Episode Summary
A young man disappears in the depths of an underwater cave system in 2010. A father mysteriously vanishes seemingly right outside of his daughter’s apartment complex in 1971. Both men, decades and miles apart, left their families, lives… and troubles… without a trace, leaving their families with more questions than answers. But whether it was by choice or otherwise, one question looms the largest – what happened to Ben & Kenneth?
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Episode Info
If you have any information about:
- The disappearance of Ben McDaniel in Florida in 2010, please contact the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office at 850-547-3681.
- The disappearance of Kenneth Plaisted in Milwaukee, WI, in 1971, please contact the New Holstein Police Department at 920-898-4241.
To pre-order your copy of The Missing Half, please visit Ashley’s website, or wherever books are sold!
You can learn more about The Good segment and even submit a story of your own by visiting The Good page on our website!
Ben McDaniel (left) and Kenneth Plaisted (right).
Photo Source and Photo Source, respectively.
Ben McDaniel.
Vortex Spring, which houses a large underwater cave.
The sign at the entrance of the Vortex Spring cave.
A diver descending into the Vortex Spring cave.
Kenneth Plaisted.
The area near Donna’s apartment, which seems to be very residential.
Photo Source: Photo screenshotted from Google Maps.
The ad Kenneth placed in a Tampa newspaper in February of 1973, seemingly looking for a roommate.
Kenneth Plaisted’s missing person’s poster.
Episode Source Material
- The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN): Missing Diver loved adventure, by Cindy Wolff via Newspapers.com.
- Dothan Eagle (Dothan, AL): Expert: family searching for body that doesn’t exist, by Morgan Carlson.
- Tampa Bay Times (Tampa, FL): When a diver goes missing, a deep cave is scene of a deeper mystery, by Ben Montgomery.
- The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN): Theories about Collierville diver’s disappearance swirl in vortex of unanswered questions, by Cindy Wolff via Internet Archive.
- Disappeared: The Vortex (Season 5, Episode 11) via Discovery Plus.
- Ben’s Vortex (Documentary). 2012. Directed by Jill Heinerth via Vimeo.
- The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN): Collierville parents pull reward for missing diver, by Cindy Wolff via Internet Archive.
- Scuba.com (Costa Mesa, CA): What happened to Ben McDaniel? Unanswered Questions by Leisure Pro Staff via Scuba.com.
- The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN): Collierville parents pull reward for missing diver, by Cindy Wolff via Internet Archive.
- The Sheboygan Press (Sheboygan, WI): Police Seeking Missing New Holstein Attorney via newspapers.com.
- The Reporter (Fond du Lac, WI): New Holstein Attorney Missing in Milwaukee by Emmy Henschel via newspapers.com.
- The Sheboygan Press (Sheboygan, WI): Attorney Still Missing… Plaisted Search Continues via newspapers.com.
- The Reporter (Fond du Lac, WI): No New Developments in Search for Attorney via newspapers.com.
- The Reporter (Fond du Lac, WI): Milwaukee Police Checking All Angles as Search Continues for Area Lawyer via newspapers.com.
- The Post-Crescent (Appleton, WI): Foul Play Doubted in Lawyer Disappearance via newspapers.com.
- The Sheboygan Press (Sheboygan, WI): Plaisted Still Missing… A Continuing Nightmare via newspapers.com.
- The Sheboygan Press (Sheboygan, WI): Case Of Mistaken Identity Reported In Plaisted Probe via newspapers.com.
- The Reporter (Fond du Lac, WI): ‘Stop’ via newspapers.com.
- The Sheboygan Press (Sheboygan, WI): Plaisted Still Missing… Attorney’s Disappearance, Heus Estate Audit Linked via newspapers.com.
- The Reporter (Fond du Lac, WI): Milwaukee Police Working on Lead Regarding Plaisted by Emmy Henschel via newspapers.com.
- The Sheboygan Press (Sheboygan, WI): Attorney Still Missing… Plaisted Charged With Abandonment via newspapers.com.
- The Sheboygan Press (Sheboygan, WI): Also Missing: $65,000… Warrant To Be Issued For Missing Attorney by Betty Schilling via newspapers.com.
- The Post-Crescent (Appleton, WI): Warrant Issued For Attorney via newspapers.com.
- The Reporter (Fond du Lac, WI): Calumet County Issues Warrant against Plaisted via newspapers.com.
- The Reporter (Fond du Lac, WI): Fugitive Warrant Out for Plaisted via newspapers.com.
- The Post-Crescent (Appleton, WI): Fugitive warrant is issued for Plaisted via newspapers.com.
- The Sheboygan Press (Sheboygan, WI): The Plaisted Puzzle: After 2 Years, Still No Clues To Disappearance via newspapers.com.
- The Reporter (Fond du Lac, WI): Federal Court Charges missing area attorney via newspapers.com.
- The Sheboygan Press (Sheboygan, WI): The Plaisted Puzzle: No Clues To Disappearance 7-Years Ago by Gene Henschel via newspapers.com.
- The Sheboygan Press (Sheboygan, WI): Petition Filed To Declare Atty. Plaisted Legally Dead via newspapers.com.
- The Sheboygan Press (Sheboygan, WI): Missing New Holstein Attorney… Plaisted Declared Legally Dead via newspapers.com.
- The Milwaukee Journal (Milwaukee, WI): Missing for more than 20 years via NewsLibrary.com.
