The 21-year-old mother from Glendale, Arizona who embarked on her very first physical meeting with a man whom she met on social media has not returned back home yet. Arianna Bailey Jones reportedly disappeared after their meeting on July 5, and it has now come to the attention of the authorities that her dead body was discovered in a grave site near Lake Pleasant. Dominic Scot-Glen Rodolico, age 24, has been arrested on July 11 and booked for first-degree premeditated murder.
Jones is a mother of a two-year-old boy and stylist in occupation. She reportedly has been communicating with Rodolico online before deciding to meet him physically. As per police statements and court records quoted by ABC15, AZFamily, and FOX 10 Phoenix, the duo watched a movie in Harkins Theatres located in North Phoenix on July 5. Their mobile phone data and surveillance videos placed them in a remote desert location near Lake Pleasant.
Jones stopped communicating with people through text messaging. She was declared missing on July 7 when her family discovered disturbing circumstances at her Glendale apartment, located near 59th and Northern avenues, including the destruction of her front door indicative of break-in, neglect of her dog in a kennel without food or water, among other disruptions.
The case got more intense. The detectives tracked his phone, monitored him via surveillance cameras and other types of evidence in order to narrow their search down to Rodolico. Human remains were found in the desert area by the police using the help of cadaver dogs on July 11. The man was apprehended that same day while washing his car with a wound on his hand. He is charged additionally for abandoning or concealing the body of the deceased.
Glendale Police Department spokesperson Jose Santiago confirmed key details. Investigators allege Rodolico visited the burial site multiple times before and after the incident, purchased supplies used in the burial, and that physical evidence including items linked to the movie date was found at the scene. Rodolico initially told detectives that two unknown men attacked them, that Jones was stabbed, and that he escaped, but police say his story changed and evidence contradicted it.
“Rodolico was in that area several times before they actually were in the area,”
Santiago stated, noting it raised questions about planning.
These facts are gathered from police reports and court documents. Rodolico, with his previous theft records and being a probationer, is considered innocent until proven guilty. The exact cause of the death and motive behind it are still being investigated by the Glendale Police Department and Maricopa County authorities.
The mother of Jones, Sophia Sardinas, mourned:
“It’s just not fair, it’s just not fair at all to her, to me, to her son, to her brothers and her sisters… my baby deserved to be a mommy, deserved to have a family.”
This case raises broader awareness about personal safety when meeting people from social media, though investigators have not tied it specifically to a dating app. Family members have set up fundraisers for funeral costs and support for Jones’ young son.
