42-year old Michael Jacques, was arrested on unrelated sex charges involving a minor. The minor was not Bennett but the evidence was revealed in the course of the investigation. On July 1, her stepfather, 40-year old Ray Gagnon, was also arrested with charges of obstruction of justice. Allegedly, both have been previously involved with sexual assault of minors.^{2 3 4}

Police say that Jacques posted fake messages on Bennett's MySpace page to make it appear as if she had been corresponding with someone she met online.¹