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Adam Bergseth sent the photo on the right to a friend not long before he was shot and killed by a Matrionville police officer; photo on left is a mug shot from the Seminole FL County sheriff's office

Two women who spent a great deal of time with Adam Bergseth before he was shot and killed by a Marionville police officer after he lunged at the officer with a pair of scissors in late June say he was a man with many secrets.

Twenty one year-old Cheynne Nava was in an open relationship with Bergseth.  "I saw other people and he saw other people. It worked for us."

Nava says Bergseth was a swinger who said he was 31 years-old.  "When I found out he was really 37 it grossed me out."

Nava says a group of friends, including Bergseth, went to Dennis' Place on June 12th and Bergseth opened a tab with a credit card.  Nava and another of Bergseth's friends, Ronelle Scott, left the bar and were walking back to Bergseth's rented home at 1231 W. Edgewood when they were contacted by one of Bergseth's roommates, LM

LM told the women that they needed to come back to the bar because Bergseth bolted when the credit card he was using was declined and the police were there.  That credit card belonged to Kelly Frech, whose remains were found in a trashcan in Bergseth's backyard on July 3rd, on what would have been the woman's 28th birthday.

Kelly Frech (courtesy Jeanne Frech)


Nava says officers went to Bergseth's home in the early morning hours of June 13th and found a houseful of people partying.  "They told us they couldn't touch anything because they didn't have a search warrant.  I handed them a lot of mail with different names on it and they said he was into identity theft."

After the cops left Bergseth's home Nava searched his room because some of the things he was telling her "just didn't add up."  Nava says she found a photo ID in the name of Kelly Frech, a $2,000 check made out to Frech, a Missouri EBT (food stamp) card, Wal-Mart credit card and a Suntrust Bank card and checks in Frech's name.

"He told me that it was one of his aliases," said Nava.   "He said his ex-wife was trying to take all his money and this was a way he could hide it from her."  Bergseth, who had grown up in California, was never married to Laurie Weiss, but they had been in a decade old relationship and had three children before she ended the relationship last year in Florida. 

In 2009, Bergseth, who has also lived in Republic, Bolivar and the state of Nevada,  was charged with being a persistent DWI offender and driving while revoked in Greene County.  By 2011, he had violated the conditions of his probation and parole at least 12 times and authorities in Greene County issued a warrant for his arrest on June 15th after he failed to appear for a probation violation hearing.

“Subject has consistently demonstrated throughout the years that he [has] no intention of complying with terms of his probation,” the probation officer wrote in a report to the Greene County Court asking that Bergseth’s probation be revoked.

In July of last year he was arrested by the Sanford, Florida, police department and booked in to the Seminole County jail. Online records do not say what he was being held for or if any charges were filed against him at that time.

In November of 2011, Bergseth was arrested after police in Sanford received a tip that he was wanted on an arrest warrant out of Missouri and was driving on a suspended license. At that time he told police he was homeless,
according to The Sanford Herald.



According to Frech's mother Jeanne, Kelly met Bergseth at a crisis center near Longwood, Florida and followed him to Missouri late last year. Jeanne Frech says she had not heard from her daughter since January and didn't know her whereabouts until she was contacted by police about the discovery of the remains.  "He told her he had three degrees, one of them in English."

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A former roommate of Kelly Frech says she met Bergseth in a mental health facility and had been visiting him at the Seminole County jail.  He said one day she informed her roommates that she was going to follow him [Bergseth] back to Missouri when he was extradited.  "We begged her not to go."

Nava and Scott say they both knew that Bergseth was a liar.  "But we just couldn't connect the dots," said Scott.

Nava says she began dating Bergseth on April Fools Day and a few weeks later asked him about a "terrible" smell in the garage.  "He told me that he was messing around with a bartender at the Sky Box and her fiancee found out and put a severed pigs head and dumped pigs blood in his car.  I have never smelled anything like that.....EVER."



Nava said there was blood on the concrete in the garage and driveway and when she asked him about it he said, "it got there when he moved the pigs head from the car."  It was later determined that the card Bergseth claimed as his own was in fact Kelly Frech's Mitsubishi Eclipse.

Nava says the smell from the garage got so bad in May that it started to permeate the inside of the house.  "I told him he needed to move it and he pushed it to the backyard."

