Man missing from New Berlin confirmed dead in Illinois crash

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NEW BERLIN, Wis. – Ben Oberto, of New Berlin, who was first reported missing on Thursday, Nov. 14, died in a crash in Illinois.

The New Berlin Police Department, with assistance from the Illinois State Police, confirmed that on Friday, November 15, at approximately 3:40 p.m., the Illinois State Police found Oberto’s vehicle overturned in a creek as a result of a single-vehicle crash. Eastbound near I-90 to northbound I-294 near Chicago O’Hare.

The driver of the vehicle died at the scene and was later identified as Benjamin Oberto.

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The crash is currently under investigation by Illinois State Police.

This is a developing story, check for updates.

Original story (reported Friday)

A New Berlin woman is searching for answers after her husband disappeared on a business trip to Illinois earlier this week.

Ben Oberto, a father of two, was last seen leaving a restaurant in Crystal Lake. His wife said no one had heard from or seen him since Wednesday night, November 13.

“I miss him. I miss him so much,” Laura Leatherberry said. “I just want him to be alive and I don’t know.”

Leatherberry said she last spoke to her husband on Wednesday around 6 p.m. He told her he was working and “will probably be home in a few hours.” When he didn’t hear from him, he tried to call around 22:00 in the evening.

“I called my husband and it went straight to voicemail,” she said. “I knew something was wrong.”

Oberto is a wine representative. Surveillance video showed him leaving 1776 Restaurant in Crystal Lake just before 9 p.m. Wednesday. He went to his car (2019 Subaru Impreza with Wisconsin license plate ANJ-2349) and used his I-PASS at the Elgin toll booth around 9:30 p.m. His phone last rang 15 minutes later in Rosemont.

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“We don’t know what happened to him in Rosemont,” Leatherberry said.

timeline

• On Wednesday, November 13, I traveled to 1776 Restaurant in Crystal Lake, Illinois for a business lunch.
• Surveillance footage shows him leaving the 1776 Restaurant at 20:56 and his car leaving the parking lot at 21:02.
• He paid his last toll using I-PASS at Plaza 9 – Elgin at 9:27 p.m., heading east and using I-90 to I-94, where he last used his iPhone at 9:47 p.m. in Rosemont, Illinois. It plays in .

Police determined Oberto did not board any planes or enter O’Hare International Airport, but his phone was disconnected. Police also checked the area and found no trace of Oberto, his vehicle or his phone at any business, hotel, morgue or hospital.