A mother of three provided crucial information to the police after being abducted, leading to the uncovering of a significant revelation.
Paige Birgfield, a 34-year-old single mother, held multiple jobs to support her children, engaging in activities with them extensively and ensuring they felt secure by sharing her bed with them at night.
Following her second divorce, Paige found herself raising her daughter Jess, aged eight, and two sons, aged six and three, while burdened with debts from the marriage and a mortgage to manage independently. Despite these challenges, she diligently operated her preschool dance business and took on additional work to make ends meet.
On June 28, 2007, Paige met with her first husband, whom she had recently reconnected with after a decade of divorce, for an afternoon. He was the last person to hear from her when she contacted him a few miles from her residence around 9 pm.
Concerned when Paige did not return home, the children’s live-in nanny contacted the police, prompting a search effort that initially yielded no leads despite scouring the local area and nearby rivers in Colorado.
Three days after Paige’s disappearance, authorities were alerted to a car ablaze in an empty parking lot, which turned out to be Paige’s red vehicle located two miles from her home. Further along, at a highway 15 miles away, some of Paige’s personal belongings, including a checkbook and her driver’s license, were discovered.
Forensic analysis indicated the intentional use of accelerants to burn the vehicle, with the driver’s seat adjusted for someone taller than Paige, who stood at five feet four inches. Initially, both of Paige’s ex-husbands were considered suspects but were later cleared as their alibis checked out. Subsequently, investigators made a surprising revelation that shifted the focus of the case.
It was revealed that Paige had been leading a secret life operating an escort service. Armed with this new information, law enforcement began exploring the possibility of a client’s involvement in her disappearance, leading them to Lester Ralph Jones, a 56-year-old married mechanic who worked near where Paige’s burned car was found.
One of the final calls Paige received was traced to a disposable phone, and surveillance footage captured Lester purchasing one. Additionally, he possessed a kitchen scale from the same product range that Paige sold.
Despite Lester’s history of violence, including a previous prison sentence for assault and attempted kidnapping, there was insufficient concrete evidence to establish a murder. It took five years before a breakthrough in the case occurred.
On March 6, 2012, a hiker stumbled upon partially buried skeletal remains 30 miles from Paige’s residence, later confirmed through dental records to be those of the missing mother. The cause of death remained undetermined, although indications of broken bones and the presence of duct tape at the scene were noted. Items from Paige’s wallet were also discovered on a road five miles away, suggesting a deliberate trail.
In November 2014, Lester Ralph Jones was charged with murder and kidnapping, with bail set at £1.6 million. During his trial in September 2016, the prosecution alleged that Lester killed Paige to conceal his involvement with an escort from his wife. Despite this, the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict, resulting in a mistrial being declared.
A second trial commenced in December of that year with a fresh jury, ultimately finding Lester, now 65, guilty of murder and kidnapping. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
