Has Paige Birgfeld's Missing Belongings Been Found Near Highway 50?

[legacypc46]

There are several threads all carrying info on Paige...if you post on one...please announce it on the other threads so everyone can stay up to date...I think the intensity of the serch/investigation is increasing and a lot of info may start to be published. Thanks!

Today's GJ Sentinal Article. (similar to the one they posted last night)
Missing woman's belongings found
Monday, July 16, 2007

WHITEWATER — People who were searching for clues Sunday about the disappearance of Paige Birgfeld discovered some of her belongings near U.S. Highway 50 southeast of Whitewater.

MSNBC reported that Birgfeld’s father, Frank Birgfeld, told the network Sunday morning that searchers had found some of Birgfeld’s personal checks along a two-mile stretch of U.S. 50.

But Frank Birgfeld said Sunday evening he didn’t know what searchers found.

“MSNBC told me (the search team) found it,” he said of Birgfeld’s checkbook.

Mesa County Sheriff Stan Hilkey said Sunday morning he could not confirm checks were found, but he acknowledged some of Birgfeld’s “personal items” had been discovered.

He said he would not discuss the specifics of the items found.

Birgfeld was reported missing June 30, and her burned car was found at 727 Road 23 in a parking lot on July 1.

About 10 sheriff’s deputies and 40 volunteers from the Abby and Jennifer Recovery Foundation were participating in the search Sunday, Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Heather Gierhart said.

“We’re searching the roadway — both sides of the road,” Hilkey said.

“The items are limited to a short distance.”

He added: “Are other items in the area within the same distance?”

Searchers were trying to find items scattered along the highway outside of the two-mile stretch where some were discovered earlier Sunday.

“We don’t have any idea at the moment about where Paige is at,” Hilkey said.

Frank Birgfeld, enduring tripe-digit heat, awaited news Sunday of the search for his daughter at the Lands End Fire Department building in Whitewater.

“It’s a parent’s worst nightmare,” he said. “The emotions are really a roller coaster.”

Motorists along U.S. Highway 50 were warned of heavy search-related pedestrian traffic along a 20-mile stretch of the highway southeast of Whitewater.

Hilkey said the 20 miles were identified on signs along the highway “to keep traffic safe.”

Bobby Magill can be reached via e-mail at [email protected].

 

[legacypc46]

Article from today's Rocky Mountain News

Searchers find "personal items"
By David Montero, Rocky Mountain News
July 15, 2007

A series of checks, a check register and several personal items belonging to a woman missing for more than two weeks were found this morning scattered along the median of Highway 50 several miles from Grand Junction.

Frank Birgfeld, father of missing 34-year-old Paige Birgfeld, said he didn’t know what the other items were and was with a different group of searchers when the discovery was made.

"In terms of optimism, can it be?" Birgfeld asked. "Is this is the proverbial trail of bread crumbs left by Paige? You kind of like the sound of that as a dad."

His daughter has been missing since the night of June 28. Her car was found burning in a gravel parking lot of an auto parts distribution warehouse July 1 and the investigation into her disappearance has revealed much about her life — including her juggling several jobs ranging from Pampered Chef salesperson to running an independent escort service.

Heather Gierhart, spokeswoman for the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office, said the department had 40 searchers working a blocked-off stretch of Highway 50 south of Interstate 70 near White Water.

"We don’t know if we’ll get it all covered today," she said.

She wouldn’t confirm what the other items that were found were, but said some were clearly Paige Birgfeld’s. The other items, she said, weren’t clearly linked to her.

Copyright 2007, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved.

 

[legacypc46]

(Apologies if this was posted last night as well...don't have time to check)

Double life tangles search for missing mom
Nancy Lofholm
The Denver Post
Jul. 15, 2007 09:18 PM

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - In the middle of the clutter of Pampered Chef orders on Paige Birgfeld's home-office desk is a sheet of smiley-face stickers. She used them as rewards for the three children she dotes on - the children whose "I luv u mom" drawings are pinned to a wall behind her chair.

Smiley faces also appear on Birgfeld's "Naughtynightlife" website, where she advertised her services as an escort named Carrie. "Tired of chopped meat showing up when you ordered Filet Mignon?" she wrote alongside a revealing photo.

