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one hot Colorado evening in June 2007
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34-year-old mother Paige bergfeld failed
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to return home to her three waiting
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children my biggest fear was that she
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was missing by force someone had to have
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kidnapped her or worst absolute worst
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case murdered her nothing more was heard
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about Paige than was no Trace at all for
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another 5
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years an Agony a time of Agony for her
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parents and her friends and indeed for
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the three children that she bore the
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investigation was complicated by the
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discovery of a side to page bergfeld
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that few people knew about she was
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running what we would describe as an
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escort business one of PA's clients was
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local mechanic Lester Jones a man with a
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dark past
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he kidnapped his wife at gunpoint and
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then threatened to kill her almost in
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the same way as he ended up killing
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Paige Lester Jones killed Paige bergfeld
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after she refused to continue to provide
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him services that he wanted Lester
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Jones's desire to dominate women had
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cemented his place as one of the world's
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most evil killers
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[Music]
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[Music]
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[Music]
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The Disappearance of 34-year-old soccer
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mom Paige bergfeld said shock waves
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through the ice ol at City of Grand
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Junction Colorado Mesa County is rural
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Colorado at its roots it's beautiful
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from Canyons to Rivers it's wide open
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spaces it's good folks that really care
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about each other and they're hardworking
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people local journalist Matt croel began
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following the story in
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2007 and would still be covering the
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case at its conclusion almost a decade
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later
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[Music]
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stories about Paige bergfeld and The
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Disappearance were routinely on the
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local news it was a story that everyone
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was talking about and so not just the
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anniversaries of her birthday or when
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she was last seen because they were
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uncovering possible sightings or there
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would be information that remains were
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being discovered throughout the years is
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focusing on an escort business birgfeld
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was involved in as the news story
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swirled the man everyone believed had
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taken Paige bergfeld continue to live
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alongside the friends and family of the
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woman he'
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killed Lester Jones works in the
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community he was a quiet man that kept
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to himself and a bit
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mysterious prosecutors were certain
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Lester Jones had murdered Paige but they
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had to prove it and that would take take
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nine long
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years this killer Story begins on March
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the 4th
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1951 200 miles from Grand
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Junction Lester Jones has very little
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known about him from his early years but
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what we do know is that he was born in
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Westcliff Colorado he had a brother and
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sister we know that he got married quite
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early in his early 20s and he had two
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sons and that married that marriage
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lasted for about 20 years by
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1996 Jones was running a car repair
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Workshop in Hotchkiss Colorado that's
