Officials have discovered the remains of a missing San Diego woman, whose family stated she was last seen in late 2023.
According to a press release from the San Diego Sheriff’s Office (SDSO), on July 16, investigators served a search warrant on a property in Valley Center, Calif., which is about 40 miles northeast of San Diego, “after receiving information related to an ongoing investigation.”
During the search for 65-year-old Nadine Jett, officials discovered “skeletal remains of a human body buried on the 20-acre property.”
On Thursday, August 21, officials announced that the Medical Examiner’s Office had confirmed Jett’s remains.
“At this time, no arrests have been made,” the press release read. “Detectives with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office continue to pursue all leads and are working diligently to uncover the circumstances surrounding Ms. Jett’s death.”
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, FOX 5, and CBS 8, Jett owned the 20-acre property.
Before being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, the 65-year-old worked as a divorce and family law attorney for nearly three decades. She has fostered several children over the years, including Tiffany Lucci and her three identical quadruplet sisters.
Tiffany told local media that Jett was last seen by her sisters in December 2023, shortly after being diagnosed with cancer.
Although the Sheriff’s Office did not specify when Jett was first reported missing, the Lucci sisters and several other close friends expressed concern to local media about her whereabouts.
According to the Union-Tribune and NBC San Diego, the sisters spoke with Jett’s caretaker, a man who had previously been her foster son, while she was battling cancer.
According to the sisters, the man repeatedly told them that Jett was too sick to see or speak with them, and by Easter the following year, he informed them that Jett had died and was cremated in Mexico.
Tiffany told the outlets that she and deputies went to the property shortly after to investigate but discovered it had been cleared out. A neighbor had previously written to the Valley Roadrunner that squatters were living on Jett’s property.
The Lucci sisters claimed the Mexican consulate had no record of Jett’s cremation and that the caretaker refused to show them a death certificate. The sisters told NBC San Diego that they reported Jett missing approximately a year ago.
“When she disappeared, we started to investigate,” Paris Lucci, another of Jett’s foster daughters, told NBC San Diego. “We reached out to our neighbors. We reached out to anyone who lived on the ranch.”
On August 23, the SDSO did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for additional information.
According to the Lucci sisters, investigators were tipped off by a realtor who was working with Jett’s caretaker to sell the property.
According to Jett’s foster daughters, the realtor allegedly informed them that the house sale had fallen out of escrow due to the caretaker’s refusal to provide a death certificate and his multiple days-long disappearances, according to NBC San Diego.
Back in July, the police reported that they had searched Jett’s property and discovered human remains.
The four sisters are now searching for answers about Jett’s disappearance and death.
“My sisters and I were all crying and devastated, but it’s over. “We finally got the closure we needed, but it’s still going to be a fight to figure out who did this and why,” Tiffany told CBS 8.
Tiffany says the sisters “considered [Jett] as our mother, not our foster mom.”
“Nadine was just an amazing woman who just taught us right from wrong, always there for us, always at her basketball games, always at any kind of event we needed a mom to be at,” Paris said, according to NBC San Diego. “She was a wonderful lady, and she’s made a mark in our life, and, you know, she fought for us, and what we’re doing now is we’re fighting for her.”
