The body of a 20-year-old woman has been found in a Texas creek a week after an Uber driver she went off-roading with killed himself when cops tried to question him.
Mystery has surrounded the case since Amanda Stevenson, 20, from Victoria, went missing on November 19. Two days later her mother reported her missing, setting off a frantic search by law enforcement and members of the community.
On Tuesday, Steven’s mother received the tragic news that she was dreading. Her daughter’s body was discovered in a creek, around 16 miles from where she was last seen just over a week ago. Her cause of death has not been made public.
Police followed up on their belief that former teacher 45-year-old Kevin Bennetsen, an Uber driver, who was known to give her rides, could be connected with Stevenson’s disappearance.
Her family maintain that he was the last person to see her alive. Complicating the investigation is the fact that detectives are still working to gain access to her password-protected phone, which police are hopeful will shed some light on the case.
A map of the area around Victoria, Texas, showing how this tragedy unfolded
Mystery has surrounded the case since Amanda Stevenson of Victoria, Texas went missing on November 19.
Stevenson’s mother, Jennifer Blankenship Horsley, posted this picture on Facebook shortly after her daughter’s body was discovered
Police believed that a local man, 45-year-old Kevin Bennetsen, an Uber driver and was known to give her rides could be connected with Stevenson’s disappearance
Bennetsen’s car pictured shortly after he killed himself as police sought to ask him questions about Stevenson’s disappearance
Police said the two went ‘mudding on [all-terrain vehicles],’ before she went missing.
Investigators conducted an initial interview with Bennetsen and on November 22, the day before Thanksgiving, pulled him over for a traffic stop to ask more questions about the case. Stevenson had been due to celebrate her birthday on November 24.
But Bennetsen fatally shot himself during the stop, around a mile from a property that he owned in the area, reports the Victoria Advocate.
According to the newspaper’s report, cops made contact with Bennetsen before he shot himself with a pistol. He was rushed to a local hospital where he died.
Earlier that day, cops had already begun searching his home and an area he often frequented in Yoakum, around 35 miles north of where Stevenson was last seen.
Bennetsen was married with two children, and officials said his wife has been cooperating with authorities during the search.
He was as a substitute teacher in the Victoria School District as recently as 2022, according to his LinkedIn page.
The father of two is also an Army and Air Force veteran, serving between 2005 and 2008. He also worked as a parole officer for four years and worked in security for Target.
On Sunday, a Candlelight Vigil for Amanda will be held in the park where Stephenson’s body was found
As the family deals with the grief of the 20-year-old’s death, police continue to investigate.
An autopsy has been ordered for Stevenson and Bennetsen’s death is being investigated by Texas Rangers.
In announcing her death, Victoria Police Chief Jeff Young described the efforts to locate Stevenson as ‘tireless’.
While in the midst of the search, her mother, Jennifer Blankenship Horsley, celebrated her birthday.
On Sunday, a Candlelight Vigil for Amanda will be held in the park where her body was found.
‘The not knowing is the worst part,’ Blankenship Horsley told the Victoria Advocate earlier this month.
In the same interview, she called her daughter a ‘very sweet girl’.
‘I’m just devastated. I want to bring her home. At times it doesn’t feel real,’ she added.
She went on to express her gratitude to those who were aiding in the search effort.
She said: ‘Know that I am so thankful for everyone’s help from the bottom of my heart. I can’t say that enough.’