Monville disputes that Ackroyd beat Rachanda and Byron. ", Rachanda and Byron Pickle were close. Take hot dogs out of the freezer. She didn't even have a telephone in their home.". He would continue to plead his innocence in both cases, including the murder of Kaye Turner, which he had already been found guilty of. Current Sheriff Tim Mueller was a deputy involved with the search and rescue team in 1990. Beck and his wife lived in a trailer not far from Camp Sherman, where Kaye had disappeared. If she had run away, she had not done so with any of her clothing or makeup. On the morning of July 10, Rachanda was awake early to help her mother get ready for the day. The family lived at the state highway division compound at Santiam Junction, where U.S. 20 and Oregon 22 meet. Both had been seen with John a short time before their deaths, and it's believed that he had taken a liking to them. I did not do nothing. This sighting would help kick up some interest in the case, nearly a decade later, but that excitement was relatively short-lived. "The settlement reached a point where we were able to have the certainty. Linn County District Attorney Doug Marteeny said he wanted to ensure Ackroyd would spend the rest of his life in prison. Eventually, this small group would be joined by members from neighboring police stations and sheriff's departments, with Linn County Sheriff Art Martinak telling reporters a week after the teenage girl's disappearance: "We're going back to the area around the residence We're going to do a pretty extensive search of the roads in the immediate area.". Since investigators had not yet uncovered any physical trace of Rachanda, they (along with prosecutors) were prepared to seek a case centered around a "no-body" homicide, which would require proof that the victim was no longer alive. John Ackroyd killed Kaye Turner, he replied. Her marriage to John had already deteriorated by the point Rachanda went missing, but her disappearance would prove to be the official break in the relationship despite him continuing to assert, both privately and publicly, that he had no idea what had happened to the missing girl. Lifesaving: Family flees Texas to transgender 'refuge' Minnesota. 5,000-foot mountain pass in the southern reaches of the Cascade Mountains). (ALBANY, OR) - Linn County detectives arrested a man for murder related to the 1990 disappearance of Rachanda Leah Pickle. Rachanda nicknamed Chandy and her brother, Byron, had gone to live with their biological father, Steve Pickle, in Medford earlier in the summer. Three years would pass, in which this case seemed to just fade from the headlines. Rachanda had gone to visit him shortly before her disappearance, and it was initially theorized that she might have gone out to see him. (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). ALBANY, Ore. - Rachanda Pickle disappeared from her parent's home at the Oregon DOT employee compound at Santiam Junction in July 1990. Murder suspect found dead in Salem prison cell - Albany Democrat Herald By now, investigators knew who they were dealing with. He offered stability and helped provide for her two children. Linn County Sheriffs detectives Mike Harmon, left, and Paul Timm talk about the arrest of John Akroyd on murder charges. The family had lived at the state highway compound for six years. She introduced the women to him and they climbed in. You do what you need to do to keep a dangerous person incarcerated.". Rachanda Lea Pickle - Oregon Missing Person Directory There are lots of nooks and crannies that you cant see by air, Martinak said, adding that a helicopter search was especially useful for steep areas where someone on foot or horseback couldnt effectively search. In 1990, Rachanda Pickle lived with her mother, brother and stepfather, John Ackroyd. The young man, who worked as a mechanic for Oregon's Highway Division, lived at a maintenance company about twenty miles west of Camp Sherman. Her mother noticed the girls hairbrush, makeup and earrings were still there. Over time, the story took on even darker tones. Sheriff Art Martinak supervised the search operation over a rugged 50-square-mile area in the Lost Lake, Hoodoo Butte and Potato Hill areas that are lined with jagged lava beds. John Arthur Ackroyd, the longtime suspect in 13-year-old Rachanda Lea Pickle's disappearance, has been arrested and charged with her murder. For years Ackroyd was the prime suspect in Rachanda's case, and her family believed he had murdered her. SALEM John Arthur Ackroyd, who in 2013 was charged with the 1990 murder of his stepdaughter Rachanda Pickle, has died of natural causes at the Oregon State Penitentiary in . Bill Hanlon, the D.A. Friends described her as silly and goofy. Within months, without a body or physical evidence implicating Ackroyd, so did the investigation. It was great, Ackroyd would later tell detectives. He appeared to become sexually aroused when shown a pair of pants that police had found in the woods and initially suspected belonged to Rachanda. Rachanda's stepfather, John Arthur Ackroyd, is the last person known to have seen her. He had his sisters image tattooed on his arm