The Secret Life of Paige Birgfeld | Full Episode | Forensic Files

Grand Junction is situated on the western slope of Colorado and it's very mountainous and beautiful.
I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But one thing is apparent. It is very tough terrain to search in.
There are hundreds of thousands of places where you could hide the body and we might never find it.
>> I'm Frank Bergfeld. I'm the father of Paige Meredith Bergfeld. She's the mother of three children. My sister did
not return from a uh meeting she had with a previous husband of hers. >> Paige was within 5 miles of the house
here in Grand Junction and disappeared. >> My sister was missing. >> You start asking missing? What do you
mean missing? >> My name is Pete Howzinger. I'm the district attorney for Mesa County,
Colorado. We're looking at somebody who has disappeared. We don't know why. >> I said, "You're in the midst of a crime.
This is not someone who would run off." Paige would have never never abandoned her children.
>> Loves her kids. Appears to be a typical divorced mom. Lives in a nice house in
one of the nicer neighborhoods in Grand Junction. >> They found her car abandoned in a
parking lot and lit on fire a couple days after she went missing. This led investigators to believe that there was
foul play involved. We search fields, national parks, mountains, and I am committed to search for her
until we find her and bring her home. >> Then we started finding out some things
that really pretty much changed everything. >> First you find out Paige is missing and
then within a couple days we started finding out about this other life that we didn't know about.
you start hearing things about your own daughter that you didn't know about. >> We got more details about the extent of
Paige's business and the type of person she was and the type of lifestyle she led.
>> After Jess was born, she had told me that she wasn't doing it anymore. >> She kept all these secrets from her
friends and family. >> She said she had been making 400,000 a year doing it and she didn't need to do
it anymore. She had a couple things on her computer. >> I said, "Okay, well, that certainly puts
a different twist on this investigation. Where is my girl? She may be a 34 year old woman,
a mother of three children, but to me, she's just my little girl. I'm Aaron Morardi. Tonight on 48 hours,
the secret life of Paige Bergfeld. We first brought you the story of Paige Bergfeld in 2008. Shortly after the
young Colorado mother of three disappeared, police discovered that she was leading a secret life, a life that
may have led to her disappearance. We've tracked her story ever since. And tonight, at long last, the mystery of
what happened to Paige Bergfeld may finally be solved. And Paige was always the one that was
family first and she was always the one that was keeping us together. >> How many would like a cookout out by the
pool? >> No one loved a family gathering more than the one person missing from this
one. 34year-old Paige Bergfeld. >> I mean, she would literally beam. She would radiate. Those were the absolute
cherished times that she she enjoys most. >> So, when their daughter Paige vanished,
Frank and Susie Bergfeld feared the worst. >> This is a crime. There's a crime here. Instantly, I knew
this was a problem. She didn't want to even go out to dinner without her children.
>> For them, we need to find her and we need to bring her home. >> She's in our room.
>> Paige's older brother, Dr. Craig Bergfeld, is a long way from his home in Seattle. By day, he specializes in the
facial reconstruction of children. And by night, he's dad to his own young family.
>> Is that the T-Rex board? >> Yes. >> And a devoted husband to his wife, Callie. But now living in his sister's
home, Dr. Bergfeld has a new full-time job, Uncle Craig, to Paige's three young children. Callie and I decided at that
time that our role was to be there for the kids and try to, you know, take care of them, be family there for them, um,
just help them. >> And I just remembered, you know, little girl just going, "So, do you know what
happened to my mom? do you know where she is? And I was like, what do I say? So I said, wherever she is, she wants to
be with you right now. >> Paige had a circle of close friends. >> Her kids love her. They uh they glow
when she's around. >> And Paige was the type of parent that always was around. According to her
friends, as a single mother, she had to be. Her ex-husband, Rob Dixon, was living in Philadelphia. After their
divorce in 2006, Paige was the primary caregiver for their three children. It wasn't an easy job.
