DENVER β A single mother who vanished from western Colorado more than seven years ago led a double life as a paid escort with many unsavory clients, investigators say. Among them was Lester Ralph Jones, 63, who was one of the last people to call Paige Birgfeld before her 8-year-old daughter reported her missing in June On Friday, Jones was arrested on charges of murder, kidnapping and arson.
Authorities allege he killed Birgfeld, dumped her body and torched her car. No attorney for Jones was listed in court records, but he denied any involvement when police interviewed him early in their investigation. Birgfeld was twice divorced and living with her three children in Grand Junction, about miles west of Denver. Friends knew her as a devoted mother who sold kitchen wares and did other jobs.
Her father said he was unaware of her double life until after she died and police learned she had worked for years as an escort, running a prostitution business called Models Inc.
But a fellow escort told investigators Jones called Birgfeld for an appointment but canceled when he realized she was the ex-wife of a man with whom he worked at the local fire department. A review of his phone records showed they had communicated several times, including in the days leading up to her disappearance, the affidavit says. Police say the pages leading up to the day she disappeared were torn out of a day planner they found in her car. When Birgfeld was kidnapped, police said she might have tried to leave a trail of clues for investigators to find her, as they found business cards from The Pampered Chef and Models Inc.
Lester Ralph Jones was arrested in the killing of Paige Birgfeld, a Colorado woman who led a double life as a devoted mom and a paid escort before she disappeared in
