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[Music]
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911 emergency
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i can't find my daughter
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nine-year-old valerie jackson vanished
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from her spokane washington home
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without a trace
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the search for her whereabouts included
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almost every neighborhood and the area's
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mountain and forest regions but the key
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to solving the mystery was an
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investigative tool
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10 000 miles away
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in space
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[Music]
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spokane washington is a vibrant city the
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center of an area known as the inland
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northwest
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many residents looking to raise a family
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settle several miles east of the city in
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the spokane valley where the schools are
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good crime is low and families feel safe
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brad jackson a truck driver and his
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daughter valerie lived here in a home
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they shared with brad's parents
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brad had sole custody of valerie because
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the child's mother roseanne pleasant
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mysteriously disappeared seven years ago
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she had a drug problem
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in october of 1999
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valerie had just turned nine years old
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she was a very bright fourth grader at
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the mcdonald elementary school just a
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few blocks from her home just saw a
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vibrant little girl
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if somebody was in an argument she'd try
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and mend it
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and fix it and she was she was a great
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little girl never got in trouble
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monday morning october 18th started out
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just like any other school day until
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something went terribly wrong
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i can't explain my daughter okay how old
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is she nice okay she didn't go to school
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today nowhere
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just getting ready to go and she went
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outside to play for a while because she
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was done early
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anger
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she's a white female yes little
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redhead brad said valerie had been
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playing in the backyard with her dog
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while he was in the basement doing
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laundry
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later he heard valerie leave for school
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through the garage door
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and then he heard her go out into the
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front yard
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he was very exact he said exactly 8 32
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he walked out the front door and found
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her missing found her backpack laying on
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the front doorstep
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brad jackson frantically searched the
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neighborhood knocking on doors searching
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for his daughter before calling police
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okay what is she wearing
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she's got blue jeans with a
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dark blue down the side purple socks
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coats bright pink
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with uh i think like little blue flowers
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on it
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that call mobilized not just police but
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also a tightly knit neighborhood
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i got home at 9 00 a.m
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and my mother-in-law called me about
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five after and said
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there's a little redhead girl missing on
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blasi and i knew right away it was
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valerie
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so i raced over there brad was in the
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front yard
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and i went over there and hugged him and
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i said let's find her
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normally when we get missing kids i mean
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they're found either in the house or at
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a friend's house plane
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you know and they're they're cleared
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within
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45 minutes at the most to an hour
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but the little girl
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was nowhere to be found
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valerie's grandmother made a televised
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plea
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for her safe return
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please whoever took her were asking for
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her safe return
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valerie you know how we always hug and
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kiss every night honey well we're still
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giving them to you
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as the search continued neighbors began
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calling police with leads
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so i'm right down the street from her
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that little girl was kidnapped i know
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you have something that that might be
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able to help you okay what do you got in
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the last couple weeks there's been a
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blue blazer and a man
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about six feet too light colored hair
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unfortunately
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none of these tips checked out
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parents feared something sinister had
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invaded their quiet neighborhood
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we were all terrified we wouldn't let
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our kids walk to school
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and we didn't want ours to be the next
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days went by with no sign of
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nine-year-old valerie jackson
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flyers were posted in stores in car
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windows and on the internet
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newspapers and television stations asked
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the community to report anything
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suspicious
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as a parent you're concerned because i
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have a child the same age that here
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there's potentially a person who's loose
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in the community preying on
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school children
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an abduction by a stranger was one
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possibility
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but problems in the jackson family
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suggested another
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the fact that her mother had been
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reported missing was listed as a missing
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person in 1992 and that either her
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mother or someone for her mother could
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have taken valerie
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but the last time anyone saw roseanne
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pleasant valerie's mother was seven
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years earlier in 1992.
