The Disappearance of Maddi Kingsbury | Full Episode | Forensic Files

[Music] I would like to thank all of you for taking the time to spread the word about
The Disappearance of meline Maddie Kingsbury our search efforts have included people on foot in vehicles as
well as by water and air mine is a hardworking and um dedicated mother family is everything to her uh
she's grown into an impressive and beautiful young woman please help us find meline the
children need their mother my sister is kind and quirky and caring and my best friend Maddie Kingsbury a young
Sorority Girl from Winona State University meets Adam fril a young fraternity boy they have two children
they were not married Maddie was last seen the morning of Friday March 31st Maddie and Adam took the kids to
daycare and dropped them off around 8:00 a.m. by they got back to the house and Adam said he saw Maddie go downstairs
and where a home office was to work he left and he didn't see her again I sent her this funny picture and we were just
kind of laughing back and forth about it and that was at 8:15 that morning and then I didn't hear anything else Maddy's
family and friends tried to contact Maddie throughout the day on March 31st without success I sent a message to Adam
and I said hey none of us have heard from meline all day he said I'm concerned too because I haven't heard
from her and so I met my parents you know with the kids so I contacted a friend of Maddie's her name's Katie I
said I need you to go to her house and see if she's there nobody was home so I called the police I started sobbing at
that point they said that there was no sign of her there's no sign of a struggle we are very hopeful that we
will find her no stone is being left unturned who is Spencer Sullivan Spencer Sullivan is a man that meline had
started seeing it was an on andof type situation um because there were times where she would tell me I don't know if
this is going to work out because of Adam We Believe madd's disappearance is involuntary suspicious and we are using
every tool at our disposal to find Colonel so I took to social media Tik Tok mainly hey Tik Tock I'm uh posting
an update I am out in filmar County we still haven't found my sister I mean hundreds of thousands of people saw her
Tik toks almost 1,00 people signed up today to come look for my sister and she was pleading with the public to help and
pleading with everybody to take a look everywhere and anywhere for her sister people just don't vanish my sister is
still missing police and other law enforcement are obviously still searching everyone's frustrated
and we just can't figure out where she is Maddie's still missing I think it's day
68 I would talk to her when I was out looking for her I wanted to be the one to find her I didn't want anyone else in
my family to find her if it's going to be one of us please let it be me this has gone on too long we we want
to bring her home [Music] [Music] there's just something about Winona that keeps pulling you back Scott Sherman is
the mayor of Winona Minnesota a small City on the banks of the Mississippi living here in Winona
is really cool so cool that TV and film star Winona Ryder is named for the town as
she told the world in this Super Bowl ad there's something about this place [Music]
something that feels so [Applause] me 26-year-old meline Kingsbury also felt that certain something about Winona
so when mayor Sherman heard that she had gone missing he wanted to help I felt that Maddie was a daughter
of Winona she was a bright young woman working through school working on a job in Rochester and
raising kids all at the same time that's a lot so I had respect for Maddie and mayor Sherman thought he could
help because as an avid bicyclist he rides the woodsy paths around Winona all year long you know the back roads of
this area I do and you went out yourself I did but as mayor Sherman felt his first job was to support Mattie's
distraught mother Christa neighbor when she arrived at the Search Command Center she gave me a
hug that I will never forget the rest of my life it was a hug that showed fear concern and so what were you what
message were you sending with that hug I'm here for you we will do our damnest to find her
Matty's family first began worrying about Maddie late in the afternoon of Friday March 31st 2023 when Christa
realized she had not heard from her daughter for nearly the entire day something in my gut just didn't feel
right mother's intuition right Christa contacted Megan madd's older sister but Megan said she was not
overly concerned I sent her a couple text messages anyway hey mom hasn't heard from you can you call her can you
text her back she's concerned and she didn't reply to that at the time Maddie was living with Adam fral the father of
their children the two had met in college at Winona State University he was outgoing and seemed interested in
getting to know us and he seemed very almost infatuated I guess with meline while still in college Maddie and Adam
learned they were expecting their first child and decided to settle in Winona he
made manned up he manned up Teresa sis Mahia is Adam's sister and she says Adam quits school to support his new family
