In the autumn of 1992, a 35-year-old mother named Roseann Marie Stone vanished from the streets of Spokane, Washington, leaving behind a life marked by both love for her children and personal struggles. The exact date of her last contact is uncertain, with reports varying between late September and early October of that year. At the time, Roseann, a Black female with short, curly black hair and brown eyes, was known to be navigating a difficult period involving drug addiction and sex work.
Friends of Roseann, who also went by the last names Pleasant and Jackson, last saw her at a convenience store at the intersection of Ash and Nora in Spokane. Just a week before she disappeared, Roseann had reached out to her brother in Arizona, expressing a growing fear for her safety and revealing her intentions to move south with three of her children to start a new life away from the troubles that plagued her in Washington.
The circumstances surrounding Roseann's disappearance were immediately concerning to her family. Her life in Spokane was complicated by a tumultuous relationship with her partner, William 'Brad' Jackson, the father of her youngest daughter, Valiree. The relationship was reportedly troubled, and Roseann's brother later recounted that his sister was terrified of Brad. When she went missing, authorities initially considered the possibility that her disappearance could be linked to a serial killer, especially since a friend of hers, also a sex worker, had been murdered just a few months prior, though no connection was ever established between the two cases. Brad Jackson, who was reportedly the last person to see Roseann, was uncooperative with the police investigation and refused to take a polygraph test, casting a shadow of suspicion that would only darken with time. For years, her case grew cold, leaving her family with unanswered questions and the painful ambiguity of not knowing her fate.
Seven years after Roseann vanished, the story took a tragic and horrifying turn. In October 1999, Valiree, the daughter Roseann shared with Brad Jackson, was reported missing at the age of nine. Brad initially claimed that Valiree had disappeared from the front yard of his parents' home, even suggesting that Roseann might have returned to abduct the child. However, investigators were suspicious of his account. In a case that made national history for its use of forensic technology, police secretly placed a GPS tracking device on Brad's truck. The tracker led them to a remote burial site where they discovered Valiree's remains a month later. Brad Jackson was arrested and subsequently convicted of murdering his daughter, receiving a 56-year prison sentence. He claimed her death was an accidental overdose, but authorities believed he had smothered her. The conviction brought a devastating certainty to Valiree's fate and intensified the belief among investigators and Roseann's family that Brad was also responsible for her disappearance. Although he is the primary suspect, he has never been charged in connection with her case. Roseann's brother theorizes that Brad, who worked in construction, may have buried her in the foundation of a building. The case remains a painful open wound, a story of a mother who disappeared under a cloud of fear, whose absence was tragically echoed years later by the murder of her child at the hands of the man suspected of being involved in both their fates.Last Seen: Oct 10, 1992
