It's been 3 months since Luke Benoit went missing. Why his family remains hopeful in search.

Luke Benoit, a 31-year-old Portsmouth resident, has been missing for almost 100 days, leaving his family in a state of stress and sadness as both they and the Portsmouth Police Department continue to search for him.

Benoit's wife Stephanie Sherman said she's called her husband every day since he disappeared, but his phone has never rung. Now, the local community is coming together to support his wife and their four young children, who range in age from 2 to 10 years old.

Community members have shown an outpouring of support for Benoit’s family, helping Sherman with everything from paying the mortgage to packing school lunches and starting a GoFundMe campaign for her and her kids which has raised just over $6,000 so far, and the Portsmouth-Tiverton Rotary Club is planning a spaghetti dinner fundraiser for Saturday, Oct. 1 at St. John’s Lodge in Portsmouth from 5 – 8 p.m. with 100% of proceeds going to the family.

“Luke and his family are not members — I’m from Portsmouth and when we saw Luke was missing, we got together to get the community behind them and offer our support,” explained Sharlene Patton, the president of the Rotary Club.

She encouraged community members to come to the spaghetti dinner to either dine in or take food away at a cost of $12 a ticket, with children ages 10 and under eating free. She said people who are unable to attend can still send a donation, either to her Venmo account (@Sharlene-Stoker) or via check payable to “Portsmouth Rotary Club” mailed to P.O. Box 111 Portsmouth, R.I. 02871.

She also made a point to thank local businesses for supporting the fundraiser, noting that Tremblay’s in Portsmouth will be donating all of the pasta, Toppa’s in Middletown will be donating the paper goods, and St. John’s Lodge on Sprague Street in Portsmouth is donating the venue where the dinner will be held.

BJ’s donated a gift card for supplies, a Dunkin’ franchise in Tiverton provided coffee and several other businesses are working with the rotary club but haven’t yet finalized their donations.

“I’m really shocked at how much the community has come together and done for my children … They are constantly there for my kids and helping me," Sherman said. "I never expected a community of strangers to care so much."

“In the beginning, when we were looking for him, I would be in the woods somewhere on the side of the road and someone would pull over and ask if I was okay and help me search for my son," said Rosemary Langello, Benoit's mother. "Total strangers have found time to look for my son, and I really appreciate that."

What happened on the day Luke Benoit went missing?

Benoit spoke on the phone with his wife for about 10 minutes on Tuesday, June 28, and made some remarks she said concerned her. This prompted a flurry of two-way and three-way calls between Benoit, Sherman and some of Benoit’s family members.

Benoit, Langello and Sherman had one last three-way phone call that ended at about 2:30 p.m. on that same afternoon, and Benoit has not been seen or heard from since.

The 5-foot-6, brown-haired and bearded 31-year-old, who has tattoos reading “Emilia” and “Carter” on his forearms, was last seen walking in the vicinity of Boyds Lane that same afternoon. Sherman and Langello got in their cars to try and track him down at a friend’s house after the last phone call, and also called the police to ask for their assistance in the search.

Sherman did indicate that Benoit, who has had some minor legal issues in the past, may have been resistant to being found in part because he was worried about getting in trouble. But she just wants him to come home and reunite with his family.

“I was concerned about his safety, so I called 911,” Sherman said. “He hung up the phone with me because he thought I was having his mom call the police, but I was having her go to his friend’s house. I called 911 and gave them the friend’s address and they met us there. But (Luke) said he wasn’t there.”

“I think he was afraid of the (legal) repercussions because we called, but there weren’t any — (the police) just wanted to help find him and make sure he was OK,” she said.

What is the status of the search for Luke Benoit?

Portsmouth Police Department Det. Lt. Khatu Khubchandani said he couldn't shed a ton of light on the situation, saying only the investigation is active.

“The only thing I will say, and the only thing I’m authorized to say, is that it’s an active and ongoing investigation," he told The Daily News. "I apologize, but absent of that, there’s not much more I can add to that story.”

The Daily News followed up, asking if the police could provide even the inkling of a general update beyond that statement.

“The only thing I can add is that it is active. We are looking into some other leads that were presented to us, and that’s where we are at this point on that investigation. It’s active, it’s open and we’re still working on it,” Khubchandani said.

Sherman and Langello acknowledged they were the ones who presented those leads to the police and, to their knowledge, the police have not generated any leads of their own.

“They’re working on a few leads that we have found ourselves,” Sherman said. “A lot of the leads that we have found and the police have found have been dead ends so far.”

“Before, the previous detective (on the case) wasn’t communicating with us … we were up in the air, didn’t know what was going on, didn’t know what had to get done, didn’t know what they were continuing to do," she said.

"But now there’s two new detectives who have been in contact with us, and we had a meeting with them last week and I’m confident that they have empathy and they do want to find Luke, because he is a dad.”

“My son was under some stress,” Langello said. “Sometimes people get under stress, they don’t know how to deal with it, and they don’t know what to do … My son is a good person, you know? He would help anyone,” she said. “He would shovel an elderly person’s driveway for them if they needed it, he did all kinds of nice things for people.”

“I just don’t think Luke realized how much his family and friends love him, and need him,” Langello said as she grew emotional. “I don’t think he realized it, and I know sometimes when people are down they don’t think anyone needs them, when actually everybody does … He has four kids, and he always took care of his family.”

Asked to describe her husband, Sherman said: “A loving, hardworking man. A loving, hardworking man who would do anything for anybody."

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Search continues for missing Portsmouth, RI, man Luke Benoit