he knew he was going to be a dad he went and got a job um and he had that job up
until Co and then he got laid off while he let Maddie continue college so that she could graduate and she did she
graduated and he supported her after graduation Maddie began working at the Mayo Clinic and became a clinical
research coordinator and madd's Father David Kingsbury said she recently had begun studying for an advanced degree
she was a graduate student of master's program at the University of Minnesota had just completed her first semester
there and was doing very well Adam who had studied computer science in college began taking flying lessons with an eye
toward getting his pilot's license when he was taking pilot license that that he
felt so accomplished you know it made him feel good and I was so proud of him for doing
it for doing something for himself I enjoyed being around him and I could tell that he really cared for
meline on the evening of March 3st Megan was hours away from Winona when she reached out to Adam who said he was
concerned he said I got home today and she was gone Adam and the children were at his parents home in Mabel an hour
south of Winona that's when Megan messaged madd's close friend Katie kka who lived in Winona my parents and I
haven't been able to get in contact with Maddie all day Katie responds I'm on my
way over there right now the house was eerily silent and it was at that point Katie called the Winona police and you
want this missing person's report to be filed but what did they tell you they told me that I wasn't able to report it
because it hadn't been 24 hours yet I was pacing in my kitchen I was getting really really worried so was
mti's father who tried to reach her where are you what's going on the next morning with Maddie now missing nearly
24 hours the Kingsbury family filed a missing person's report and then Adam went to Facebook asking for help
his post read in part if anybody has seen Maddie please contact the Winona PD me or any of her family members please
help me find the mom to our two beautiful kids the police went to Great Lengths I have to say to try to find
Maddie quickly because they know that there's a ticking clock on these things and the
investigation took off I mean it's extraordinary what they did the news that Maddie was missing spread
quickly through Winona and Beyond Haley Scott one of mty's sorority sisters wanted to help I reached out to
our sorority I reached out um to news outlets I was grasping at straws at the same time did detectives
reached out to Adam fril according to police reports Adam told them how on the morning of March
31st the couple dropped off their children at the daycare center investigators confirmed the drop
off after speaking to the daycare provider who gave police this videotape this video has never been seen
by the public until now it was one of the last times Maddie is seen on video before she
vanished police say Adam told them he and Maddie returned home after the drop off and she went to her office in the
basement to do a little work before heading to the Mayo Clinic and I have taken a look at all the evidence that we
have thus far in the Maddy Kingsbury case Mary feni a former prosecutor and defense attorney is a 48 Hours cons
consultant she says that in his police interview Adam told detectives he left Maddie his car and borrowed her blue
minivan to haul some boxes he proceeded to put some boxes in the van that he was going to move to his
parents house said he didn't see Maddie again he drove to his parents house along Highway
43 police say Adam told them he got as far as the town ship of choice Minnesota when he realized he had made a mistake
the boxes that he had in the van were ones that he actually wanted to put in storage so he turned around and he went
back to the home police say Adam told investigators he arrived back at his Winona home
around 11:30 a.m. and saw his car still in the driveway he said he had texted her a few
times asking about dinner and whether or not she was going to pick up the kids there was no response police say Adam
told them he'd assumed Maddie had car pooed to work and when he did not hear from her he went alone to do that pickup
of the kids again the video from the daycare appears to corroborate that part of
Adam's story so he ultimately picked up the children around 4:20 or 4:30 um from
daycare and brought them to his parents house in Mabel Minnesota during a police interview
investigators noted that Adam had fresh scratches on his face the day after Maddie disappeared Adam's sister says he
told her the scratches came from a friend's dog on Saturday April 1st police searched the Winona house
where Adam lived with Maddie and investigators reported they saw no overt signs of Foul Play but what
was in the house was her purse her jacket her credit cards um but no Maddie 2 Days Later an anxious Megan rushed out
of her shower and alerted her Tik Tock followers to what was going on Tik Tock I need you to do your thing I wasn't
thinking about the fact that I was in a towel I need your help this is my sister