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roseanne's brother didn't believe his
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sister had anything to do with valerie's
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disappearance
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he pointed the fingers squarely at brad
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we believed
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that he had sold her into a pornography
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ring to get money he was raising money
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for a reward
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so we felt that once the money got high
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enough that he would pay someone off or
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he had he had drug problems we didn't
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know
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detectives searched the jackson home for
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clues
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in valerie's room were some blood stains
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on her pillow
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brad jackson told police that valerie
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had a nosebleed the night before she
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disappeared
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police also found a prescription for
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valerie for the antidepressant paxil
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they learned that the normally cheerful
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little girl was in counseling because of
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a stressful relationship with danette
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schroeder one of her father's
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girlfriends
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danette and valerie argued frequently
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and fought
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danette suggested to brad that valerie
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should receive therapy
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that was when she was given the
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antidepressant medication
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and forensic scientists found something
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else in valerie's bed
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two red hairs
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they were identified as pubic hair and
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appeared to be similar to brad jackson's
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but pubic hair can be transferred from
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room to room on socks
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the evidence could be meaningless or
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an indication of sexual abuse
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police also thought it was odd that brad
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jackson was able to recall much more
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about valerie's clothing on the day she
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disappeared than most parents would
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usually remember
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he knew exactly every article clothing
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that valerie jackson was wearing he was
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able to describe it to the police down
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to her purple socks and while valerie
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did have a history of bloody noses there
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was no other evidence inside the home to
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corroborate brad's story
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i didn't find any evidence in the house
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other than on the pillowcases of her
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having a bloody nose
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no evidence of her stopping the bloody
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nose such as toilet paper towels or
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anything laying around
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with a search warrant
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jackson's pickup truck and automobile
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were searched for evidence
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but police found nothing in either
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vehicle
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a grandparent a brother or sister two
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weeks after valerie disappeared
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residents of the spokane valley held a
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candlelight vigil
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praying for her safe return
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[Music]
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few knew at this point
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that the girl's father was a suspect
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he'd made statements to me he knew he
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was being followed by the news media
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there was neighbors following him all
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the time he was always having to lose
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tales he was very paranoid about it
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but surprisingly police weren't
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following brad jackson at all
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why
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because
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they didn't have to
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when police searched jackson's car and
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truck for evidence they left something
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inside of each vehicle
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it was a device called
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a global positioning system or gps
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10 000 miles above the earth
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28 global positioning satellites circled
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the globe
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each one beams back the precise time as
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kept by an atomic
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clock since the signals have different
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distances to travel and therefore reach
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the earth at different times a
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computerized receiver can translate that
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information into an exact position to
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within
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30 feet
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the gps receiver will record that
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location if we move to another location
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it will know the difference in time and
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how long we have spent at a time exactly
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to within milliseconds
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the location of the vehicle can then be
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monitored by the police
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after the gps transmitters were hidden
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in jackson's vehicles
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detective madsen took a calculated risk
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he confronted jackson with his suspicion
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that he had murdered his own daughter
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i didn't know if he buried her i just
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took a gamble the fact that we hadn't
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found her this had been over a week and
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the fact that she hadn't been found in
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that period of time would indicate to me
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that she probably was underground he was
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kind of told by detective matson that
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look
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we know you killed her
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we know you buried her somewhere you
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probably didn't bury her deep enough
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animals are going to find her they're
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going to dip her bones we're going to
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find it and then yeah look over your
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shoulder i'll be looking for you because
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you'll never know when the time is that
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i'm going to throw you in jail
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the satellites would be looking too
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and it didn't take long
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for jackson to take the bait
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the gps system revealed that jackson had
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driven 60 miles away to a remote logging
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site and spent the next 44 minutes there
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four days later
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jackson drove five minutes away from his
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home to another deserted location on
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vicari road
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he arrives at that site at
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2 28 28
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and the next movement is
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244 10
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which is approximately 15 minutes
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from there
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the gps tracking system reveals jackson
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drove 60 miles away stopping once again
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at the logging site
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there's some open fields farmland
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and a lot of woods
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when police went to the vaquari road
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site cadaver dogs went straight to a
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shallow grave empty
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except for two plastic shopping bags and
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some duct tape which had several red
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hairs attached
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next police made the 60-mile drive to
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the logging site
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once there the cadaver dogs found an
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area that had recently been excavated
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it was a grave deeper than the one on
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vicari road
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and in that grave
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was the body of nine-year-old valerie
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jackson
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lying face down
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the police gamble had paid off
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they had frightened jackson into moving
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valerie's body into a deeper grave
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i uh
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watched sheriff sterk as he walked
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towards me
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he looked at me
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and he told me
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that they had found what they believed
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to be the body of valerie
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and i just crashed
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to the ground i went down i couldn't
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feel anything
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i couldn't feel my legs my arms nothing
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i was gone
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i was gone i was mentally at that point
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in my life i died
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i died
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it hurt so much
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[Music]
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investigators now had an avalanche of
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forensic evidence
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the plastic bags were the same brand as
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dozens found in jackson's kitchen
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and traces of valerie's blood were found
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inside
