In the summer of 1976, the body of a young man was discovered along a quiet country road in Lawrence County, Indiana. He had no wallet, no watch, no identification. Only a handful of coins, a set of keys, and a name sewn into his clothing: Bennett Brown.
Eighteen years old. A freshman at Northern Illinois University. A son and a stepson. A student with summer plans that should have been ordinary. Instead, his life ended violently, his body left in a wooded ravine nearly 300 miles from home.
This week’s episode of A Heavy Weight takes listeners into the heart of Bennett’s story. We trace his steps from Evanston, Illinois, to the dormitories of NIU, and into the uncertainty of his final days. We revisit the discovery of his body, the painstaking effort to identify him, and the questions investigators were never able to answer.
Through archival reporting, local history, and reflections on the dangers of hitchhiking in the 1970s Midwest, we explore not just the facts of the case, but the haunting gaps. Why was Bennett in southern Indiana? Who did he meet on his way to a promised summer job? And why, nearly fifty years later, does no one stand charged with his murder?
Bennett’s case remains open in the Indiana State Police cold case files. His story deserves to be remembered — not as an anonymous tragedy, but as a young man who had his life stolen.
Listen now to The Name on the Tape on A Heavy Weight.
