CRIPPLE CREEK, Colo. — Patrick Frazee, the man accused of killing his fiancee Kelsey Berreth, is due to make his first official appearance in Teller County court on Monday.

Frazee is expected to formally charged with first-degree murder in Berreth’s disappearance.

At a hearing last week, a judge handed custody of the couple’s 1-year-old daughter Kaley to Berreth’s parents.

Until his arrest on Dec. 21 on suspicion of murder and solicitation of murder, the girl had been staying with Frazee.

Berreth was last seen shopping with her daughter at a Safeway store in Woodland Park on Thanksgiving.

Berreth’s body has not been found but police believe she is dead. Investigators have not said what led to Frazee’s arrest, only saying they believe the killing happened inside her home in Woodland Park northwest of Colorado Springs.

The cellphone of Berreth, a flight instructor, was tracked to Idaho three days after Thanksgiving.

Despite there being no body, legal experts don’t expect the case from moving forward.

“You don’t actually need a body to try or convict somebody of murder,” Christopher Decker said. “One of the things they have to do is provide that she is dead and that he knowingly and intentionally caused that death.”