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[Music]
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the duct tape in the grave matched a
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roll in jackson's basement
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jackson's tire and footwear impressions
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were found at the gravesites
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all of this evidence tied jackson to the
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burial
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but police still needed proof that
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jackson was the one who committed the
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murder
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police sent the plastic bags from the
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grave to the united states secret
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service for analysis
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they were using an extraordinary
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technique called
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vacuum metal deposition which can find
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the tiniest traces of a fingerprint on
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non-porous surfaces like plastic
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we're here to assist any law enforcement
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agency state local or other federal
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agency you have a case of a child
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abduction or child homicide although
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we're extremely busy this the kind of
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case that goes to the front of the line
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the evidence is placed in a chamber
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along with tiny specks of gold and zinc
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the pressure in the chamber is reduced
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to a near perfect vacuum
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the metals are heated vaporized and
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within the vacuum of the chamber adhere
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to any finger oils which may be present
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the analysis was successful
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the secret service found fingerprints on
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the inside of the plastic bag and on the
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duct tape
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the fingerprints were those of brad
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jackson
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at valerie jackson's autopsy the medical
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examiner found no evidence of sexual
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abuse
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but discovered bruising around her face
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and nose
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which solved the mystery of how she was
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murdered the pillow that was found in
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her room had two blood spots on it which
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were consistent with a pillow being
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pressed over someone's face and the
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blood draining from the nose there
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the question of motive
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was one that still haunted prosecutors
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the key issue in all this was
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why
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and convincing a jury
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that a parent could actually kill their
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their own child
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in a fascinating turn of events
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it was the global positioning satellite
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system which revealed the elusive motive
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[Music]
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almost a year after valerie jackson
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disappeared her father went on trial for
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murder
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led to valerie's grave by a gps tracking
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system
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prosecutors were now able to piece
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together the events of valerie's murder
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[Music]
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prosecutors believe
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the jackson smothered valerie with the
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pillow
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leaving behind the bloodstains found by
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police
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[Music]
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then jackson got the plastic bags and
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duct tape to cover her head and prevent
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blood from dripping onto the floor
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finally
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jackson dressed the little girl
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which is how he remembered what valerie
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was wearing
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even the color of her socks
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jackson drove valerie's body to the
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vicari roadside just five minutes away
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an area he knew from hunting
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it's unclear whether he dug the grave
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then
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or sometime earlier
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after he returned he called police to
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report his daughter missing
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a few weeks later while under the
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surveillance of the gps system jackson
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drove an hour away to a deserted logging
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site where he spent the next 44 minutes
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presumably digging a deeper grave
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four days later
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jackson went to the vaquari road
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gravesite removed valerie's body and
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made the one-hour journey back to the
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logging site where he placed her in a
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deeper
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grave but why
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did jackson kill
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his own daughter
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astonishingly
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the global positioning system revealed
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the answer
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[Music]
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jackson repeatedly drove by the home of
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his former girlfriend danette schroeder
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as he went to and from the gravesites
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even though they had broken up
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brad continued to pursue her
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so he was really obsessed
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with this woman
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and the obsession got to the degree that
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his relationship with her was more
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important in his daughter's life
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i firmly believe that
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it got to the point where he saw that
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valerie wasn't going to come around to
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the net he wanted danette and valerie
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became disposable
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the first thing brad jackson did after
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his arrest
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was to call dinette from his jail cell
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and propose marriage
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the first thing she did
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was change the locks on her doors
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prosecutor jack driscoll
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took the case personally
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here's a parent who is supposed to
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protect their child who's supposed to be
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the guardian for them and he ends up
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killing him he buries him face down in
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the dirt like he doesn't even care
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and you know that offended me
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such a vast degree i had to do this case
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i mean i had to
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mr jackson have you received a copy of
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the information charging you with one
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count of murder in the first degree and
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mr jackson how do you plead to those two
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charges not guilty
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at the trial
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jackson didn't deny digging the graves
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or burying valerie
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but jackson claimed valerie's death was
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an accident that he found her dead of an
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overdose of paxil
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he feared that he would be blamed he
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panicked
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and buried the body
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but forensic scientists testified that
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the paxil levels in valerie's system
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were nowhere near lethal
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brad jackson was found guilty of first
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degree murder
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and was sentenced to 56 years in prison
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i believe he should have faced
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the death penalty but he didn't
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i think anyone that murders a child
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anyone that murders a child should face
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the death penalty and their life should
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end
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i hope he never gets out of jail
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and i wish he'd tell us where roseanne
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is
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many people believe
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jackson also killed valerie's mother
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roseanne pleasant
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years earlier
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but police have no proof
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she would scare the death of brad in my
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last conversation with my sister
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she said she feared for her life she
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said that brad had some lie around and
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what is lie used for at that time brad
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worked on cement
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and
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building foundations
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and so
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to this day i believe that my sister's
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buried somewhere in those one of those
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foundations he was working on
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the children of mcdonald elementary
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school planted a tree in valerie's
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memory
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it lives and grows there
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healthy and strong
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the way valerie
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should have
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[Music]
00:22:20
[Music]
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you
