Pleasanton Victim Was Law Student, Had Young Daughter

PLEASANTON, CA — A 27-year-old Pleasanton woman whose remains were found in a plastic bag is being remembered as a mother with a young daughter who was a “beautiful and radiant light” with “an infectious spirit that you could not help but smile when around and gravitate towards.”

Rachel Imani Buckner’s dismembered body was found inside a plastic bag along the shoreline near the Bay Farm Island Bridge in Alameda on July 20. Alameda police said that DNA evidence pointed to Joseph C. Roberts, Buckner’s fiancé with whom she was living in Pleasanton. Buckner was arrested Sept. 6 and charged with murder, according to charging documents obtained by KTVU. He is being held in the Santa Rita Jail and is due in court Sept. 21, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Buckner’s mother has started a GoFundMe page to help with funeral costs and to care for her young daughter. As of Thursday, the page has raised $52,032 out of its $100,000 goal.

According to the fundraiser, Buckner, who was called Imani by those close to her, recently received her Juris Doctor from Golden Gate University School of Law, and got her BA from Howard University. Golden Gate University spokesperson Jenny McKeel told The Chronicle that Roberts and Buckner attended law school together.

“Imani was an accomplished woman on her way to being an exceptional professional. She was at the beginning of her life and her journey and had so much more life to live,” Buckner’s mother wrote in her tribute.

“She was such a light for me in law school - always checked up on me when I was homesick,” one commenter wrote.

“Rachel was such a beautiful soul,” wrote another. “She wrapped her arms around me when I first got to the Bay. Rachel really made Cali and the Bay home for me. For that, I will always be grateful for her and the fact that I was privileged to share the same space as her. She was so sure of herself and was already so accomplished. I appreciated the small things too. Rachel had a natural glow about her. I will never forget days that I would spend with her at her apartment. I loved seeing her at peace, smiling, and putting me onto her new playlists. Those playlists never disappointed me and neither did Rachel. I will always cherish her as such.”

Another person said they remembered her as a Girl Scout at Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland. Buckner grew up in San Ramon, graduated from Dougherty Valley High School where she played basketball, and a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, family members told KTVU.

A memorial service is scheduled for Nov. 4.