Men would use a smiley or a frowning face to rate the services of the women who advertise there. Carrie had recently earned three smiley faces - including one posted three days before she vanished - for "extra" services that authorities believe may have crossed legal boundaries.

This single mother living in a million-dollar home, going to Moms Club meetings, wowing friends with her potluck dishes and selling kitchenware often transformed into a miniskirted escort who advertised in-call and out-call erotic massages and slipped in and out of a tucked-away office across town with an assortment of men.

The sudden disclosure of Birgfeld's double life after her disappearance June 28 has devastated a wide circle of friends and has the town buzzing with lurid details. And it has complicated the search for her.

"It does add complexity. She was associated with a lot of people that people who knew her didn't know," said Mesa County Sheriff Stan Hilkey.

Family, friends and investigators have been trying to piece together her two identities. They have found hints about a woman who was coming home that day with promises she would finish building a treehouse for her children but had made arrangements to meet a male client first.

Investigators are narrowing down a handful of "persons of interest" who were clients of Birgfeld's escort business - a list gleaned from cellphone records in the hours before she was expected home.

Birgfeld, 34, was last seen in nearby Eagle when she met with her first ex-husband, Howard Biegler. She had recently rekindled a relationship with him, according to information she shared on a website where she sold Pampered Chef cooking products. Biegler spoke to her by cellphone about 9 that evening when she was close to returning to her home in the suburbs north of Grand Junction.

She never reached home. She was not reported missing until two days later, when her live-in nanny called authorities at the urging of Birgfeld's oldest child. The next night, Birgfeld's Ford Focus was found burning in a parking lot at an industrial area about 3 miles from her home.

Investigators conclude the fire was arson and likely was set with the intention of destroying evidence. They also believe Birgfeld had been the victim of foul play.

Hilkey said Biegler and Rob Dixon, Birgfeld's second ex-husband, have not been eliminated as suspects but are not "persons of interest."

Public speculation initially focused on Dixon because he is infamous for donating millions of dollars' worth of firetrucks and other equipment to departments around the state. Much of the equipment was not paid for.

Dixon also lost more than $1 million for a fire-district board he served on. He invested the district's money with the same New York investor who helped Dixon lose his inherited fortune.

Dixon and Birgfeld moved to Grand Junction in the late 1990s and bought a home where they lived a flashy lifestyle that included lavish parties and nine cars.

They met in the Denver area, where she graduated from Heritage High School. Her father, Frank Birgfeld, a former vice president and director of the National Association of Securities Dealers, said she was average-looking in high school and not one of the popular girls. She was never a cheerleader or involved in athletics, but she was scrappy. The slight Birgfeld was suspended for a day for breaking the nose of a much larger girl she caught stealing from her locker.

"Somewhere after high school, she became a beauty," Frank Birgfeld said.

His daughter attended a year of college at a Florida nursing school before she dropped out to marry Biegler. The marriage lasted two years. Birgfeld told friends she left because Biegler didn't want to have children.

Birgfeld also told friends she had worked a stint as an exotic dancer before she married Dixon in 1998 in Las Vegas. The couple had three children: Jes, 8; Taft, 6; and Kohl, 3.

When Dixon's finances were failing in 2004, there are indications Birgfeld began using her exotic-dancer skills to make money. An arrest affidavit relates that Dixon was arrested on domestic-violence charges after he slapped and shoved Birgfeld in 2005. The impetus for the altercation was finding underwear in her car that he told the court led him to believe she was performing topless massages "at the least."

Some of Birgfeld's friends from her Grand River Play Group and her Moms Club suspected there was something more in her life but didn't question the high-energy, dedicated mother with the big smile. She always was the first to bring over a meal when someone had a baby. She opened her home for club parties on holidays. She expertly sewed costumes for dance recitals. She gave homemade food gifts to her Pampered Chef clients.

"Paige has that need to give and help out others," said Jaime Silvernail, a close friend who lived at Birgfeld's for a short time while she and her husband were house-hunting.

Tenants in the office building where Birgfeld based what she called her Grand River Acupuncture business suspected something.

She would enter the office in late afternoons and evenings with men - as many as four in a day. They were in business suits and cowboy get-ups. Some were described as "scroungy-looking."