>> Paige is the most patient and loving mother I've ever seen, >> but it was the only job Paige had ever
wanted. >> I think as long as I can remember, what she wanted to be was a mom. And um she
just couldn't wait to be that mom. So when Paige Bergfeld disappeared, Sheriff Stan Hilkkey was pretty
convinced this mother of three would not leave on her own. >> There's nothing in our investigation
at all that leads us to believe that she has abandoned her life or abandoned her
children um and and gone off in that regard. My daughter, if she had two broken legs,
she'd crawl on her she crawl on her elbows to get to her children. >> Authorities started by looking at those
closest to Paige. >> It's kind of police investigations 101 that you usually will look at the
emotionally involved people, ex-husbands or current husbands, etc. And they quickly learned that Paige Bergfeld had
not one but two ex-husbands. Her first husband was her high school sweetheart, Ron Beagler.
>> He was the first big heartthrob, the first big to love. >> In fact, for the past few months, the
two had been dating again. >> She was um very excited about rekindling her relationship with Ron.
>> 10 years after divorcing her first husband, Paige said she was in love with him again. and ex-husband number one
became the focus of the investigation in June 2007 when it's learned he was with
Paige the day she disappeared. >> We believe that yes that uh she was with her first ex-husband that day of the
28th. >> Paige and Beagler had their last date at this rest stop, a halfway point between
her home in Grand Junction and his home more than four hours away. I understand that Paige and Ron Beigler had planned
to meet, had a picnic, spent um part of the afternoon together. When she was driving home later that night around 900
p.m., Paige called Beagler from her cell phone. They spoke briefly and Paige told
him she'd call him later. >> It has helped us identify persons of interest. >> Cell phone records show that Paige was
just a few miles from her home when she made that call to Beagler. And that phone call was one of her last.
Paige never did call Beagler back that night. So the next day he tried calling her
>> and her phone rolled over to the voice message right away so indicate the phone
was turned off or the battery was was down. On Saturday morning, two days after seeing Paige, Beagler finally
tried calling her at home. Paige's live-in nanny was taking care of her three children.
>> He actually called the house and got her granddaughter, and she was the one that
told him that Paige hadn't been home since Thursday night. >> At that point, the alarm started going
off and he touched base with us, touched base with the the sheriff's office, and
things started getting in gear then. And ironically, after Bigler called authorities to report Paige missing, he
became one of the first they wanted to question. >> And I'm sure he was open and willing to
have them look at him. >> Although Beagler was one of the last to see and speak with Paige, those who know
him believe he's also one of the last who'd want to harm her. We met with him recently and I think he
is very devoted to Paige and very emotional that she's not here. I've spoken to him on the phone since she
went missing and it's obvious he's pretty distraught and um upset that she's not around. I know he's broken up
by this whole thing. Paige's friends were far more suspicious about her second ex-husband, Rob Dixon,
the father of her three children. >> A lot of her friends would say, "Where was Rob? I'm afraid Rob is
involved." >> Paige had an explosive, troubled history with Dixon. >> 911. Where's your emergency?
>> He said that I would come home. Afraid of all murdered. They might not have known exactly where
to begin. >> It's going to be a good morning, >> but Paige's family knew they'd have to
start somewhere if they were ever going to find her. You want to get out and start looking
and try and figure out where she is. >> So Craig and Callie Bergfeld set off in one direction. Good luck today.
>> Thank you. Hopefully we'll find her today. >> And Frank Bergfeld headed off in
another. >> My daughter's the one who's missing. So when you're out there, keep your eyes
open. >> While the Bergfeld family searched for Paige, the sheriff's department continued its own investigation.
Deputies brought in specialty divers to search the river >> and they got one of their first big
leads in the case when someone called 911 after seeing a car in flames parked in an empty lot.
It turned out to be Paige's car, the car she was driving when she disappeared. The next morning, authorities discovered
that the fire was started from inside the car on the passenger side. DA Pete Hzinger.
>> It at least suggests to me that that person is fairly savvy and intelligent enough to think that there's
a real possibility law enforcement could find evidence in that car that would implicate him or her.
