In the autumn of 2016, concern began to mount for 51-year-old Jana VanSickle after she hadn't been seen or heard from for a few weeks. Her son officially reported her missing to the Phoenix Police Department on November 28, 2016, sparking an investigation into her disappearance. The search for Jana took a grim turn in December of that year when a body was discovered in a gun safe out in the desert on the Gila River Indian Community.
The safe had been partially exposed by wild animals.
Inside the grim discovery, investigators found the decomposing body of a female, along with. 22 caliber shell casings and an empty beer can. The body was covered in a white powder, identified as calcium hydroxide, and the safe had been welded shut. It wasn't until December 28, 2017, that dental records confirmed the remains belonged to Jana VanSickle. The medical examiner determined her cause of death to be gunshot wounds, ruling it a homicide.
For nearly two years, the case remained a mystery until a witness came forward to investigators on October 5, 2018. This witness reported hearing a man named Paul Palandri admit to killing VanSickle on several occasions. According to the witness, the 59-year-old Palandri claimed he shot her twice with a. 22 caliber gun in the back room of his home because he believed she had burned down his barn. He also allegedly had others sand down the walls where the shooting occurred.
Following this breakthrough, Paul Palandri was arrested in October 2018 and faced accusations of second-degree murder. Police learned that VanSickle had told a friend that Palandri was bad for her and that she had intended to end their relationship. Palandri, however, denied killing her.
