The search for Paige Birgfeld
The disappearance of a young mother exposes a double life
Paige Birgfeld, 34, a Colorado mother of three, went missing on June 28, 2007.
The single mother had left her children with a live-in babysitter while she went to go see a friend; she never returned. Family and friends said Paige lived for her children and would have never left them.
A Devoted Mom
When Paige vanished on June 28, 2007, her parents, Frank and Suzie, feared the worst.
"This is a crime. There's a crime here," said Frank Birgfeld, who doesn't believe Paige would have just walked away and left her kids. "Instantly, I knew this was a problem."
Close-Knit Family
No one loved a family gathering more than Paige Birgfeld.
"She would literally beam, she would radiate," Frank Birgfeld, told "48 Hours." "Those were the absolute cherished times that she enjoys most."
Pictured: Frank and Susie Birgfeld; their daughter, Paige & her husband Rob Dixon and their three children; and their son, Dr. Craig Birgfeld, his wife, Callie, and their child.
Paige Birgfeld's Car Found
On Sunday, July 1 around 10 p.m., Paige's red Ford Focus was found engulfed in flames in an empty parking lot about two miles from her home.
Paige Birgfeld's Car Found
An investigator with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation examines a burned out car belonging to Paige Birgfeld on July 2, 2007.
A Massive Search
As investigators searched for the missing mom, the community of Grand Junction, Colorado, rallied in response. They got maps of the area and divided the land into quadrants and organized searches hoping to find some sign of Paige.
A Massive Search
Frank Birgfeld was touched by the volunteer search effort and went to the command center every day to personally thank everyone who went out hour after hour in the punishing summer heat. It was an impressive effort -- searches were done on foot, by ATV, on horseback, by divers, and in the air.
A Secret Life
Twice married, Paige Birgfeld was single at the time of her disappearance. Investigators made contact with her friends, family, and ex-spouses and were able to cross them all off the list of possible suspects.
So who in Paige's life had any motive to harm her? That led investigators to an even bigger mystery ... one about Paige herself that may have led to her disappearance.
A Secret Life
It turned out that Paige wasn't just teaching dance classes and selling kitchen products to support her children. In provocative ads on the Internet, she was also known as "Carrie," a high-priced escort.
When investigators discovered her secret life, they thought they had a clue to her disappearance. They began tracing Birgfeld's cellphone records, which led them to her clients. One stuck out as a suspect, an ex-convict named Lester Ralph Jones, but there wasn't enough evidence to charge him.
A Secret Life
As upsetting as it was for Paige's family to learn about her secret life, they were convinced she turned to the escort world for one reason only: her children.
Paige was overwhelmed with debt. She had three children, and her ex- husband was bankrupt, paying only $500 a month in child support. Her mortgage was huge -- almost $6,000 a month.
New Clues
In July 2007, deputies from the Mesa County Sheriff's Office gathered items found by searchers near the bottom of Whitewater Hill along northbound Highway 50 near Grand Junction, Colo., that might have belonged to Paige Birgfeld.
Her remains were found in March 2012 by a hiker in the Wells Gulch area of Delta County, Colo.
Body of Paige Birgfeld, missing since 2007, believed found by hiker
Lester Ralph Jones
In November 2014, Lester Ralph Jones was arrested and charged with Paige Birgfeld's murder and kidnapping. His bail was set at $2 million.
In September 2016, a judge has declared a mistrial after jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict in Jones' trial.
A second trial which would end just days after Christmas 2016, and this jury could reach a verdict: guilty of murder in the first degree.
Convicted of the kidnapping and murder of Paige Birgfeld, Jones was sentenced to life in prison without parole.