Where Is Key Scott Peterson Witness Amber Frey Today?

When news broke in late 2002 that a missing California woman named Laci Peterson had vanished on Christmas Eve while eight months pregnant, public attention quickly focused on her husband, Scott Peterson. But as investigators dug deeper into Peterson's life, they uncovered another woman who had no idea she had become part of one of America's most infamous murder cases.

That woman was Amber Frey, a single mother from California who had been dating Peterson in the weeks before Laci disappeared. Frey initially believed Peterson was an eligible bachelor. Instead, she learned through news reports that the man she had been seeing was the husband of a missing pregnant woman. After contacting investigators, she agreed to help authorities build their case against Peterson.

What followed transformed Frey from an unsuspecting girlfriend into one of the prosecution's most important witnesses. Working closely with investigators, she secretly recorded dozens of conversations with Peterson while authorities searched for Laci and her unborn son, Conner. Those recordings offered jurors an unusual window into Peterson's behavior during the investigation and helped shape public understanding of the case.

More than two decades later, Frey remains one of the most recognizable figures connected to the Peterson case.

Before she became a household name, Frey was living a relatively quiet life in California's Central Valley. Born in February 1975, she worked as a massage therapist and was raising her young daughter as a single mother.

In November 2002, Frey met Peterson through a mutual friend. Peterson told her he was unmarried and looking for a serious relationship. By Frey's later account, nothing about him suggested he was hiding a wife, much less a pregnant one. The two began dating and quickly grew close. Peterson met Frey's daughter, and the relationship appeared to be moving forward. Frey later said she believed she had met a caring, successful man who was interested in building a future together.

On December 9, 2002—just weeks before Laci disappeared—Peterson told Frey he had "lost" his wife and that it would be his first Christmas without her. Frey later understood those comments to mean that Peterson was widowed. At the time, she had no reason to question the story

Frey believed Peterson would be traveling over the holidays, and on December 23, she asked him if there was an address she could mail him items on his trip. In response, Peterson rented a private mailbox and gave Frey the address, saying he would be hunting with his father in Maine. A day later, on December 24, Laci disappeared from the couple's home in Modesto, Calif. Family members initially hoped she had been abducted or injured while walking the family's dog.

Days after Laci disappeared, a friend sent Frey a newspaper clipping about the missing pregnant woman. Frey immediately recognized Peterson and was stunned to learn that the man she had been dating was actually the husband of a missing woman. On December 30, 2002, per court documents, she contacted police, provided investigators with evidence of their relationship and agreed to record future conversations with Peterson.

Over the following months, she recorded numerous phone calls with Peterson as he traveled, gave media interviews and publicly presented himself as a worried husband searching for his missing wife. The recordings captured Peterson discussing everyday topics, making future plans and expressing affection toward Frey while the search for Laci dominated national headlines.

The recordings did not directly prove murder, but prosecutors argued they revealed Peterson's state of mind and documented a pattern of deception during the investigation. Jurors heard him continue pursuing the relationship with Frey even as volunteers searched for his missing wife and unborn son.

One of the most widely discussed calls occurred on New Year's Eve 2002 while Peterson attended a candlelight vigil for Laci. During the conversation, he falsely told Frey that he was celebrating the holiday in Paris. Prosecutors later argued that the deception demonstrated Peterson's willingness to maintain elaborate lies even as the investigation intensified.

As details of the affair emerged, Frey's identity quickly became public. The intense media scrutiny that followed was unlike anything she had experienced before. Tabloids, television programs and newspapers closely followed her every move.

Some early coverage focused on the affair itself, but public opinion shifted as details emerged showing that Frey had been unaware Peterson was married and had voluntarily assisted investigators.

Frey's attorneys eventually held a press conference in which she publicly addressed the situation. Standing before cameras, Frey explained that she had not known Peterson was married when they began dating. She expressed sympathy for Laci's family and emphasized her commitment to helping investigators.

The appearance helped reshape public perception. Rather than viewing Frey as part of the scandal, many came to see her as another victim of Peterson's deception.

By the time Peterson's murder trial began in 2004, Frey had become one of the prosecution's most anticipated witnesses. Over several days on the witness stand, she detailed her relationship with Peterson and described the lies he had told her. Jurors also heard portions of the recorded conversations.

Defense attorneys attempted to portray the affair as evidence of marital infidelity rather than murder. Prosecutors, however, argued that Peterson's conduct toward Frey demonstrated consciousness of guilt and helped establish motive. They highlighted the fact that Peterson continued to pursue the relationship and tell Frey elaborate falsehoods even as volunteers searched for Laci.

While Frey's testimony was only one piece of a much larger case involving forensic evidence, witness testimony and circumstantial evidence, it became one of the trial's defining moments. In November 2004, Peterson, who’d pleaded not guilty, was convicted of the first-degree murder of Laci and the second-degree murder of their unborn son, Conner.

More than two decades after the investigation, Frey largely lives a private life. In 2005, she published the memoir Witness: For the Prosecution of Scott Peterson, offering her account of the case and its impact on her life. She has occasionally participated in interviews and documentaries revisiting the investigation, including a 2017 appearance on 20/20 where she discussed their relationship, but has generally avoided the public spotlight.

Although Peterson has continued to challenge his conviction through appeals and efforts to introduce new evidence, Frey has consistently maintained that he is guilty. She has said that if a new trial were ever granted, she would be prepared to testify again.

Frey married a police officer in 2006 and divorced him two years later, though she kept her personal life away from public attention, even as interest in the Peterson case endured through books, films and television specials.. More than 20 years later, her name remains closely tied to the Peterson investigation—not because of any wrongdoing on her part, but because her cooperation helped expose some of the lies at the heart of one of the nation's most infamous murder cases.