meline Kingsbury um she's missing [Music] the post eventually had over a half million views help us find her he's got
two kids she's my best friend she's my little sister we need to get her back please help
us I mean you're obviously in Terror here the look on your face but you're reaching out for help and people wanted
to help yes so many people have asked to help look for mine Kingsbury that it allowed law enforcement to expand their
search there's no no guide book on how to search for a missing loved one and searching for her was easily one of the
most traumatic things I've ever experienced in my [Music] life we're all hopeful she's
[Music] alive but by the end of the weekend there was no sign of Maddie day by day
Megan continued to post updates to Tik Tok it's Tuesday the 25th still no Malin now next week is May we're still
in this hell I feel like all of us like every night we would look out it's cold it's
dark is she like laying out there somewhere she like trapped somewhere um and you just you don't know
what to do behind the scenes though investigators began taking a harder look at Adam especially after
Maddy's friends came forward with some disturbing stories mateline called me shortly after an
incident happened between her and Adam where he had told her that if she wasn't careful she was going to end up
just like Gabby petito the Gabby petito case fixated the nation in the fall of 2021 the search
for missing 22-year-old Gabby Patito is now a multi-state effort after the young
woman from Long Island was found dead human remains were discovered one month after she seemingly vanished from the
face of the earth I told her you need to get out and you need to get it get out now that's not an empty threat
[Music] what do you think of Megan's Tik Tok posts chat now with the 48 Hours team on
Facebook and [Music] [Music] X years before Maddie vanished her sister Megan says the on and off again
relationship Queen Maddie and Adam seemed to be headed for a bad ending he just wasn't nice to her he didn't act
like he loved her he didn't help take care of the kids he didn't clean and honestly did you reach a point where you
you advised your sister you know perhaps it's time to move on in your life from him many
[Music] times madd's Father David said it pained him to to see how shabbily Adam treated
Maddie I think she literally poured out a river of love for him and she got nearly a drop in return
Matty's stepmother Kathy says Maddie often called saying Adam was of no help with the children and she'd be just
sobbing miserably that Adam's not helping I hate this but Mattie's family and friends say there was more than just
tearful arguments about 3 years before Maddie went missing Haley says she witnessed Adam slap Maddie during a
video call Haley and Maddie were talking Haley says when Adam appeared in the background and began shouting at Maddie
he yelled I don't understand why this house is such a mess and she said I don't know maybe you should help
me um to which Adam turned and he slapped her with an open hand across the face and in September 20121 some 18
months before Maddie disappeared she told Haley about Adam's dark fascination with the Gabby petito story Adam had
a infatuation and I would call it an obsession with the Gabby of petito case Haley says Maddie had told her that one
night after she and Adam watched a news special about the petito murder Adam's Obsession turned
threatening he had actually turned and grabbed her by the throat and pinned her down and told her that if she wasn't
careful that she would end up just like her Katie says she tried to get Maddie to do something and I begged her and
begged her please go to the hospital document it yourself do whatever you need to do you need to get this
documented so you can get out of there safely with those kids but Katie says Maddie never
reported anything to the police she was more scared that Adam was going to get arrested she wanted to protect him she
was protecting him Maddie did however tell her father David and stepmother Kathy about the choking incident she was
like horribly afraid she'd been choked and she was very very scared and wanted help Kathy says she and David drove to
Maddie's house and got her and the children out of there she came with us we went to the house so she could get
some of her things and some of the clothing for the kids and whatnot and put the kids in the van and followed
us back to our home in Farmington but Kathy says Maddie stayed in the Kingsbury house only 3 days before
returning to Adam because he was upset that she'd left I did tell her some point he's
going to kill you you said that to Matt yeah you felt there was enough danger that you had to say to your own daughter
I think he may kill you and how did she respond to that statement or did she honestly I mean she became a pro at
minimizing thing and it came back to well he was he was joking he told me he was joking and she wanted to believe
that when Maddy went missing her friends and family reported those in to police according to a search warrant detectives
interviewed Adam and asked if he and Maddie had ever had any physical altercations he said oh no when
