Woman suspected of tossing phone
FILE - This booking photo provided by the Teller County Sheriff's office shows Patrick Frazee, the fiance of missing Colorado woman Kelsey Berreth, who was arrested Friday, Dec. 21, 2018, at his home in the community of Florissant, Colo Frazee has been accused of murder and solicitation to commit murder in the death of his missing fiancee. Frazee learned of the five charges against him during a brief court appearance Monday, Dec. 31, 2018 in Cripple Creek. (Teller County Sheriff's Office via AP,File)
Patrick Frazee leaves the Teller County District Court in Cripple Creek, Colo., Monday, Dec. 31, 2018. Frazee learned of the five charges against him during his brief court appearance Monday in Cripple Creek. A charging document says the 32-year-old Frazee is accused of working to find someone to kill Kelsey Berreth between September and November and causing her death on or around Thanksgiving. (Chappin Everett/The Gazette via AP)
TWIN FALLS — A Magic Valley woman is being investigated in the alleged murder of a missing Colorado mom.
Kelsey Berreth’s fiance, Patrick Frazee, 32, has been charged in her apparent death. Berreth, the mother of Frazee’s 1-year-old daughter, disappeared from her home in Woodland Park, Colo., on Thanksgiving Day. Police have not found her body.
Four days after Berreth went missing, her cellphone pinged a cell tower in Gooding County, the same day Berreth’s employer received a text from Berreth’s cellphone stating she wouldn’t be at work for a week.
ABC News reported Wednesday that a 32-year-old nurse from Twin Falls is being investigated for allegedly disposing of the missing woman’s cellphone in Idaho, according to two of the woman’s family members and a law enforcement source.
ABC’s Clayton Sandell reported that the Twin Falls woman has known Frazee for years and that the two worked together for a time in Colorado.
“For now, ABC News is withholding her name because she has not been publicly identified or charged,” Sandell tweeted Wednesday.
CNN also reported Thursday that a Twin Falls woman was involved in the investigation, citing “a source with knowledge of the investigation.”
The Times-News has received multiple anonymous tips that the case involves a 32-year-old registered nurse at St. Luke’s Magic Valley Medical Center whose Facebook account was recently closed.
St. Luke’s spokeswoman Michelle Bartlome confirmed that law enforcement has contacted the hospital. Bartlome, however, said she “wasn’t in a position to disclose” which agency made contact.
The Twin Falls Police Department and Twin Falls County Sheriff’s Office both confirmed they assisted the FBI, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the Woodland Park, Colo., Police Department in getting search warrants in the case.
Lori Stewart, spokeswoman for the Twin Falls County Sheriff’s Office, told the Times-News the two departments have a joint special investigation unit but did not say if the property searched is in the city or county.
Police arrested Frazee on Dec. 21 at his home in Florissant, Colo. He was charged with two first-degree murder counts — under two theories of how Berreth was allegedly murdered — and three counts of solicitation to commit murder.