CO CO-Paige Birgfeld, 34, Grand Junction, 2007 - Page 4

SeriouslySearching · #76 07-26-2007, 04:11 PM

Thanks, AMF, for explaining to those of us unfamiliar with the area. That does give a different perspective to why he would be there so often. Sadly, it does sound like a logical place to find Paige. <sigh>

CaliKid · #77 07-27-2007, 01:25 AM

More information about Lester Jones, but I'm not sure if this is old news or not. Birgfield's burning car was found in the parking lot of an RV repair shop where he is employed.

http://www.crimelibrary.com/news/ori...ld_update.html

AMF · #78 07-27-2007, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaliKid

More information about Lester Jones, but I'm not sure if this is old news or not. Birgfield's burning car was found in the parking lot of an RV repair shop where he is employed.

Paige's car was found about a block from the RV Dealership where Ralph Jones, the POI, worked. My guess is they checked employees in the vicinity and found his rap sheet and past convictions, may have made some connection with her escort business, and that's what led to the searches.

MORE IMPORTANTLY - The car was also found a few blocks from a well known truck stop off I-70. Although I haven't seen any details on this truck stop, I know from other reliable sources, that it isn't unusual for "Ladies" to ply their trade with truckers at truck stops, especially ones with a motel attached. There's plenty of stories about serial killers amongst the trucking industry, and they get away with it for the most part, because they are always on the move. And there's plenty of remote places along our Interstate system to toss a body! She could also just be on the run with some trucker.

Yes, there seems to be some who feel that she may have skipped town on her own, and with 2 ex-husbands, numerous "johns", a business where she was a high priced "escort", and the potential for her "life" to come crashing down on her, it is possible to believe that scenerio (skipping town). Tossing the remains of her life out the truck window as she left could account for the stuff found along a major highway used by truckers heading south out of Grand Junction.

She apparently left plenty of emails indicating fear of one of her ex-husbands if not both. I personally find it hard to believe that the ex-husband that she was seeing, who indicated that they were talking about getting back together, would take it calmly that she had two "clients" to see right after she saw him the night she disappeared. That just seems wrong. She could be "running" from him for all we know. And what a way to punish her family, disappear and not tell anyone. The whole family suffers. As for her kids, we've all seen plenty of stories about mothers leaving kids behind when they run away. It's sad, but true.

There is just too many loose threads in this case to jump on any one theory.

SeriouslySearching · #79 07-28-2007, 01:21 AM

There are many loose threads, but it seems that LE has a definite direction where they are going and it appears Lester Jones is their number one target at the moment...even if they are not admitting it. Hubby #2 has an alibi. Hubby #1 claims he has an alibi in interviews, but he was home alone (I think I recall he said they can check his phone records and something about an early meeting?).

SeriouslySearching · #80 07-30-2007, 01:06 AM

Hmmm...thought we may have some news today. Guess not.

Quincy · #81 07-31-2007, 02:16 PM

Tonight on ABC Primetime, there's going to be a story on Paige's disapearance and her secret life at 10 EDT.

http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=3422819&page=1

AMF · #82 08-01-2007, 01:18 PM

Saw the story on Primetime... they didn't present anything new. Other than the million dollar home with the $6000 morgage payment... she was obviously in over her head with paying for a lifestyle that she couldn't afford. Some say she had no choice per the house, but there's choices in nearly everything. Noted in the press today that some agencies are pulling off their law enforcement investigators since they've had no new leads.

Still too many possibilities, but I'm still inclined to look at the truck stop and possibility that she either willingly or unwillingly went with a trucker.
This still appears to be a woman with a multitude of secrets and it's going to take the investigator's going through every secret and exposing it to find enough pieces to this puzzle.

Quincy · #83 08-06-2007, 10:58 AM

There's a bit of news in the search. The GJ Sentinel reports that scent dogs have tracked a scent from her burned out car to the front door of the RV dealership where the "person of interest" Lester Ralph Jones just so happens to work.

Quote:

.......A series of dogs brought in from Virginia to aid in the search for 34-year-old Paige Birgfeld led investigators to Bob Scott RV’s across 23 Road from the location where her burnt-out car was discovered July 1..........

http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/conte...ld_follow.html

This is a shorter article from the Rocky Mountain News
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drm...660938,00.html

AMF, I was not overly impressed with the piece on Primetime either. There was nothing in it that we hadn't already heard or suspected. Didn't one of the friends say something to the effect that she was simply a "single mother struggling to make ends meet"? I found that remark ironic considering that one of those "ends" was her $6000 month mortgage.

AMF · #84 08-06-2007, 01:21 PM

There's also an article about a 9mm Ruger found near where her car was burned. But the police said that it wasn't uncommon to find guns...this was just found close to the car which makes it of interest. They said that so far the serial number hadn't triggered any information.

