The Secret Life Of Paige Birgfeld

(CBS)  This story was originally broadcast on June 10, 2008.

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By all accounts, 34-year old Paige Birgfeld was a devoted mother to her three young children. So when she suddenly disappeared last June, police in Grand Junction, Colorado suspected foul play.

But while police and volunteers searched for the missing mother of three, disturbing evidence of a secret life she led shifted the investigation in a totally new direction.

Did that secret life-which Paige kept hidden from her family-play a role in her disappearance?

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No one loved a family gathering more than 34-year-old Paige Birgfeld. "She would literally beam, she would radiate," her father Frank tells correspondent Harold Dow. "Those were the absolute cherished times that she enjoys most."

So when their daughter Paige vanishes on June 28, 2007, Frank and his wife Suzie feared the worst. "This is a crime. There's a crime here," says Frank, who doesn't believe Paige would have just walked away and left her kids.

After Paige disappeared, her brother Dr. Craig Birgfeld, a Seattle plastic surgeon who specializes in the facial reconstruction of children, moved into Paige's Colorado home to help take care of her three kids. "Callie and I decided at that time that our role was to be there for the kids and try to take care of them, be family there for them, just help them," he explains.

Craig's wife, Callie, adds, "And I just remembered, the little girl, Jess, going 'So do you know what happened to my mom, do you know where she is?' And I was like, 'What do I say?' So I said, 'Wherever she is, she wants to be with you right now.'"

Her friends and family say Paige spent all of her free time with her children. She was a single mother; her ex-husband was living in Philadelphia. After their divorce in 2006, Paige had become the primary caregiver for their three children.

"I think as long as I can remember, what she wanted to be was a mom and she just couldn't wait to be that mom," Craig says.

So when Paige disappeared, Mesa County Sheriff Stan Hilkey was pretty convinced this mother of three would not have left on her own. "There's nothing at all that leads us to believe that she had abandoned her life or abandoned her children and gone off in that regard," Hilkey says.

Authorities started by looking at those closest to Paige. They quickly learned that Paige had not one, but two ex-husbands. Her first husband was her high school sweetheart, Ron Beigler.

According to Paige's father, Ron was her first big love. And in fact, for the past few months, the two had been dating again.


Ten years after divorcing her first husband, Paige said she was in love with him again.

And ex-husband No. 1 becomes the focus of the investigation in June 2007, when it's learned they had their last date-on the very day she disappeared-at a rest stop, a halfway point between her home in Grand Junction and his home, more than four hours away.

When she was driving back home later that night around 9 p.m., Paige called Ron from her cell phone. They spoke briefly, and Paige told him she'd call him later.

Cell phone records show that Paige was just a few miles from her home when she made that call to Ron. And that phone call was one of her last.

Paige never did call Ron back that night, so the next day, he tried calling her. "And her phone rolled over to the voice message right away, so just to indicate the phone was turned off or the battery was down," Frank explains.

On Saturday morning, two days after seeing Paige, Ron finally tried calling her at home. Paige's father, Frank, describes what Ron did next. "He actually called the house and got our granddaughter. And she was the one that told him that Paige hadn't been home since Thursday night. At that point the alarms start goin' off and he touched base with us, touched base with the sheriff's office. And things started getting in gear then."

Ironically, after Ron called authorities to report Paige missing, he became one of the first people they wanted to question since he'd been one of the last people to see her.

Although Ron was one of the last to see and speak with Paige, those who know him believe he's also one of the last who'd want to harm her. "We met with him recently, and I think he is very devoted to Paige, and very emotional that she's not here," Paige's mother, Suzie, says.

But Paige's friends were far more suspicious about her second ex-husband, Rob Dixon, the father of her three children. It turns out Paige had an explosive, troubled history with Dixon.

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[longhairedrocker]

After watching the 48 hours news story I had to find more about this story. I personally know what it's like to have a loved one go missing and I searched the woods for months. From early morning until I could no longer walk. My story ends in a very horrific tragedy and my friend was brutally murdered for money taken from his ATM. It's horrible to learn that people are capable of such terrible acts and all I want to add is the victim shouldn't be judged no matter what she did in her personal life.
On a side note, the person of interest is a mechanic and her torched car was found near his place of work. The type of work he does usually needs large supplies of oil. I'm thinking 50 gallon drum and I know that means she is no longer with us but she was only 5'4" and I am just speculating. Sometimes a fresh set of eyes can always help in an investigation.

