Two people still missing in Big Horn County

With Kyle Ellis’s remains identified near Cody earlier this month, Big Horn County’s missing persons list is down to two. Davante Richardson of Washington, D.C., 28 years old at the time of his disappearance in 2020, left only his Jeep Compass on the Crystal Creek haul road northeast of Greybull as evidence. Similarly, Danell Bennett of Cody, 44 years old at the time of her disappearance, left only her truck at the Crystal Creek rest area off Highway 14A near Lovell in 2021. 

Richardson’s case made national headlines and has remained an open case for the Metropolitan Police Department in D.C. following the young man’s cryptic disappearance on an apparent search to meet up with Kanye West. Closer to home, though, is Bennett’s case, with many of her family members residing in the Big Horn Basin. In Greybull, that includes her cousin, Tanya Kraft. 

“It’s strange, because when someone is missing like that, you have your family and extended family… You might not see them all the time, but you know they’re there. So, when someone is not there, it’s just always in the back of your mind, I guess it is mine,” Kraft said. 

On top of the discovery of Ellis, remains thought to be those of Chance Englebert of Moorcroft were recently located in rural Nebraska. 

“Your instinct, I think, is to have hope, it makes you hopeful, but hopeful for what?” Kraft said. “Because ultimately you want them to walk back through the door.”

Kraft acknowledged, however, that knowing is better than not. She and her family have recently been interviewed for Marissa Jones’s “The Vanished,” a true crime podcast that deep dives into individual missing persons’ cases. The family hopes that giving the whole picture of Bennett’s disappearance on a national level will stir up new evidence. 

Back in 2021, Bennett’s dark colored Chevy truck was reported abandoned about four or five days after it was first noticed. The vehicle was towed on Aug. 8. Initially, no one thought anything of the vehicle that had been left disabled: ignition turned on and completely run out of gas. Reportedly, Bennett had recently abandoned the truck before. 

Her family found it odd, though, that Bennett was driving the car at all, as her father had found it mechanically unsound and told her not to drive out of town. She had not contacted her family since July 21. 

At the time of her disappearance, Bennett’s parents were on vacation out of town. Her sister, Wendy Salazar, did a lot of the footwork to determine she was even missing. It was normal for Bennett not to reach out for a couple of days; she did not have a phone. She always maintained some line of contact with her parents and children, though. 

A forensic search of the vehicle and the area it was abandoned in was not completed until much later. 

“I think the ball got dropped a lot there. But then again, we don’t deal with a lot of missing people around here,” Kraft said. 

The family hired a private investigator that has been on the case from the beginning. Kraft expected further details, including reports from local law enforcement, would be included in “The Vanished” episode, set to be released as soon as law enforcement responses are received. 

The reminder, Kraft hoped, would reignite interest. 

“People forget, and we don’t get the luxury of forgetting,” she said. 

Those with information about any of the Big Horn County missing persons cases should contact Big Horn County Sheriff at (307) 568-2324 or DCI at (307) 777-7181.