She would be dressed in skimpy clothing and high heels. Her office was decorated with drapery, soft lighting, a massage table and cushy chairs, unlike the other utilitarian office spaces in the building.

Much of the time, no one saw her because the building is locked and mostly vacant at night. The last time she was seen by other tenants was two days before she disappeared.

Her family said they knew she was involved in many enterprises trying to make ends meet but had no idea about the escort service.

"I am so shocked. I don't think anything could shock me any more," said Birgfeld's brother, Dr. Craig Birgfeld, a plastic surgeon in Seattle.

He and his family, along with Paige Birgfeld's parents, are staying at her home, waiting for information, passing out fliers, fielding calls from major TV networks and hoping, each time the phone rings, that the call will bring her voice.

Since her divorce last year, Birgfeld made and sold baby slings, so successfully hawked kitchenware that she won two all-expense-paid vacations for herself and her children, worked as a mystery shopper reporting on service at various businesses, gave dance lessons to children and bought several properties in the Denver area as investments.

Her favorite activity was anything she did with her kids. She told friends she had no need to join a gym because she got all the workout she needed swimming and jumping on the trampoline with her kids, who are now in Arizona with Dixon's parents.

"I'm not sure they have grasped this," Birgfeld's father said of the kids. "They just know they aren't with their mother."

Silvernail said she and other local mothers are praying for news. But she doesn't agree with authorities that Birgfeld led two lives.

"I don't really see it as leading a double life. I can see where you would have a mom do whatever she could to protect her children. I see this as one more thing to help her children," she said. "Paige loved her kids more than life itself."

 

[GourmetGirl]

...hawked kitchenware...

Excuse me... if he had done any research about Pampered Chef, he would learn that we do not "hawk" anything... we provide quality kitchenware, we are not a pawn shop!

The rest of the article is nice... laying out the facts and not ignoring how loving of a mom she was.

Still praying for Paige's safe return...

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

"I don't care what you say about me, but say something, and spell my name right."

--George M. Cohan​

Remember, there are people who think we're Amway and snear at direct sellers of anything. They're ignorant - but saying someone is from the MSM and ignorant in the same phrase is redundant. I'd rather have the bad press than no press at all.

 

[legacypc46]

Thanks Ann (ChefAnn) for posting in the shout box. I was in a rush this morning because of an appointment and barely had time to post.

 

[dannyzmom]

bump...

......

 

[cla519]

I have a friend who's 21 year old son was taken and murdered. The paper wrote alot of things they were misinformed on. So don't take everything you read as the truth. In their case the son was shot execution style and the paper ran with the idea that he was a drug dealer. When they found the guy who did it it and it turned out to be a random act, just took him from a parking lot and drove him out of town and when he didn't have any money to give him he shot him. The papers and news broadcasts were so wrong in everything.

 

[mrbogie68]

I'm back at work for now. The search for paige has been emotionaly tiring. We were so blessed yesterday with finding evidence linked to Paige. I will be going out everynight this week and this coming weekend until we find her. Hopfully the sheriffs department will turn up more evidence in the area we searched yesterday. Keep praying for her family childern and the searcher(friends and strangers). Please pray for more to join our search for her. I'm afraid the negative media has turned many away.

 

[Trish1953]

It's weird, if it's true, that the oldest child urged the nanny to call authorities.

Trish in Texas
independent Consultant

 

[missydivine]

Thanks as always for posting.

 

[mrbogie68]

If you google "grand junction news" it will list all of our local news channel there and you can watch the updated new on paige.

 

[Grande]

Missing woman's items found along highway
By Nick Martin
Denver Post Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 07/16/2007 01:13:35 AM MDT

<Snipped>
Searchers found a 15-mile trail of clues Sunday along a highway leading out of Grand Junction that may point the way to a local mother missing for more than two weeks.

About two dozen items that "very clearly" or "most likely" belong to Paige Birgfeld, 34, were found scattered along U.S. 50 south of the city, said Mesa County sheriff's spokeswoman Heather Gierhart.

Among them were Birgfeld's Blockbuster movie-rental card and her checkbook, said Connie Flukey, who helped coordinate the weekend search.

"We have found things that I think will help the sheriff's department," Flukey said. "We're very excited about the day."...

