Ben Brubaker went missing in October of 2005 from Ashland County and there’s been no trace of him since. Until recently, little was known about his disappearance. This series explores new leads, possible scenarios, witness statements.
Part III explores Brubaker’s car vanishing without a trace and the mystery hole. Read Part I and Part II here.
ASHLAND — If something bad happened to Ben Brubaker, whoever was involved would have had to get rid of his car. If Brubaker drove it away, wherever it ended up would give a strong indication of the missing man’s whereabouts. The car has not been seen since it was at Brubaker’s girlfriend’s house, where it was towed to in 2005.
Richland Source is not identifying the girlfriend, who agreed to an interview.
As previously reported, Brubaker’s girlfriend asserted he drove the car away from her house. Others, like Brubaker’s friend, Matt Hatcher, believe the car’s windshield was still damaged and was not in a drivable condition.
“I don’t know why they don’t look up where his car is,” the girlfriend said.
Here’s where finding Brubaker’s car gets complicated: no one remembered exactly what vehicle he had, as Brubaker was a car guy and had several throughout the years. Hatcher recalled it being a “two-door, with a hatchback, had to be a Dodge, most likely a Dodge Daytona, an ’88 or an ’89.”
Before Brubaker starting working with Ed Karoglan, of Karoglan Concrete, he was employed at Mere Image, a body shop in Wooster. Although no longer in business, the former body shop owner was tracked down in Port Clinton, where he was working at a marina.
“Ben really wanted that car. I said, ‘OK, Ben, go get it.’ He said, ‘I ain’t got no license.’ So I said I would go up to the dealer and get if for him. We went up to Creston (Auto Sales) and Ben said he didn’t have enough money to buy it. Haha, so I said, ‘OK, I’ll loan you the money,’” Jeremy Jett said.
Jett said it was an ’88 Dodge Daytona.
“Ben was a big Mopar head,” Jett said.
After possessing and driving the car for a while, without a license, Brubaker eventually got into a wreck, smashing out the front windshield and damaging the bumper/frame. It was subsequently towed by Bates Garage to the girlfriend’s house, as she had a garage that would protect the vehicle from the autumn elements.
Hatcher said he saw a tow truck backed up to the girlfriend’s trailer the day Brubaker went missing.
An employee from Bates looked back through the records, but found no towing service matching the Daytona or Polk location around Oct. 14. So if Brubaker’s car was towed, not driven away, it wasn’t from Bates, according to the shop.
How many towing companies, within a 50-mile radius of Polk, could have towed Brubaker’s car around Oct. 14, 2005?
“A company came to the house and put the windshield in it,” the girlfriend said, but she couldn’t recall which business did it.
What company would have fixed the windshield and do they have a record of repairing Brubaker’s car?
As far as the car’s title, Hatcher and Brubaker’s mom said there was no title associated, and Jett thinks it could have been a salvage title. Years ago, Brubaker’s sister, Beth, contacted Creston Auto concerning the title, but they never responded. She believes the car may have been sold without transferring the title. Creston Auto Sales could not be reached for comment.
Regardless of whether there was a title or not, in 2005, one could still drop a car at a junkyard to be pieced out, with little-to-no questions asked.
How many salvage yards are within a 50-mile radius of Polk, and do they have records of receiving an ’88 Dodge Daytona around the end of October, 2005?
The Fire and Mystery Hole
Around town, the reoccurring rumor was that Ben was murdered and burned in a fire in Polk. Tires would get hot enough, they said, to burn up a body completely.
If you start a tire fire, let alone one burning a corpse, the stench would stretch for miles, along with the thick black plume of smoke. In a stranded vehicle survival situation, you burn the tires as the last resort, after all other survival tricks have been used, as the signal will travel far and wide.
Brubaker’s neighbor and boss, Karoglan, said before he left for work, he saw a fire on Friday, the morning of the 14th, at the girlfriend’s trailer. It didn’t have black smoke. But it was a big fire, with the flames probably as high as a person’s head, Karoglan said.
A month or so after Brubaker went missing, Karoglan’s wife, Judy, said she saw two men on the girlfriend’s property carrying a trash bag to the back of the lot. They proceeded to dig a hole. She thought, “Oh no, it must be a dead cat or something.” But instead of burying the bag, they emptied out the contents of the trash bag and filled the hole, according to Judy. She could not give a physical description of the two men.
Years later, the girlfriend sold the trailer. Would the new owners be open to strangers searching their property, trying to locate the mysterious hole? Would a metal detector and a bunch of volunteers be enough?
The sheriff’s department confirmed there wasn’t enough for a search warrant, but with homeowner permission, there would be the possibility for a cadaver dog.
Still, there’s little evidence to suggest if there was foul play that the body would have been disposed of, on-site. The cadaver dog would be for one of the many locations tied to possible accomplices.
Part IV will examine accomplice scenarios, specifically the anonymous letter sent to the sheriff’s office that states Brubaker was murdered and who was involved. Also, witness statements will be considered concerning Brubaker telling them he woke up in the night to a knife on his throat, being held by the girlfriend, and her response.
If you have any tips or information about Ben Brubaker’s disappearance, no matter how trivial they may seem, please email: adam@richlandsource.com or contact Lt. Smart at the Ashland County Sheriff’s office: 419-289-3911. Everything, including your name, will be confidential.
