Human Remains Found In Trashcan Returned To Frech's Family In Florida:

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Kelly Frech (courtesy Jeanne Frech)

It has been two months since a man was shot and killed by a Marionville police officer and nearly two months since human remains were found in the dead man's trashcan in Springfield.

I have been guarding the name of Kelly Anne Frech, who was from Longwood, Florida, for nearly two months at the request of her family members.  After KY3 publicized Kelly's identity this evening, I decided that what I have learned about Kelly and Adam needed to be told.

A few weeks ago the Greene County medical examiner positively identified the remains found in Begrseth's trash can as those of Kelly by dental records.  Ironically, Frech's remains were found on July 3rd.....on what would have been her 28th birthday.

On August 28th Corporal Matt Brown, the media relations spokesman for the SPD, said there had not been a positive identification made and that the remains had been sent to an out of state laboratory for specialized testing.  When asked if that facility was the University of North Texas, Brown said he wasn't sure.

"We did receive Kelly's remains on August 18th and we've had her funeral," said Frech's mother, Jeanne.

According to friends and roommates of Frech's, she met Adam Bergseth, who was shot when he lunged at a police officer with a pair of scissors, while they were both in a mental health facility in Florida. 

Both had been incarcerated at separate times in Florida jails, but a check of Florida arrest records show that Kelly and Bergseth were never housed in the Seminole County jail at the same time.  Kelly had been arrested for domestic violence against a former fiance and shoplifting. "They traded accusations," said Jeanne Frech.

Frech says her daughter and Bergseth met at a crisis center in Florida.  "Kelly had been going through a hard time since the death of her father four years earlier.   She became so depressed she lost her job, she just wanted a fresh start and followed Adam to Missouri." 

At one point Bergseth told police he was homeless and it is unclear at this time if that is how or why he ended up at the crisis center.

One of Kelly's roommates said she visited Bergseth while he was incarcerated in the Seminole County jail. Late last year she announced that she was going to follow him to Missouri when he was extradited.  The friend said, "We begged her not to go.....we told her it was crazy and said what would you do if it was one of us. She said....tell you not to go. But she wouldn't listen to her own advice and went anyway."

Adam Bergseth sent the photo on the left to a friend shortly before he was shot - the photo on the right is a mug shot from the Seminole County sheriff's office

The roommate says he attempted to reach Kelly around the Christmas holiday's and Bergseth answered her phone and told him she was asleep. Kelly never returned that phone call, according to the friend.

Erica Chaffin, the woman at whoms home Bergseth was shot in Marionville, said Bergseth attempted to get her to cash checks belonging to Frech and another woman named "Jillian or Julianne Phipps or Phillips."

Chaffin said she asked Bergseth about a "horrible" smell in his car.  "He said he had been messing around with a woman and her boyfriend found out and dumped pig's blood in it."

Marionville police chief Mark Webb says the smell of death prompted him to go to Bergseth's home at 1231 W. Edgewood in Springfield after he couldn't get the SPD interested in his case. 

Webb said he notified SPD about "a smell of human decomposition" in the Mitsubishi Eclipse, which belonged to Frech, that Bergseth had driven to Marionville. "They didn't seem interested at first," said Webb.

After he made the grisly discovery, he called 9-1-1 and an investigation into the remains began.  "I want them to conduct an investigation into all the ID's that were found in the car and at Adam's house," said Chief Webb.  "I believe they're probably going to find more victims....this wasn't his first rodeo.  They don't want to hear from me, and they don't return my phone calls," said Webb. 

The boyfriend of a woman who worked at Dennis Place says he became concerned when Bergseth kept appearing at the bar.  It was at this bar that Bergseth, who had been using Frech's credit card, bolted when Frech's card was declined.  His friends and roommates weren't happy when Bergseth left them left with the bill, according to Webb.

The following email is from the man:  "A couple of weeks before he was shot, he was in there, and he was buying drinks for a group of people (one of them was his roommate). When he ordered drinks from my girlfriend, and she became aware he had an open tab, she told him she needed a credit card & she was going to close him out. The cc was declined & when she told him, he just took off running out the front door. Long story short… the SPD showed up & got permission from the roommate to go into his rental house to look for him. They apparently found a bunch of I.D.’s and credit cards.


A few questions I have for investigators is when was the last time Kelly Frech actually signed her signature to a credit receipt?  Whose state issued check was Bergseth in possession of at the time of his death?

Jeanne Frech says Adam Bergseth, who grew up in California, told her daughter he had three college degrees, one of them in English.  Jeanne says she last heard from her daughter in January.  "Kelly loved art and music and her ultimate dream was to live in California.  He promised her that as soon as his probation was completed he would get her there."

"The waiting for some sort of confirmation from has been excruciating," said Frech.  "No one should ever have to go through this.  My first phone calls next week are going to be to the police department and the coroners office to get updates on what is happening in the investigation into my daughter's murder."