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where he first met a young woman called
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Lisa Nance Jones first met Lisa when she
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stopped in his car shop and she was
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about 28 years old he was 45 she was a
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single stay-at-home mother she had two
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children of her own and when she first
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met him he was recently divorced they
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had almost like a whirlwind romance she
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was I suppose swept off her feet this
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was a amiable cheerful handsome tall big
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man who
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represented a little security and she
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called him gentle and funny and good
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with her
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kids within just 6 months of meeting him
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Lisa married Jones
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[Music]
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people like Lester Jones tend to try and
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speed things up when they first meet
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somebody they want to get that
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commitment from them really quickly they
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kind of tie them into that and then
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they're trapped in it and that's when
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the trouble
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starts Lisa reported that Jones was
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asking her frequently who she was with
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who she was talking to on the phone
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looking at her mail and bank statements
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checking her phone records and logs and
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asking her if she didn't report speaking
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to somebody that day he was increasingly
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jealous and controlling and then angry
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at her if she didn't report the right
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thing to
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him if you get into a relationship with
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somebody who is very jealous there's the
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biggest red flag you mustn't talk to
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other men you mustn't dress like this I
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don't even like it when you see your
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friends or you go out without me these
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are massive massive red flags that this
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person thinks they own you and they need
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to control you and we definitely did see
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those behaviors in Lester
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Jones as time went on Jones was not just
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controlling he also became more and more
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untrustworthy and dishonest Jones was a
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Private Pilot he had his own license and
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would use planes from time to time and
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he would just be gone without notice and
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without telling Lisa where he went uh so
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he would disappear for days on end
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Lisa reported that he was the
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pathological liar and would have an
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answer for everything whenever she asked
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him where he was where money was going
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to her wedding ring went missing and she
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thought no one else could have possibly
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taken it and yet he was the only suspect
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and he denied it so she was increasingly
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distrustful of him Lisa began to suspect
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that Jones was stealing her money to pay
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for sex workers what we don't know is
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how he was with those sex workers he may
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have been controlling abusive violent we
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don't know but he was seeing them
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regularly I think he was probably quite
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obsessive about that as well so Lisa
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takes her courage in her hands and asks
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him to
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leave but that doesn't put an end to his
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manipulation of his now his stranged
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wife
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he starts the
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stalker stalking is very very common
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after a relationship breakdown the worst
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thing is if the stalking moves on to
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what we call reconnaissance so then
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they're looking for opportunities for an
