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Idaho nurse to be charged in connection with Kelsey Berreth's disappearance

Investigators believe Krystal Lee disposed of cellphone belonging to Colorado woman missing since Thanksgiving Day.
A vigil for Kelsey Berreth in 2018.
A picture Kelsey Berreth at a vigil in Woodland Park, Colorado on Dec. 13, 2018.Kelsey Brunner / The Gazette via AP

A nurse in Idaho is facing at least one charge in connection with the disappearance of Kelsey Berreth, a Colorado woman who has not been seen since Thanksgiving Day and is believed to be dead.

Krystal Lee, 32, of Twin Falls, is expected to appear in court in Teller County, Colorado on Feb. 8. on a count of tampering with physical evidence, according to the office of Colorado's 4th Judicial District Attorney Dan May.

A Twin Falls Sheriff's Office spokeswoman first told NBC News in early January that investigators discovered Berreth's cellphone had pinged to a location around 800 miles away from her home in Gooding, Idaho, on Nov. 25 — three days after she went missing, and that a woman was suspected of disposing of the device.

Berreth's fiance Patrick Frazee was arrested and later charged with two counts of first-degree murder Dec 21. Prosecutors believe he either killed the mother of his child or she died during a robbery he commissioned. He has not yet entered a plea.

All the affidavits in the case against Frazee are sealed, so it has remained unclear what evidence the prosecution has against him.

Image:
Patrick Frazee leaves the Teller County District Court in Cripple Creek, Colorado on Dec. 31, 2018.Chappin Everett / the Gazette via AP

Berreth's body has not been found, but investigators don't believe she is alive. She was last seen Thanksgiving Day while shopping with her year-old daughter, Kaylee, at a supermarket in Woodland Park, Colorado. She wasn't reported missing until Dec. 2 by her mother, Cheryl Berreth.

Frazee, who has not publicly commented on Berreth's disappearance, told investigators the last time he saw his fiancée was Nov. 22 when she left their daughter with him, and that their last communication was Nov. 25, when she sent him a text message. The two did not live together.

A charge sheet released shortly after Frazee's arrest suggested that he may have ordered a robbery between Sept. 1 and Dec. 1, which resulted in Berreth's death. Under Colorado law, if a person dies during the commission of a crime, that is equivalent to murder, May said during a press conference in December.

Frazee is due back in court Feb. 19.