WOOSTER, Ark. (KTHV) - His wife was kidnapped, murdered and her body was found nearly 90 miles away from home. Wednesday evening, Elvia Fragstein’s husband explained how he got through those days of wondering and grief, and why her death is so tragic.
They married in October 2000. Each had been previously married, with adult children, and found instant happiness in their blended family.
“She was the most beautiful, most gentle, generous, impressive person that one could meet,” Helmut Fragstein said.
Sitting next to two of their children, Helmut described how they met in Madrid, while he was on a business trip. He was born in Germany and she came from Colombia. They each had family in the United States and all over the world. Helmut said Elvia’s most prized possession was her iPad, which allowed her to video chat with friends and relatives. Her family, Helmut said, was her greatest passion.
“We had, once, the five grandchildren here for Christmas,” he said. “And they were sleeping all in our…they had air mattresses all over. The greatest enjoyment was the grandchildren we have.”
On July 7, Elvia Fragstein went shopping and never came home. It was common, Helmut said, for them to spend their days on their own, enjoying their individual hobbies after sharing breakfast together. Helmut, a retired engineer, was focused on a project in his workshop. He did not stress when she had not returned home in time for their typical 5 p.m. dinner, assuming her shopping excursion took longer than expected. He returned to the workshop and became engrossed again in his project for a couple more hours.
“And I saw sunset,” he said. “And I said, ‘Oh my god! Elvia probably came back and she was so tired she went directly into the house and she is sleeping, probably on the couch, trying to watch the news, and feel asleep.’ I come in, I look through the door, and I don’t see her. First of all, if she would’ve been awake, the light would’ve been on, because already was dark. And no lights. Nobody in the TV room. Then I looked in the bedroom; nobody there. And now, I was extremely worried, because she will not drive at night.”
He solicited a friend’s help to report her missing. They lived in Wooster, so Helmut thought the Conway Police Department, as the biggest nearby police department he knew of, could help. They sent him away because the Fragsteins did not live within their jurisdiction. He returned home and checked their credit card statement, which showed her last transaction at the TJ Maxx in Conway several hours before.
He called 9-1-1, and the Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office took the case. The investigation led to Jefferson County, where Elvia’s body was found along the side of a road. Her car was later found in Pine Bluff, stripped and torched. Two teenagers were later charged with kidnapping, theft, and ultimately, capital murder.
Helmut put his faith in the professionals during the days before Elvia’s body was found.
“One thing that I have learned in life,” he said, “Was this: if you have a very serious situation, you now can speculate. And you question now: ‘What are you thinking? What would happen? And if….’
"I would not go there. She is missing, and once I had the contact with the sheriffs, once I had the interview, this is their job; I can’t do anything.”
The cruelty of the crime that ended Elvia’s life stands out even more against the description Helmut gave of the woman he loved.
“If Elvia would walk across a pasture and she would bend a leaf of grass,” he said. “She would turn back and raise it up and make sure it would grow again.”
Helmut went to the Faulkner County courthouse for the suspects’ first court appearance Wednesday morning, but if the sight of them stirred any emotions within him, he would not say. He called it a great tragedy that the suspects are 16 and 18-years-old, but otherwise did not want to talk about them. Instead, he wanted to talk about the Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office deputies who helped him, and all the other law enforcement officers who joined the case.
“They are the heroes!” he exclaimed. “These are some people, they are awesome!”