Nava said when officers with the SPD were at Bergseth's house on June 13th they commented on the smell and she told them the story about the pigs head in the trash can.  "They said that's weird, but they didn't look in the trashcan and I didn't either."

Cheynne Nava


Scott says she and other friends camped out in Bergseth's backyard sometime in late May and is disturbed that she was so close to Frech's remains and didn't even know it.

According to an incident report, on June 15th the SPD began an investigation into Bergseth for allegedly sending harassing text messages to Nava and Mills.

Nava says Bergseth then contacted her through her facebook page on June 16th or 17th and told her he "was at a cabin by a lake finishing a book he was writing and was going to commit suicide."

Bergseth met Erica Chaffin, at whose house he was fatally shot, through a Craig's List ad around the same time he claimed to be at the cabin.  Chaffin said she had been trying to catch her husband cheating and Bergseth responded to the ad and the two began a physical relationship the weekend of the fatal shooting.

Bergseth told Chaffin and a friend of hers that he was a video game developer and that he traveled extensively for his job.

Chaffin says Bergseth offered to help her make a furniture payment that weekend and when they arrived at the furniture store Bergseth handed her a check. "They didn't accept checks...and thank God they didn't."   It was while she was on her way out of the store that Chaffin noticed the check didn't belong to Bergseth...it belonged Kelly Frech.

Chaffin says Bergseth then drove her to Great Southern Bank on Battlefield on the afternoon he was killed and attempted to have her pose as a woman named Jillian or Julianne Phipps in order to cash a state check. "I asked him who Julianne was and he said you are now." Chaffin says the drive thru teller gave the check back to them and said she couldn't cash it if the person did not have an account at the bank.


Nava says Bergseth told her he owned a restaurant in Springfield and sold it before he moved to Florida.  He also claimed to have owned a very successful restaurant in Florida and selling it for a huge profit. "He said he didn't have to work because he was living of royalties" from the sale.

Ronelle Scott


Ronelle Scott says the group of friends knew Bergseth was "shady."  "Everything he told us was a lie.  Everything.."

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

I found the ID of Kelly after the cops left the night of Dennis' Place. I never had no reason to look before then.

C

Kim O'Callaghan said...

Erica and I had the same problem. We knew he was lying about all kinds of things but we could never figure it out and connect it at all. He obviously had been doing this for years and had it all figured it out way before hand. I noticed that Nava looks alot like my friend Erica and that is what he said his 'type' was. What disturbs me about all this is that he had even his family thinking he was this great guy. At one point he may have been but it is evident that wasn't the case for a while. It also bothers me that the police wouldn't look into a smell like that. I can't believe that he would have a body around for months before it was ever found and I mean nothing bad to the ladies that were there. I mean towards the cops for one. I would have looked into it long before. Kathee have the figured out the cause of death or a time line from the information here I am estimating late april or so.

Anonymous said...

Luke Mills has asked not to be contacted and would also like it to take his name off this blog. The young man has gone threw alot he got to know a side of mr. bergseth many of us did not get to know and this has affected him in ways he hasnt discussed with me yet. please respect him wishes and remove his name and do not contact him, if you wish you reference him he has agreed to the name LM. thanks in advance

Kathee Baird said...

Luke Mills is listed on a police report. I understand that he won't talk to me, but I stand by my story.


k

Anonymous said...

These girls were walking from Dennis' Place to Adam's house? That's a long walk through a not great neighborhood. They sound shady themselves. And none of his friends or roommates thought it a good idea to report blood on a garage floor and a house and car that smell like decomposition?

Anonymous said...

What kind of harassing text messages was Adam sending to his male roommate and Nava? I guess this is something those two reported to the police weeks before Adam's death?

Anonymous said...

Adam sure had the company of attractive females.

Anonymous said...

"I have loose ends to tie up in springfield. He's going to get what he deserves." He sent that to Nava. And then told Mills. She called the police the day she got the messages, which I think was on June 16th.

Anonymous said...

They walked from Dennis' Place to the gas station. That's as far as they got. They got a ride from the gas stationto Adam's house from people that they saw at the bar. And wow what really makes them shady? Do u know them....no, no u don't. The blood was what they all thought was blood from the pig. Who would call the police over pigs blood?

Anonymous said...

Was toxicology done? I wonder if they will release cause of death or a time frame? So sad. I guess we'll never know what happened, and that's probably how Adam wanted it. I bet he thought the body had already been found when the cop walked in the apartment in Marionville.