>> It looks like whoever is involved here is not afraid of committing a crime. and the realization of what that might
mean for his daughter was too much to bear. >> You know, it occurred to me I hadn't
cried in a long time. I've learned how to do that. That's it. >> While Paige's family clung to hope that
she was still alive, >> the reality is creeping in that something bad has certainly happened
here. Investigators turned their attention to Paige's second ex-husband, Rob Dixon.
>> The most recent ex-husband is a logical person to take a close look at. >> Paige met Dixon in 1997, and back then
he seemed like a real catch. >> Uh Rob had had a business success with his father, had a significant amount of
of wealth. >> It was a whirlwind courtship. And the following year, the two had a wedding
and started a family together. >> And they moved to Grand Junction together, you know, moved into that
house together, built onto that house together. >> But Dixon had extravagant taste. And he
was reckless with his money, investing millions of dollars in risky business ventures. When the bills started piling
up, Paige did what she could to pitch in. She started a little preschool dance business she called Brain Dance
to come in and be with your children and I appreciate you all for >> She would have recital um twice a year
and make costumes for all those students. >> Paige also sold high-end kitchen supplies out of her home for a company
called The Pampered Chef. And as one of the top sales agents, she earned a free trip to the Caribbean. But Dixon was
losing money a lot faster than Paige was making it. In a few short years, his business investments fell through and
he'd lost almost everything. >> And I think as financial strain came on the relationship. It got
worse and worse. >> By 2004, the problems in the marriage took a turn for the worse.
>> We think of Rob as good Rob and bad Rob. There are times where Rob is just really
a good good funny guy, bright, but at other times Rob is a difficult person to be around. He can be violently angry,
condescending, derisive, uh you walk on eggshells, uh a feeling of tension. She stuck by
him through a lot, but when he started getting more angry and then finally violent, she had to draw the line there.
>> Finally, in October, Paige had to call the police for help. >> 911, where's your emergency?
>> Um, my husband and I were in a fight. He wanted the children to stay with him,
and he said that I would come home and find them all murdered. >> What's your name, ma'am?
>> Paige Dixon. By the time police and local media arrived, the crisis was diffused. Dixon was allowed to leave
after authorities decided he wasn't a threat to himself or anyone else. No charges were filed.
>> Hey, Rob, what happened? Why were the cops called? >> But one year later, the police were
called again. Paige said Dixon had pushed her to the ground. Then later, he punched her while she was holding their
baby. This time in October 2005, Dixon was arrested. But the case was later settled after he completed a course in
anger management. >> When everything went rocky and she finally decided enough was enough when
the kids and her were put in jeopardy, she decided it was over. >> By the time the couple divorced in
September 2006, Rob Dixon had declared bankruptcy and he was living in Philadelphia. When Paige disappeared,
that's exactly where Dixon said he was in Philadelphia, 2,000 miles away. But when Paige's family found disturbing
entries about Dixon, written on a website message board by Paige herself, they were hard to ignore.
>> I've read the things that have been written on her website and on the Pamper Chef website, and um, you know, they're
pretty scary. Just three months before she disappeared, Paige wrote, "My children would ask me if dad was going
to kill me. I can't imagine what they were thinking life would be like after he killed me." Investigators questioned
Dixon about his whereabouts the day his ex-wife vanished, but they didn't release details to the public.
>> We can say that we have had contact with Rob Dixon, and that's all that we'll say
about him. >> But Paige's family got word that his alibi held up. I understand that a
person's biography might make them a suspect. At the same time, if you're 2,000 miles away, I I think it takes you
off the roster. >> Both of Paige's ex-husbands seem to have had solid alibis. So, who in Paige's life had any motive
to harm her? >> Hello, you've reached out. And that led investigators to an even bigger mystery.
This one about Paige herself. >> Please read your message and I'll get back to you within the next few days.
>> Who knows why people make those sort of choices? Certainly not for us to judge.
Mesa County is a big county. It's 3,300 square miles uh of a lot of open space, a lot of canyons.