last year. It was believed that the sweatpants might be hers, sparking another set of searches in that area, but would fail to come up with any additional evidence. During their digging into this case, they would uncover a plea deal agreed upon by both prosecutors and John Ackroyd, which had been agreed upon back in 2013, after charges had been filed in Rachanda's murder. We must have laid 150 miles of string line laying out the grids, Mueller said. Missing From: SISTERS, OR. You should know. A police photo shows Rachanda's bedroom. At the time, journalists with the Oregonian and Oregon Live were investigating this story for their amazing "Ghosts of Highway 20" project (which I honestly can't recommend enough, it's an amazing piece of journalism that you all should check out). Ackroyd is a suspected serial killer: he's doing life right now for a 1978 murder (he was convicted in 1994), and is a suspect in two other women's disappearances besides Rachanda's. In fall 2013, according to the unsealed court records, Ackroyd agreed not to seek parole and to decline release even if he became eligible in exchange for his no contest plea in his stepdaughter's death. Linn County Sheriff's Office mounted extensive search for Rachanda She lives in San Bernardino, California, where she works at a medical supply company. As Noelle Crombie writes in Part III of the Oregonian/OregonLive's five-part series. After his stepdaughter went missing, investigators reopened the Turner case and charged Ackroyd. Linda, meanwhile, would attempt to defend her husband from accusations that she deemed unfounded, telling reporters that: "John ain't a violent man; he don't even beat the kids. You could tell they were both being physically abused, said Seiber, who now lives outside Houston. Her bedroom did appear to be a mess, but as Linda would later tell reporters: "Her bedroom looked like an explosion hit it, but that wasn't unusual. Linda and John Ackroyd left for work, she as a housekeeper at Black Butte Ranch, a resort community about 30 minutes away, and he as a highway mechanic. Maybe it was the girls development, he told police, that drew a predator to the junction. 41-year-old John Arthur Ackroyd was suspected of involvement in this case very early on, simply because he was the last person to have seen Rachanda Pickle before she went missing. On Tuesday, April 2, John Ackroyd was arrested and transported to the Linn County Jail for the homicide of Rachanda Pickle. And now here he was, more than a decade later, having been the last known person to see his stepdaughter alive. Then there are the 1992 murders of Sheila Swanson and Melissa Sanders, teenagers whose bodies were found months after their initial disappearance. The girl who was good about leaving notes if she headed out to play Nintendo at a neighbors house hadnt left one. When he returned to the house at approximately 12:45 p.m., Rachanda had vanished. After so many years, though, the edge of that threat had begun to grow dull, and these witnesses were no longer intimidated by a couple of doughy, middle-aged men. In 2012, Linn County authorities took another look at her disappearance. The resolution, in this case, would allow closure for the loved ones of Kaye Turner but was little solace for the friends and family of Rachanda Pickle, who had been missing for approximately four years at the time of sentencing. The first time it was almost like he didnt want to be seen and the second time he was flamboyant, snapping pictures and waving, the coworker said. A dozen or so work crews called the junction home. Oregonian/OregonLive fought to unseal secret deal in Rachanda Pickle's Ackroyd drove by the woman twice that morning. The two often went to school with bruises, which they attributed to John's abuse. 0. The couple married in the mid-1980s but divorced after a year. These bones very well could have been Rachanda's, but they also could have belonged to any other young woman that had been killed in the area. He thought she was pretty, he said, and noticed that shed begun to develop. This is what had led to him leading police to the body of Kaye Turner eight months after her death because, as prosecutors noted, he wanted to try and obtain the reward money being offered at the time. We spent several days up there several times. This would lead them to begin to question the statements of her stepfather. My children know they did have an Aunt Rachanda.. Her disappearance triggered one of the larger searches in the Linn Countys history. Brown hair, brown eyes. He even pretended to aid in the fruitless search for the girl. Writing, research, hosting, and production by Micheal Whelan, Producers: Roberta Janson, Ben Krokum, Gabriella Bromley, Steven Wilson, Quil Carter, Travis Scsepko, Laura Hannan, Bryan Hall, Damion Moore, Scott Meesey, Amy Hampton, Scott Patzold, Marie Vanglund, Astrid Kneier, Aimee McGregor, Jo Wong, Sara Moscaritolo, Sydney Scotton, Thomas Ahearn, Marion Welsh, Patrick Laakso, Rebecca O'Sullivan, Meadow Landry, Tatum Bautista, Sally Ranford, Kevin McCracken, Ruth Durbin, Michele Watson, Jared Midwood, Teunia Elzinga, Ryan Green, Jacinda C., Stephanie