Sylvia went missing in 2018; her son has been charged with her murder
In May of 2018, the family of 82-year-old Sylvia Frens of Grand Junction, Colorado, grew concerned when they could no longer get in touch with her. A welfare check requested by a daughter who lived out of state led to the discovery of a concerning scene at the elderly woman's home. Her son, Richard Vandervelde, who had been living with her, was present, but Sylvia was nowhere to be found. Vandervelde claimed his mother had left for California with a friend. However, the state of the home, which reportedly had a foul odor and a large stain on the bedroom floor, immediately raised suspicions among investigators.
For four years, the disappearance of Sylvia Frens remained a mystery. Her son, Richard Vandervelde, became a person of interest early in the investigation, especially after it was discovered that he had been using her debit card and had withdrawn over $10,000 from her bank account. Transactions were traced from Grand Junction to as far as Charleston, South Carolina. He was also found to be in possession of her car. Despite these suspicious activities, there was not enough evidence to charge him in connection with his mother's disappearance. He was, however, arrested during a traffic stop in Missouri in June 2018 for providing a false name. During an interview with detectives about his mother's whereabouts, he maintained his story that she had gone on a trip.
A breakthrough in the cold case came in April 2022. The new owner of Sylvia Frens' former home was investigating a drainage issue when they made a grim discovery inside a manhole on the property. A trash bag containing human remains was pulled from the nearly six-foot-deep access. DNA testing confirmed the remains belonged to Sylvia Frens. An autopsy later determined that the 82-year-old woman had died from blunt force trauma to the head.
With the discovery of his mother's body and the determination that her death was a homicide, the investigation quickly focused again on Richard Vandervelde. He was located in Florida and arrested in May 2022. He was extradited back to Colorado to face a litany of charges, including first-degree murder, tampering with a deceased human body, crimes against an at-risk adult, identity theft, and abuse of a corpse. The once-cold case of the missing elderly woman had finally concluded with the arrest of her own son, who was accused of not only ending her life but also concealing his alleged crime for years while profiting from her finances.