>> Two weeks had passed since Paige had vanished. You realize unless you know where to
look, you could spend the rest of your life looking around out there. It's just so remote. This is big country out here.
It is vast. >> And the question remained, where to look when the vista stretches out as far as
the eye can see. >> There are hundreds of thousands of miles around us which could be used to hide a
body. >> But the investigation was about to get a lucky break. Her name Connie Fluki.
>> We'll never quit. I will never ever give up. >> Conniey's can do spirit inspired the
dozens of other volunteers here to help find Paige Bergfeld. >> This is our search area.
>> Uhhuh. And she just gave hope. We were starting to become so dejected and she just walked in and took charge.
>> But I'm getting ready to send a team out. Okay. Dork. >> Craig and Callie got ready to search
in the punishing desert heat. >> I'm Craig. Paige is my sister. I wanted to thank you guys for coming to look for
her. >> Today's going to be the day. I know. Today's going to be the day. Today's the
day we're going to find her. >> We'll go up this road, loop back down that one. >> As the volunteers pressed on, the
Bergfelds had to navigate through a darker, more difficult terrain. the mysterious double life that Paige had
apparently been leading. >> She had a couple things on her computer. We were saying, "Wait a minute. What's
this computer doing here?" >> Yeah. Why don't the police have this computer? >> So, they called police because they were
convinced that her computer held clues that could have put her in danger. >> It doesn't change what I think of her. I
would give anything to see her again right now and give her a big hug. >> As Craig's concern grew, the search paid
off with a discovery that could lead them closer to Paige. >> They did find some pretty critical
pieces of information for us down on Highway 50. Various personal items such as Paige's checkbook and a membership
card to a local video store were found scattered along this highway 15 miles from where her burned out car
was discovered. >> Obviously, our focus is still on Paige. Um, not just her things, but her things
do hopefully lead us to her. >> For all its beauty, there is clearly a darker side of the mesa.
>> It's beautiful, but scary for me now. Every search I pray that we find my sister.
We're halfway through this canyon. We haven't found her yet. Still hoping we do, but part of me is still praying that
we don't. I haven't found her not alive. As long as that condition exists, I presume she is. I choose to hold out
hope. We're coming, Paige. We're coming. We are coming to get you. First you find out Paige is missing.
Then within a couple days we started finding out about this other life that we didn't know about.
>> It was a life kept secret from her family. Well, at first blush, she looked to us to be a really good mom, very
active with her kids. >> District Attorney Pete Hzinger. >> Then some things came out that really
pretty much changed everything. And that's when Grand Junction began asking not just where Paige Bergfeld
was, but also who she was, who she really was. She had a side industry, and it wasn't
just any side business. >> It turns out Paige wasn't just teaching dance classes and selling kitchen
products. In provocative ads on the internet, Paige was also known as Carrie, a highpriced escort.
>> I, for one, was shocked. I've been a prosecutor for 20 years. This is the first time I've encountered
somebody from that kind of social economic level and that kind of family involvement to be involved in this
business. Sessions with Carrie could include stripping, dancing, and roleplaying. On
one website, she suggests that clients can pay for extras, such as topless and nude massage.
>> Those were things that we didn't know anything about before she went missing,
but have unfortunately learned about since. >> I think for Frank and Susie that the
thought of their daughter even doing that, it didn't even cross their minds because it's their daughter. you don't
think your daughter's going to do that. So, I think for them it was a really, really big shock.
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 and one reason only, her children. >> She found herself in a position of being
the bread winner and trying to make ends meet. Paige was overwhelmed with debt. She had
three children and her ex-husband was bankrupt, paying only $500 a month in child support. Plus, Paige's mortgage
was huge, almost $6,000 a month. >> It never really made sense to me that she would be able to come up with a
mortgage for that place for more than a couple of months. Her friends say Paige did what she had to do
and turned to the one job she knew would pay well. >> She always saw a situation and got it
under control. If something needed to be done, she made sure it happened. >> I would say that whatever she was doing
was for her children. >> And it has no bearing on the kind of mother friend that she is. book. Um,
>> and her sister-in-law, Callie, now thinks she knows where Paige got the idea to become an escort in the first
place. Many years earlier, Callie had asked Paige how she was able to afford her first home on a dance teacher
salary. >> I flat out asked her if she was doing something other than teaching dance
>> and she had told me that she had been stripping >> before becoming a mother. Paige had worked as a stripper at a
place called the Mile High Saloon >> in Denver when she was 21 years old. She said she had been making 400,000 a year
doing it. And that, you know, she didn't need to do it anymore, >> but apparently she later did.