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_6383837

 

[Carissidy]

Good Luck to you, Shawn, and the others searchers.... God bless people like you! I think its an aweful thing that people allow the media to discourage them for looking for her, in my opinion, it's still an unfortunate event and who are we to judge.... I really feel for her family, It's rough enough going through something like this, who needs the media digging in her private life and airing it out for all to see? I thinks that's aweful and I think a lot of times the media can be so cruel (but hey it sells )

 

[MomToEli]

Thanks for the article from the Denver Post ... it addressed several of the questions I had.

It almost sounds like someone was dumping the contents of her wallet/purse. It would be amazing if she had been able to do that somehow. I'm more inclined to think it is someone trying to lose evidence. Maybe even someone who simply found her purse somewhere. Hopefully there will be some sort of fingerprint evidence on something.

 

[Grande]

Thanks for the article from the Denver Post ... it addressed several of the questions I had.

It almost sounds like someone was dumping the contents of her wallet/purse. It would be amazing if she had been able to do that somehow. I'm more inclined to think it is someone trying to lose evidence. Maybe even someone who simply found her purse somewhere. Hopefully there will be some sort of fingerprint evidence on something.

Your welcome.

I posted some more images in the "One of our own" thread, FWIW.

 

[legacypc46]

I'm back at work for now. The search for paige has been emotionaly tiring. We were so blessed yesterday with finding evidence linked to Paige. I will be going out everynight this week and this coming weekend until we find her. Hopfully the sheriffs department will turn up more evidence in the area we searched yesterday. Keep praying for her family childern and the searcher(friends and strangers). Please pray for more to join our search for her. I'm afraid the negative media has turned many away.

Shawn,

Thank you for keeping us up to date....and for participating in the search. I wish I could convey how much I mean this, but I just can't put it adequately into words.

Kris

 

[pamperedbecky]

I just saw a segment on I think it was Fox News. They had a couple "experts" on...a psychologist, an "evidence" guy, etc and they talked about Paige's case. Pretty much just speculation at this point, but I'm glad to see increasing national attention.

 

[PamperedChefDebi]

Searchers Find Items Belonging to Missing Colorado Mom Paige Birgfeld
Monday , July 16, 2007

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. —

Searchers looking for a missing mother of three have found some of her personal items along a two-mile stretch of U.S. 50.

Mesa County Sheriff Stan Hilkey would not describe the items Sunday.

Paige Birgfeld, 34, was last seen June 28 and was reported missing two days later.

The personal items were about 10 miles from where her burned car was found on the highway July 1, a few miles from her home in Grand Junction.

About 10 sheriff's deputies and 40 volunteers from the Abbey and Jennifer Recovery Foundation looked for signs of Birgfeld on Sunday, sheriff's department spokeswoman Heather Gierhart said.

"We don't have any idea at the moment about where Paige is at," Hilkey said.

Birgfeld is described as 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighing 110 pounds. She has sandy hair and hazel eyes and last was seen wearing a blue strapless top with flowers and blue denim shorts. She also goes by Paige Dixon and Paige Beigler, authorities said.

Anyone with information was asked to call the Mesa County Sheriff's Department at 970-244-3500.

 

[PamperedChefDebi]

http://cbs4denver.com/crime/local_story_196221619.html

 

[PamperedChefDebi]

Search for mom resumes
Friends, family search miles of highway for clues

By David Montero, Rosa Ramirez and Ellen Miller, Rocky Mountain News
July 16, 2007
WHITEWATER — Volunteers are scheduled to comb a stretch of U.S. 50 this morning for clues that may lead to the whereabouts of a missing Grand Junction mom.
Checks, a check register and some undisclosed personal items were found yesterday along the highway southeast of Grand Junction.

Heather Gierhart, a spokeswoman for the Mesa County Sheriff's Office, said this morning that investigators have found personal items along the highway for the past two weeks.

"We're not commenting on any of the items. They are personal items that belonged to Paige," Gierhart said.

About 40 volunteers and searchers canvassed a 15-mile stretch of U.S. 50 yesterday looking for clues to the 34-year-old woman's disappearance from Grand Junction more than two weeks ago. Authorities still don't know what happened to the mother of three.

