By Tim Stelloh — NBC News
An informant who reported a Minnesota woman missing before her body was found in a warehouse last week said he tried to get her help for his drug addiction but was threatened by a man authorities have identified as a person of interest in his case, police documents show.
The person of interest, Joseph Jorgenson, 40, was charged with second-degree murder in the killing of a second missing woman, whose dismembered remains were discovered in another warehouse on June 28.
The informant called the Minnesota Human Trafficking Investigators Task Force and said a friend, Fanta Xayavong, 33, was missing and possibly a victim of sex trafficking, according to search warrant applications filed this month and obtained by Minneapolis NBC affiliate KARE.
Fanta Xayavong.St. Paul Police Department
According to the documents, she told authorities that before Xayavong disappeared about two years ago, she had struggled with drug addiction and he had tried to get her to rehab.
"JORGENSON threatened to kill him," the documents say, adding that the informant provided text messages showing the threats.
The insider, who did not respond to a request for comment, described Jorgenson as "very abusive" to Xayavong, according to the documents.
He contacted authorities after learning that the remains of another woman linked to Jorgenson, Manijeh Mani Starren, had been found in a storage unit, St. Paul police spokesman Mike Ernster told reporters last week.
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Authorities confirmed with her family that Xayavong had last been seen in July 2021, according to the documents. He was reported missing on May 25, Ernster said.
Both women had had affairs with Jorgenson, Ernster said.
The applications, filed in Ramsey County District Court, sought access to the property surrounding Jorgenson's suburban apartment, along with his email, Facebook and Uber accounts.
Xayavong's body was found July 6 in a storage unit in Coon Rapids, about 25 miles northwest of St. Paul, St. Paul police said in a statement last week.
Ernster said the manner of death was homicide. He did not elaborate on the cause of death.
According to a probable cause statement in Starren's case, his dismembered remains were found in a warehouse in Woodbury, about 9 miles southeast of St. Paul.
Starren's father reported her missing on May 1 and told authorities he had struggled with drug addiction and mental health issues and was supposed to have gone to a drug treatment center when he disappeared, according to the document.
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During her father's last call with her, on April 18, she appeared paranoid and scared, and he believed she was afraid of her boyfriend, the document says.
Authorities later found security video showing Jorgenson pushing her into her St. Paul apartment on April 21, according to the affidavit.
Starren was not seen leaving the home again, though Jorgenson was later caught on video leaving his apartment with two duffel bags and a suitcase, and in a search of his apartment, authorities found large amounts of blood around the apartment that someone appeared to have cleaned up, the document says.
Jorgenson was arrested June 26 after he allegedly started a fire in his apartment when authorities tried to stop him, police said in a statement. Authorities said he struggled with the officers and tried to disarm them. Jorgenson's bail was set at $5 million. An attorney for Jorgenson could not be reached for comment. A family member did not respond to a request for comment.