>> And so then we're like, okay, you can kind of see where Paige made the next step to escort.
I wish I had been given the opportunity to be involved and perhaps been able to sort it out.
>> I would have counseledled her. That that strikes me as dangerous. It doesn't sound totally moral.
>> Paige's family knew this new information could help investigators figure out who
was responsible for Paige's disappearance. It opens up a whole another list of people, a whole another group of people.
>> But will it also bring them closer to learning what happened to Paige? News that is difficult to hear.
>> She was probably murdered by one of her clients. Police never found a diary or a
black book with names, but she did have that cell phone and that helped investigators track down
everyone who had had contact with Paige. >> We have looked very carefully at all of
her clients and have made every effort to investigate everybody who may have been on that list of people she was
going to be contacting later that night. That included George Coraluso, a 30-year-old house painter who called
Paige 20 times on the day she disappeared. He also left town hurriedly 2 days after her disappearance.
And there was also this man, a 56-year-old father of two named Lester Ralph Jones.
Actually, I was out searching and that's the first time I ever heard of him. At that time, the rumor was that he had
known Paige through the escort service. >> Mr. Jones was a client of Miss Burke Belts. My understanding is there had
been at least more than one encounter. >> Authorities got warrants to conduct searches of his home where he lived with
his third wife. They spent hours searching through his belongings, but wouldn't talk about what they found, not
even with Paige's family. >> I can't comment specifically as to what was or was not found in Mr. Jones's
home. >> And remember her burned out car discovered a few miles from her home? Search dogs led investigators from that
parking lot to an RV shop across the street. It turns out that's where Ralph Jones worked as a mechanic.
>> The fact that her car was burning so close to his place of employment is at least one significant fact. Common sense
certainly would indicate that it's something more than a coincidence. >> There is something else that links Ralph
Jones to the disappearance of Paige Bergfeld. One of the last conversations she had that night was with someone
using a throwaway phone like this. According to investigators, there's surveillance video from a local Walmart
showing a man they say is Jones buying such a phone. Jones declined our request for an
interview and denied having anything to do with Paige's disappearance. But Ralph Jones does have a criminal
record, a record that shows he was more than capable of violence. And then we're also able to find out
some newspaper articles about that whole previous case. It's pretty scary stuff.
>> Jones was arrested for two incidents involving his aranged wife Lisa back in 1999.
In one of them, he threatened to take her someplace remote and kill her. Joan served three years in prison after
pleading guilty to kidnapping and assault charges, both felonies. Those are by definition kind of violent
offenses. >> None of that bodess well if Paige had uh any kind of involvement with him at all.
>> It's not the kind of person you want to be out alone with your sister. >> And so more than 3 months after Paige
Bergfeld disappeared, authorities publicly cleared her two ex-husbands. Although George Coraluzo remained a
person of interest, they named the main target of their investigation. We have narrowed it down to one primary suspect,
that being Lester Ralph Jones. >> Lester Jones has been our primary suspect from the very beginning of the
case. Chief Deputy District Attorney Dan Rubenstein was now heading up the Paige
Bergfeld murder investigation. He was convinced that Lester Ralph Jones, a convicted felon and a client of
Paige's escort service, was the man who killed her. But without Paige's body, he
didn't feel he could prove it. Paige went missing in June of 2007. We always knew that the case wasn't
something we were ever going to be able to prosecute until we found her. >> Let's go. Come on. Let's go find Paige.
