An Amber Alert issued for missing Texas teen Kirsten Fritch earlier this week has ended in tragedy and unthinkable heartbreak for Kirsten’s already-grieving family and friends. The Amber Alert issued on behalf of 16-year-old Kirsten Fritch was issued on November 8, the same day that her mother, 37-year-old Cynthia Morris, and her little sister, 13-year-old Breanna Pavilicek, were found shot to death in the family’s Baytown, Texas, home at about 10:30 a.m.
According to local law enforcement, Cynthia had been shot in her neck and torso, and Breanna was shot in her shoulder, head, and neck. The family’s car, a cream 2008 PT Cruiser, Kirsten Fritch , and Kirsten’s new boyfriend of just a few weeks, 21-year-old Jesse Dobbs, were all missing from the home, reports Houston Chronicle. According to Kirsten Fritch’s loved ones, she met the much older Dobbs online.
Kirsten Nicole Fritch’s mother Cynthia Morris pictures https://t.co/u9JNJxHS0p pic.twitter.com/KcRWqWixdH
— China News (@ChinaNews86) November 10, 2016
Investigators were immediately concerned about Kirsten Fritch’s well-being. Initially, it was unknown whether she had left with Dobbs of her own free will or had been abducted; either way, police sought her safe return. They feared that Fritch may be in immediate grave danger based on what they found in her home.
According to Kirsten Fitch’s grandmother, Barbara DeRamus, she was the first one to realize that something was terribly wrong at her daughter’s home. She’d gone to check on her daughter and granddaughters after being notified that Cynthia hadn’t gone to work and that no one had been able to contact her.
When DeRamus got to the home that Barbara shared with her daughters, Breanna and Kirsten Fritch, she discovered the door partially open; she had a terrible feeling, and immediately called police. First responders to the Baytown home made a horrific discovery; Cynthia and Breanna had been dead for hours, and Kirsten and Dobbs were nowhere to be found.
According to DeRamus, she had met Kirsten Fritch’s boyfriend not long before the double murder and her granddaughter’s disappearance. She claims that she “had a bad feeling” about Jesse Dobbs from the very beginning, and she adds that the 21-year-old had essentially moved into Kirsten Fritch’s home without her mother’s permission.
“He just seemed like a low-life. I thought, ‘What was Kristen doing with this idiot?’”
WATCH LIVE: Jesse Dobbs faces murder charges after body found in Texas City identified as Kirsten Fritch https://t.co/NTqvjx9KUu pic.twitter.com/v44fcKM5eb
— KPRC 2 Houston (@KPRC2) November 10, 2016
Kirsten’s grandmother told investigators and the media that Kirsten’s mother had recently told her daughter that her boyfriend had to get out of the family home. Shortly thereafter, Kirsten Fritch and Dobbs were missing and Cynthia and Breanna were murdered. The public was notified of Kirsten Fritch’s disappearance by Amber Alert shortly thereafter, and investigators began searching for the missing and endangered teen and her “person of interest”
?Terribly sad, tragic.
— Bay Area Texan Fan (@BayareaTexanfan) November 11, 2016
Rest In Peace #KirstenFritch and family. May justice be served swiftly. https://t.co/OSXaqCmClC
— Steve Elsner (@steve_elsner) November 11, 2016
On Tuesday night, mere hours after the bodies of Kirsten Fritch’s mother and sister were found shot to death, Jesse Dobbs was taken into custody at a Texas City bar. Dobbs reportedly entered Shenanigan’s Bar at around 9 p.m. on Tuesday night, barefoot and possibly wet, and asking for a glass of water. According to investigators, he made a phone call to an unidentified individual, asking them to come pick him up. It is unknown at this time exactly how, but law enforcement was made aware of his whereabouts, and arrested him at the bar shortly thereafter.
Dobbs was taken into custody by Texas City police, but Kirsten Fritch was nowhere to be found. On Tuesday night, Dobbs was charged with resisting arrest, search, or transport. Despite eyewitness reports indicating that he did not fight or resist arrest. At that time, he had not yet been charged in connection with the murders of Kirsten Fritch’s family or with regard to Kirsten Fritch’s unexplained disappearance.
After Dobbs’ arrest, investigators looking for Kirsten Fritch focused their search efforts on the area near Shenanigan’s Bar where Dobbs was arrested. The Wednesday search for Kirsten utilized the resources of the FBI, state, and local police. On Thursday, Texas EquuSearch volunteers assisted in the search for Kirsten Fritch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BezAtatyxV0
On Thursday afternoon, a body that was believed to belong to Kirsten was found in a wooded area near Shenanigan’s by a search volunteer on an ATV. As People reports, that body was later confirmed to belong to Kirsten Fritch . Police have yet to confirm how Kirsten is believed to have died, although investigators have mentioned that it could involve a firearm.
“We’ll be looking for a gun.”
Jesse Dobbs, who remains in custody in the Galveston County Jail on charges related to resisting arrest, has yet to be charged with any of the murders. However, as the sole suspect in the Baytown murders, as well as the death of Kirsten Fritch, it is expected that he will soon be facing three murder charges in connection with the crimes. It has been reported that the Galveston County District Attorney is considering capital murder charges in all three cases.
“At this time no charges have been filed on Jesse Dobbs in connection with the murders, however he is currently considered a suspect in both, the murders of Kirsten and the murders of Cynthia and Breanna in Baytown. He does however; remain in the Galveston County Jail on the resisting arrest charge.”
RT #KirstenFritch age 16 #AmberAlert teen abducted after mom & 13 y/o sister shot dead by suspect Jesse Dobbs #Baytown #Texas #TX pic.twitter.com/ccDDBWxzyN
— Locate The Missing (@MissingCases) November 9, 2016
Police add that Jesse Dobbs has been completely uncooperative in regards to the search for Kirsten Fritch and the investigation as a whole. He has requested an attorney.
Investigators working the Kirsten Fritch case were, obviously, hoping for a much different end to Kirsten’s story.
“It’s a tragic ending to something that we hoped would have a different (outcome). In the blink of an eye, you’re losing three family members.”
At this point, the investigation into the deaths of Kirsten Fritch and her family is still ongoing; at this point, police don’t have a motive for the crimes.
Update : Local media is reporting that Kirsten Fritch’s cause of death was “multiple stab wounds.” As Houston Chronicle reports, Kirsten Fritch’s body was found with “sharp force injury” to her “neck, abdomen and chest,” according to the medical examiner.
[Featured Image by Locate The Missing ]
