Janita Gay Sites

• Missing Since 10/05/2005
• Missing From Las Vegas, Nevada
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Female
• Race White
• Date of Birth 11/14/1944 (80)
• Age 60 years old
• Height and Weight 5'6, 165 pounds
• Medical Conditions Janita spends much of her time in a wheelchair due to debilitating back, leg and hip injuries. She is classified as disabled.
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Blonde hair, green eyes. Janita's nickname is Jan.

Details of Disappearance

Janita was last seen in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 5, 2005. She was not reported missing for several months after her disappearance.

She had placed an infant daughter for adoption decades earlier, and her daughter, Michelle Perkins, got in touch with her in 2004. The two women maintained regular contact afterwards and last spoke in September 2005. Perkins became concerned when she was unable to reach her afterwards, and conferred with other members of her biological family.

The last confirmed contact was reported by a cousin, who saw Janita on October 5. None of her relatives had seen her since, and they contacted police in early 2006.

Police officers made a welfare check on Janita's apartment on west Las Vegas Drive on February 21, 2006, and her husband of eighteen years, William Sites, answered the door. William told the investigators his wife had returned to California, where the couple had lived until moving to Las Vegas 2004.

The police accepted his explanation and left without actually entering the apartment or seeing Janita. When Perkins heard the story, she became more concerned and filed a missing persons report.

William was the prime suspect in Janita's disappearance from the onset of the investigation. Their marriage had been troubled and they had frequent arguments over money and other issues. Authorities secretly placed a GPS device on his car so they could track his movements.

When investigators searched the Siteses' apartment, they found bloodstains and many of Janita's personal belongings, including her pets, cellular phone and driver's license.

William began dating another woman in December 2005, two months after his wife went missing. In July 2006, he reportedly told her he had killed Janita. His girlfriend kept his story to herself for two months before going to authorities.

Investigators interviewed William about Janita's disappearance four times. He initially claimed Janita had moved back to California alone, then said she had left him for another man. On the third interview he said Janita was deceased; he claimed she had threatened him with a knife and he hit or pushed her in self-defense, causing her death.

On the fourth interview he confessed to murder, stating he had beaten Janita to death with a hammer sometime during October 2005. William said he had dismembered his wife's body three days after her death, put the remains in bags, and put the bags in the trash.

In October 2006, William was arrested and charged with Janita's murder. Authorities stated they had not found Janita's body and did not expect to find it, but they believed they had enough evidence to prove she was murdered by her husband.

William admitted to causing Janita's death and concealing her body, but maintained it had been self-defense. In September 2007, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, destroying evidence, and the theft of $2,500 in Janita's Social Security benefits. He was sentenced to 10 to 25 years in prison.

Janita had been a Bank of America executive, but retired on disability prior to her disappearance. Foul play is suspected in her case due to the circumstances involved.