A California girl, Jamie was born in Los Angeles on October 12th, 1977. Her family, of Tai decent, had made the decision to move to the United States in search of a better life. Jamie was a graduate of San Gabriel High School in San Gabriel, California, then attended the University of Michigan for Pre-Med where she was constantly pressured about success from her family. She and four close friends also known as the 'Five Sixteen Girls" were …show more content…
Although the conventional approach to locating a missing person is to initiate a criminal investigation into the disappearance, in many cases, the investigation begins at a different point—when human remains are found” (NIJRS, 2007).
Detective Moffat strongly believed that Jamie was murdered on the night of March 17th but because there was not a shred of direct evidence to suggest murder, including her body, detectives were unable to charge him. In order for detectives to charge Rick Valentini with the murder, they had to prove Jamie Laiaddee was dead. Detectives began going through Jamie’s finances including credit card statements, transactions, and bills which uncovered that Rick was using her cards only a day after she supposedly went missing.
The most alarming evidence in Rick’s Scottsdale apartment was Jamie’s wallet which was found opened on his desk. A white envelope containing shredded credit cards and ID’s which belonged to Jamie was also found on scene. “I did not cut them up” Rick Valentini claimed in an interview with Erin Moriarty, “Jamie had cut them up when she ran away and changed her identity.” Detectives tested the DNA used to seal the envelope at which they found was none other than Rick’s