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attack one day in
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1999 Jones took the opportunity he'd
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been waiting for one night Lisa decided
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to invite a male friend over and they
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were going to watch watch movies
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together uh they were inside all night
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just watching uh TV and at 4 in the
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morning he had to leave and Lisa was
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going to go with him and at that point
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when they were driving away Jones
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followed Lisa and her friend are in the
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car and they're being trailed by Jones
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in his
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truck they must have been terrified I
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mean headlights in the rearview mirror
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the whole scenario it's dark it's late
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at night early in the morning Cy and
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Jones increasingly gets closer to them
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and he forces the car off the road Lisa
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was actually trapped in the vehicle and
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only her friend was able to get
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out and so he tried to free himself and
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then get Lisa out and he was as he was
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trying to do this Jones pulls out a gun
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her friend starts to run off to get help
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Jones fires two shots at him one of
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which grazes his head he then
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points the gun at Lisa and effectively
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demands she get out of the car on his
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side and get into his car it's a
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full-scale abduction despite being in
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fear Lisa somehow managed to calm Jones
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down and convinced him to pull over as
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they were leaving she said she was to
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stop and ask for a toe or service of her
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vehicle and instead of calling car
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repair shop she called the
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police and Incredibly police were able
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to respond quickly
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and rescue Lisa from Jones who they
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arrested but the stalking didn't stop
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Jones was bailed the following day and
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just a few weeks later he returned to
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try and finish the job once and for
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all Lisa is asleep and she wakes up to
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find Jones sitting on the sofa in her
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living
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room he was staring at her with such a
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menacing frightening look that she
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thought she was going to die at this
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point Jones forced Lisa into his vehicle
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at gunpoint for the second time in a
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month Jones had pressured Lisa into a
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car against her will but this time he
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wouldn't be tricked into pulling over
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instead Lester Jones brutally beat his
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estrange wife before driving her into
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the remote mountains further and further
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from civilization and any chance of
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rescue for Lisa this is him now in
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almost we could call it a panic I have
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got to get control back I am not
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accepting this I cannot take
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rejection Lester Jones actually took her
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out into a very rural part of western
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Colorado and threatened to kill her and
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bury her in a
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lake she must literally have thought
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that her life was going to end that
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night imagine what it must have been
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like you've been threatened with a gun
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he's been arrested he's turned up again
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he's threatening you again he's going to
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kill you he's going to dump you in a
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lake but yet again Lisa
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demonstrates an
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extraordinary ability to survive to get
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out of the situation
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at this point she said you know but I
