The Stranger Beside Me: The Disappearance of Jamie Lai Dee

She was brilliant, beautiful, and independent — the kind of woman who seemed to have everything under control.
So when Jamie Lai Dee, a 32-year-old college graduate from the University of Michigan, suddenly vanished from her home in Phoenix, Arizona, no one could make sense of it.

Her friends thought she had moved away. Her colleagues assumed she was taking time off. Even her family, who lived out of state, believed she was just “busy.”
But weeks turned into months — and Jamie never came back.

That’s when the truth began to unfold.

A Bright Beginning

Jamie was known for her confidence, kindness, and quiet determination. She had graduated with honors, built a successful career in medical sales, and owned her own home in the growing city of Chandler, just outside Phoenix.

Her close friends — who called themselves “The 516 Girls” after their college house — described her as loyal and full of energy. “Jamie was the rock,” one said. “The one who always kept us grounded.”

When she moved to Arizona, Jamie joined a University of Michigan alumni club and quickly became part of the community. That’s where she met Brian Stewart, a charming fitness trainer who shared her love of Michigan football.

The Perfect Couple — Or So It Seemed

Jamie and Brian began dating in 2007.
She was successful and focused; he was laid-back and charismatic. A year later, they moved in together.

From the outside, they looked like the perfect couple. But beneath the surface, things weren’t so simple.

When the economy collapsed in 2009, Jamie lost her job — a devastating blow for someone who had always defined herself by her work.
Friends noticed she became distant, withdrawn, and less talkative. Even her family rarely heard from her.

“She kept everything private,” said a friend. “She didn’t want anyone to worry.”

The Day Jamie Disappeared

On the evening of March 17, 2010, Jamie and Brian were at home. According to Brian, they talked about her plans for a new job — possibly in Denver — and she seemed determined to make a change.

The next morning, she was gone.

Brian told friends that Jamie had packed up and moved to Colorado for a fresh start. At first, no one questioned it. After all, Jamie had always been independent — it sounded like something she might do.

But weeks passed, and no one heard from her.

When a friend finally contacted Jamie’s parents, they realized no one had spoken to their daughter in nearly ten weeks. That’s when police were called.

A Web of Secrets

Detectives searched Jamie’s house and found her luggage still there — along with her passport and personal belongings. But her wallet and identification were missing.

The man she lived with — Brian Stewart — was suddenly at the center of the mystery.
When police questioned him, small details began to unravel. His birth date didn’t match official records. His ID looked suspicious.

Then came the revelation that stunned everyone: “Brian Stewart” wasn’t who he said he was.

His real name was Rick Wayne Valentini, a man from Michigan who had legally changed his identity years earlier.

A Double Life Exposed

Investigators discovered that Rick had a complicated past. He had been married before, had children, and had completely reinvented himself under a new name.

To friends in Arizona, he was simply Brian — the funny, confident fitness coach who loved sports and doted on his girlfriend.
But behind the new identity was a pattern of secrets and deception.

When detectives traced Jamie’s financial accounts, they found something strange: after she disappeared, her credit cards were still being used — mostly online.

The purchases led back to Brian’s apartment.

The Case That Shocked Arizona

Police gathered enough evidence to charge Brian (Rick) with identity fraud — and later, with responsibility for Jamie’s disappearance.

Prosecutors built their case through a series of digital clues: her unused phone, her bank accounts, and the fact that all signs of her life had simply stopped after March 18, 2010.

Jamie’s friends and family testified that she had been planning for the future, not running from it. She had even accepted a new job in Phoenix, not Denver — and was supposed to start the following week.

The Trial

In 2011, Brian Stewart — also known as Rick Valentini — went on trial.
He chose to testify, insisting that Jamie had left voluntarily and that she was still alive, living under a new name.

But prosecutors countered with evidence of deception, inconsistent stories, and financial misuse.

After deliberating for just a few hours, the jury delivered its verdict: guilty.

Aftermath

For Jamie’s parents, the verdict brought a sense of closure — but not peace. Her body has never been found.

They still keep her childhood blanket folded in a drawer, waiting for the day they can bring her home.

Friends remember Jamie as a brilliant, kind-hearted woman who simply wanted to make her own way in the world — and whose story became one of the most haunting modern mysteries of the American Southwest.