Forensic Files - Season 6, Episode 25 - Bagging a Killer - Full Episode | Forensic Files

[Music] 911 emergency i can't find my daughter nine-year-old valerie jackson vanished
from her spokane washington home without a trace the search for her whereabouts included
almost every neighborhood and the area's mountain and forest regions but the key
to solving the mystery was an investigative tool 10 000 miles away in space [Music]
spokane washington is a vibrant city the center of an area known as the inland northwest
many residents looking to raise a family settle several miles east of the city in
the spokane valley where the schools are good crime is low and families feel safe
brad jackson a truck driver and his daughter valerie lived here in a home they shared with brad's parents
brad had sole custody of valerie because the child's mother roseanne pleasant mysteriously disappeared seven years ago
she had a drug problem in october of 1999 valerie had just turned nine years old
she was a very bright fourth grader at the mcdonald elementary school just a few blocks from her home just saw a
vibrant little girl if somebody was in an argument she'd try and mend it and fix it and she was she was a great
little girl never got in trouble monday morning october 18th started out just like any other school day until
something went terribly wrong i can't explain my daughter okay how old is she nice okay she didn't go to school
today nowhere just getting ready to go and she went outside to play for a while because she
was done early anger she's a white female yes little redhead brad said valerie had been
playing in the backyard with her dog while he was in the basement doing laundry later he heard valerie leave for school
through the garage door and then he heard her go out into the front yard he was very exact he said exactly 8 32
he walked out the front door and found her missing found her backpack laying on the front doorstep
brad jackson frantically searched the neighborhood knocking on doors searching for his daughter before calling police
okay what is she wearing she's got blue jeans with a dark blue down the side purple socks
coats bright pink with uh i think like little blue flowers on it that call mobilized not just police but
also a tightly knit neighborhood i got home at 9 00 a.m and my mother-in-law called me about
five after and said there's a little redhead girl missing on blasi and i knew right away it was
valerie so i raced over there brad was in the front yard and i went over there and hugged him and
i said let's find her normally when we get missing kids i mean they're found either in the house or at
a friend's house plane you know and they're they're cleared within 45 minutes at the most to an hour
but the little girl was nowhere to be found valerie's grandmother made a televised
plea for her safe return please whoever took her were asking for her safe return
valerie you know how we always hug and kiss every night honey well we're still giving them to you
as the search continued neighbors began calling police with leads so i'm right down the street from her
that little girl was kidnapped i know you have something that that might be able to help you okay what do you got in
the last couple weeks there's been a blue blazer and a man about six feet too light colored hair
unfortunately none of these tips checked out parents feared something sinister had
invaded their quiet neighborhood we were all terrified we wouldn't let our kids walk to school
and we didn't want ours to be the next days went by with no sign of nine-year-old valerie jackson
flyers were posted in stores in car windows and on the internet newspapers and television stations asked
the community to report anything suspicious as a parent you're concerned because i
have a child the same age that here there's potentially a person who's loose in the community preying on
school children an abduction by a stranger was one possibility but problems in the jackson family
suggested another the fact that her mother had been reported missing was listed as a missing
person in 1992 and that either her mother or someone for her mother could have taken valerie
but the last time anyone saw roseanne pleasant valerie's mother was seven years earlier in 1992.
roseanne's brother didn't believe his sister had anything to do with valerie's disappearance
he pointed the fingers squarely at brad we believed that he had sold her into a pornography
ring to get money he was raising money for a reward so we felt that once the money got high
enough that he would pay someone off or he had he had drug problems we didn't know
detectives searched the jackson home for clues in valerie's room were some blood stains
on her pillow brad jackson told police that valerie had a nosebleed the night before she
disappeared police also found a prescription for valerie for the antidepressant paxil
they learned that the normally cheerful little girl was in counseling because of
a stressful relationship with danette schroeder one of her father's girlfriends danette and valerie argued frequently
and fought danette suggested to brad that valerie should receive therapy that was when she was given the
antidepressant medication and forensic scientists found something else in valerie's bed
two red hairs they were identified as pubic hair and appeared to be similar to brad jackson's
but pubic hair can be transferred from room to room on socks the evidence could be meaningless or
an indication of sexual abuse police also thought it was odd that brad jackson was able to recall much more
