Kelsey Berreth's fiance, Patrick Frazee, has been charged with her murder.
The family of a missing Colorado mother who police believe to be dead say they are shattered in the wake of the arrest of the woman's fiancé.
It had been more than a month since Kelsey Berreth was last seen alive when her fiancé, Patrick Frazee, was arrested at his Florissant home about 7 a.m. local time Friday.
"Sadly, we do not believe Kelsey is still alive," Woodland Park Police Chief Miles De Young said at a press conference Friday.
Berreth’s cousin, Jodee Garretson, told Inside Edition’s Senior Correspondent Les Trent that her parents were “absolutely devastated” by the development in the investigation.
“I can’t even fully comprehend how horrible they have to be feeling,” Garretson said. “That’s their only daughter.”
Hours before he would be arrested, Frazee was seen at the front gate of his 35-acre ranch. When asked by an ABC News reporter why he wouldn’t speak about Berreth’s disappearance, Frazee answered only with a cold stare.
Berreth was last seen alive on Nov. 22 shopping at a Safeway supermarket. Surveillance footage showed the young mom entering the store while carrying her daughter in a car seat. Police said Frazee told them he met her later that day so he could pick up their child. They did not live together.
Berreth’s aunt, Renee Stanfill-Marasco, apparently posted on Facebook that her niece had broken off her engagement with Frazee the day she was last seen alive.
“Our niece is missing,” the post read. “She broke up with her ex on Thanksgiving. He said she dropped off the baby and was heading to Washington. No one knew anything about the visit.”
A multijurisdictional task force made up of numerous law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, responded to Frazee’s home Friday, where they intercepted him and his mother as they were leaving. Frazee’s mother appeared to be detained, but was later released.
Frazee is being held at the Teller County Jail and faces charges of murder and solicitation to commit murder.
Formal charges against him will be filed in the coming days and an arrest affidavit was sealed. District Attorney Dan May would not elaborate on the circumstances behind his being charged with solicitation to commit murder, but said that it is a crime to solicit somebody to commit another crime. De Young said police do not know whether additional arrests will be made in the future.
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