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still love you essentially as a way to
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try to get him not to do this horrific
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thing to her Jones responded prove it
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and wanted to essentially have her have
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sex with him to show that she still
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loved him Lisa managed to convince Jones
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to go to a local motel and as he went
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inside to get them a room she again
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thought quickly and decided to jump in
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the front seat and take the car and
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speaked feed off and basically save her
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own life she was able to escape and
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Lester Jones was actually charged and
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sent to prison for that
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event Lisa heaves a sigh of relief
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because finally the nightmare of her
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stalker stroke husband is gone and she
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doesn't hear anything for some
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considerable time in fact Jones is
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released after serving half his 10year
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sentence by 2006 55 5-year-old mechanic
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Lester Jones had been released from
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prison for the kidnap and assault of his
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ex-wife Lisa Nance now 60b heavier and
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sporting a full beard Jones had
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remarried and was living in Grand
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Junction Colorado working as a mechanic
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at a local car
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dealership on June the 30th 2007 the
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city was stunned when local mother of
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three Paige bergfeld was reported
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missing her friend of four years Barbara
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Campbell knew it was out of
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character I was a good friend of Paige
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our kids were about the same ages and
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played together so it made it easy for
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us to hang out even though we were both
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busy all the time Paige had a wonderful
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relationship with her kids she just
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loved to be with her kids all the time
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and she was just completely
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devoted when p page went
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missing I was completely
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shocked Saturday June 28th she had
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driven from Grand Junction into the
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mountains about 2 hours into the
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mountains to meet her ex-husband
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district attorney Pete hinger was
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Central to the investigation into PA's
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disappearance she and ex-husband Ron
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Beagler had recently rekindled their
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romance and had spent the day together
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just before she vanished he was the last
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one to have seen her she was last known
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to have been driving back from the
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central mountains towards Grand Junction
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when she
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disappeared when Paige went missing
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she'd left her children with living
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Nanny and it was The Nanny and indeed
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her 8-year-old daughter who eventually
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reported her
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missing they walked to the police
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station together it must have been an
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extraordinary sign The Nanny and this
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little girl reporting to the police that
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mommy had gone heartbreaking
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really Ron Beagler her first husband
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also rang 911 to reporter
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missing dispatch
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Clint um yes I needed to talk to you
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about um missing person
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emergency something is definitely
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definitely wrong she have got stucked or
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an accident I think she got abducted she
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she had to there's just no way so
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something is is definitely wrong here
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I'm really starting to
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panic Paige first went missing the first
