Fiancé of Missing Colo. Mom Charged with Murder as Authorities Allege He May Have Sought Help

On Monday, prosecutors filed formal criminal charges against Patrick Frazee, the Colorado man accused of killing his still-missing fiancée and the mother of his 1-year-old daughter.

The five charges Frazee faces come nearly a month after 29-year-old Kelsey Berreth disappeared without a trace. Officials believe Berreth was killed, but have yet to find her remains.

Frazee faces two counts of murder along with three counts of solicitation to commit murder — both first-degree felonies.

Investigators have yet to confirm the specific allegations that led to the solicitation counts, but it could mean prosecutors believe Frazee allegedly solicited an individual three times — or three people on three separate occasions — as part of his plot to murder Berreth. The charges against Frazee, 32, indicate that the alleged solicitations occurred between Sept. 1 and Nov. 1.

Prosecutors said they filed the two murder counts against Frazee based on two theories about how the alleged killing may have occurred: either Frazee carried out the crime on his own, or he and someone else allegedly tried to rob Berreth before she was killed.

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Authorities have said they “do not believe Kelsey is still alive” and are searching for the body of the flight instructor from Woodland Park, who hasn’t been seen in public since Thanksgiving, when surveillance video recorded her and her daughter entering a local market.

Frazee, who did not live with Berreth, told police that he and his fiancée met up that same day so that Berreth could hand off their daughter to him.

Berreth’s mother, who lives out of state, reported her missing 10 days later, on Dec. 2.

Frazee was arrested on Dec. 21 without incident on suspicion of first-degree murder and solicitation to commit first-degree murder. He remains in police custody without bond.

PEOPLE was unable to determine if Frazee had entered pleas to the charges filed this week, and his attorney could not be reached for comment.

Authorities have not discussed a possible motive for the alleged murder.

The couple’s daughter had been staying with Frazee after Berreth disappeared but is now with Berreth’s family, authorities announced.

Three days after Berreth apparently vanished, her mobile phone pinged on a cell tower near Gooding, Idaho, nearly 600 miles from her home, police have said.

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That same day, texts from the phone of Berreth were sent to her employer, Doss Aviation, saying she would not be at work for the next week.

Investigators have said the court has sealed affidavits in the case, which will likely remain sealed for up to 30 days, or until investigative leads can be followed up on.

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Questions linger about the exact status of the couple’s relationship, with relatives saying Berreth had called off the engagement weeks before she went missing. Others have stated the couple split the day of the killing.

Frazee will be back in court, Friday, for the next hearing in his case.

If convicted, he faces life imprisonment as well as a possible death sentence.