The daughter of the Colorado woman who has been missing since Thanksgiving will remain in the custody of her maternal grandparents and child protective services.
Patrick Frazee, the child’s father and the fiancé of Kelsey Berreth, appeared in Teller County court on Thursday for a custody hearing. Frazee is being held at the Teller County jail on allegations of first-degree murder and solicitation to commit first-degree murder for Berreth’s disappearance.
This comes after the court granted a temporary emergency custody order that placed the 1-year-old child of Frazee and Berreth in temporary physical custody of Berreth’s parents and the legal custody of Teller County Department of Human Services, Colorado Courts said.
Frazee’s mother has since filed a motion to intervene in this decision, and there will be a future hearing about her rights in the custody case, though it's unclear when.
The case was continued for a pre-trial conference on Jan. 3, according to a news release from Colorado Courts.
Berreth, who was last seen on surveillance video at the Safeway in Woodland Park on Nov. 22, is believed to be dead, according to Woodland Park Police Chief Miles De Young.
Her body has not yet been recovered, but De Young said investigators believe she was killed inside of her Woodland Park home. Frazee told police the day Berreth disappeared, the two had exchanged their daughter.
Berreth’s phone pinged in Gooding, Idaho on Nov. 25. That same day, investigators said her employer received a text from her number saying she wouldn’t be at work for the next week.
Twin Falls, Idaho police have since announced they are assisting the FBI, Colorado Bureau of Investigation and Woodland Park Police Department to prepare and serve several search warrants. The town is around an hour from Gooding.
Frazee, who does not have a prior criminal history in Colorado, was taken into custody last week.
De Young said it is an “absolute possibility” there could be more arrests in the case.
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