The following is a partial transcript of Here One Minute, Gone the Next, a Newsweek podcast, to which you can listen here:
They say that if you can’t find a body, you don’t have a crime. Unfortunately, this puts thousands of families across the country in a state of limbo because many times law enforcement is unable to dedicate the same resources to missing persons cases as they are when it’s a clear-cut killing.
In the opening season of Here One Minute, Gone the Next, we’d like to turn your attention to the disappearance of Fauna Frey, a 45-year-old woman with blonde hair, blue eyes, standing 5 feet, 6 inches tall, and between 135 and 150 pounds. She was last seen in the city of Grants Pass, Oregon, June 29, 2020. She disappeared from the parking lot of a small grocery store, and her Jeep was found several months later, abandoned, and hidden deep in the forest, with many of her possessions still inside.
Fauna Frey’s dad, John Frey, has agreed to sit down with us here at Newsweek to share information that has previously been unknown to the public. Fauna Frey was traveling with thousands of dollars in silver coins. A saddlebag with her name on it was found near a park that she frequented. And why was there a box of hair dye found in her Jeep? Could Fauna Frey still be alive?
Jesse Edwards: John, why are you coming forward with this information now?
John Frey: Because it’s been three years that Fauna’s been gone. I don’t see any point in holding back information anymore. If there’s the slightest chance that a little extra information could perhaps jog somebody’s memory or get somebody to come forward with some additional information.
Jesse Edwards: Let’s talk about some of the items that people are going to be very interested in, specifically the silver coins. What’s the story behind the silver coins? Why did she have them?
John Frey: The silver coins were her brother’s when he passed. He was living in a guest house on my property. He died in the middle of the night. The medical examiner said it was major prolapse, something to do with the heart. One day, she came up to me and said she was taking the silver. She told me she was going to give it away to Dallas’ [her brother’s] friends.
Jesse Edwards: How much silver are we talking about?
John Frey: I think it was originally about $25,000, and about seven of that she left with one of Dallas’ closest friends.
Jesse Edwards: So, she still had about $18,000 in silver coins?
John Frey: Roughly, yeah.
Jesse Edwards: It’s going to be pretty heavy, too.
John Frey: Oh, I bet it weighs 40 pounds. Not something you can take a hike with. They were all the same. There’s no dates on them.
Jesse Edwards: When Fauna Frey went missing from Grants Pass, Oregon, on June 29th of 2020, her Jeep Cherokee Laredo was found deep in the woods, and invisible from the main passing logging road.
John Frey: It’s been difficult for me because there hasn’t been a crime committed. When her Jeep was first reported, we found out from a scanner page on Facebook, not from the sheriff. That night, they had it towed away. Towed to the impound yard. They looked at the site where her Jeep was found and the first thing that the sheriff told me is that he thought that she was eaten by bears.
Jesse Edwards: The Jeep was locked?
John Frey: Except I’m pretty sure that the back didn’t lock.
Jesse Edwards: What about the coins?
John Frey: She had a North Face backpack, and it was just a day pack. You might be able to get the silver in there, but nothing else. And you’re not going to take 40 pounds of silver on a hike. One theory that we had is that she ditched the Jeep there with somebody else, and then left with most of her stuff. Some stuff she chose not to take. There was a pair of shoes there that I don’t think fit her properly that she just bought.
Jesse Edwards: What was in the Jeep?
John Frey: We don’t know about all of it because the sheriff is keeping i