Breaking - Body of Missing Vermont Girl Possibly Found

After a week of searching and investigating, Vermont law enforcement officials believe that they have located the body of 12 year old Brooke Bennett.

Police have announced that the body, presumed to be the missing Bennett, was found on property near Crocker Road in Bethel, Vermont, near the home of Bennett's uncle Michael Jacques, who has been under investigation for the girls disappearance. The body was found around 4:45 pm EST, after which the girls parents were informed that police believed that they had found the missing girls remains. An autopsy has been scheduled to confirm the identity and cause of death.

It's been a week filled with rumors and speculations as the search for the missing girl was underway, including tales of an initiation into a sex ring, sexual abuse, rape, and now homicide. The rumors have been hard on Bennett's family during the week that the girl has been missing.

Missing poster signs hang in the windows of storefronts in downtown Randolph, where Brooke Bennett was last seen on Wednesday morning. On many, people have added the words, 'still missing.' That's because there have been rumors that the young girl was found dead yesterday in Sunset Lake in Brookfield.

"There was an issue yesterday in South Royalton that they were taking posters down," said Brooke's father, Jim Bennett. "She wasn't found dead. The rumors aren't true."

The rumor wasn't just spread by word of mouth. On the social networking Web site, Facebook, people were writing on a special "Find Brook(e) Bennett" page that the 12-year-old was dead.

Adding to the rumors are allegations of an affidavit filed in district court by a 14 year old girl who alleges that she was involved with 42 year old Michael Jacques, Bennett's uncle, in taking the girl to Jacques home for initiation into a child sex ring. The 14 year old alleges that she herself has had an ongoing sexual relationship with Jacques, and that part of Bennett's initiation into the ring was that she was to have sex with adult males.

The teenager said she understood that as part of the initiation, Brooke "would have sex with adult males," according to the affidavit in U.S. District Court.

She and Brooke watched television for a while before Jacques told her to leave and took Brooke upstairs, the teen said. The girl left the house with her boyfriend and did not see Brooke again, she said.

Bennett's stepfather, Ray Gagnon, 40, of San Antonio, Texas, was to appear in court on Wednesday on charges of destroying evidence in Bennett's disappearance. If convicted, he could face life in prison for obstructing justice.

More as this story develops.

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