Abby, the two were dental students, studying at the Cincinnati Dental College. Pearl was a graduate of DePauw University of Greenfield, Indiana and was living in Cincinnati; she and Jackson had known each other in Greencastle, Indiana.

At the time of her death Pearl was four to five months pregnant, and she had ingested a large quantity of cocaine just before her death.

Her head has never been found: it might have been dropped into the Ohio River or burnt in the furnace at the Dental College.

But little did Pearl think when she left her happy home,
That the grip she carried in her hand would hide her head away.
She thought that it was a lover's hand she could trust both night and day,
But alas! It was a lover's hand that took her life away.

...

Now all young girls take warning, for all men are unjust.
It may be your truest lover; you know not whom to trust.
Peral Bryan died away from home on a dark and lonely spot.
My God, believe me girls, don't let this be your lot.

Details from The Cincinnati Crime Book by George Stimson (Cincinnati: Peasenhall Press, 1998). (I used to work in Ft. Thomas and Newport and drive by the place Pearl's body was found regularily. She's buried in Forest Hill Cemetery in Greencastle, Indiana -- sans head.)