Montrose - Daily Press

MONTROSE — Benjamin Franklin Gray was a middle-aged rancher when he left the upstairs suite he leased at the former Chipeta Bar and Café. He stepped out with a friend late May 30, 1978, headed for the family ranch in Gunnison County.

The friend said he dropped Gray back at 10 S. Uncompahgre at around 4 a.m. May 31 and that as far as he knew, Gray was back at his rooms.

But he wasn't. Ben Gray hasn't been seen for nearly 30 years; his ranch passed into other hands and his family is trapped in the hell of not knowing his fate. His is one of hundreds of cases now undergoing analysis through the Colorado Bureau of Investigation's cold case unit.

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Pursuing cold trails

"We take every one of them personally," CBI Director Bob Cantwell said of missing persons and unsolved homicides.

"You just want to go out there and solve these cases for (families) so you can bring them closure. We get emotionally involved in those cases. We want to solve them and sometimes, there's just no evidence there."

Legislation passed in 2007 aimed to tip the balance in investigators' favor when it comes to cold cases. The new law requires agencies to supply information on homicides and missing persons dating from 1970 or later, when more than three years have passed without resolution.

The information is being analyzed and entered into a database that links to national databases, where it can be cross-referenced with similar incidents, DNA hits and, in the case of homicides, similar manners of death.

The law also requires the CBI to explain, in writing, when it decides to pass on an agency-assist request. Family members of homicide victims may request local agencies to ask the CBI for help as well; the agencies have 30 days to indicate whether they will or won't, and must explain why.

The unit is currently in its first phase, CBI spokesman Lance Clem said.

"A lot of people have this idea that it's like a TV team. We just don't have the resources. What we're doing is starting at the first square, which is to find out how many cases exist."

The CBI cold case database will also share information with Families of Homicide Victims and Missing Persons, a Colorado organization that pushed for the legislation.(See related).

"We'd been pushing for more resources for unsolved murders since we formed this organization in 2001," Howard Morton of FOHVAMP said. "It has been our mantra for quite some time."

He said the push for better resources has so far only netted $67,000, which funds the CBI's analyst position.

Morton's organization also looks at missing persons cases that have been unsolved for more than two years — these include Gray's case and also those of Dale Williams, missing from Nucla since 1999 and Kenneth Chacon, a Russell Stover's employee missing since March 2005.

There are 2,001 missing persons in Colorado, Audrey Simkins, the CBI's cold case analyst, said. Of these, 11 originated in Montrose County.

Simkins is using surveys sent out last October to every law-enforcement agency in the state to determine which missing persons and unsolved homicide cases fall under the aegis of the cold case unit. The surveys include a data collection sheet for agencies to complete on each case.

According to FOHVAMP, there are also 1,250 unsolved homicides in Colorado. That number includes people missing under circumstances deemed suspicious and Montrose cases are among them.

"I'm probably within 200 (of that number). We're getting close," Simkins said. "I'm hoping to complete this within the next couple months so we at least know the numbers we're looking at."

Simkins confirmed Gray and Williams were part of her analysis. (The CBI began assisting in the cases prior to the legislative mandate).

Morton said in addition to Gray, Williams and Chacon, his organization has a listing on homicide victim Irene Trujillo, though a suspect in her death has since been arrested. Neither he nor Simkins had a listing for another Montrose missing person, Tracy Bastion (see related story).

Ben

Tom Gray cannot forget the last word anyone had of his father. "It was May 31, 1978. He went to the mountains with Norman Ismay and he never came home," he said.

"Norman said he brought Daddy back to the hotel we lived in. Daddy leased that whole upper story. Norman said Daddy went upstairs, but he never came up to where my mother was."

Montrose Police Cmdr. Gene Lillard said Ismay, a non-native, was employed by the Ute Mountain tribe as manager for its range on Blue Mesa, which bordered Gray's ranch.

The MPD believes Ismay was the last person to see Gray but he was never charged in Gray's disappearance. He reportedly told investigators he and Gray went to the ranch to release cattle, then returned to Montrose, where he dropped off Gray.

"He never again heard of, or saw, Ben Gray," Lillard said.

He said that according to departmental records, Ismay obtained an attorney before he could be further interviewed and the attorney advised him not to speak to police.

Gray's wife and children were all interviewed, as were several business people in town. No leads developed.

"There was no body. There was no proof of foul play," Tom Gray said. "I've heard all kinds of wild stories, but as far as anything anyone could look into, there's nothing anyone could look at."

Police said it wasn't in keeping with Ben Gray's character not to return. "He had no reason to leave Montrose at all," Lillard said. "He assured his wife he'd be back. He didn't take any personal property with him."

Family, not authorities, searched Gray's ranch. "It was not done at the time," Lillard said. "The ranch is pretty vast. It would be like finding a needle in a haystack."

