Photo: CBS
She was living a double life.
By Lauren Margolis — Written on Mar 30, 2020
Paige Birgfeld was a simple Colorado mom who just wanted the best for her kids. After her divorce from her ex-husband, Birgfeld had to find a way to support her family, but what she chose to do was so unexpected. Her family and friends would have never guessed her new career.
Flashback to the night of June 28, 2007, when Paige Birgfeld was driving home from a date with an old flame. It was a night that changed her family's life forever, because it was the night of Birgfeld's mysterious disappearance.
After a few days of trying to get a hold of her, Birgfeld's family finally reported her missing and later discovered their loved one was murdered. They found out one of her last phone calls made was to a man named Jim, but what they uncovered was shocking.
Who killed Paige Birgfeld?
Here are all the details about Birgfeld, her murder, and the man held responsible.
Who was Paige Birgfeld? She was a divorced mother of three children.
Paige Birgfeld was a loving mother of three. She was raising her family in Grand Junction, Colorado and was recently divorced.
Like most single moms, Birgfeld found herself stressed out with the thought of supporting her three children alone. The financial worries were getting to her, and Birgfeld took up many odd jobs.
Some of the jobs she had included selling nursing slings, cooking supplies, and running a few dance studios for kids. She seemed to be getting by, but little did her family know what job she chose next and hid from them.
She was living a "double life."
You may think you know someone when you really don't. Birgfeld was one of those people everyone thought they knew, but really had no clue who she was. She had a secret job — and it was one nobody in her life would have guessed.
Birgfeld was living a double life: she was super mom by day and escort by night. In fact, she even went by a different name for her job. Birgfeld would transform into "Carrie" to carry out her duties as an escort.
One of Birgfeld's loved ones said she was making $400,000 a year as an escort. The money seemed too good to pass up, and Birgfeld was a mother determined to give her kids a good life. If only she knew what would happen next.
Birgfeld disappeared in 2007.
On the night of June 28, 2007, Birgfeld was driving back home to Grand Junction from Eagle, Colorado. She had gone there to meet up with an old flame for a picnic. However, after leaving her date, Birgfeld never made it home. Police eliminated Birfeld's ex-husbands as suspects.
After being missing for a few days, Birgfeld's car was found burning in a parking lot on Sunday, July 1, 2007. Because of the fire, most of the evidence of the crime was destroyed, but police did find Birgfeld's day planner in the trunk. It was surprisingly in good condition, except the last four days of entries were torn out.
Something else police found interesting in the car was that even though Birgfeld was only about 5'4", the driver's seat was pushed all the way back in a position that her feet couldn't even touch the pedal. After some investigating, police began looking for a man named "Jim," who made several calls to Birgfeld the day of her disappearance and other days that week.
Who killed Paige Birgfeld? A man named Lester Ralph Jones was eventually found guilty of kidnapping and murdering Birgfeld.
Police started getting suspicious of a man named Jim after finding the amount of calls that were exchanged between him and Birgfeld the day of and days leading up to her disappearance.
What made him seem sketchy and a suspect was when they discovered all of his calls came from a prepaid Tracfone. The only calls made on the phone were to Birgfeld, which was also suspicious to police. It took a while, but eventually police found the person that was linked to the phone.
The man who went by Jim on the prepaid phone was actually Lester Ralph Jones. There was surveillance video of Jones buying the prepaid phone. The case unraveled for years, but Jones was finally found guilty of kidnapping and murdering Paige Birgfeld.
Even though she was murdered in 2007, Birgfeld's remains were found in 2012.
Jones was sentenced to life in prison.
Although Jones' first hearing ended in a mistrial, he was eventually sentenced to a lifetime prison sentence in December 2016. Jones already had a criminal record, in which he previously served a five-year prison stint for the charges of attempted kidnapping and assault.
A spokeswoman for the sheriff's office released a statement on the outcome of the case, saying, “While this verdict will not bring Paige Birgfeld back to her family, we are happy it will give her family closure.”
Lauren Margolis is a writer who covers astrology, pop culture, entertainment news and relationship topics.