Nadine Jett dies in fatal Valley Center homicide

Nadine Jett dies in fatal Valley Center homicide

Fatal Valley Center homicide death of Nadine Jett

Investigators located the missing Valley Center woman, last seen in 2023, buried on her property late last month after a search warrant was obtained by the San Diego Sheriff’s Department. The San Diego County Medical Examiner officially confirmed the skeletal remains discovered by investigators were indeed those of Nadine Jett, the property owner.

Jett, a 65-year-old attorney with nearly three decades of service in San Diego County, had been battling pancreatic cancer when she went missing. She had previously served as a foster parent to four identical quadruplets, with her foster daughters Paris and Tiffany Lucci seeing her for the last time in December 2023, shortly after her diagnosis.

“My sisters and I were all crying, devastated, but it’s closure like we finally got the closure we needed, but it’s still gonna be a fight. You know to find out who did this and why did they do it,” Tiffany Lucci, Jett’s foster daughter, expressed.

A fifth foster child, Charles von Ferdinand, reportedly cared for Jett on her 20-acre property. Von Ferdinand allegedly told the foster daughters Jett died in Mexico during Easter of the previous year and that her body was cremated abroad.

However, inconsistencies in von Ferdinand’s account led the sisters to question his story. They reported he began isolating Jett before her death, denied visitation requests, and refused to provide photos during her final days.

“I looked him in the eyes, and I said, ‘Can I have the death certificate?’ He said ‘No,’ and I was just like there’s something odd about that,” Paris stated.

Von Ferdinand is now facing legal issues, having pleaded not guilty to forging property records and allegedly transferring ownership of Jett’s ranch and two other Los Angeles properties into his name. The property remains listed for $1.07 million on Redfin.

Paris also mentioned speaking with the real estate agent involved in the property’s attempted sale. Lucci shared that an agent once noted von Ferdinand suggested planting roses in a specific, suspicious area of the property, near where digging activity had allegedly occurred.

Following the sisters’ report, the San Diego Sheriff’s Department obtained a search warrant for Jett’s property on July 16. Sheriff’s Homicide Unit officers conducted an extensive search on the property over multiple days. Aerial footage captured at least a dozen investigators on the scene, with equipment indicating deep excavation efforts.

A CBS 8 news helicopter observed a Medical Examiner’s van entering the property on day two of the investigation, confirming the discovery of remains.

Von Ferdinand’s attorney maintains his client was a devoted son to Jett and denies any involvement in her death. No suspect has been arrested by the Sheriff’s Office at this time.