Saw another article on some of Ralph Jones' background... interviews with friends and neighbors when he lived in Hotchkiss describing him as quiet, nice, friendly.... Many also said they were surprised by the incident with the ex-wife resulting in his prison time. That ex-wife was many years younger than him, and, from what I understand, had treated him badly, running around with other men while married to him. He also acknowledged his crime and accepted his punishment without question.

I'm curious to what the dogs are actually tracking nearly 6 weeks after the original incident and in an area which has had rain recently. Search dogs are not always reliable sources of information although they make for great press. The RV searlership is probably also the nearest phone as well as an easy place to meet someone for a ride. I wouldn't read too much into the use of dogs for tracking so long after the fact.

The Foundation that was organizing the searches reportedly started looking farther west long the interestate highway into Utah. Unfortunately, there's a lot of desert to the West! Back in the 70's, Teddy Bundy is credited with a number of disappearences in the vicinity of Grand Junction, Glenwood Springs, Aspen, and very few of those women were ever found. Too much country, too many places to hide a body without too much effort.

I'm still thinking about the Interstate highway (I-70) and the closeness to the truckstop from the car. I think one would have to walk right by the RV place to get over to the road going West to the truckstop....

Quincy: You're right on about a "single mother struggling to make ends meet". A $6000 morgage payment just doesn't fit that picture. A woman wanting to keep a million dollar home and all the nice stuff that comes with it, and willing to do just about anything to get what she wants... She was just making really poor choices in her life. Now we'll have to wait to see if this was a poor choice that results in her death, or a poor choice by running away. I'm still not convinced.

angarella · #85 08-06-2007, 04:52 PM

I have just stumbled across this thread and read the entire thing. Very bizarre to say the least. But, I have no doubt in my mind, that she did not go willingly with someone or that she was at a truck stop for any reason. I don't know why that I feel so strongly, but I do. This lady worked hard (not always the best choices of income, but....). She loved her kids and the lifestyle that she had grown accustomed to and sounds like she was busting @ss to maintain it.

Like I said, this is just my opinion, but I feel it very strongly. Don't know it which direction that my "hinky meter" is pointing (ex hubby or "customer), but am anxious to find out more details.

Quincy · #86 08-06-2007, 06:03 PM

AMF, from all that I've read, I just can't see Paige going to that truck stop. I don't think she was a truck stop kind of gal. After all she advertised herself as "filet mignon". Isn't it called the Acorn?

I sort of discounted the gun discovery as just a coincidence that it happened to be found so near where her car was found. But then you never know....

Something may or may not have taken place at Bob Scott RV's. The articles seem confusing to me. Bob Scott RV's is spread out over the area in two locations. The parts and service department is almost next door to where Paige's car was found yet the article doesn't seem to say exactly where the dogs went. Ralph Jones worked in the service department so I'm guessing that the dogs tracked the scent there off 23 Rd and not the actual dealership on Hwy 6 and 50 and 23 Rd. Does that seem about right AMF? I wonder about what kind of scent they could have found also.

Ahhh Angarella, but which ex-husband? lol Not to make light of this situation, but since there are two....if an ex-husband has something to do with her disappearance, my hinky meter goes more towards ex-husband #1 since he happened to be the last person to see Paige before she disappeared.

Or did she? If harm did come to her, it was not without a fight I'm sure.

My feeling is that she's probably dead.

Paige only wanted the higher end things in life. She no doubt loved her three children, but maybe the lure of easy money and an end to her financial woes was too strong. Maybe one of her "clients" like Rob Dixon had done years before, offered her the moon if she'd go away with him and leave her life behind. Maybe the offer was so tempting because she was living a lie and it was getting too hard to maintain her lifestyle and keep the lie a lie.

This case is getting more and more interesting by the day.

SeriouslySearching · #87 08-07-2007, 12:16 AM

The gun won't tell them anything until they have something to match it to like a bullet! It is good they found it, but people dump guns a lot. I found one once in the center of our small town just laying in the middle of an intersection. You never know tho...it could be related.

This case really is bizarre. Sounds more like a Lifetime Movie of the Week, doesn't it?! (Or a bad trashy novel.)

angarella · #88 08-08-2007, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quincy

AMF, from all that I've read, I just can't see Paige going to that truck stop. I don't think she was a truck stop kind of gal. After all she advertised herself as "filet mignon". Isn't it called the Acorn?

I sort of discounted the gun discovery as just a coincidence that it happened to be found so near where her car was found. But then you never know....

Something may or may not have taken place at Bob Scott RV's. The articles seem confusing to me. Bob Scott RV's is spread out over the area in two locations. The parts and service department is almost next door to where Paige's car was found yet the article doesn't seem to say exactly where the dogs went. Ralph Jones worked in the service department so I'm guessing that the dogs tracked the scent there off 23 Rd and not the actual dealership on Hwy 6 and 50 and 23 Rd. Does that seem about right AMF? I wonder about what kind of scent they could have found also.