"We're still fairly certain she didn't walk away and that there was foul play involved," Gierhart said yesterday.

Gierhart also said the search area is expanding rather than shrinking because Birgfeld's items have been found scattered along the highway.

Frank Birgfeld, Paige's father, said the fact that some items have been found is encouraging.

"Is this the proverbial trail of bread crumbs left by Paige," he said. "You kind of like the sound of that as a dad."

His daughter has been missing since the night of June 28. Her car was found burning in a gravel parking lot of an auto parts distribution warehouse July 1. The investigation into her disappearance has revealed much about her life — including that she juggled several jobs, ranging from Pampered Chef salesperson to running an independent escort service.

Her first husband, Ron Biegler, said Birgfeld was an "extremely trusting" person who could have found herself in over her head.

"She always saw the good in people," Biegler said. "But she could be a little naive to the dark side of what some men are capable of."

Described as a very caring person and devoted mother, Birgfeld held a series of jobs to make ends meet. She sold Pampered Chef merchandise, ran a dance class for preschoolers and was always looking for other business opportunities. Her mother said at one point she was looking into breeding dogs.

"I knew she wouldn't be able to do that," Suzanne Birgfeld said. "Not all of them make it, and she would have a hard time with that."

The devotion people in Grand Junction feel for Birgfeld was reflected by those who went out looking for her.

Riina Stockemer said she has known Birgfeld for six years. Both women have children about the same age. Stockemer, 34, had a colorful bruise on one knee, the result of trying to jump over a ditch, and said she will "stay until they tell us to go. Paige is my friend. It's hot, but we have a breeze today, so it's better than yesterday."

Paige Birgfeld's older brother, Craig, continued looking for his sister all day. Frank Birgfeld said "he didn't miss a shift."

Anyone with information about Paige Birgfeld can call 970-244-3500

 

[PamperedChefDebi]

Note this part:

Heather Gierhart, a spokeswoman for the Mesa County Sheriff's Office, said this morning that investigators have found personal items along the highway for the past two weeks.

 

[MomToEli]

Note this part:

Heather Gierhart, a spokeswoman for the Mesa County Sheriff's Office, said this morning that investigators have found personal items along the highway for the past two weeks.

Yeah ... I was just mulling that one over. If this isn't just misreporting and they have been finding stuff for the past two weeks, I'm wondering why they didn't concentrate the search teams there from the beginning.

 

[mrbogie68]

According to the sheriffs dept. they wanted us to search the other areas so they can rule them out. The sheriffs department has been searching lands end and cana creek whitewater area for more than a week. Infact while we searched the other areas they had detectives searching the area where they are finding all of the evidence. They moved us over on the hwy on sunday so we could strech out further and cover more territory. I will be leaving soon to help out today and everyday till we bring her home to her family.

 

[mrbogie68]

I'm sorry I cannot tell you everything I know. We are not to discuss what we are finding or where. All I can give you is a general idea.

 

[PamperedChefDebi]

According to the sheriffs dept. they wanted us to search the other areas so they can rule them out. The sheriffs department has been searching lands end and cana creek whitewater area for more than a week. Infact while we searched the other areas they had detectives searching the area where they are finding all of the evidence. They moved us over on the hwy on sunday so we could strech out further and cover more territory. I will be leaving soon to help out today and everyday till we bring her home to her family.

Shawn, is this statement correct to your knowledge?

Heather Gierhart, a spokeswoman for the Mesa County Sheriff's Office, said this morning that investigators have found personal items along the highway for the past two weeks

 

[mrbogie68]

They have been there for a week or more as to what they have been finding they havent said. As to what I have found and saw Yes the statment is true.

 

[PamperedChefDebi]

They have been there for a week or more as to what they have been finding they havent said. As to what I have found and saw Yes the statment is true.

Thank you! That is good to have clarification on. And I respect that you can't say more. God be with you all!!!

 

[tpchefrebecca]

Thank you all for the updates. I have been in limbo not having internet access while on my trip here in CA.

Shawn- You and everyone involved in the search are amazing! May the Lord bless you all and give you the strength you need to get through this. Don't forget to take a lot of water with you. -Be safe!

 

[missydivine]

Thanks for all the updates.
Shawn thank you for all you are doing too!