But in Montrose, police checked even random hunches, like that of a woman who reported a Phoenix-based psychic had received "vibes" indicating Gray was in the Colorado Springs area.

Lillard said Gray, a businessman who liked to boast of his ventures, might have made a few enemies, but on the whole was well-liked, and had a reputation for generosity. His popularity was such that friends and family were able to quickly raise $10,000 in reward money and someone even penned a song about his disappearance.

That tallies with how Tom Gray remembers his father.

"My dad was very well liked. He was like everyone else; he had enemies. He was a wheeler-dealer and he made a lot of deals. If it's good for him, it's probably not good for the other guy. It's kind of like business."

The family's fortunes went south when Ben Gray went missing. Tom Gray said his father owed a lot of money and his mother "lost everything," including the ranch.

"It (the disappearance) was hard on all of us. There was no way around it. It devastated the whole family," he said.

Fate dealt Tom Gray a harsher blow when his 18-year-old son — named in honor of his missing father — died in a car crash. Tom Gray cannot forget how his father never had a chance to meet the boy.

Lillard was cautiously optimistic the CBI or his agency might yet crack the case.

"There's always a chance we could find something out, which will help the family deal with the loss of their loved one," he said.

"It was 30 years ago, but it feels like yesterday," said Tom Gray. "I'm getting on, and I don't remember a lot of stuff, but I sure remember everything about that."

Dale

The last anyone saw of Dale Williams, he was playing darts with an acquaintance on May 27, 1999, at his shop in Nucla. He was also reportedly seen at the Family Market in Naturita.

Montrose County Sheriff's Investigator Richard DeWeber said the acquaintance borrowed $50 from Williams, then played darts with him at his shop for about half an hour before leaving.

"The guy's in his shop one minute and disappears off the face of the earth the next," DeWeber, who was also Williams' neighbor, said. "I just can't imagine Dale walking out of his shop and leaving his two lovely daughters behind.

"As a father, that would be the last thing from my mind. Your speculation goes on. We all tend to think the worst and hope for the best."

According to previous stories, Williams' wife also said he was "not the type of person to just leave."

But some way, somehow, Williams did leave his home that late spring day. His truck was found in July 1999 — underwater, at the confluence of the Dolores and San Miguel rivers.

"A young man (swimming) thought he felt something on his feet that was other than the river bottom," DeWeber said. "He sent down and figured out it was a car and figured he ought to call us."

A deputy who was a certified diver retrieved items from the glove box and DeWeber, who had been a passenger in the vehicle before, identified it.

He said the truck was clearly driven into the water, but beyond that, no one is sure how or why.

"Anytime someone disappears off the face of the earth, everyone, I'm sure, thinks foul play was part of it, but we don't know," DeWeber said. "Anyone could speculate he was in the truck and the currents pulled him out of the vehicle, but I don't know."

DeWeber ran leads in the case until 2000, when they petered out. A listing on the "Unsolved Mysteries" Web site hasn't yielded up the location of Dale Williams.

"If anyone knows, they certainly haven't said anything to me about it," DeWeber said. "A lot of us did an awful lot of legwork. ...He would not have abandoned his kids or his wife."

The Missing

Benjamin F. "Ben" Gray

Missing since May 31, 1978; age 51 at time. Last seen at 10 S. Uncompahgre; not seen by family since departing for ranch in Gunnison County. Five-feet, 8-inches tall, brown hair, blue eyes; glasses. Has "crippled" middle finger on right hand, scar on knee. Wearing diamond ring with large sets around it at time of disappearance.

Call the Montrose Police Department at 252-5200.

Tracy Bastion

Missing since October, 1994 ; age 33 at time. Last seen at residence in 700 block of South Sixth Street; never showed for planned hunting trip. Five-feet, 10-inches tall, 150 pounds, brown hair, hazel eyes; unfinished tattoo of the Grim Reaper on inner, lower left forearm; major abdominal scarring from surgery.

Call MPD at 252-5200.

Dale Williams

Missing since May 27, 1999; age 43 at time. Last seen in Nucla; vehicle found underwater at confluence of Dolores and San Miguel rivers. Last seen wearing dark blue T-shirt and jeans. Five-feet, 7-inches tall, 170 pounds, sandy hair, blue eyes.

Call Montrose County Sheriff's Office at 252-4023

Kenneth Anthony "Tony" Chacon

Missing since March 2005; age 49 at time. Five-feet, 6-inches tall, with brown eyes, approximately 110 pounds. Waist-length dark hair w/ gray in it, mustache. Possible braided hair and baseball cap. Usually wears jeans, a T-shirt, a flannel shirt-jacket and tennis shoes. Glasses, smoker. Bilingual in English and Spanish.

Call CrimeStoppers at 249-8500 or MPD Detectives Steve Vaughan and Ted Velario at 252-5200.

Families of Homicide Victims and Missing Persons: unresolvedhomicides.org

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