Ahhh Angarella, but which ex-husband? lol Not to make light of this situation, but since there are two....if an ex-husband has something to do with her disappearance, my hinky meter goes more towards ex-husband #1 since he happened to be the last person to see Paige before she disappeared.

Or did she? If harm did come to her, it was not without a fight I'm sure.

My feeling is that she's probably dead.

Paige only wanted the higher end things in life. She no doubt loved her three children, but maybe the lure of easy money and an end to her financial woes was too strong. Maybe one of her "clients" like Rob Dixon had done years before, offered her the moon if she'd go away with him and leave her life behind. Maybe the offer was so tempting because she was living a lie and it was getting too hard to maintain her lifestyle and keep the lie a lie.

This case is getting more and more interesting by the day.

LOL! I was going with the first one....

Unfortunately, me too.

angarella · #89 08-13-2007, 09:04 PM

Any updates/news? I cannot find any.

SeriouslySearching · #90 08-13-2007, 09:47 PM

Not to my knowledge...been wondering what is going on myself. <sigh> No news in this case to me isn't good because they had so many signs earlier which pointed to a POI, but now this seems to be simmering at best.

Quincy · #91 08-13-2007, 10:16 PM

Nothing new as far as news that I can find either. They just finished searching the Gunnison River last week. Nothing was found. I don't think there's any active searching going on except for the small group of searchers going out with the Abby and Jennifer Foundation.

It doesn't look good.

SeriouslySearching · #92 08-13-2007, 10:44 PM

This could turn into a movie of the week for Lifetime, if you ask me. A good POI, more POIS with both exhubbies, then you have OTHER possible scenarios with this woman. The case must be so frustrating to LE and her family. I feel sorry for both. They are fighting odds that are astronomical. She left them one heck of a life to unravel!

CaliKid · #93 08-13-2007, 11:55 PM

Anyone remember Michael Blagg and his family? They lived in Grand Junction. In 2001 he murdered Jennifer, his wife, and threw her in the landfill and is also suspected of killing his 6 year old daughter, Abby Jo. Her body was never found.

Quincy · #94 08-19-2007, 04:44 PM

Calikid, I remember the Blagg case well. It was my passion. It seemed like so long ago. I still think of Abby somewhere out there all alone. I wish Blagg would be man enough to tell where he put her.

Texana · #95 08-19-2007, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaliKid

Anyone remember Michael Blagg and his family? They lived in Grand Junction. In 2001 he murdered Jennifer, his wife, and threw her in the landfill and is also suspected of killing his 6 year old daughter, Abby Jo. Her body was never found.

Yes, what a heartbreaker that was!

SeriouslySearching, I agree, this is a case made for a Lifetime movie. Everything in it sounds like a made-for-tv script--but it's true.

I feel so badly for her children and her father.

SeriouslySearching · #96 08-19-2007, 05:50 PM

I feel for sorry for her family and I hope that other women in her position will look at what they create just in case. They have to know if they take on such a precarious life..this is always a possibility and the family has to deal with the leftovers. It makes me so sad.

Quincy · #97 08-22-2007, 04:36 PM

A bit of news...The parents of Paige Birgfeld are trying to obtain guardianship of the kids, but Rob Dixon is also. Sounds like a domestic squabble. Those poor children don't deserve this. They need continuity.

I could only find this article from the GJ Sentinel.

Family seeks custody of missing GJ woman's kids

Click-2-Listen
By AMY HAMILTON The Daily SentinelBy AMY HAMILTON The Daily Sentinel

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

The parents of a missing Grand Junction woman want to be the guardians of her three children.

The children are in the custody of Robert Dixon, Paige Birgfeld’s second husband and the children’s father, according to Paige’s father, Frank Birgfeld.

Paige Birgfeld, 34, has been missing since late June and investigators suspect foul play in the case.......

http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/conte..._children.html

angarella · #98 08-22-2007, 05:20 PM

Thanks for the update Quincy!

SeriouslySearching · #99 08-25-2007, 12:11 AM

Yes, Thanks! Since I don't know the circumstances of the children and second husband, it is difficult to know what to think of this. Altho, second husband is the one she had feared which to me is a red flag for leaving the children in his care. Perhaps until things are resolved or until LE has more to go on...the children would be better off with the Grandparents. Better safe than sorry.

Sally · #**100** 08-25-2007, 07:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeriouslySearching

Yes, Thanks! Since I don't know the circumstances of the children and second husband, it is difficult to know what to think of this. Altho, second husband is the one she had feared which to me is a red flag for leaving the children in his care. Perhaps until things are resolved or until LE has more to go on...the children would be better off with the Grandparents. Better safe than sorry.

She may have feared her ex-husband and maybe she had reason to, but based on her lifestyle, she herself posed a threat to her children. She clearly didn't show good judgement and her fears alone should not be the criteria used to judge the ex.