Dad Accused In Girl's Murder

At first, police approached last month's disappearance of Valiree Jackson as an abduction.

"We start canvassing the neighborhood for anybody who might have seen anything. We come up with empty hands, nothing, said Sheriff Mark Sterk. "We interviewed over 80 sex offenders that lived in the geographical area. Again we came up empty, nothing to lead us to Valiree."

While the neighbors held vigils by candlelight, police quietly turned their spotlight to Valiree's father, Brad Jackson. They got search warrants to collect evidence from the house and took his pickup truck. Before returning it to him, reports CBS News'
Hattie Kauffman, they secretly attached a GPS--or global positioning system--receiver.

"The equipment gives us a computer read out and tells us where the vehicle went, how fast it traveled, where it stopped, gives us the coordinates," said Sterk.

GPS works by receiving signals from three or more satellites in space and using the earth's latitude and longitude to pinpoint an exact location.

"Based on that information, we were able to track Mr. Jackson just like we were surveilling him," said Sterk.

The GPS led them from Highway 27 to a foothill.

Two days before the warrant for the GPS ran out, detectives got their first clue. The GPS indicated Jackson's truck traveled to a wooded area outside the city. It stayed 16 minutes before leaving.

"Well, it was obvious from the evidence found at the scene that there had been a body placed here and then removed," said Inspector David Wiyrick. "Tape with red hair stuck to it, and Valiree had red hair. So we knew we were on the right track."

That track led them to the next location 50 miles away. And that's where the question of Valiree's fate was answered.

"Pretty heart-wrenching, said Sterk. "The word coming up the hill to me that, 'Yes, we've got the pink jacket.' And the next thing being able to unearth the body and pull the girl out of the grave."

Brad Jackson is now behind bars, charged with first-degree murder. But his attorney says the very method that led to his arrest, GPS tracking, may lead to his acquittal.

"The big significance in this case is... how far can government go?" says David Hearrean, Jackson's lawyer, calling the Police's action in this case, "definitely big brother."

Sheriff Sterk doesn't agree that use of the GPS was an invasion of privacy. "It's not because we had probable cause to believe someone was involved in a crime" he says. "The judge agreed with us and we went from there."

No matter how the debate over privacy vs. GPS tracking is resolved, this investigation and the discovery of the grave have led to a deeper look at another case: the disappearance of Valiree's mother, who hasn't been seen or heard from in eight years.

So police now have another search on their hands.

"I would like to be able to tell you that that body was buied close to where Valiree was found, but we just don't know that," says Sterk.

At this point, prosecutors have only charged Brad Jackson for the murder of the little girl, not her mother's murder.