DENVER (AP) - Investigators said Thursday they are waiting for DNA tests to confirm that skeletal remains found in western Colorado are those of a missing Grand Junction mother of three who ran an escort service, unbeknownst to many of her friends.
The Mesa County Sheriff's Department tentatively identified the remains as Paige Birgfeld, 34, who was last seen in June 2007.
A hiker found the remains Tuesday in a dry creek bed in neighboring Delta County, an area that was searched after Birgfeld disappeared. Mesa County Sheriff's Sgt. Matt Lewis said Thursday the remains were buried at one time and were probably exposed by erosion.
Birgfeld's father, Frank Birgfeld of Centennial, visited the scene Wednesday.
"It's really been hard, it's really beat us right down," he said Thursday. "I'm filled with feelings - I'll use words that don't exactly match them. Despair, sorrow, sadness, frustration, anger, and they'll boil up every now and then in combinations."
She was twice divorced. Authorities have said they ruled out her ex-husbands as suspects.
No one has been arrested.
In October 2007, investigators identified Lester Ralph Jones, then 56, as a suspect. Lewis said Jones remains a suspect but investigators had not spoken with him since the remains were found.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation will conduct DNA tests. Lewis said it could be weeks or months before the results are known.