Kelsey Berreth’s disappearance in 2018 was first treated as a mystery. A 29-year-old flight instructor, a new mother, and by all accounts a light in the lives of those around her, she vanished from her Colorado home just after Thanksgiving. Within weeks, what began as a missing person’s case unraveled into a chilling tale of betrayal, manipulation, and violence that ended with her fiancé, Patrick Frazee, serving life in prison.

Berreth was last seen on surveillance video at a Woodland Park grocery store on Thanksgiving morning with her infant daughter. She had spoken to her mother about holiday cooking, even buying sweet potatoes for a casserole. Nothing about her demeanor suggested she was preparing to walk away from her life. But when her family couldn’t reach her in the days that followed, they reported her missing. Frazee, meanwhile, claimed she had broken off their relationship and that he continued communicating with her through calls and texts.

Investigators soon discovered those messages weren’t from Berreth at all. They were being sent by Krystal Lee Kenney, Frazee’s longtime mistress from Idaho. Under mounting pressure, Kenney admitted she had been impersonating Berreth on her phone at Frazee’s direction. Then came a darker revelation: Frazee had tried to convince her to kill Berreth for him—three different times. She couldn’t bring herself to follow through. Each attempt, whether with drug-laced coffee or a blunt weapon, ended with Kenney backing out.

Frustrated, Frazee carried out the crime himself. According to Kenney’s testimony, he lured Berreth into a cruel game, blindfolding her and asking her to guess the scent of candles. He then beat her to death with a baseball bat while their daughter was in another room. He stuffed Berreth’s body into a tote and later burned it on his ranch. Kenney said Frazee summoned her afterward to clean the scene, and she described to investigators a home soaked in blood.

Frazee was arrested weeks later, charged with first-degree murder, and put on trial in 2019. Kenney, facing her own charges for tampering with evidence, struck a plea deal and testified in searing detail about Frazee’s manipulation and the crime itself. Her account helped secure a conviction. After just three hours of deliberation, a jury found Frazee guilty. He was sentenced to life without parole plus 156 years.

Kenney’s role remains a source of controversy. Though she admitted to cleaning the crime scene and attempting to conceal evidence, she served just 18 months in prison after an appeals court reduced her sentence. At her sentencing hearing, she apologized to Berreth’s family, acknowledging that remorse could never undo what had been lost.

Today, Frazee remains in prison. Berreth’s daughter is being raised by her grandparents, who continue to grieve the daughter they described as both a tomboy and a dreamer, someone who lit up a room and adored her family.