detectives asked about those Gabby Patito comments police say Adam admitted them but claimed he was trying to make a
joke but according to a search warrant investigators found an old screenshot Maddie had saved of some text she'd
exchanged with Adam Maddie says you know I'm not really okay with or over the fact that you put your hand around my
neck and pushed me down in front of the kids earlier so don't not okay with it at all but especially with them there
Adam replies you'll adjust Maddie says the FI will detectives wanted to know everything about what Adam did the day
Maddie went missing and began collecting surveillance videos from homes and businesses police say a blue minivan
that looked like Maddy's was videotaped on Highway 43 the road Adam told police he'd taken that morning but according to
a search warrant the time stamps do not match Adam's timeline the cameras track the blue minivan until around noon
police say and then there's a 45-minute Gap that Gap occurs around Choice Minnesota
police say that is where Adam told them he realized he took the wrong boxes turned the van around and drove straight
back to Winona according to that warrant there is a 45-minute window that fraval could
not be tracked I mean where was he during those 45 minutes I mean that was a big you know the big question right
but with no direct evidence and no sign of Maddie investigator did not arrest Adam and he continued to live at his
parents' home with the children meanwhile Megan continued her updates on Tik Tok meline still has not been
located unfortunately um so we're still plugging along and looking for her as detectives continued to
investigate they uncovered a new lead a romantic relationship Maddie had been having with another another man an army
veteran named Spencer Sullivan I'm Spencer Sullivan and I was dating meline kingsburry at the time of her
disappearance and now police were interested to know Spencer's whereabouts the day Maddie went
[Music] missing what do you make of the Gabby petito comment from Adam which he claimed to police was a joke
chat now with the 48 Hours team on Facebook and X in the spring of 2023 Maddie knew her
relationship with Adam was falling apart and she was brutally honest with her father she says you know Dad I know that
I'm in a bad relationship I know my family knows it I know my friends know it and I'm embarrassed about it but I
don't know what to do about it but Maddie had joined Tinder which is where she reconnected with Spencer who she
knew from college we were friends on Facebook so I knew that she had kids I wasn't sure
what the status of the relationship was exactly with uh Adam prel as it turns out Spencer also knew Adam from Winona
State he was in the same frat as I was and tell me about the Adam you knew back then he and I didn't really talk all
that much Maddie told Spencer that she and Adam had reached the point of no return Maddie and Spencer began dating
but quietly we both kind of agreed to keep it a secret between us until she was on her own mostly the relationship
was a secret from Adam Mattie's family and girlfriend knew about it and they told police about Spencer when Maddy
went missing that's when investigators called Spencer in for an interview they were just kind of asking me general
questions about when we had started dating where were you at this point what were you doing at this point what were
you doing on March 31st 2023 uh that morning I was at work Spencer surrendered his phone while
investigators checked out his Alibi as they looked into his story they also learned from Mattie's friends and family
that only 6 days before she disappeared she finally had told Adam about Spencer she didn't want to lie and she just it
bubbled up inside of her the this guilt is it true that Maddie told Adam about Spencer yeah that's a pretty gutsy thing
to do H we wish she had it all came pouring out and Megan says M told Adam she was leaving him and looking for an
apartment where she would live with their children did she tell you how Adam reacted to the news I think she said he
cried and he was really hurt at the time I'm sure he was personally hurt and heartbroken all of a sudden you find out
she has feelings for somebody else and it's over Adam's sister Teresa as well as his brother Ryan say news of the
breakup hurt them as well because Maddie was a cherished member of their extended
family Maddie was a sister to all of us and our hearts are broken uh we lost a close family member they point out that
although Adam and Maddie always had an on and off relationship they stayed together for S years I was completely
shocked when I learned that she was dating Spencer behind my brother's back Manny's best friend Katie says
tensions between mat and Adam were Sky High after her Revelation about Spencer it was the day before she
disappeared she called me crying and she asked if she could come work at our house she said that Adam was
hovering over her while she was working and making comments about some other man
raising his kids and you know are you really going to leave me for another man she felt very threatened Maddie left her
house and went to Katie's before ending up at Spencer's home also in Winona she came over to celebrate my
