Arizona Man Faces Murder Charge After Mother of 2 Disappears Following First in Person Meeting Near Lake Pleasant

GLENDALE, AZ — A 24-year-old Arizona man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after investigators found human remains in a remote desert area near Lake Pleasant, where a 21-year-old mother had disappeared earlier this month. Police say the woman, Arianna Bailey Jones, went missing after leaving to meet someone she had connected with on social media.

Authorities identified the suspect as Dominic Scot-Glen Rodolico. Jones was reported missing by her family after they had not heard from her since July 5.

How the investigation began

The case started on July 7 when a relative alerted police about Jones’s disappearance. Officers later checked her apartment and found her dog locked in a kennel without food or water, apparently left alone for several days.

Investigators also spoke with a friend who said Jones had planned to meet an acquaintance for a movie on July 5. Police then reviewed cellphone data and surveillance footage to track who she was with that day.

What police say happened

Glendale police said Jones and Rodolico had met on social media and were seeing each other in person for the first time when she vanished. It is still not clear whether they had actually arranged to go to a movie.

On Saturday, cadaver dogs found human remains in a shallow grave in the desert. Investigators believe the remains are Jones’s, but formal identification has not been completed and the cause of death has not been released.

Arrest and court details

Rodolico was taken into custody Saturday and is being held on $2 million bond. Court documents say he was arrested while cleaning the back of his car and had a hand injury at the time.

Detectives say Rodolico told them that he and Jones were attacked by two unknown men who stabbed her, giving him time to get away. Investigators, however, say they believe he planned to kill her.

Family search and public attention

After Jones disappeared, her mother, Sophia Sardinas, spent a week handing out flyers and searching for her daughter. Sardinas said she wants people to remember Jones for who she was, not only for the circumstances of her disappearance.

Jones’s family has also set up a GoFundMe as the case continues.

TNSO covers California, Nevada, and Arizona as the story unfolds.