Madeline Kingsbury (submitted)
An idyllic town situated just north of the Iowa-Minnesota state line in Fillmore County, Minnesota, Mabel is a charming village with no stop lights and fewer than 800 residents – a tight-knit Midwest farming community.
Adam Fravel was one of those 800.
Fravel was the youngest of three children born to Ann and Rich Fravel. He excelled at Mabel-Canton High School where he served on the student council, sang in the school choir, and played football and basketball. After graduating in 2012, Fravel relocated to the much larger city of Winona, Minn., to attend college.
Winona, situated northeast of Mabel, is connected by 45 miles of picturesque, pastoral blacktop known as Minnesota State Highway 43, along which lies a veritable buffet of Minnesota’s beautiful and diverse landscapes. Straight as bolt from crossbow sped, the flat asphalt bifurcates luscious green fields of corn and soybeans, the bucolic splendor of the peaceful landscape peppered with farmsteads and the occasional tractor lumbering to and fro. Level ground slowly transforms into tree-lined rolling hills with gradual bends. Bends give way to corkscrews, twisting and winding, sheathed by prehistoric rock bluffs. As the serpentine asphalt relaxes and exhales, stretching out once again, travelers are deposited in the eastern end of Winona. It could be argued that this highway boasts Minnesota’s beauty at its finest.
It was at Winona State University where computer buff Fravel met Madeline Kingsbury, a fellow student blazing a trail towards a degree in public health administration. For seven years, they had an on-and-off-again relationship and together had two children. Kingsbury alternated between Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and home, working as a clinical researcher. Fravel and Kingsbury continued to live together in a rented Winona townhouse, although they were no longer romantically involved with one another.
On the morning of March 31, 26-year-old Kingsbury dropped her children off at daycare at 8 a.m., and planned to work from her home office. Fravel, 29, said he saw Kingsbury go downstairs to her home office and he then left to take some items to his family home along Highway 43 in Mabel. Leaving his car at home, Fravel hopped in Kingsbury’s blue 2014 Chrysler Town & Country van and stopped at a gas station before heading to Mabel around 10:15 a.m. He returned to the townhouse around 11:30 a.m., and could not find Madeline, but her phone, wallet, identification and jacket were still in the house. His car was in the driveway; he thought maybe she had carpooled to work in Rochester. He texted her throughout the afternoon and received no answers. After Kingsbury failed to pick the children up from daycare, he picked them up and took them to his parents’ home in Mabel. That evening, a close friend of Kingsbury’s, Katie Kolka, reported her missing after becoming worried when texts and phone calls to her went unanswered.
During an interview the next day, April 1, an officer noted multiple fresh vertical scratches on Fravel’s face and neck —two markings under his nose, one on the side of his nose, two on his forehead and one under his chin on his neck. It was discovered Fravel did a Google search March 31 around 6:51 p.m., asking, “Are dog scratches on face dangerous?”
By Monday, April 3, investigators declared Kingsbury an endangered missing person, and an official investigation was launched with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. The Winona County Sheriff Department held a press conference Wednesday, April 5, declaring that due to “the totality of the circumstances” surrounding Kingsbury’s disappearance, foul play had not been ruled out. Kingsbury’s family announced a $50,000 reward for any information leading to her whereabouts.
By Friday, April 7, a week after Kingsbury was last seen alive, search parties were regularly gathering to search for her.
Day after day, thousands flocked to Winona to aid in searches, some traveling from as far away as the Twin Cities, Iowa and Wisconsin. Groups were bussed to assigned areas near Highway 43 and dispersed across southeast Minnesota, exploring neighborhood yards, riverbeds, behind sheds, under boat trailers and more. Sorority sisters from Kingsbury’s college organized search groups around Mabel, saying they were “going to keep looking until they find their girl.”
Authorities asked all residents and landowners to check for any signs of disturbances or suspicious activity on their properties and requested any private video footage captured March 31 and April 1 showing Kingsbury’s neighborhood or along Highway 43 from Winona to Mabel.