about valerie's clothing on the day she disappeared than most parents would usually remember
he knew exactly every article clothing that valerie jackson was wearing he was able to describe it to the police down
to her purple socks and while valerie did have a history of bloody noses there was no other evidence inside the home to
corroborate brad's story i didn't find any evidence in the house other than on the pillowcases of her
having a bloody nose no evidence of her stopping the bloody nose such as toilet paper towels or
anything laying around with a search warrant jackson's pickup truck and automobile
were searched for evidence but police found nothing in either vehicle a grandparent a brother or sister two
weeks after valerie disappeared residents of the spokane valley held a candlelight vigil
praying for her safe return [Music] few knew at this point that the girl's father was a suspect
he'd made statements to me he knew he was being followed by the news media there was neighbors following him all
the time he was always having to lose tales he was very paranoid about it but surprisingly police weren't
following brad jackson at all why because they didn't have to when police searched jackson's car and
truck for evidence they left something inside of each vehicle it was a device called
a global positioning system or gps 10 000 miles above the earth 28 global positioning satellites circled
the globe each one beams back the precise time as kept by an atomic clock since the signals have different
distances to travel and therefore reach the earth at different times a computerized receiver can translate that
information into an exact position to within 30 feet the gps receiver will record that
location if we move to another location it will know the difference in time and how long we have spent at a time exactly
to within milliseconds the location of the vehicle can then be monitored by the police
after the gps transmitters were hidden in jackson's vehicles detective madsen took a calculated risk
he confronted jackson with his suspicion that he had murdered his own daughter i didn't know if he buried her i just
took a gamble the fact that we hadn't found her this had been over a week and the fact that she hadn't been found in
that period of time would indicate to me that she probably was underground he was
kind of told by detective matson that look we know you killed her we know you buried her somewhere you
probably didn't bury her deep enough animals are going to find her they're going to dip her bones we're going to
find it and then yeah look over your shoulder i'll be looking for you because you'll never know when the time is that
i'm going to throw you in jail the satellites would be looking too and it didn't take long
for jackson to take the bait the gps system revealed that jackson had driven 60 miles away to a remote logging
site and spent the next 44 minutes there four days later jackson drove five minutes away from his
home to another deserted location on vicari road he arrives at that site at 2 28 28
and the next movement is 244 10 which is approximately 15 minutes from there the gps tracking system reveals jackson
drove 60 miles away stopping once again at the logging site there's some open fields farmland
and a lot of woods when police went to the vaquari road site cadaver dogs went straight to a
shallow grave empty except for two plastic shopping bags and some duct tape which had several red
hairs attached next police made the 60-mile drive to the logging site once there the cadaver dogs found an
area that had recently been excavated it was a grave deeper than the one on vicari road
and in that grave was the body of nine-year-old valerie jackson lying face down the police gamble had paid off
they had frightened jackson into moving valerie's body into a deeper grave i uh watched sheriff sterk as he walked
towards me he looked at me and he told me that they had found what they believed
to be the body of valerie and i just crashed to the ground i went down i couldn't
feel anything i couldn't feel my legs my arms nothing i was gone i was gone i was mentally at that point
in my life i died i died it hurt so much [Music] investigators now had an avalanche of
forensic evidence the plastic bags were the same brand as dozens found in jackson's kitchen
and traces of valerie's blood were found inside [Music] the duct tape in the grave matched a
roll in jackson's basement jackson's tire and footwear impressions were found at the gravesites
all of this evidence tied jackson to the burial but police still needed proof that
jackson was the one who committed the murder police sent the plastic bags from the
grave to the united states secret service for analysis they were using an extraordinary
technique called vacuum metal deposition which can find the tiniest traces of a fingerprint on
non-porous surfaces like plastic we're here to assist any law enforcement agency state local or other federal
agency you have a case of a child abduction or child homicide although we're extremely busy this the kind of
case that goes to the front of the line the evidence is placed in a chamber along with tiny specks of gold and zinc
the pressure in the chamber is reduced to a near perfect vacuum the metals are heated vaporized and
within the vacuum of the chamber adhere to any finger oils which may be present the analysis was successful
the secret service found fingerprints on the inside of the plastic bag and on the
