Body of 56-year-old woman found in California river 18 years ago. Now man is arrested
A man was arrested 18 years after a woman was found dead in a California river, authorities said.
Philip William Frase, 75, is accused of killing Patricia Joseph in 2005, the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office said in a Feb. 13 news release posted to Facebook.
Frase was arrested in Yreka on Feb. 6, the sheriff’s office said.
“Our hearts are with Patricia’s family, and we hope this arrest begins the path toward closure and healing,” Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue said in the release.
On a Facebook page dedicated to seeking justice for Joseph, her family said “the time for justice is long overdue.”
“We miss you like crazy mom,” the family said.
Joseph, who was 56 at the time of her death, was reported missing from her Fort Jones home on July 15, 2005, the sheriff’s office said.
Three days later, she was found dead in the “Klamath River near the Ash Creek Bridge along State Route 96,” nearly 30 miles north of her home, the sheriff’s office said.
“She was partially clothed and had been in the water for several days,” according to deputies.
The sheriff’s office said an autopsy determined Joseph “died from multiple blunt force traumas and asphyxia.”
In 2010, Frase was charged in connection with Joseph’s death and kidnapping, The Press Democrat reported.
At the time, Frase was awaiting trial for a separate killing, wherein he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and was given a three-year prison sentence including time already served, KTVL reported.
Two years later, however, the Siskiyou County District Attorney’s Office dismissed Frase’s warrant in Joseph’s case, citing a lack of evidence to try him for murder, The Redding Record Searchlight reported.
After the sheriff’s office “created a cold case and forensic evidence team” in 2021, they reviewed Joseph’s case and “resubmitted evidence to the Department of Justice for fresh analysis,” deputies said.
“Since 2005, science and technology has advanced significantly to bring new capabilities to forensic evidence analysis,” the sheriff’s office said.
The newly submitted evidence linked Frase to Joseph’s killing, according to deputies.
“We will never lose hope because that is what Patty taught us,” a family member wrote on Facebook in 2010.
Frase was charged “with the unlawful killing of Patricia Joseph” on Feb. 8, according to the sheriff’s office. He is being held on $2 million bail.
Fort Jones is about 270 miles northwest of Sacramento.
This story was originally published February 14, 2023 at 5:24 PM with the headline "Body of 56-year-old woman found in California river 18 years ago. Now man is arrested."
