A woman in Idaho is a being investigated as a possible accomplice to Patrick Frazee, who has been charged with murder in the disappearance of his fiance Kelsey Berreth.
Prosecutors alleged that Frazee plotted the murder for months before Berreth vanished on Thanksgiving.
Her cell phone pinged several days later in Idaho, nearly 700 miles away from her Woodland Park, Colorado home.
The revelation comes after a number of developments in the case.
Just before Christmas, police officials in Idaho said they had been working with authorities in Colorado on the case.
“Detectives from the Twin Falls County Sheriff’s Office and Twin Falls Police Department worked with the Colorado Bureau of Investigations (CBI) and the FBI to prepare and serve several search warrants as well as processing some items of evidence with the assistance of Twin Falls County and Twin Falls City Evidence Technicians,” according to a statement from the Twin Falls Police Department.
Although Berreth’s body has not been found as of yet, De Young said that investigators believe she is dead. “Sadly, we do not believe Kelsey is alive,” he told reporters at a press conference.
Despite the body not being found, some legal experts said that prosecutors can still pursue the case.
The 1-year-old daughter that Frazee and Berreth shared was handed over to Berreth’s family, De Young said. Frazee had been taking care of the girl prior to his arrest.
Prosecutors revealed on Dec. 31 when Frazee was formally charged with two counts of first-degree murder that he allegedly solicited at least one person to kill his fiance.
The three counts of solicitation state that between and including Sept. 1 and Nov. 1, Frazee “unlawfully and feloniously commanded, induced, entered, or otherwise attempted to persuade another person to commit the felony of murder in the first degree, with intent to promote or facilitate the commission of that crime and under circumstances strongly corroborative of that intent.”
The charges also state that Frazee, possibly with at least one other person, tried to rob Berreth and that she was killed afterward.
Fourth Judicial District Attorney Dan May said during the appearance that the two murder charges were filed under separate theories.
“Under Colorado law, we file separate counts under different theories of first-degree murder. We filed under two theories: One is deliberation for murder. And the other is felony murder.”