Missing Since: 1992-09-29 Location: Spokane, Washington
Pleasant was last seen at a convenience store at the corner of Ash and Nora in Spokane, Washington on the afternoon of September 29, 1992. She was involved in drugs and sex work at the time of her disappearance, and one of her friends, also a sex worker, had been shot to death a few months earlier. A week before her disappearance, Pleasant called her brother in Arizona and said she was concerned for her safety and planned to move south with three of her four children. Authorities initially believed she could have been the victim of a serial killer. Pleasant’s daughter, Valiree Brianne Jackson, disappeared in October 1999 at the age of nine. Her father, William Bradley “Brad” Jackson, was Pleasant’s boyfriend during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Their relationship was troubled and he was arrested for hitting her. They broke up shortly after Valiree’s birth and Brad was granted custody, with Pleasant given supervised visitation. She disappeared a week before Valiree’s second birthday. Photographs of Brad and Valiree are posted with this case summary. Brad and Valiree lived with Brad’s parents when she disappeared in 1999. He stated at first that Valiree had vanished from the front yard of their home. Authorities were suspicious and secretly attached a tracking device to Brad’s truck; they discovered Valiree’s remains a month later after he drove the truck to her burial site. Brad was arrested and charged with murdering Valiree. He claimed she had died from an accidental overdose of Paxil, an anti-depressant drug she’d been prescribed for behavioral problems, and he panicked and tried to conceal her death. Authorities, however, believe he intentionally smothered her. In 2000, Brad was convicted of murdering his daughter and was sentenced to 56 years in prison. Brad is also considered a possible suspect in Pleasant’s case; he was the last person to see her before she vanished and he refused to cooperate with the police in her case or take a polygraph test. Pleasant’s brother stated his sister was terrified of Brad. Brad worked in building construction at the time of Pleasant’s disappearance; her brother theorizes he killed her and put her home in one of the foundations. The investigation into Pleasant’s disappearance was reopened after her daughter’s murder, and her family held a double memorial service for her and Valiree. No charges have been filed, however, and Pleasant’s disappearance remains unsolved. Some agencies give the date of Pleasant’s disappearance as October 1, 1992. Investigating Agency Spokane Police Department 509-477-5980 Source Information The Doe Network SpokaneNet The Seattle Post-Intelligencer Washington State Missing Persons The Idaho Spokesman-Review NamUs Forensic Files Season 6, Episode 25: Bagging a Killer Updated 5 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated May 13, 2018; two pictures added, distinguishing characteristics and details of disappearance updated.