Police Have Physical Evidence That Links Man To Missing Teen Murders
ELKTON, Md. (WJZ) -- The bodies of two missing Cecil County teenagers have never been found, but police say they know the boys were murdered and they know who did it.
Derek Valcourt was in Elkton, where this mystery continues to unfold.
Police remain tight-lipped, and prosecutors aren't saying anything about the indictment of a man being called a killer.
Donald Ray Bennett, 30, had been living in the Hollingsworth Manor neighborhood, where last August, 19-year-old Ricardo Levenberry and 16-year-old Jesse Veasey vanished.
Police say each teen was last seen getting into a car with Bennett and an unnamed woman. WJZ has learned police have physical evidence that links Bennett in their murders.
Family and friends of the victims are horrified.
"I hope he's ready for the heat of hell," said family friend Theresa Dill. "I don't try to hate anyone, but the dislike I feel for him is like nothing that I've ever felt in my life."
In the Hollingsworth Manor community, WJZ couldn't find anyone willing to talk on camera about Don Bennett. He was known to some as "Hoghead."
One neighbor told WJZ we would be hard pressed to find anyone with something nice to say about him.
"He is a scumbag," said Jessica Ruch.
Ruch knows Bennett and is aware of his checkered past. He's already sitting in jail for stealing from an auto parts store. His rap sheet includes several counts of burglary, theft and assault.
In addition to the recent murder charges, Bennett faces multiple counts after jailers recently found he'd been hiding a make-shift weapon, called a shank, behind bars.
Valcourt: "Is there any doubt in your mind that he killed those boys?"
Ruch: "No. Too much of it leads to him, and he's capable of it."
Detectives are not saying much about the case. As a result, rumors about what may have happened to the boys' bodies and why they may have been murdered to begin with are running rampant.
Bennett faces the possibility of life in prison if convicted on the first-degree murder charges.