Exclusive | Dead Tri-Cities woman was pregnant and tied down by rocks when found in the river

Two court protection orders were supposed to keep a 34-year-old Kennewick man away from his pregnant girlfriend and her apartment complex.

But sometime in mid-September, a neighbor saw Richard Jacobson and Brandy Ebanez standing in the complex parking lot near a car.

It would be one of the last times the mother of two was seen alive.

Eight days later her naked body, wrapped in black plastic sheeting was found in the Columbia River with two large landscaping-style rocks tied to her feet with twine.

An off-duty Kennewick police officer who was fishing spotted Ebanez’s body just off shore, about 100 yards east of the cable bridge.

While the initial autopsy didn’t determine how she died, a pathologist found she had a broken bone in her neck and head injuries, according to court documents.

The mother of two also was 16 to 20 weeks pregnant.

She had no water in her lungs so investigators have ruled out drowning and believe she was killed before being dumped into the river, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in Benton County for Jacobson’s arrest.

Arrest warrant

Benton County Superior Court Judge David Petersen issued the $1 million warrant for Jacobson — who also is listed in various public records as Richard Jacobsen.

However, Jacobson is not charged in connection with Ebanez’s death. He’s accused only of violating a May 2022 protection order to stay 500 feet away from her.

Jacobson remains in the Multnomah County jail in Portland on the fugitive hold.

On Tuesday, a Kennewick police news release said a suspect was taken into custody in Oregon and a no bail arrest warrant was issued but they did not name the suspect.

The suspect is currently awaiting extradition to Washington state, said the release.

Protection order

Ebanez’s family and friends have said on social media and in a GoFundMe campaign that she was the victim of domestic violence.

A memorial banner with candles and flowers for the slain mother honors her memory along the riverbank near the cable bridge.

“Rest easy Brandy, you are loved and missed,” says the banner, along with #AwarenessDomesticAbuse and #JusticeForBrandy.

There is little in the court records about the couple’s relationship.

According to neighbors, they lived together at the Desertbrook Apartments with their two daughters, ages 9 and 12. The couple had been together for 10 years.

Both previously lived in Gresham, Ore., according to online public records.

Jacobson had past troubles with the law, including a 2010 conviction for third-degree assault in Multnomah County when he was 21.

He was sentenced to just over 1 1/2 years in prison for stabbing a 15 year old, according to media reports at the time.

He got into trouble again this year when he fought with Ebanez on April 2, according to Benton County court documents.

She told police he had been paranoid that she was working with “the law,” and when she denied it, he grabbed her by the hair, pulled her off the bed and knocked her head against a door, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

Then he strangled her until she passed out, she said. He eventually forced her to admit that she was working with “the law,” so he would stop hurting her, said court documents.

She was able to slip away and call police when they went to a store for cigarettes.

The attack was enough to land Jacobson in the Benton County jail for fourth-degree domestic violence assault. A month later, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a month in jail that he had already served.

Another 334 days were suspended for two years, and he was ordered to undergo mental health treatment.

Superior Court Judge Joe Burrowes also issued a protection order for Jacobson to stay 500 feet away from Ebanez and the apartment they shared with their daughters.

Three months after the order was issued, Jacobson allegedly violated it when he got into a confrontation with a neighbor at the same complex.

September confrontation

Kennewick police were called to the Desertbrook Apartments on Sept. 5 after a report of a fight in the parking lot.

When they arrived, they found a man with a bruised and swollen eye who was missing part of his ear, according to probable cause affidavit on that assault charge.

The man, Pedro Machuca, had an ongoing dispute with Jacobson. Machuca believed Jacobson had spit on his car, leading to the fight.

At one point, the men were fighting on the ground when Jacobson allegedly bit Machuca’s ear. Once they separated, Jacobson returned to Ebanez’s apartment.

Jacobson, who also was bruised and had cuts and blood on his face from the fight, came out of the apartment shortly after officers arrived and began yelling at them. He claimed Machuca had driven too fast in the parking lot.

As police were investigating, they learned about the protection order that was supposed to prevent Jacobson from contacting Ebanez.

Jacobson claimed there was a provision that allowed him to contact her when it involved their children, but police say that wasn’t written in the order.

At the time, Deputy Prosecutor Joshua Lilly told a judge that Jacobson had a history of violent crimes in and outside Washington state, including a possible warrant from Texas. He asked that Jacobson be held on $5,000 bail.

Four days later on Sept. 9, Judge Jacqueline Stam allowed him to be released without bail.

Then, on Sept. 19, Ebanez and Jacobson’s daughters failed to show up at school. It’s also the same day that neighbors recalled seeing their mother.

One neighbor told police they stopped hearing the couple’s nearly daily arguments around the same time.

Missing girls

Ebanez’s body was found eight days later on Sept. 27.

At first police did not know who she was but they were able to match one of her tattoos to a police video taken with Ebanez when they were investigating the April assault.

They went to her apartment and Jacobson and the girls were gone.

“The apartment was described as being very neat and orderly, as it had been thoroughly cleaned recently,” said the probably cause affidavit for the fugitive warrant.

Kennewick police and Benton County sheriff’s deputies worked with the FBI to track Jacobson’s cellphone, as well as the phones belonging to Ebanez and their 12-year-old daughter.

The girl’s and Jacobson’s phone signals showed up east of Portland, Ore., near Gresham where Jacobson’s family lives.

Jail records show he was arrested in Multnomah County on Sept. 30, and he is still awaiting an extradited hearing to be returned to Benton County.

It’s not clear when police located the children, but Tri-City officials told the Herald they were found in the Portland area.

Last week in Benton County, Ebanez’s mother filed and was granted emergency custody of her granddaughters.

This story was originally published October 11, 2022 at 4:59 PM.