birthday with me she brought a couple donuts that we could split with each other she had a gift for me it was a
little Lego set Little Star Wars Lego set I got a a card from her it was a star wars card that last time you saw
her person to person I remember she's standing at my front steps she turned around and smiled at me
and waved and the last time was s within days of his interview police confirmed Spencer's Alibi and returned
his phone eventually police say he was clear Matty's friend Haley says Spencer was the best thing to happen to her in a
long time Spencer showed her that she deserves so much more than Adam Spencer says he was devast dated in the wake of
madd's disappearance I thought to myself like that stuff like this doesn't doesn't happen here you know we
were talking about her moving into her new place she wanted me to come over and help her decorate do stuff
and and the next day she's gone he says he couldn't stop thinking about the birthday card Maddie had given
him I think I reread that card at least 100 times that I all I could think was this this kid
sorry 4 days after Maddie vanished her parents were given temporary custody of her children my niece and nephew are no
longer in the custody of their father you know we appreciate the concern for them but um they're they're in good
hands when Matty's friend Lauren Deo thought about Matty's children she recalled a conversation she'd had with
Maddie a month earlier and she reported it to police she told me that she needed
me to know that if anything were to happen to her or her children that Adam did it she would never leave her
children for anything under any circumstances [Music] 10 days after Maddie disappeared police
had received a tip that Adam had been seen riding near his parents' home with a shovel in his family's utility vehicle
police seized his vehicle and according to a search warrant kadav dogs alerted to Ascent in the vehicle and on the
shovel you know it's my understanding that they are trained and specifically trained to find human human remains 2
Days Later Adam put out a statement through his attorneys it read in part I have cooperated with law enforcement at
every turn I did not have anything to do with madd's disappearance I want the mother of my 5-year-old and 2-year-old
to be found and brought home safely I want that more than anything Maddie had been missing 35 days
when Katie and others gathered to remember her she was the kindest most beautiful soul even on the brightest
days it still feels dark and gloomy without her here David Kingsbury addressed the crowd
inside a local church we know that mine is around here somewhere she just didn't
vanish someone knows something someone saw something make this your Battle Cry right where's meline where is she make
it loud and don't stop until she's [Music] found go behind the scenes with the 48
Hours postmortem [Music] [Music] podcast for Megan Kings B June 7th 2023 started out like every other day since
Maddie disappeared hey Tik Tock good morning happy Wednesday Maddie still missing please
continue to spread the word about my sister meline but hours later we begin the hour
with breaking news out of Southeastern Minnesota 68 days after Maddie disappeared a sheriff's deputy found
human s along this lonely Country Road and while it hadn't been certified by the medical examiner they were fairly
certain that it was my daughter was on the floor and like scream crying you know what do you say
when somebody tells you something like that there's nothing that you can say for madd's best friend Katie the
news was shattering her reaction captured on her video doorbell [Music] camera the very next day mti's friends
heard the news from Winona's police chief law enforcement has confirmed the remains are those of meline
Kingsbury you can't ever prepare yourself for one of your children to die much less be found somewhere
outside found as she was and she was wrapped in a gray fitted bed sheet that had black duct tape around
the ends and um there was a towel wrapped around her head Adam frel was arrested and charged
with second deegree murder the gray bed sheet wrapped around Maddie according to
the criminal complaint seemed to match a set found in Matty's home and the isolated Road where
Mattie's remains were found according to that criminal complaint had been maintained by the fraval family at one
point this area is also close to the township of choice where Le believe there are 45 minutes unaccounted for in
Adam's timeline this area here in this Culvert is where mti's body was found someone
left a little angel here to Mark the Spot madd's autopsy listed her cause of death as homicidal violence nothing
more and in October 2023 Adam was indicted on additional first deegree murder charges Adam's possible motive
for murder in a warrant investigators alleged Adam was in distress due to his financial dependence on Maddie and was
upset about the end of their relationship investigators also learned that Maddie had a death benefit of
$170,000 but had not listed a beneficiary she was his his meal ticket she was the one who provided for them
