Vanished

"I've decided that the only thing I miss about having a husband is someone to pick up the dead mice!" So read part of a post Paige Birgfeld, alias Paige Dixon, made on May 25, 2007, to a message board at ChefSuccess.com. In total, Paige made 1,013 postsjust under one post a dayto the board, since joining in August of 2004. Paige's last post, in which she discussed proper attire for an upcoming Pampered Chef conference, was made on June 25, 2007, at 4:39 a.m. Paige vanished three days later, and she has not been seen or heard from since.

Paige Birgfeld

On June 30, 2007, Paige was reported missing to the Mesa County Sheriff's Department. According to family members, it was out of character for her to disappear for several days in a row, and certainly to do so without notifying her children, ages 8, 5 and 3, or their live-in nanny. Investigators initiated a K-9 search of Paige's property, but were unable to find any clues.

Mesa County Sheriff's department patch

The next day, firefighters were dispatched to a motor vehicle fire at the employee parking lot at Walker Products SMS, at 727 23 Road, at approximately 10 p.m. The location is approximately two miles from Paige's house. After controlling the blaze, investigators determined the car, a red 2005 Ford Focus, was registered to Paige Birgfeld. A bloodhound was brought in to help search for evidence in the vicinity of the lot. Due to the condition of the vehicle, it was not immediately clear whether or not the fire had been an act of vandalism or an attempt to cover up a more sinister crime.

On July 2, 2007, members of MOMS Club of Grand Junction held a candlelight vigil for Paige, a woman they knew as a single mother raising three beautiful children in a million-dollar home while dividing her free time between club meetings and school bake sales.

"She's probably the most patient mother," Andrea Land, club president, told GJSentinel.com. "She's not doing one of those mom things and freaking out and leaving. There's definitely something seriously wrong."

Friends and family members alike believed that Paige supported her comfortable lifestyle through her business, Grand River Acupuncture, and part-time work as a consultant for the Pampered Chef, a company that sells kitchen tools and food products. However, as investigators dug deeper into Paige's background, they discovered she had been living a seedy double life.