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thing that the police would consider is
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this normal behavior would we expect
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this person to go missing and Paige did
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not fall into that bracket at all she
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had never gone missing
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before Paige would never leave without
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her kids like she wouldn't just take off
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so instantly I knew something had to
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have
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happened just one day later Paige's
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friends and family were given even more
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reason to panic her cars found burning
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in a lot out west of town I mean what
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was pretty clearly right off the bat an
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arson situation where the car had been
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intentionally
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burned knowing that the car was burned
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was a really bad sign that she was
00:16:02
probably not alive that we weren't ever
00:16:04
going to get her
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back the most logical reason from a law
00:16:11
enforcement perspective that someone
00:16:13
would try to set fire to a vehicle is to
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destroy evidence to eliminate the
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potential of DNA or hairs or other
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evidence being recovered from that
00:16:26
vehicle the two interesting things about
00:16:28
the car when it was
00:16:30
discovered one is that the driver's seat
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was pushed all the way
00:16:36
back she herself was only 5'4 so it
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would not have been her who had pushed
00:16:42
that seat back secondly in the boot of
00:16:46
the burnt out car her day planner is
00:16:49
found with significant days torn out
00:16:53
including the day in which she
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disappeared
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clearly with an attempt designed to
00:17:03
conceal who she might or might not have
00:17:05
been seeing finding the missing mother's
00:17:09
car was a breakthrough of sorts but
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there was still no sign of Paige
00:17:13
bergfeld and no indication if she was
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dead or
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alive there were search parties both
00:17:20
organized by the Sheriff's Office and
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with the civilian
00:17:25
volunteers I was really hot in Grand
00:17:28
Junction in the summer going over
00:17:31
100° I volunteered to do the searches as
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many wonderful people did and we walked
00:17:40
and you know miles a day just looking
00:17:42
for any
00:17:43
clue and day after day doing searches
00:17:47
and we're not finding her um it it just
00:17:53
really kind of slowly trickled in that
00:17:55
reality that we knew what we were
00:17:57
looking for on the searches we looking
00:17:59
for a dead
00:18:02
body if she was dead Paige had seemingly
00:18:06
tried to give detectives a clue about
00:18:08
what had led to her tragic
00:18:11
fate before long a number of items were
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found along Highway 50 and it was sort
00:18:19
of a trail of her belongings found more
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or less random places along the highway
00:18:25
heading south towards
00:18:27
Delta items from her checkbook and then
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items that seem to be torn out of a
00:18:33
notebook business cards which at least
00:18:36
suggested that she had been actively
00:18:39
trying to throw stuff out a window or
00:18:41
something along those
00:18:43
lines maybe trying to leave a trail for
00:18:46
people to be able to
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track while the search continued
00:18:50
detectives compiled a list of all the
00:18:53
people who might want a harm
00:18:56
page investigators immediately zeroed in
00:18:59
on Paige bergfeld ex-husband Rob Dixon
00:19:03
he was the father of her
00:19:06
kids statistically speaking it is likely
00:19:09
to be somebody she knows and
00:19:11
statistically speaking it's likely to be
00:19:13
a partner or an ex partner so those
00:19:16
people would most definitely be in the
00:19:19
lens of the police as they started their
00:19:22
investigation Paige had previously made
00:19:24
allegations of violence against her
00:19:27
second husband but when Grand Junction
00:19:29
detectives checked his Alibi he was
00:19:32
quickly in the clear also under scrutiny
00:19:35
was Paige's first husband the man who
00:19:37
DED 911 to report her missing Ron
00:19:42
Beagler investigators were also looking
00:19:44
into Ron Bigler because he and Paige had
00:19:49
met up hours before she was last
00:19:53
seen those men were immediately
00:19:56
questioned to figure out where they were
00:19:59
and just how close they still were with
00:20:01
Paige were their motives
00:20:04
there investigators cleared Ron Bigler
00:20:07
right away because they could see on the
00:20:10
cell phone tracking data that he
00:20:12
actually headed back towards Denver the
00:20:15
opposite direction from Grand Junction
00:20:17
while Paige's cell phone was headed
00:20:19
towards the western
00:20:22
slope two suspects had immediately been
00:20:25
ruled out then detectives UNC CED a
00:20:29
secret life that had brought many more
00:20:31
men to Paige Berg feld's door Paige had
00:20:35
a double life she was yes stay-at-home
00:20:39
mother of
00:20:40
three hardworking entrepreneur with
00:20:42
little businesses but she was
00:20:45
also an
00:20:47
escort she ran an agency called models
00:20:50
Inc and she rented herself out as well
00:20:54
she was known as Carrie to the agency
00:20:57
she was expensive I mean
00:21:00
$2,500 for a
00:21:02
night she had
00:21:05
advertisements in papers and on the
00:21:09
internet offering massage services to
00:21:13
people who wanted to hire her or her
00:21:16
co-workers and as the investigators dug
00:21:20
