Unsolved: Searching for Diane

This year marked 45 years since Diane Chorba disappeared from her home in Lake County.

Clarence 'Ollie' Bean was eventually convicted of killing Chorba. The two had a child together and Diane was pregnant when she disappeared. It's believed Bean was also the father.

But Diane's body has never been found.

The bond between mother and daughter is a special one, a bond no doubt shared by Victoria Bennett and her mom Diane Chorba.

"She loved kids. I mean, she was probably the favorite aunt when she was alive to a few of my cousins and, I don't know, I think she, she died too young. She's too young to know what she was all about," said Bennett.

Victoria was 12 years old in the summer of 1979 and still recalls many of the details surrounding her mom's disappearance.

"Well, my parents ended up separated for a time. They lost a child in '74. My sister was six years old when she passed away from pneumonia. And they kind of blamed each other for that. So I think that was the demise of their whole existence together. They kind of blamed each other. And this man, Clarence Beam, that my mom and my dad knew was part of our lives. He was my father's employer. And I think he took advantage of the fact that they had problems and my dad would be sent out on the road and mom would be left home. And they had a child together and she was pregnant again with his second child," said Bennett.

Victoria says bean was at her home the morning her mom went missing.

"The bedroom door was closed when I left for school. I remember saying goodbye to her through the door, which was not unusual. Usually there was a hug, kiss goodbye, you know, and I went to school that day and I came home. And when I was getting off the bus, I seen Ollie's wife, Judy's car or van in our driveway. And what really caught my attention was there was smoke burning in the trash can, and the outside trash barrel was something that we didn't do," said Bennett.

Victoria then remembers being told her mom has gone to Reed City and would be back later that night.

When her mom didn't return, she was told she was on an American Airlines flight that crashed in Chicago.

"That was a story that Ollie and his wife made up to buy time. So there was no investigation or looking for my mother for almost over two months. And at that point in time, they had cleaned out our home and packed everything up and took it to their place and boxed it up and put it outside in a storage area. And that was it," recalled Bennett.

Chorba was reported missing in July of 1979.

Bean was eventually convicted of killing Chorba in the early 2000s.

He later died in prison.

But Chorba's body has never been found, that's the part of the case Victoria is still trying to solve.

"he left a confession with the correctional facility inspector. And he told us what he did with the body, how he murdered her, how he wished that he hadn't done that and told us where we would be able to find the body. So we have been searching those areas. It's one area he had a job there," said Bennett.

But exactly where that is, remains a mystery. Victoria believes its somewhere in the woods of Lake County.

"We've searched a lot of areas. And I can't even I don't know how many miles with ground penetrating radar through two tracks.

"If she's where I think she is, it's beautiful there. And she is part of that forest now. So if I took her out of there, I really wouldn't be taking her because it's been 45 years. She is part of everything surrounding that area. If you look at it in a scientific way. And I know that I probably wouldn't be getting much back. And then that's not even the important part. It was just knowing that she was found. And I didn't leave this on for generations after I'm gone, you know, for my children or any of my family to deal with," said Bennett.

If you have any information about where Diane Chorba's body is, contact Michigan State Police.