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ERIC BENNETT: Marks Chart a Life

 

When Eric Bennett disappeared, his missing poster offered two distinguishing traits Ð a tattoo of a bulldog head on his right shoulder and deep stretch marks under his arms. Both pieces of information attested to Mr. Bennett's love of football, which he played with a championship team at Kearsley High School in Flint, Mich., and also at Michigan's Ferris State University.

The bulldog was the mascot at Ferris State; on Mr. Bennett's tattoo, the dog tag read "58," his number. The stretch marks appeared when he lost his football bulk and trimmed down to 180 pounds from 255.

"Eric was always very determined, very motivated," said his mother, Betty Bennett, who lives in Flint with her husband, Terry. "He was small for a center, and he had to prove himself."

Mr. Bennett worked as a vice president at Alliance Consulting Group on the 102nd floor of the north tower. He made many new friends in New York, even while staying in touch with high school friends and teammates. At his memorial in Michigan, a couple of them also sported bulldog tattoos.

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From "Profiles in Grief" of The New York Times