into it it turned out there were quite a
00:21:21
few customers and she was considered in
00:21:25
that world to be highly desirable and
00:21:29
successful as an escort a very
00:21:32
attractive young woman well groomed and
00:21:38
pretty she was just very Scrappy I mean
00:21:40
she would do whatever and just try to
00:21:44
try to make ends meet any way she could
00:21:47
and it wasn't until much closer to when
00:21:50
she disappeared the first time that I
00:21:52
had a conversation with her and she
00:21:55
revealed that well well I'm also doing
00:21:58
this escort service
00:22:01
thing next message yeah this is Jim just
00:22:04
calling to see if Carrie was available
00:22:07
tonight you call me back once
00:22:10
investigators started to figure out the
00:22:13
other businesses the side hustles that
00:22:15
Paige bergfeld had going it complicated
00:22:18
this entire case because now we know
00:22:21
that Paige was having correspondence and
00:22:25
messages and meeting with a lot of
00:22:27
different guys
00:22:29
that probably didn't want anyone to know
00:22:30
they were meeting many of Paige's
00:22:33
clients had left voice messages on a
00:22:35
cell phone she used exclusively for
00:22:38
business including a man calling himself
00:22:43
Jim next message yeah this is J just I
00:22:47
just got my room give me a call
00:22:51
back then there were at least one if not
00:22:54
more calls from an unidentified track
00:22:57
phone
00:22:58
next message yeah this is Jim could give
00:23:01
me a call back
00:23:02
719 Jim had been the last person to call
00:23:06
paig on the night she disappeared when
00:23:08
detectives got hold of her phone records
00:23:11
they discovered that Jim was not his
00:23:14
real name the investigators were able to
00:23:17
identify that phone uh identify when and
00:23:20
where it had been purchased and identify
00:23:24
security film footage of Lester Jones
00:23:27
purchasing that specific phone on that
00:23:30
specific day Standing Tall at 6'4 local
00:23:34
mechanic Lester Jones had not only been
00:23:37
identified as the man on the footage the
00:23:39
56-year-old was also well acquainted
00:23:42
with the part of town where Paige's car
00:23:45
was discovered the place where Paige's
00:23:48
car had been found having been set a
00:23:50
fire and burning was within 150 yards
00:23:54
from Lester's Workshop there at Bob
00:23:57
Scott RV
00:23:59
Jones The Man known to Paige as Jim was
00:24:02
suddenly the prime suspect in her
00:24:05
disappearance he was the last person
00:24:07
known to have spoken to Paige bergfeld
00:24:10
and Jones's home life was far from
00:24:14
perfect he was married and had I guess a
00:24:18
somewhat interesting relationship with
00:24:20
his wife it wasn't all flowers and roses
00:24:24
they certainly seemed to go through good
00:24:26
times and bad times man his wife told
00:24:30
investigators there were times when he
00:24:31
would disappear and she didn't know
00:24:33
where he was just as he had with his
00:24:36
exwife Lisa Nance Lester Jones was
00:24:39
disappearing to spend time with sex
00:24:41
workers and escorts one of the escorts
00:24:44
he'd been seeing regularly was missing
00:24:47
mother of three Paige bergfeld Jones had
00:24:50
used the name Jim when contacting the
00:24:52
34y old next message this is Jim I Tri
00:24:56
calling you last night maybe I left the
00:24:59
wrong impression on you I do want you to
00:25:01
call me but it's been like since last
00:25:03
night end of message Jones had developed
00:25:07
an obsessive interest in Paige before
00:25:10
her disappearance she'd become concerned
00:25:13
about his
00:25:16
behavior one of her co-workers or
00:25:18
friends had told the investigators that
00:25:21
she was kind of creeped out or worried
00:25:24
about the this particular one of her
00:25:27
clients Paige had told her friend of a
00:25:30
white truck that would show up late at
00:25:32
night when she was leaving work circling
00:25:34
the car park on one occasion the driver
00:25:38
had even tried to block her
00:25:41
in there are things about escort work
00:25:43
that are inherently
00:25:46
dangerous you know if somebody wants to
00:25:49
kill a woman they've got to get that
00:25:52
woman on her own with them somewhere
00:25:55
where there's no witnesses that is an
00:25:57
incredibly difficult thing to
00:26:00
do but if you go and see an escort that
00:26:04
is what they do they have to do that
00:26:07
these people these Predators have
00:26:10
instant access to
00:26:13
them sometimes people feel empowered to
00:26:16
treat women H like horribly because they
00:26:20
think they'll never go to the police and
00:26:21
report it and um unfortunately that does
00:26:24
make sex work a riskier Endeavor than
00:26:27
other types of
00:26:29
professions it was work that brought
00:26:31
women like Paige into close contact with
00:26:34
men like Lester Jones I think he was
00:26:37
obsessed with Paige bergfeld I think
00:26:39
Paige was by far the most desirable and
00:26:43
attractive escort he'd ever been lucky
00:26:47
enough to
00:26:48
hire the feeling was not
00:26:52
mutual one of the times that he had
00:26:55
tried to hire her not long before
00:26:58
disappearance she had tried to send
00:27:00
direct that business in another
00:27:03
direction to one of her co-workers
00:27:05
because she didn't want to have anything
00:27:07
more to do with the person who was
00:27:08
driving that white truck as
00:27:10
investigators uncovered Jones's criminal
00:27:13
history of abducting and assaulting
00:27:15
women they began to wonder if history
00:27:18
was repeating
00:27:21
itself they needed to find out if Jones
00:27:24
had arranged to meet Paige bergfeld the
00:27:27
night she disappeared
00:27:29
Jones is arrested and interrogated he
00:27:33
simply says yes of course help yourself
00:27:36
there's my DNA happy to give you
00:27:38
fingerprints not a problem he did not
00:27:40
deny that he'd been a client of pages
00:27:42
and had contact with her knew who she
00:27:45
was and used escort services Lester
00:27:49
Jones confirmed to investigators that on
00:27:52
the night page vanished he was in the
00:27:54
Grand Junction area he was in town and
00:27:58
his wife was out of town as I recall at
00:28:00
the time he was in the area he didn't
00:28:03
have an alibi he couldn't established
00:28:06
that he was out of the vicinity or
00:28:09
couldn't have committed the
00:28:13
crime when investigators got a search
00:28:15
warrant they went to Lester Jones
00:28:17
workplace and at his workstation they
00:28:20
found some really weird stuff they found
00:28:23
some wigs they found a rapper for a
00:28:26
track phone track phone or these other
00:28:29
types of you know burner phones are ones
00:28:31
where you can purchase it with cash
00:28:34
there's no long-term plan associated
00:28:36
with it and so you can have it and not
