Missing Wisconsin man last seen in Crystal Lake

Laura Leatherberry thinks her husband or his car might be in the Rosemont area, but also hopes someone may have seen him when he left Crystal Lake Wednesday night.

The New Berlin, Wisconsin, man has not been seen since he left the 1776 Restaurant on Route 14 in Crystal Lake just before 9 p.m. Wednesday.

Leatherberry made a plea seeking help finding her husband of 11 years, Benjamin Oberto, on her Facebook page Thursday afternoon. That post has now been shared more than 5,000 times.

Oberto, 45, drives a silver 2019 Subaru Impreza. When New Berlin police “pinged” Oberto’s cellphone Thursday, nearly 24 hours after he went missing, it was shown to be in the O’Hare and Rosemont area, Leatherberry said.

Leatherberry said she doesn’t why her husband would have been in the Rosemont area or where he is now.

The two spoke about 6 p.m. Wednesday. Oberto told his wife he was heading home, about a three-hour drive away. But at 9 p.m., he was not home – and that is about the time he was seen on security footage leaving 1776.

A half-hour later, at 9:27 p.m. and from what she could find on their iPass account, Oberto’s car went through the Elgin toll booth at Route 31. The Rosemont ping – the last time it was used before the phone went dead – was at 9:47 p.m.

Leatherberry made a missing person’s report Thursday morning in New Berlin after a sleepless night.

“I think they are doing the best they can with what they have,” she said. “I didn’t want to waste resources, either. You start to self-doubt yourself too.”

She spent a good portion of Thursday driving the route he would have taken between New Berlin and Crystal Lake, hoping to spot where he could have gone off the road.

“Maybe he was heading home and got into an accident on the highway,” Leatherberry said.

TSA confirmed that Oberto did not fly out of O’Hare and the car’s iPass has not passed through any other tollbooths, she said.

“He was last located in Rosemont; I don’t think he has left Rosemont,” she said

The silver Subaru does not have any tags, decals or bumper stickers. She asks anyone who may have seen Oberto or his car to contact wither New Berlin police at the non-emergency line at (262) 782-6640 or Crystal Lake police at (815) 459-2020.