Benjamin Joseph Bearrick

• Missing Since 01/25/2009
• Missing From Bovina, Mississippi
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Male
• Race White
• Date of Birth 02/25/1953 (71)
• Age 55 years old
• Height and Weight 6'1, 185 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description Unknown, but he usually wears blue jeans and t-shirts.
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Graying brown hair, brown/hazel eyes. Bearrick's nicknames are Ben, Bennie, Bennie Joe and Judd. He had a mustache, goatee and sideburns to just below his earlobes at the time of his disappearance. He has tattoos on his face, right hand and left forearm.

Details of Disappearance

Bearrick was last seen in Bovina, Mississippi on January 25, 2009. He lived with his dog in the 5100 block of Warriors Trail in Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Two days before his disappearance, Bearrick took his tenant Shawn Paul Sponholz to the hospital. He had been stabbed multiple times in the neck. He died of his injuries in the emergency room and his death was ruled a homicide.

Sponholz had rented a cabin on Bearrick's property for a few months prior to his death. Bearrick was held overnight by police as a material witness, questioned, and released. He stated he found Sponholz injured at Sponholz's home. When the police went to his home to speak to him on January 26, he was gone. An extensive search of the area turned up no sign of him.

Authorities have identified a suspect in Sponholz's murder, but haven't named this person publicly. They believe the murder and Bearrick's disappearance are connected and Bearrick may have also met with foul play. He was unemployed at the time of his disappearance. He has one daughter and one son, and was a longtime resident of Vicksburg.

Bearrick was born in Texas and served with the Army in the Vietnam War. He still has family members in Texas, but they hadn't been in contact with him for decades prior to his disappearance. Both his case and Sponholz's murder remain unsolved.