Ben Beauchemin, Casey Anthony's Mystery Man

Casey Anthony's been spending time in New Hampshire with a local man who has led an interesting life ... and only TMZ found out who he is.

The bearded mystery man Casey was spotted cozying up to Wednesday night at a sports bar in Manchester, NH, is a man named Ben Beauchemin.

Ben owns a gun shop in Hookset, NH ... Wicked Weaponry ... and he's a war veteran and former Army ranger who enjoys skydiving. He also used to be a police officer.

As we first told you ... Casey and Ben went out this week for beers and food and then we saw Casey shopping at a nearby T.J. Maxx the following day.

One source in Manchester tells us Casey and Ben are telling people they're in a "situationship."

Meanwhile, a family source tells us ... Ben stopped responding to family and shut down his Facebook page after we obtained photos of his date night with Casey.

We're told Ben comes from a big family, and while everyone is close, no one in the family knew Ben was hanging with Casey until we published the photos ... with relatives still in the dark about how or when Ben met Casey.

Ben's been in the news before ... in January 2024, he was featured in The New York Times' election coverage. In an on-camera interview, he said he was undecided about who to vote for in primary elections, revealing he supported the Second Amendment and women's reproductive rights.

In the general election, Donald Trump won in Hooksett -- where Ben has his gun shop -- by 4.8 points ... though Kamala Harris won in Manchester by 7.7 points. Harris won the state and New Hampshire's 4 electoral votes.