Found Deceased CO - Sylvia Frens, 82, Grand Junction, Feb 2018 *found/son arrested 2022*

Woman missing, accounts drained
A Grand Junction man who police say was driving his elderly mother's car and making withdrawals from her bank account is now considered a person of interest in her disappearance.
Richard A. VanderVelde, 50, was living with his mother, 82-year-old Sylvia Frens, for several months before she disappeared and he left the state, according to court records.
 
She could be anywhere. Did this guy think his sister would never wonder where their mother was??
 
VANDERVELDE, RICHARD arrested:07/06/18 at 14:53
Arresting Agency: WELD COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE
Booking Number: 18-10006
DOB: 10/18/67
Gender: Male
Check Custody Status
Arrested for: 162110 - FAILURE TO APPEAR WARRANT
Bail: $3,000.00

Weld County: Sheriffs Office Arrested Report

Wonder what he was arrested for? This is in Greeley, CO. He is not in custody at this time. He must have still had some money to bail out with. Grrrrr!
 
Her son has been arrested for her murder!

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KDVR) — Four years after a Grand Junction mother went missing, her suspected killer has been arrested.

In 2018, 82-year-old Sylvia Frens of Grand Junction was reported missing by concerned family members.

According to detectives, initial investigations found evidence that Frens’ son, Richard Vandervelde, had been living with her at the time of her disappearance and had been using her debit card for four months in 2018.

Transactions were found in Grand Junction all the way to Charleston, South Carolina. Vandervelde also took over $10,000 of cash from Frens’ bank account as well as her car.

More at Body, suspect found 4 years after mother went missing
 
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Sylvia Frens

Sylvia Frens (Grand Junction Police Department)
 

Detectives explained in the initial investigation when they obtained a search warrant; there was no evidence of a manhole.

“That time in 2018, as it was kind of noted in arrest affidavit... some concreate has been over the top of the manhole and then covered with like river rock,” said Detective Zac McCullough. “So, when I was looking at the photographs from 2018 compared to what it looked like now. In 2022, when it was discovered. I believe over time, some of those rocks were kicked around and eventually exposed to this piece of concrete. I think it was pretty well-hidden in the property.”
 

Richard Vandervelde has plead guilty to killing his mother. He then stole more than $10,000 from his mother’s account and fled the state.

He initially pleaded not guilty to the murder before changing his plea last week to guilty of second-degree murder.


Richard Vandervelde was sentenced Friday to 32 years in prison.
 

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