Ben was born on Tuesday, October 20, 1981 in Bakersfield, California, to parents Michael Wood and Diane Sanders. Mike Wood was, at that time, a civilian contractor of the US Air Force. He had met Diane in 1979, when he was working in England at RAF Menwith Hill. They quickly developed a relationship, and shortly after Michael returned to Bakersfield, Diane moved with him. The two lived together there at the time of Ben’s birth.

Their relationship, however, was strained by Michael working shifts and drinking alcohol at all hours of the day. In 1983, just over two years after Ben’s birth, Diane came home to find Michael with another woman. The two argued ferociously over the following week, Michael hit Diane several times before she finally left and moved into rented accommodation. She moved back to England later that year and soon after met Peter Croft, the man who would, two years later, become her husband. In 1984, Diane and Ben moved in with Peter in his house in Harrogate and Ben started school there the following year. They lived there for a further four years until Diane’s father became very ill with throat cancer. As a result Diane, Peter and Ben moved to a village near to Diane’s parents so that she could be with her father on a more regular basis. This, though, was a detriment to Ben, who’s schooling was disrupted.

Ben’s grandfather died the following year in 1990, meaning Diane had all the more reason to remain in Nottinghamshire close to her mother. In the winter of 1993, Ben returned home from school to find the house in a ransacked state and his mother crying in the living room. Peter had left.

It was around this time that Ben’s high school, Valley School, in the nearby town of Worksop began fostering career intentions in it’s pupils. Ben having been to one of the career days developed a keen interest in joining the military, something he put down to his childhood memories of running around pretending he was a soldier. His teachers believed he had the potential to be officer material, but due to the disruption to his early schooling, his spelling wasn’t up to the task.

Ben was, however, a very intelligent young man and developed a keen interest in current affairs around the time of his leaving school in 1998. He applied to join the British Army the following year after working in retail for a short time, and at the latter end of 1999 he began his basic training at the Army Training Regiment Winchester, with the intention of joining the Queen’s Royal Lancers, an armoured cavalry regiment.

He successfully completed the army basic training in 2000 and began the tank operators course that year, being posted to 5th Squadron, Queen’s Royal Lancers at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire. After completing the course in mid 2000, Ben was transferred to his unit’s operational base in Germany, where he remained for three years.

In 2003, following the crisis surrounding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, 5th and 16th Squadron QRL were posted to Operation Telic (Operation Iraqi Freedom). Ben’s unit, part of 7th Armoured Brigade, was tasked with the capture of Al Basrah, a town in southern Iraq. On April 6 that year they successfully took and held the town. Less than a month later the war was declared over.

Following a six-month tour of duty in Iraq, Ben found he had several personal issues that he had to attend to. His grandmother had developed a malignant cancer, and both her and his mother were planning on moving to America in order to find treatment for it. He was discharged from the Army in 2004 following voluntary resignation and quickly used his savings to go with his mother to Sierra Falls, California, the home of his mum’s brother, David, and his wife, Selena. He had no problem finding employment in Sierra Falls in the retail sector, he was afterall a US citizen having been born in California, however retail did not quench his thirst for excitement.

His aunt, Selena Sanders, was a serving Lieutenant in Sierra Falls PD, after several chats with her he began to see an interesting career in the police department and in late-2004 began his application. Despite his occasion poor spelling, his intelligence and determination was noticed by his interviewers, and, along with some influence from his aunt, he was successfully admitted to the Academy that year, completing his training in October 2005.

Following training Ben was posted to the Central District of SFPD, working from Ash Street Precinct. He found the area to be an eye-opener, having lived in rural England for most of his teenage years, and the rural areas of Germany for his early adulthood. He found himself to be very adaptive though, and quickly got to grips with the ways of the streets and how things were done in Sierra Falls. He took the Detectives examination following appointment to Officer II rank and passed it on November 20, 2007. After an interview with Lieutenant Applegate, he was posted to Sergeant Murphy-Steele’s team in January 2008.

Ben is generally a soft-spoken individual, who can be nervous in new situations, but has the ability to put on a ‘confident front’ when dealing with others, that being the main reason for his performance at interviews. His poor spelling, possibly due to undiagnosed dyslexia, makes him constantly aware of people watching him write, though he makes up for it by his use of language and intelligence when speaking.

He can be seen to be a little shy, especially in social situations and has been known to sit silent until spoken to, especially around those he doesn’t know well. He finds it difficult to speak to people he hasn’t met on the phone, but puts on a professional façade when doing so at work.

Ben’s friends often believe he keeps parts of his life to himself. He speaks very little of his Army service in Iraq, but remembers the times in Germany with fondness and a desire to return. His is extremely close to his mother, who he speaks to on a daily basis without fail.

Ben stands at 6 feet 1 inch tall, and weighs around 175lbs. He has an athletic body due to his weight training in the Army, which he continues to-date. He has short light brown hair, which at present is dyed light blonde. He often has a small amount of stubble, though barely meeting regulations, the supervisors often let it pass. He has a 1” diagonal scar on his top lip from a childhood injury, and a few smaller scars around his face from teenage acne. He wears suit and tie and well-polished shoes when working, and insists upon wearing a titanium ring on his right ring finger, a gift from his grandmother. He has a mid-pitched voice and still retains a northern England accent and the occasional bit of dialect, noticeable to most of his colleagues.

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