Anonymous said...

How is it that nobody looked inside this trash can? Don't the other roommates at the house take out trash? If Adam was dating Kelly, how is it that not a single person asked why he was driving her car? Did any of his "friends" meet Kelly? There are more questions than there are answers, yet every person commenting here seems to think they have everything figured out. I hope the police are looking into each of these women that have issued statements to you because each of them seems more insane than the next. I question if it wasn't somesort of jealousy amongst these women, and if it wasn't one of them that was involved.

Anonymous said...

I wish you would let this die, because black mailing people into their stories is awful. I understand your searching for news, but what if this was you or your family?! Sick sick person.Kelly's death will not be forgotten and she is and always will be a victim who was loved by her family. Her mother doesn't need this!

Kathee Baird said...

I don't know where your getting your information from, but I haven't blackmailed ANYONE into talking with me.

And to answer your question about if it was someone in my family....I would hope that someone would search for the truth and try to find out why, and who else could possibly be Adam's victims.



k

Anonymous said...

then leave it to the police @10:52am

Anonymous said...

Coming as someone who knew Adam, I would agree to leave it to the police. I am so saddened for those that loved Kelly, but there are also those that loved Adam, and who also search for the truth. You create a media spin when you insinuate that Adam had other victims. We don't know if Adam had any victims. Adam is innocent until proven guilty.

Anonymous said...

All of you who say that you knew Adam and that he was loved and is innocent...I call BS!!!

I knew Adam, I knew him as an abuser, a user, a sexual sadist. I still have nightmares about the things he did to me!

He was totally and completely capable of this and I would bet my life there are more victims.

I get it, you loved him, but open your eyes and see him for the monster he was. A pedophile who had sex with a student he was coaching, a narcissist who cared only for himself, an abuser who didn't care who he hurt.

Anonymous said...

It is sad for all involved, yes, even Adam's family because they will have to learn the awful truth about what he was capable of.. Frech's family because as much as people say it gives the family 'closure' it doesn't! There is no such thing, in most cases it just brings up more questions, sadly with Adam's death all of those answers died. At best you just learn to make your piece with it... I am sorry for your pain.

The one big question I have at this point is of the other ID's how many of them are missing people? Are LE in fact following up on those leads. I don't have a lot of faith in them... A decomposing body is a smell you are not likely to ever forget, yet they didn't even check it out? Even when another LE contacted them and suggest they look into it they didn't. He had to go look for himself.
I am glad there are people like him and Kathee who are asking the questions. That is the problem with our communities these days, no involvement. For the most part if it doesn't directly effect them most are satisfied to say let the cops handle it.
As a member of society it is our responsibility to make sure our LE and media are held accountable for their actions, even when it is for their lack of... 2300 people go missing everyday in this country, that's a fact. Think about it 2300 a DAY, every DAY out of those a handful are never seen or heard from again. If you are one of the lucky one you will have an officer who will take the time to put your information in NamUs and CODIS so when your body is found some place else they can ID you. Kelly Frech was one of the lucky ones. There are a lot of 'Kelly Frech' out there who aren't so lucky that have laid in morgues all over the county for months then have been cremated and buried without a name just a number, because nobody asked the questions. There are 40,000-60,000 unidentified remains in this country, sadly we don't even know how many because it seems we have become a disposable society right down to ourselves!
What if that Sheriff had decided to just let SPD handle it? Kelly might never have been found. So if asking questions and getting involved can lead to one more missing person being found, then it is worth it! Kathee is exercising her right as a part of this community, as responsible part of society.
Lastly..
To Anonymous Sept 17, I am sorry that you live with the nightmares of what Adam did to you. I admire you for speaking up. I hope that you have also spoke to SPD as it might shed some light on this case. I agree with you as to the likelihood of more victims. I also suggest this as a way of healing and taking back control for what was done to you. Trust me it can be very Freeing.


KB

Anonymous said...

are there any updates on this case? any more possible victims identified?

Anonymous said...

The cops don't care about this case. We won't get anymore updates.

Anonymous said...

Not true, we care very much! The week Kelly was found Springfield had eight homicides. Many since that time as well as many other officer involved shootings. Kelly has not been forgotten nor has Adam Bergseth and the question of his prior conduct.

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