A 75-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the unsolved murder of a woman whose body was found in a rural Northern California river nearly 18 years ago, authorities said.
Patricia Joseph was reported missing on July 15, 2005, and her body was discovered three days later in the Klamath River, about 25 miles north of her Fort Jones home.
The autopsy revealed that the 56-year-old man died of blunt force trauma and asphyxiation.
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Detectives reopened the case in 2021, using new technology to analyze evidence, leading to the Feb. 6 arrest in Yreka of Philip William Frase on suspicion of murder, the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Monday. .
It was not known Tuesday if Frase has an attorney who can speak on his behalf.
Suspect Philip William Frase was arrested on February 6 in connection with the unsolved murder of Patricia Joseph. (Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
On a Facebook page dedicated to Joseph’s memory, his family said that “justice has been served a long time ago.”
“We miss you so much, Mom,” the family said in a post Tuesday.
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The evidence in the case was not specified, but the analysis “produced compelling results connecting Frase to Patricia’s murder,” the sheriff’s statement said.
Authorities did not name a possible motive or say whether Frase and Joseph knew each other. Phrase was being held in lieu of $2 million bail.