A GoFundMe page was set up for donations to assist with search costs.
Fravel, who had remained silent in the days following Kingsbury’s disappearance, broke his silence April 12 when he shared a statement through his lawyer, stressing that he was cooperating with authorities. He vehemently denied having anything to do with Kingsbury’s disappearance, saying, “I want the mother of my five-year-old and two-year-old to be found and brought home safely. I want that more than anything.”
Videos from security cameras and devices at multiple residences and businesses were obtained from March 31, showing footage of Kingsbury’s neighborhood as well as along the Highway 43 route between Winona and Fravel’s parents’ home.
At 9:44 a.m. March 31, the blue van is at the townhome and a figure appears to remove the van’s front license plate. At 9:47 a.m., that same figure kneels and appears to be attaching a license plate to the front of the van. The person gets into the van at 9:55 a.m. and departs, and is then seen at a gas station nearby at 10:02 a.m. At the gas station, the license plate on the van matches the license plate registered to Fravel’s car, not the plate registered to the van. At 10:31 a.m., The van returns to the townhouse. At 11:26 a.m., the van leaves the townhouse again. At 11:44 a.m., the van is seen driving south on Highway 43 in the direction of Mabel. It is seen again traveling south on Highway 43 at 11:56 a.m. and 11:59 a.m. At 12:44 p.m., a van matching Kingsbury’s van is seen traveling north on Highway 43 toward Winona. At 1:28 p.m., the van is seen in the townhouse driveway in Winona.
A search of the Fravel family property in Mabel April 7 uncovered a computer tower and a laptop in a dumpster as well as a burned computer item in a fire pit. Fravel had installed multiple security cameras in the home he shared with Kingsbury, but all cameras were missing and numerous areas of drywall where the cameras would have been installed were damaged or removed.
A trail camera near the Fravel family home April 9 revealed Fravel driving a side-by-side Polaris Ranger with a shovel in the back. On April 10, investigators used two cadaver dogs on the Ranger, and both dogs alerted investigators to the bed of the Ranger and near the shovel.
As weeks passed, investigators discovered Fravel’s cell phone had been wiped and several tracking applications and location services were disabled after March 30. Uncovered were text messages exchanged shortly after Kingsbury disappeared between Fravel and the husband of Kolka after she reported Kingsbury missing, with Fravel texting, “Wow, that’s a little out of bounds by Katie. It hasn’t even been 24 hours.” The husband replied, “Not really when no one has heard from her most of the day. Apparently, no one was able to reach you either to at least know you’ve heard from her. You can’t blame people for being worried, man.”
Days turned into weeks and people kept searching. Weeks became one month, then two…and hopes of finding Kingsbury alive and reuniting her with her children waned, as family and friends clung to gossamer hopes of closure in any form it would come – praying, seeking, hunting desperately for any answer that would give their hearts peace.
On June 7, 68 days after Kingsbury disappeared, a deputy with the Fillmore County Sheriff’s Office was searching a rural property routinely maintained by Fravel family members located near Fravel’s parents’ home. The deputy found Kingsbury’s petite body in a culvert, wrapped in a grey fitted bedsheet and secured with black Gorilla brand industrial tape. The medical examiner noted that a knotted towel had been wrapped around her head and neck, and cause of death was determined to be homicidal and homicidal violence. The fitted sheet appeared to match other bedlinen at the Kingsbury home, where it was also noted that a mattress had grey pillowcases cases but was missing the fitted sheet. Gorilla tape the same color and width as the tape found on the body was also discovered at the townhome shared by Fravel and Kingsbury.
Fravel was arrested June 7 and charged with two counts of murder in the second degree — with and without intent — with bail set at $2 million unconditional or $1 million conditional bond.