according to a search warrant when police entered the couple's house they noticed that surveillance cameras inside
the home had been removed and former prosecutor Mary fulin says it's the way they appeared to have been taken down
that caught detectives attention they found that the surveillance cameras that he had
installed have been ripped out that they were no longer there so all of those are
indicators of you know he's up to something in consciousness of guilt he had those down weeks before they were in
the process of moving Adam's sister and brother say at one point before Maddie and Adam broke
up the couple was planning to move together to Adam's parents home we want people to know that there are two sides
to the story take for instance those caver dogs alerting to the utility vehicle and and
shovel Adam's Family says that's because on the previous weekend their dad used that shovel to move a dead
raccoon that he used the shovel to pick it up every time we would try to clarify
anything to the investigators we were just treated with that like like we're just delusional I believe Adam
150% that he is innocent he would never harm Maddie the mother to his children you know
he'd never do such a thing Adam's defense team has asked a judge to suppress Adam's police
interview because they claim he wasn't read his Miranda rights it's the interview where he admitted making
comments about Gabby Patito but said he was only joking in preliminary hearings his
lawyers also say there is not enough evidence to Warrant the first-degree murder charge Adam siblings insist
authorities should take a closer look at Spencer Sullivan we're trying to expand uh the
investigator's eyes that something else could easily have happened what do you think of
that I mean they're trying to protect Adam they kind of need to come to terms with the fact
that my personal opinion uh they got the right person there's a presumption of innocence in our legal system of course
that every everybody's entitled to but there's also the Court of Common Sense and then the Court of Common Sense
all roads lead to Adam prel the Kingsbury family is speaking out now in hopes of saving someone
else that's the reason why we're here and that's the reason why we're talking about this because we don't want it to
happen to anybody else this is emotionally very powerful right now for you are you you don't blame yourself for
this do you I think we all blame ourselves to some degree cuz when I would talk to her I didn't push you know
I wanted her to be able to say things when she was ready to say things he had her hooks in her and the kids make it
really difficult for MD's father whatever the jury decides there was a larger truth
that haunts him I'll always be the father of a murdered girl Spencer Sullivan told us he too feels
haunted by a conversation he and Maddie had weeks before she vanished she told me that she was in love with me
fortunately I was too chick to say it back but does that bother you every day I saw a future with m
and it felt like somebody just ripped the next 60 years out of my life for Megan who is so close with her
little sister she still can't imagine a future without Maddie I feel like even just saying that we're sisters doesn't
describe being the closeness that we had we were confidants for each other how do
you want Maddie to to be remembered somebody that mattered mean I think everything we've seen and heard
from people really affirm that she mattered to many many people all of her friends said she's my best friend she
was everybody's best friend [Music] [Music] a mysterious elness turns fatal followed
by a surprising toxicology report the medical examiner found tetrah hydroline in Lin hearnen system how much does your
caregiver know a there's the eye drops I didn't give her anything 48 hours Saturday on CBS streaming on Paramount
Plus [Music]

When a young Minnesota mother goes missing, her sister turns to TikTok for help. "48 Hours" correspondent Peter Van Sant reports. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

For video licensing inquiries, contact: licensing@veritone.com

Brief Summary

Meline Kingsbury's disappearance leads to a murder investigation involving her partner Adam Fral and reveals troubling details about their relationship.

Key points

Maddie's Disappearance. Maddie Kingsbury goes missing after dropping her kids at daycare, sparking a frantic search.
Maddie's Family Pleads for Help. Maddie's sister reaches out on TikTok, garnering public support for the search.
Adam's Alibi Under Scrutiny. Investigators examine Adam's timeline and find inconsistencies in his story.
Maddie's Disappearance. Maddie Kingsbury goes missing, leaving family and friends devastated.
Discovery of Remains. Human remains found 68 days after Maddie's disappearance, confirmed to be hers.
Adam's Arrest. Adam Frel arrested and charged with second-degree murder following Maddie's death.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

This has gone on too long, we want to bring her home.

A plea from Maddie's family.

3:45WatchApr 19, 2024

Tension

85/ 100High tension

More from 48 Hours

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.