00:28:39
have any details of who owns it who's
00:28:42
paying for it as the search at Lester
00:28:44
Jones's workplace continued more
00:28:47
evidence linking him to Pa's
00:28:49
disappearance was
00:28:51
discovered some accelerance some things
00:28:54
that could have been used in a
00:28:55
kidnapping or could have been used in
00:28:58
potentially burning the car detectives
00:29:01
also found a notebook detailing all of
00:29:03
the escorts Jones had met with
00:29:06
describing them by height weight and cup
00:29:09
size in other words they reveal that
00:29:12
this apparently
00:29:14
normal superficially Charming Man is
00:29:18
actually obsessed with sex
00:29:21
workers Lester had an active interest in
00:29:25
pornography his wife told us about that
00:29:29
he had a lot of pornography on his
00:29:31
computer at work as I recall but also on
00:29:33
their home
00:29:34
computer it's one more thing that makes
00:29:37
you think gez this is somebody who could
00:29:40
commit a crime like this Jones denied
00:29:43
meeting page the night she disappeared
00:29:45
but the last calls to her sell were from
00:29:48
the phone he'd been seen buying and he
00:29:50
had left messages under his fake name
00:29:54
next message hello yeah this is Jim this
00:29:56
is Jim just being impatient
00:29:59
yeah hello this is Jim yeah this is Jim
00:30:02
just call let me know
00:30:04
719 investigators were convinced that
00:30:07
Jones had tricked the young mother into
00:30:09
meeting him before Paige had vanished
00:30:12
but armed with only circumstantial
00:30:14
evidence getting Justice for page was
00:30:16
not going to be easy there was a ton of
00:30:20
pressure on investigators in Mesa County
00:30:23
to press
00:30:26
charges Within I want to say months of
00:30:30
Paige's disappearance we had largely
00:30:33
honed in on Lester Jones as the most
00:30:37
likely person to be responsible for her
00:30:41
disappearance the problem that I saw
00:30:45
from that time right up through the end
00:30:48
of the investigation was the fact that a
00:30:52
there were other clients of hers who it
00:30:55
was hard to absolutely elate as
00:30:58
potential suspects in in her
00:31:01
disappearance and B we didn't have a
00:31:04
body a defense attorney can argue at
00:31:07
least to A Reasonable Doubt level that
00:31:10
there wasn't even a murder that took
00:31:12
place because of her double life because
00:31:15
of the fact that all the people who
00:31:18
loved her and knew her well knew nothing
00:31:20
about this double life and her secret
00:31:23
business as an escort I thought that was
00:31:26
just too big a hole in in the case to
00:31:28
ever be able to prove Lester Jones's
00:31:31
guilt or anyone else is beyond a
00:31:33
reasonable doubt Paige bergfeld remain
00:31:36
missing and investigators had no
00:31:38
evidence to prove she had been murdered
00:31:40
no suspect would be charged with any
00:31:42
crime relating to her the news was a
00:31:45
bitter pill to swallow for Paige's
00:31:47
friends and
00:31:49
family I was
00:31:51
devastated after finding out that she
00:31:53
was missing and realizing as much as I
00:31:57
wanted to believe maybe she could be
00:31:59
found alive that the reality was she
00:32:01
probably wouldn't be there's a lot of
00:32:03
numbness to it because there was no
00:32:06
answer we didn't know that she was
00:32:09
murdered and it's a really difficult
00:32:11
place to be
00:32:14
in it was long it was drawn out and the
00:32:19
family must have suffered dreadfully
00:32:23
over those years they must have felt at
00:32:25
times that they were never ever going to
00:32:28
get the answers that they needed that
00:32:31
they wanted and it was very difficult
00:32:33
for the police I think who would be
00:32:35
wanting to give them those
00:32:39
answers Paige's father Frank berkfield
00:32:42
had made Regular repeated trips to Grand
00:32:45
Junction in an effort to find the
00:32:47
missing daughter but without any success
00:32:50
every father and mother's worst
00:32:52
nightmare that their daughter should
00:32:53
disappear into thin air and nobody be
00:32:56
found it is it's is
00:32:58
heartbreaking five long years passed
00:33:01
with no closure for Paige's loved ones
00:33:04
and all the time Lester Jones continueed
00:33:07
to live and work alongside the innocent
00:33:10
people of Grand
00:33:12
Junction by probably
00:33:15
2011 2010 2011 the investigation had
00:33:19
somewhat ground to a
00:33:22
halt much of the frustration of PA's
00:33:25
family and loved ones particularly her
00:33:27
father father Frank
00:33:29
bergfeld Frank bergfeld was just a
00:33:32
really great guy he was positive and
00:33:36
always seemed to believe that the truth
00:33:39
would come out whatever that was he
00:33:42
wanted closure for their family when
00:33:45
closure came it was in the most
00:33:47
heartbreaking of circumstances in March
00:33:51
of
00:33:52
2012 a hiker in kind of a canyon area
00:33:56
out in the desert stumbles across what
00:33:59
the hiker believes to be human
00:34:02
remains and within a couple of hours
00:34:06
there were dozens of investigators from
00:34:08
the state of Colorado and local
00:34:10
jurisdictions scouring this desert area
00:34:14
in remote parts of Western
00:34:17
Colorado I remember to this day getting
00:34:19
the call from the Sheriff's Office
00:34:21
saying we found skeletal remains in the
00:34:23
desert out by Delta we think it may be
00:34:26
pages and thinking that good would be
00:34:28
the break that the case
00:34:30
needed a skull was found at first then
00:34:34
as crime scene officers investigated
00:34:36
further they Unearthed more and more
00:34:39
bones forensic analysis established yes
00:34:43
that was in fact Paige Berg feld's
00:34:46
Remains the bones buried in a creek bed
00:34:49
for years before being washed out by the
00:34:52
rain told a horrifying Story the skull
00:34:56
had duct tape wrapped around
00:34:59
it clearly as though she'd been her
00:35:03
mouth had been taped
00:35:06
chut I don't think the coroner was able
00:35:08
to absolutely determine a cause of death
00:35:11
simply cause of death was
00:35:14
homicide and the most significant
00:35:17
findings from her remains that I recall
00:35:19
were the fact that there was a fracture
00:35:20
to her skull that appeared to be
00:35:23
contemporaneous with the time of death
00:35:25
and some duct tape remains that appeared
00:35:28
to be consistent with her having been
00:35:30
restrained which is consistent with
00:35:32
having been kidnapped the news was a
00:35:35
devastating blow to Paige's family and
00:35:37
friends finding her remains really was
00:35:41
an element of
00:35:43
sadness
00:35:45
um it it just crushed all hope that she
00:35:49
could come back it you know it just
00:35:52
brought it all back up all of that
00:35:54
Devastation like but this time it was