Soon after Fravel’s arrest, custody of the two children was awarded to Kingsbury’s family and it was determined that there had been a long history of domestic abuse in the household. Fravel was unemployed and was dependent on Kingsbury for financial support, but Kingsbury had a new boyfriend and was actively looking for a new place to live when she disappeared. All rent payments since September 2021 came from Kingsbury for the Winona townhome they shared, and they were often months behind on rent. She had planned to remain at the shared townhome through the end of May, but March 27, four days before she disappeared, Kingsbury texted her landlord, saying she was “somewhat unexpectedly finding (her) own place …”
It was learned that Kingsbury had a life insurance policy valued at $170,000, but no beneficiary had been listed. Investigators believe it would have been paid out to her two children, and as the biological father, Fravel would have had access to those funds.
Investigations discovered Kingsbury had confided in a friend, “If anything happens to me, know that Adam did it. I would never leave my kids.”
Court appearances
An Omnibus hearing was set for July 20, but was delayed due to continued discovery of evidence. It was again rescheduled for Oct. 13, for new evidence discovery. On Oct. 2, the previous two charges of second-degree murder were dismissed, and a grand jury indicted Fravel on four criminal counts: first-degree murder with premeditation, first-degree murder with a past pattern of domestic abuse, intentional second-degree murder without premeditation, and unintentional second-degree murder while committing a felony. His bail was also increased to $3 million unconditional or $2 million conditional bond.
The Omnibus hearing was held Dec. 14. More than 1,800 pages of grand jury transcripts were submitted to Fravel’s defense attorney, Zachary Bauer, who requested additional time for the defense to review the transcripts. Presiding judge, Judge Nancy Buytendorp, agreed to the request, establishing a submission deadline of Jan. 19, 2024, for any pretrial motions. Bauer had previously filed court documents stating the defense may seek a change of venue in order to receive a fair trial.
Dates for pretrial review have been set for March 19-20 and April 30, 2024, with Buytendorp declaring September/October 2024 as the window for the start of the trial.
If convicted of first-degree murder, Fravel faces life in prison.
Fravel’s family was present at the hearing but declined to speak to the press.
Kingsbury’s family was also in attendance and held hands and embraced as they spoke with reporters.
When asked about seeing Fravel in court, Madeline’s father, David Kingsbury, replied, “It’s always an interesting mix of emotions … I don’t let him take up a whole lot of real estate in my head, I just worry about my daughter and getting justice for her.”
He continued, “We were happy the grand jury came back with the indictment bill that it did. Waiting is never any fun, but it’s worth the wait. Everybody wants this to be over soon, everybody wants justice for Madeline. It’s a complicated case.”
In her obituary, the Kingsbury family reflected on how many lives their daughter has touched even after death … “She’s become a part of the fabric of your community. A true daughter of Winona and Southeast Minnesota. We’re proud to share her with you.”
Now, when traversing the 45 miles of Minnesota State Highway 43, be sure to take in the beauty of corn and soybean fields, the rolling green hills, the chiseled bluffs, the breathtaking Minnesota rural countryside. But take an extra minute to enjoy that true daughter of Winona and Southeast Minnesota. Near mile marker nine, along this tranquil thoroughfare stands a street sign, its steel post hidden by clusters of blue flowers placed in memoriam. Blue flowers symbolize melancholy of lost love, and for many, that lost love is Madeline Kingsbury.
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My ❤️ is saddened and I’m truly sorry for your loss. There’s a fire that burns in the pit of stomach knowing those two children have to grow up without their parents due to nothing more then pure jealousy and stupidity. And the only justice that would ever be good enough would be a tall oak tree and a short piece of rope!!!!!
This story is beautifully written given the context. Great author!
While the evidence is so much against Fravel and I personally believe he is responsible, it is important for every single one of us to allow the legal system to do a job here. Fravel, like every other American is innocent until proven guilty by the court system. What has been happening with editorials and commentaries is a presumption of guilt. This is any presumption within the criminal justice system that a person is guilty of a crime, for example a presumption that a suspect is guilty unless or until proven to be innocent. Let Fravel have his time in court. Let the jury decide his innocence or guilt.
Are you referencing the headline? It’s a quote from Madeline.