>> Frank Birdfeld never stopped searching for his daughter. >> There's so many acres.
>> His determination to find her fueled by his concern that the investigation was
stalled. >> Many of these cases are never solved. You know, how many times do we see one
of these in the paper and you never hear anything more about it? >> There's no doubt that the family was
frustrated and I do not blame them at all. >> But then 5 years after Paige went missing,
a break. A hiker came across partial human remains in a gully right where a team of volunteers had been searching.
There were people that were in that area time after time over that 5-year period
from 2007 to 2012. So, her body must have been buried at least deep enough to have hidden it from people going by.
>> Investigators had little trouble identifying the remains. >> Paige's remains were found in
>> it was Paige. We had her jaw and her skull were found uh intact with the teeth and we were
able to get her dental records and verify that the dental records matched up with the teeth.
>> Although investigators couldn't determine how she died, Paige's bones gave clues. Among other injuries, her
cheekbone was badly fractured, a sign she may have been beaten. >> That fracture occurred at or near the
time of her death. Other findings helped the investigators piece together the circumstances of the last hours of her
life. >> There was also some duct tape um that appeared to be right around the area of
where the skull was found, >> suggesting she may have been tied and gagged. And there was more.
Knowing where she had been found now helped explain the objects that had been discovered when she was initially
reported missing. checks, business cards, driver's license, other documents that had pages or her kids' names on
them that were strewn about the highway about 5 miles before the area where her remains were found. That I think is
indicative of somebody who is kidnapped throwing those items out. >> Investigators believe that Paige,
desperately reaching out for help, was leaving a trail to wherever she was being taken. For Bergfeld's family, all
these discoveries were hard to bear. >> My feelings were a heavy dose of sadness. Um, even when we were
searching, you wanted to find her, but you didn't want to find her. >> Adding to their pain, they would have to
wait for a proper burial for their daughter. >> When she was found, I went ahead and
made arrangements with a local funeral home to uh go ahead and retrieve her. and we would then decide what to do with
the remains. We were told that they weren't going to give her to us. Uh, in fact, I assume that she is in a
cardboard box in the coroner's office. They were told that uh they must keep her for the purpose of evidence and
that's just flatout baloney. >> If it was any consolation, with Paige's remains discovered, the case could
finally move forward. Once you find the body, you've taken away one of the important reasonable doubts that are
going to be in a criminal trial. >> The evidence is still circumstantial, but Rubenstein believes he now has
enough to make his case against Lester Ralph Jones. He's confirmed that the only other
potential suspect, George Coraluzo, had a solid alibi for the time Paige disappeared and was in New Jersey the
night her car was set on fire. The car was in the parking lot across from where Jones worked.
The seat pushed back to accommodate someone much taller than Paige. And there is the track phone.
>> It actually only made five phone calls in its entire history. And all five of
those phone calls were either two pages work phone. The last phone call was from
her phone. >> Despite Jones's denials that he owned such a phone, Rubenstein says he can
prove that Jones lied. >> We have video evidence of of Mr. Jones buying that track phone. Uh we've you
know have the computer records showing the exact date, time, store and register that that track phone was purchased at.
And we pulled the video and it was Mr. Jones purchasing it. >> And then there is this.
>> Mr. Jones. >> Yes, sir. >> This is Art Smith with the sheriff's office. Just calling to let you know
that we have both your cars ready for you and your wife. A bizarre phone call between Jones and a local sheriff who
had seized two cars belonging to Jones so that they could be thoroughly searched. So I can come and pick him up.
>> Sergeant Smith contacted Mr. Jones just simply to let him know that the vehicles
were ready to be released and to figure out how they wanted to go about doing that. It was a simple routine phone call
and uh he didn't get the uh the response he was expecting. >> Mr. Jones, I'm not following you.
You asked me where I would bury a body. >> I'm sorry. >> You asked me where I could bury a body.
