Adam Fravel Arrested: Human Remains Found in Madeline Kingsbury Case

adam fravel

Facebook (Adam Fravel and Madeline Kingsbury) Adam Fravel and Madeline Kingsbury.

Adam Fravel, the father of missing Minnesota woman Madeline Kingsbury’s children, was arrested on June 7, 2023, after human remains were discovered, the Winona Police Department announced.

“A Fillmore County deputy found human remains on Wednesday afternoon north of Mabel, Minnesota,” the police department wrote in a statement posted to its Facebook page on the evening of June 7, 2023.

Kingsbury is a Winona, Minnesota, clinical research professional for the Mayo Clinic who disappeared on March 31, 2023. She vanished after dropping her kids off at daycare, according to a Winona Police Department news release.

Fravel works as a software engineer in Winona, according to his LinkedIn page.

Fravel issued a statement to KAAL on April 12, 2023, about Kingsbury’s disappearance saying, “Over the course of the last 12 days my family and I have been subject to a myriad of accusations regarding the disappearance of the mother of my children, Maddi Kingsbury. During these last 12 days I have cooperated with law enforcement at every turn, including sitting down for multiple interviews with Winona County law enforcement.”

Fravel added, according to the television station, “I did not have anything to do with Maddi’s disappearance. I want the mother of my 5-year-old and 2-year-old to be found and brought home safely. I want that more than anything.”

Here’s what you need to know:


Police Say Adam Fravel Was Arrested Because of the Body’s Discovery

adam fravel

Facebook (Adam Fravel)Adam Fravel.

“The body was found in some brush off Highway 43 and was located using information generated during the Madeline Kingsbury investigation,” the Winona Police statement said.

“Because of this, law enforcement personnel have arrested Adam Fravel on probable cause in connection to her disappearance,” the statement continued.

Police wrote that the body has not yet been identified.

“Numerous members of the Winona Police Department, the Winona County Sheriff’s Office, the Fillmore County Sheriff’s Office, the Southeast Minnesota Violent Crimes Enforcement Team, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) agents and crime scene personnel, and the Southern Minnesota Regional Medical Examiner’s Office are working as quickly as possible to positively identify the remains,” police wrote.

“We are asking the community to respect the family’s privacy at this time and not to speculate on the case until further information is made available. We will share an update tomorrow once we have more information confirmed.”


Adam Fravel Was the Last Known Person to See Madeline Kingsbury, Police Said Previously

Adam Fravel

Facebook (Adam Fravel)Adam Fravel

Winona Police Chief Tom Williams said in a previous news conference that the father of Kingsbury’s children was the last known person to see her. Williams said that man, who he did not name at that time, told authorities that he drove Kingsbury’s van and then returned it to Kingsbury’s home.

According to Fravel’s LinkedIn page, he has worked under contract for a realty ads site in advertising and web media.

Fravel wrote on LinkedIn that he received an associate of arts and sciences in AAS and software and web development in May 2023 from Minnesota State College Southeast. In 2016, he received a bachelor of science degree in Management Information Systems from Winona State University, his LinkedIn page says.

He graduated from Mabel-Canton High School in 2012, where he was on the Honor’s Society, Student Council, and was in choir, football and basketball, according to his LinkedIn page. On Facebook, Fravel’s few visible photos show him with the kids he shares with Kingsbury. Kingsbury and her mother liked some of his posts.

Kingsbury, 26, was last seen “the morning of March 31 and has not had contact with friends or family since,” police wrote in an earlier news release. “She was last seen at her home in Winona, Minnesota. Kingsbury was supposed to show up for work that morning but didn’t. In addition, numerous calls and messages from friends and family went unanswered. Kingsbury was supposed to pick her children up from daycare that afternoon but didn’t show up or make arrangements. All of this is extremely out of character for her.”

Since March 31, “investigators have interviewed numerous people, including family and friends. Investigators have been canvassing neighborhoods, searching areas and attempting to collect any video surveillance that might give us clues as to where Kingsbury or her van, a 2014 dark blue Chrysler Town and Country, may have traveled,” police wrote.

Recent developments “led investigators to believe a van matching the description of Kingsbury’s was seen traveling from Winona to the eastern part of Fillmore County during the day on March 31,” police wrote in the news release.

Williams said in a previous news conference that Kingsbury and the father of her children dropped their daughter, 5, and son, 2, at daycare shortly after 8 a.m. At about 8:15 a.m., Kingsbury’s vehicle returned to her residence, but she didn’t show up for work at the Mayo Clinic, police said.

Police said the father of Kingsbury’s children told them he left the home in Kingsbury’s van around 10 a.m., but she was gone when he returned.

According to Williams, the father of Kingsbury’s children “has spoken to law enforcement and told us he left the residence in Maddi’s van around 10 a.m. and returned home later in the day.”

The van remained parked in the driveway from 1:30 p.m. onward, Williams said. Authorities have searched the van and residence. They found Kingsbury’s phone, jacket, wallet and ID, he said.

In that news conference, authorities refused to comment further on Fravel.

READ NEXT: The Disappearance of Madeline Kingsbury.