duct tape the fingerprints were those of brad jackson at valerie jackson's autopsy the medical
examiner found no evidence of sexual abuse but discovered bruising around her face
and nose which solved the mystery of how she was murdered the pillow that was found in
her room had two blood spots on it which were consistent with a pillow being pressed over someone's face and the
blood draining from the nose there the question of motive was one that still haunted prosecutors
the key issue in all this was why and convincing a jury that a parent could actually kill their
their own child in a fascinating turn of events it was the global positioning satellite
system which revealed the elusive motive [Music] almost a year after valerie jackson
disappeared her father went on trial for murder led to valerie's grave by a gps tracking
system prosecutors were now able to piece together the events of valerie's murder
[Music] prosecutors believe the jackson smothered valerie with the pillow leaving behind the bloodstains found by
police [Music] then jackson got the plastic bags and duct tape to cover her head and prevent
blood from dripping onto the floor finally jackson dressed the little girl which is how he remembered what valerie
was wearing even the color of her socks jackson drove valerie's body to the vicari roadside just five minutes away
an area he knew from hunting it's unclear whether he dug the grave then or sometime earlier
after he returned he called police to report his daughter missing a few weeks later while under the
surveillance of the gps system jackson drove an hour away to a deserted logging site where he spent the next 44 minutes
presumably digging a deeper grave four days later jackson went to the vaquari road
gravesite removed valerie's body and made the one-hour journey back to the logging site where he placed her in a
deeper grave but why did jackson kill his own daughter astonishingly the global positioning system revealed
the answer [Music] jackson repeatedly drove by the home of his former girlfriend danette schroeder
as he went to and from the gravesites even though they had broken up brad continued to pursue her
so he was really obsessed with this woman and the obsession got to the degree that
his relationship with her was more important in his daughter's life i firmly believe that
it got to the point where he saw that valerie wasn't going to come around to the net he wanted danette and valerie
became disposable the first thing brad jackson did after his arrest was to call dinette from his jail cell
and propose marriage the first thing she did was change the locks on her doors prosecutor jack driscoll
took the case personally here's a parent who is supposed to protect their child who's supposed to be
the guardian for them and he ends up killing him he buries him face down in the dirt like he doesn't even care
and you know that offended me such a vast degree i had to do this case i mean i had to
mr jackson have you received a copy of the information charging you with one count of murder in the first degree and
mr jackson how do you plead to those two charges not guilty at the trial jackson didn't deny digging the graves
or burying valerie but jackson claimed valerie's death was an accident that he found her dead of an
overdose of paxil he feared that he would be blamed he panicked and buried the body
but forensic scientists testified that the paxil levels in valerie's system were nowhere near lethal
brad jackson was found guilty of first degree murder and was sentenced to 56 years in prison
i believe he should have faced the death penalty but he didn't i think anyone that murders a child
anyone that murders a child should face the death penalty and their life should end
i hope he never gets out of jail and i wish he'd tell us where roseanne is many people believe
jackson also killed valerie's mother roseanne pleasant years earlier but police have no proof
she would scare the death of brad in my last conversation with my sister she said she feared for her life she
said that brad had some lie around and what is lie used for at that time brad worked on cement
and building foundations and so to this day i believe that my sister's buried somewhere in those one of those
foundations he was working on the children of mcdonald elementary school planted a tree in valerie's
memory it lives and grows there healthy and strong the way valerie should have [Music]
[Music] you

In 1999, nine-year-old Valiree Jackson vanished on her way to school near Spokane, WA. Her father Brad Jackson reported the disappearance and the entire community started searching for her abductor.

Forensic Files is the longest-running true crime series in television history. Evidence and interviews with experts help solve real crimes, disease outbreaks and accidents around the world.

Brief Summary

Valerie Jackson vanished in 1999; her father was later convicted of her murder using GPS evidence.

Key points

The Disappearance of Valerie Jackson. Nine-year-old Valerie Jackson vanishes from her home, sparking a frantic search.
A Father's Desperation. Brad Jackson's frantic search for his daughter leads to a police call.
The Shocking Discovery. Valerie's body is found after a GPS tracking led police to her grave.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I can't explain my daughter, okay? How old is she?

A frantic father's plea to the police.

2:30WatchNov 24, 2021

Tension

85/ 100High tension

More from Forensic Files

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.