Born April 4, 1983, Grace is from a small farming town in Iowa, and her father is a football coach. She is a highly devoted Christian (hinted Presbyterian in "Little Red Book"), which caused her to argue with her cousin, who believes she is psychic, over matters of faith.
In season 1 episode 16, "Bloodshot", Jane makes a remark about Grace's character, stating, "... you're deeply repressed and emotionally shut down... because of a trauma in your past that you've never spoken of to anyone... ever... even yourself..." which Grace's facial expression seems to confirm.
In season 2 episode 10, "Throwing Fire", Grace talks a woman out of suicide by describing the impact her sister's own suicide had on her. Later, when questioned by Rigsby, Grace quickly claims "That just came out. I don't have a sister", abruptly looking away and changing the subject – leading the audience to believe she did in fact have a sister or a family member who committed suicide and merely did not wish to discuss the matter.
According to season 3 episode 5, "The Red Ponies", Grace grew up around horses and knows how to ride them; even without a saddle.
In the flashback and 100th episode, "Red Dawn", one of the team members is going to be replaced as he does not want to work with Jane. Lisbon says they should look at the new graduates. Rigsby takes Grace's file and tells Cho that he likes her. Cho agrees that she is cute but Rigsby is out of her league.
While at CBI Van Pelt works with Rigsby and Cho most of the time, but she occasionally works with Jane or Lisbon. She always refers to Lisbon as "Boss" or "the boss", even when Teresa isn't around. Van Pelt is well-liked by the rest of the team; Lisbon even lets her take the lead on one interview, despite the fact that she is still a rookie.
In another episode, Grace is shot (while wearing a kevlar vest) and is taken to the hospital. Just before she gets into the ambulance, Lisbon is visibly upset and tells Grace sweetly: "Don't you do that to me again", indicating her fondness of her. In the opening of season four, Lisbon addresses Grace as her friend while encouraging her to get help.
Jane appears to have a fondness for Grace, much as she does for him; theirs appears to be rather like a sibling relationship, and Jane tends to favor her over Cho and Rigsby. It has been shown that Jane gets enjoyment from messing with Grace. He offers Grace more support than most people, but they tend to clash over spiritual issues such as the after-life. She seems to enjoy working with Cho; she is open with him and considers him a friend, although she doesn't always appreciate his straightforward manner.
She takes her role as an officer very seriously and feels tremendous guilt when things happen under her watch (as seen in Season 3 episode “Blood For Blood” when a man in witness protection dies under her watch). She is also very strong and capable of handling tough situations in the field (as seen in Season 4 episode “My Bloody Valentine” when she and a witness are hunted by a hitman and in the Season 6 episode “White as the Driven Snow” when she is kidnapped).
Throughout season 5 she never goes into the field always being behind a desk doing the research work. (This is because the actress Amanda Righetti was pregnant during filming).
In season 5 episode 14, "Red in Tooth and Claw", Van Pelt asks Lisbon if she can take an intensive computer course in L.A which will require her to be gone for some time. (This is because the actress, Amanda Righetti, goes on maternity leave). Lisbon approaches Bertram, who originally says no to the request, but later changes his mind after Jane helps him win poker and authorizes the course. In episode 18, "Behind the Red Curtain", Grace returns and Rigsby and Lisbon welcome her back with hugs.
In season 6 episode 1, "The Desert Rose", Grace is the first person that Lisbon tells about the 7 suspects believed to be Red John. She does this even after Jane asks her not to tell anyone. Grace then tells Rigsby as he thought she was having an affair, who then tells Cho, as it wouldn't be fair for him to be the only one on the team not to know. This shows how much Lisbon trusts her.
In season 6 episode 9 "My Blue Heaven", after the two-year time jump, she and Rigsby have since left law enforcement and started their own surveillance business.
In episodes 12 and 13 she and the team deal with their phones being bugged and someone coming after and murdering former CBI agents. Grace and Rigsby help out by looking into the bugs on the technical side and coordinating with LaRoche and Ardiles (both of whom are later murdered) to help figure out what is going on.
In episode 14, “Grey Water”, an unknown masked intruder shoots at Rigsby while he is holding Maddy, but before he can do anything, Grace shoots back and the intruder leaves their home. They then join the team at the FBI office in Austin where they are hired as consultants in the case. At the end of the episode, Rigsby calls Grace to let her know he went out for a beer and will be home late. We then see an unknown masked intruder in Grace's hotel room approaching the sleeping Grace.
Episode 15, “White as the Driven Snow”, is the last appearance that Grace and Rigsby make as main characters. In this episode, Richard Haibach is revealed, along with his sister, as the criminal masterminds who have been bugging the team and who killed LaRoche and Ardiles. They kidnap Grace as the team fight to find and save her. After the traumatizing event, which included Rigsby surviving two gunshot wounds to the chest, they decide to retire to civilian life.
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