[debikay]

I cannot believe how judgmental people can be when there is a devastating tragedy at hand. I am a Christian and never once upon watching the show or again while reading about it did I find one thought going toward what some of these comments have stated. The IRS, who cares about the IRS at a time like this!!! Did she have a STD, oh, come on, and the worst was to suggest a darker side just because she chose to work with kids. How do you people live each day with your minds constantly in the gutter?!? And I would not be surprised if you are the first in line to condemn others for being judgmental. How in the world can you judge the choices she made when you have not lived her life. Maybe they were not the best choices and I hurt so badly for her parents & her brother for not being able to have the opportunity to perhaps help advice her and lead her down a road to making better choices for her life. No matter what, there is a woman who did not deserve the end she most likely received and their are loved ones hurting deeply without proper closure. My gosh, people, have some compassion in your pathetic lives!

[NannyD]

I could identify with the family in this story. My family has been living with the pain of not knowing the facts of my cousin's disappearance since 1983. While the stories aren't similar in terms of finding out about a secret life, that really isn't the point. Living with the 'what ifs' for the rest of your life is an agony that you can't really, adequately express to those who haven't lived it.

My cousin's disappearance had a lot of questions surrounding it. Most of those questions still exist, & may never be known. We've had to come to this 'new normal' that has alterd all of our lives for the last 26 years. Family members who took part in the search for her have passed away. New people in our lives have this as a daily element of our lives, no matter what we do.

I know that someone who hasn't been through it could understand the profound impact it has on the lives of their loved ones, if they choose to leave. Knowing her, I doubt that she would have chosen to leave, even if she could have known the pain it would cause. Whatever is going on in someone's life, they don't deserve this.

NannyD

[jo7752]

Paige's case has a few similarities to my daughter's. My daughter has been missing for seven years from Monte Vista, Colorado and also left behind two small children she would never have left by choice. Her body has never been found, but the "persons of interest," her ex-boyfriend, Victor Braun, and his father, Vern, are not saying what happened though it is strongly suspected that they killed her and disposed of her somewhere. I know what Paige's parents are going through and I feel so bad for her children; losing your mother by such means has got to be life-altering. I will pray for her children and family when I pray for my own grandkids. My daughter's website is daniceday.com if anyone would like more details. Thanks for letting me have a say, and thanks for being here. Jonene Day, Laramie, Wyoming

[capegal67]

I just can't understand a woman like her. I mean she was a mother and putting herself in that kind of danger, what in the hell was she thinking. There is no earthly reason she had to live in a home with a 6G a month mortgage. She just got used to all that money and it was her God. I feel sorry for her family and her childen, but play around with fire and it will get you. She must have known this man was violent, because that kind of man doesn't seem to be the kind that could afford a highclass prostitute. I feel really bad for her father, but I don't think they will ever find her body. I mean this is an area with all kinds of animals, desert conditions, very sad indeed. That was a scary existence she was leading without anyone else knowing what she was up to.

[strmrnnr]

I am wondering why you are not investigating the possability of a pedophile ring. You have an ex-stripper who has aged and become a prostitute. A father who says that he thinks that may have been moral issues there, as if he can't add. And the hooker is teaching a pre-school dance lessons.

I would say all the ingredients are there except the client list. but, IMO, A-moral dad likely took care of that when they searched the computers instead of the police.

[mndogez]

I didn't see it in this article, but I just watched 48 hours about the disaperance of Paige.
They said on T.V. that along a highway they found her checkbook and some other items.
Did she carry a purse? Was that found? It would seem to me that whoever tossed out those items must have had her purse? Also it would seem that they had probabley already disposed of her body.Has the search team backtracked from those items found along that side of the highway, or sideroads? I don't think it would be a very far distance after getting rid of her body, to dispose of that incriminating evidence. I pray for the family and hope they find there daughter soon. Remember God loves her and she is with him, or lets pray she is still alive. I live in San Diego and there was just a 14 year old girl abducted in Escondido walking to school Amber Duboius. It seems like that's all that's been happening the past few months with the 3 babies in Florida. I was watching America's Most Wanted tonight also, flipping back and forth between shows. I hope I get a response if the search team did do what my question was.

[nottosmart]

just so sad for the unfortunate events. in time you will find closure and move on. Shes just missing and by gods hands she will be found in due time. great show but sad to say this happens in the world we live in......who can you trust? god luck and god bless.

[uscitizenvet]

Sounds like the cops are on the right trail with one of her last (jon) contacts. He seems to meet all the criteria to do something like this......or his wife if she had found out about their escaoades. Paige no doubt was leading a double life but it was one she was familiar with and knew it would provide her the money in the amounts needed to continue her life style. Wonder why family and/or friends never caught on to: how can someone live with these kinds of expenses and not have at least a CEO position?

[smurfcrusher]

Clearly she was very secretive, and I would say with good reason.

I don''t know whether she was ashamed of what she was doing; given that she defied her mother when she was a young adult and danced at a strip club I would suggest she was a little weak on ethics and a bit strong on greed.

There are a million foreclosed homes in this country... but I don''t see a million new ''escorts'' on the streets. I suggest there is an honorable way to struggle with life''s challenges, and a dishonorable way. Her choice was clear and unfortunate.