>> When did I ask you that? >> Um, Mr. Jones, are you there? That was to me a very very interesting
thing for him to say and certainly would be the sort of thing that would go towards being satisfied that
Lester Ralph Jones killed my daughter. The call along with all the other evidence did the trick. In November
2014, just before Thanksgiving, more than 7 years since Paige Bergfeld disappeared,
Lester Ralph Jones was arrested and charged with her murder and kidnapping. He appeared notably unsurprised.
>> Lester did not react at all when he was told that there was an arrest warrant
for him. He didn't ask what it was for. He just turned around and put his hands behind his back.
>> Jones went to jail. His bail set at $2 million, but for the prosecutor and Paige's family, the case was far from
over. >> We certainly believe we had enough to bring it to a jury. But remember, at
this stage in the process, these are just allegations. >> And they must be proven in court.
Did Jones kill Paige Bergfeld? If so, how did he do it? >> It's certainly our intention to have a
front row seat. >> And like his commitment to search for his daughter, Frank Bergfeld is
committed to attend the trial every single day. >> I'd like to say goodbye to her. I think
I owe it to her. With all that the family has endured, the years of uncertainty, the discovery of their
daughter's secret life, and the painful proof of her death, they prefer to remember Paige as she was and for them
will always be. >> Motherhood was central to her life. The kids meant everything. As far as a
legacy, uh, remember Paige's smile. I guess I would call it radiant. In her obituary,
it was said that she was so radiant it made the sun jealous. And I would think that would be at least
for me what sticks with me the most. Thank you. Please rise for our jury. >> In July 2016, 9 years after Paige
Bergfeld went missing, Lester Ralph Jones went on trial for her murder. >> Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
With no direct evidence, the prosecution's case was circumstantial. >> The only calls from that track phone
were to Paige Bergfeld and they ended at the time of her disappearance. >> That Mesa County Sheriff's Office,
>> Lester Jones defense team countered by introducing five alternate suspects. >> These are men that the sheriff's office
let slip through their fingers while they were busy fixating on Mr. Jones. But after a six-w weekek trial, the jury
was deadlocked. Although they all thought Jones was guilty, several had reasonable doubt.
>> Is there a likelihood of progress towards a unanimous verdict? >> No. >> No. All right. Thank you.
>> After a mistrial was declared, >> I'm sorry. >> One of the jurors apologized to the
Bergfeld. We wanted this and I saw you all during the trial and I see the agony. I am sorry.
>> Please rise for our jury. >> But there was a second trial which would end just days after Christmas 2016.
>> And this jury could reach a verdict. We the jury find the defendant Lester Ralph
Jones guilty of count one murder in the first degree. >> Convicted of the kidnapping and murder
of Paige Bergfeld. Jones was sentenced to life in prison without parole. >> But having him brought to justice after
almost nine years seemed to give Paige's father, Frank, little comfort, as he expressed in this phone interview.
What happens to him doesn't bring Paige back. If he wanted to make me a deal and
skip prison and bring her back, I I'd take it. >> 48 hours. Don't miss an episode.
Heat. Heat.

A young mother disappears, a double life exposed -- eight years later, an arrest in the case. "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty reports. This episode aired in July 2017. 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.

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Brief Summary

The episode details Paige Bergfeld's disappearance, her secret life, and the investigation leading to Lester Ralph Jones' conviction for her murder.

Key points

The Disappearance of Paige Bergfeld. Paige Bergfeld, a mother of three, goes missing under mysterious circumstances. Her family fears the worst.
Hope Amidst Despair. Despite the grim reality, Paige's family continues to search for her, holding onto hope.
A Secret Life Revealed. Investigation reveals Paige was leading a double life as a high-priced escort, shocking her family.
Paige's Struggle. Paige became an escort to support her three children amidst overwhelming debt.
Discovery of Remains. Five years after her disappearance, Paige's remains were found, leading to new investigations.
Arrest of Lester Ralph Jones. Lester Ralph Jones was arrested and charged with Paige's murder after years of investigation.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

This is not someone who would run off.

District Attorney Pete Howzinger on Paige's disappearance.

1:23WatchJun 23, 2026

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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