00:35:57
she really is dead there is no hope now
00:36:00
though incredibly tragic the discovery
00:36:02
of PA's remains brought district
00:36:04
attorney Pete hinger one step closer to
00:36:07
charging Lester Jones with her
00:36:10
murder of particular interest to in
00:36:14
Lester Jones's case were the facts
00:36:16
surrounding his prior conviction for
00:36:19
having kidnapped his second
00:36:22
wife I think the fact that Mr Jones went
00:36:25
to the time in trouble to buy a track
00:36:27
phone that Paige when she got a call
00:36:30
from that track phone wouldn't know that
00:36:32
it was the same client that she'd been
00:36:34
troubled by in the past shows a level of
00:36:37
premeditation in planning the fact that
00:36:40
that when PA's remains were found there
00:36:43
were traces of duct tape attached to the
00:36:46
skeletal remains also is evidence of
00:36:48
premeditation and planning because he
00:36:52
came equipped with what he needed to tie
00:36:55
up and restrain her and enable him to
00:36:58
take her
00:36:59
away in November 2014 Grand Junction
00:37:03
detectives were finally ready to make an
00:37:06
arrest it was breaking huge news in
00:37:11
western Colorado and really across the
00:37:13
country so many people were following
00:37:15
this story when investigators finally
00:37:18
made an arrest and they arrested Lester
00:37:21
Jones and charged him with
00:37:24
murder in July 2016 n years after Paige
00:37:29
bergfeld went missing Lester Jones went
00:37:32
on trial for her murder at Mesa County
00:37:35
District
00:37:37
Court Lester Jones entered a plea of not
00:37:40
guilty meaning the the obligation of the
00:37:43
district attorney is to prove the case
00:37:44
to 12 jurors Beyond a reasonable doubt
00:37:48
it was a circumstantial case where layer
00:37:50
upon layer upon layer had to be proen to
00:37:52
the jury including the track phone
00:37:55
evidence the evidence from the burned
00:37:58
vehicle the evidence from PA's
00:38:00
belongings being found along the highway
00:38:03
headed down south towards Delta towards
00:38:06
the site where she was actually found
00:38:08
buried years later despite the evidence
00:38:11
against him Jones appeared stoic in the
00:38:14
courtroom Lester Jones didn't show much
00:38:18
emotion he sat on the defense side he
00:38:21
would look straight
00:38:22
ahead the courtroom was the first time I
00:38:27
actually set eyes on Lester Jones and it
00:38:30
was staggering to know that there was a
00:38:32
very high likelihood that he killed one
00:38:36
of my best friends I've watched
00:38:38
courtroom shows and there was just
00:38:42
nothing like sitting there knowing that
00:38:45
this man that I'm in the same room with
00:38:49
is someone capable of such a terrible
00:38:52
thing Jones may have seemed confident
00:38:55
but investigators had an ace up their
00:38:58
sleeve the prosecution star witness in
00:39:02
this case against Lester Jones is
00:39:05
actually Lester Jones ex-wife Lisa mans
00:39:08
know she was scared of Lester Jones and
00:39:10
testifying against him had to have been
00:39:12
difficult for
00:39:13
her it was really sobering to think that
00:39:18
a person who killed my best friend was
00:39:21
married and you know had been married
00:39:24
before it seemed that at least at some
00:39:27
points in the relationships he was a
00:39:29
pretty awful
00:39:31
husband he just seemed to not be a very
00:39:34
nice guy despite the brave testimony of
00:39:37
leis and Nance and the compelling
00:39:39
evidence against him there was still a
00:39:41
chance Jones could get away with
00:39:44
murder after dozens of witnesses the
00:39:48
jury got this case but they could not
00:39:52
come back with a
00:39:54
verdict they were deadlocked at 11 to1
00:39:58
according to the people that were in the
00:40:00
room they were just unable to convince
00:40:04
one member of the jury to find Lester
00:40:08
Jones guilty Beyond A Reasonable Doubt
00:40:11
so the judge had to call a
00:40:14
mistrial it was just really devastating
00:40:17
that he could
00:40:19
potentially walk free like that was it
00:40:23
was really scary to know that we have a
00:40:26
killer on the stand and so when he got
00:40:29
off it was like a gut
00:40:31
punch just 3 months later prosecutors
00:40:34
had the opportunity to make their case
00:40:37
against Lester Jones once
00:40:40
again I 100% feared that he was going to
00:40:47
get off with no
00:40:49
punishment and he would get to walk the
00:40:51
streets while my friend who was a
00:40:54
fabulous vibrant you know positive
00:40:57
contribution to society who bent over
00:41:01
backwards to do things for her kids and
00:41:03
her friends she was dead and he would
00:41:07
get to continue and I know life's not
00:41:10
fair but that I I completely feared that
00:41:15
that was going to be the outcome you
00:41:17
know I've been doing this for 35 years
00:41:20
and I will never guarantee anybody what
00:41:22
a jury is going to do so I was certainly
00:41:25
relieved and gratified when the second
00:41:27
jury came back guilty Beyond Reasonable
00:41:30
Doubt and unanimous on the 27th of
00:41:33
December 2016 District Judge Brian Flynn
00:41:37
sentenced Lester Jones to life in prison
00:41:40
without parole it's like you're just
00:41:42
holding your breath for
00:41:44
years waiting to find out like is
00:41:49
somebody going to be punished for this
00:41:53
because it it doesn't bring Paige back
00:41:56
and that's the wor worst thing
00:41:59
but you know a killer was punished you
00:42:03
know there's just got to be something
00:42:05
good in
00:42:06
that it took nine years for the family
00:42:09
of Paige bergfeld to finally get Justice
00:42:12
for her
00:42:15
murder all the while Lester Jones
00:42:18
remains silent I'm not sure if we'll
00:42:22
ever figure out exactly what happened to
00:42:26
Paige bergfeld
00:42:28
it would take the person convicted in
00:42:30
her
00:42:31
death to decide to start talking before
00:42:34
we get any more information about what
00:42:36
happened that
00:42:41
night I remember Paige for how just
00:42:45
profoundly kind and energetic and fun
00:42:49
she was she just she was always laughing
00:42:52
always having a good time like tried to
00:42:55
always see the bright side of
00:42:57
things and I just hope everyone can know
00:43:01
her for that The Disappearance of Paige
00:43:04
bergfeld shocked and terrified the
00:43:06
people of Western Colorado for nine long
00:43:09
years the tragic mystery was finally
00:43:12
solved when Lester Jones was convicted
00:43:15
of her murder but his brutal actions
00:43:18
would have come as no surprise to the
00:43:20
other women who had the misfortune to
00:43:23
cross paths with Lester Jones a man who
00:43:26
violently refused to take no for an
00:43:28
answer and one of the world's most evil
00:43:32
killers
00:43:34
[Music]
