Daughters of missing foster mom visit ranch as investigators dig in fraud probe
SAN DIEGO (KSWB/KUSI) — The daughters of a missing Southern California foster mother battling cancer are pleading for answers as investigators continue to search for her remains and dig into allegations of fraud involving her property.
Sheriff’s detectives this week dug up a section of land at the 20-acre ranch belonging to Nadine Jett, 65, who has been missing for months. Jett, a retired attorney from Los Angeles, was fighting pancreatic cancer at the time she disappeared.
On Saturday, Jett’s foster daughters, Tiffany and Madison Lucci, visited the property in Valley Center, California, for the first time since she vanished. They described the home — Jett’s retirement retreat — as overrun by squatters and littered with debris.
“Definitely emotional. This was Nadine’s retirement home… It’s definitely not cared for. There’s a lot of junk everywhere,” Tiffany Lucci said.
“I feel very empty,” added Madison Lucci. “She always loved this property, and looking at it now — it’s trashed. She would have never wanted that.”
About 25 yards from Jett’s house, deputies recently spent two days excavating a large hole, searching for human remains. The Lucci sisters believe their foster brother, Cedric Von Ferdinand — also known as Charles — buried Jett there early last year.
The sisters say Von Ferdinand has offered conflicting accounts of Jett’s fate, including claims she died at local hospitals, in Mexico, or was cremated — but no death certificate or remains have been found.
Von Ferdinand is now the subject of two investigations, a homicide inquiry and a real estate fraud case. He and Raymond Joseph Alto, a notary, face a dozen charges, including forgery and grand theft, after allegedly forging Jett’s signature to seize ownership of her ranch, valued at $1 million.
“It’s very overwhelming,” Tiffany Lucci said. “I don’t see why these individuals decided to defraud Nadine while she was dying. It just shows how sick people are. Nadine didn’t deserve that at all. She was a wonderful woman, a well-respected attorney… she definitely deserves justice.”
Real estate agent Noel Lawton of Compass Real Estate recently told Nexstar's KSWB/KUSI that she first met Ferdinand last summer, shortly after Jett’s daughters were told of their mother’s alleged death. Lawton said Ferdinand was attempting to sell the ranch for $1 million, claiming he wanted to give the proceeds to Jett’s four foster daughters.
“I saw what was on the tax rolls, the preliminary title report, and he was named as the owner,” Lawton said. “But he couldn’t produce a death certificate, and that started raising red flags with me, escrow and title.”
Lawton said Ferdinand requested that any buyer plant a rose garden in Jett’s memory, a detail that has since gained new significance. Last week, San Diego County sheriff’s homicide investigators began digging near Jett’s home in the exact location where Ferdinand allegedly wanted the garden planted, searching for possible remains.
Sheriff’s investigators have not yet released additional information about the excavation or whether any remains were found.
Neighbors and community members have been leaving flowers and signs at the property demanding justice for Jett. The Lucci sisters said they will continue fighting for the woman who they said treated them as her own children.
“Best mother anyone could ask for. She saved us,” Madison Lucci said.
“She fought for us all our life, so we are going to continue to fight for her,” Tiffany Lucci added.