Kelsey Berreth, a 29-year-old mother and flight instructor, was last seen on Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 2018, at a Safeway supermarket in Woodland Park, Colorado, with her infant daughter. Her mother reported her missing on December 2 after being unable to reach her for several days. In the initial days of the investigation, the case was treated as a missing person's case.
Berreth's fiancé, Patrick Frazee, told investigators he had last seen her that Thanksgiving afternoon when he picked up their daughter. A few days after she was last seen, text messages were sent from Berreth's phone to her employer and to Frazee, and her phone pinged a cell tower near Gooding, Idaho. This led to a search in Idaho, where some evidence was recovered. However, investigators soon grew suspicious, particularly after discovering that Berreth's and Frazee's cell phones were traveling together on Thanksgiving Day, despite his claims they were apart. The search of Berreth's home revealed evidence that led police to believe a crime had occurred there.
The investigation took a dramatic turn with the involvement of Krystal Lee Kenney, a nurse from Idaho who had a long-standing and sometimes romantic relationship with Frazee. Kenney became the prosecution's key witness, revealing a gruesome plot. She testified that Frazee had solicited her to kill Berreth on three separate occasions, but she could not go through with it. According to Kenney, Frazee ultimately murdered Berreth himself on Thanksgiving Day, beating her to death with a baseball bat inside her condominium while their young daughter was in another room. Frazee then allegedly called Kenney and told her she had 'a mess to clean up.' Kenney admitted to driving to Colorado and spending hours cleaning the bloody crime scene. She also testified that Frazee burned Berreth's body in a stock tank on his property. To mislead investigators, Frazee gave Kenney Berreth's cell phone, which she took back to Idaho to dispose of after sending the deceptive text messages.
Patrick Frazee was arrested in December 2018 and charged with first-degree murder and solicitation to commit murder. Despite the lack of a body, the prosecution built a strong case based on Kenney's testimony, cell phone records, and other evidence. A jury found Frazee guilty on all counts, and he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 156 years. In exchange for her testimony, Krystal Lee Kenney pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence. She was initially sentenced to three years in prison, but that sentence was later reduced, and she was released on parole. The couple's daughter was placed in the temporary custody of Berreth's parents. The case is a tragic story of intimate partner violence, where the primary motive is believed to be a custody dispute over their daughter. Despite extensive searches and the conviction of her killer, Kelsey Berreth's body has never been found.Last Seen: Nov 22, 2018