Joyner, Cherish Brady, and Lauren, Original music created by Micheal Whelan through Amper Music, Theme music created and composed by Ailsa Traves, The Charley Project - Rachanda Lea Pickle, Albany Democrat-Herald - Search continues for teen, Statesman Journal - Linn County teams continue search for missing girl, 13, Statesman Journal - Team extends Santiam hunt for lost girl, Albany Democrat-Herald - Search for girl enters fifth day, Corvallis Gazette-Times - Search for girl continues, Albany Democrat-Herald - Search will extend for missing Linn girl, Statesman Journal - Searchers find no sign of missing 13-year-old, Albany Democrat-Herald - Authorities fear missing girl likely victim of foul play, Spokane Chronicle - Girl, 13, still missing; foul play suspected, Statesman Journal - County will expand search for missing girl, Albany Democrat-Herald - Searchers comb harsh terrain for girl, Statesman Journal - Hunt for Linn teen expands (1), Statesman Journal - Hunt for Linn teen expands (2), Albany Democrat-Herald - Search ends with no trace of girl, Longview Daily News - Searchers give up on missing girl, Albany Democrat-Herald - Search for teen-ager again proves fruitless, Statesman Journal - Clothing discovery spurs new search for Linn teen-ager, Albany Democrat-Herald - Sweatpants found on trail may have belonged to girl, Spokane Chronicle - Pants found; search for girl resumes, Albany Democrat-Herald - Sheriff doubts pants belong to missing girl, Statesman Journal - Search for girl renewed, Corvallis Gazette-Times - Dad thinks missing girl ran away, Statesman Journal - Father of missing Santiam Junction girl says she ran away, Albany Democrat-Herald - Sheriffs office: Nothing new in case of missing girl, The Lebanon Express - Linn girl still gone, Albany Democrat-Herald - Posse to renew search for girl, Corvallis Gazette-Times - FBI joins search for missing girl, Statesman Journal - Linn County seeks FBI help in finding teen-ager, Albany Democrat-Herald - 2 men charged with killing woman in 1978, Statesman Journal - Pair charged with murder of woman 13 years ago, Albany Democrat-Herald - SH man arraigned on murder charges, Albany Democrat-Herald - Detective still looking for missing girl, Albany Democrat-Herald - Sweet Home man on trial, Albany Democrat-Herald - Man convicted in 1978 murder, Statesman Journal - Canyon man guilty in 78 death of jogger, Statesman Journal - Convictions solve 1978 murder, Albany Democrat-Herald - Six years later, search for daughter continues, Albany Democrat-Herald - Skull continues to be puzzle, Albany Democrat-Herald - Skull site searched, Albany Democrat-Herald - Crawfordsville skull sent for DNA testing, Albany Democrat-Herald - Scientists cant get DNA from Crawfordsville skull (1), Albany Democrat-Herald - Scientists cant get DNA from Crawfordsville skull (2), Albany Democrat-Herald - New tip sparks another look into missing girl case, Albany Democrat-Herald - Case of missing Linn girl unsolved (1), Albany Democrat-Herald - Case of missing Linn girl unsolved (2), Albany Democrat-Herald - Stepfather charged in murder of girl in 1990 (1), Albany Democrat-Herald - Stepfather charged in murder of girl in 1990 (2), Albany Democrat-Herald - Ackroyd defense team gets discovery material from DA, Albany Democrat-Herald - Murder suspect wants quick trial, The Nugget Newspaper - Hearing digs up Camp Sherman murder case, Corvallis Gazette-Times - Murder suspect Ackroyd found dead in Salem prison cell, The New Era - Accused murderer of 13-year-old missing girl dies in prison, OregonLive/Oregonian - Oregonian/OregonLive fought to unseal secret deal in Rachanda Pickles killing, Kimberly Riley & Jeremy Britt-Bayinthavong, Paul Skiba, Sarah Skiba, and Lorenzo Chivers, June & Jennifer Gibbons (The Silent Twins). It was definitely in the middle of nowhere, said her brother, Byron. He said he came home during a break from work and asked Rachanda if she wanted to go for a ride with him. We think the greatest likely scenario is that she's probably out there not of her own volition and is deceased either by violence or nature. In fifth grade, something shifted. If a jury. He wondered aloud if Rachanda had been dumped and buried in the woods or threatened with a knife, tied up and gagged, her body rolled in plastic. One of the major factors in this determination was that if she had run away, Rachanda had done so without any of her belongings. He said he didnt know. On July 10, 1990, Rachanda disappeared from her home in Sweet Home, Oregon. His Stepdaughter Vanished. What He Said Was Disturbing Her mother noticed the girls hairbrush, makeup and earrings were still there. A forensic examination of the available evidence proved that's actually what happened, and that Ackroyd - who had little in the way of an imagination - had basically confessed to investigators when he expressed these guesses. A public records request by The Oregonian/OregonLive led a judge to order the release details of the agreement and other documents in the court file. The interview sputtered to a halt. Somebody could have just come in, he said, knocked her over the head, throw her over the shoulders and just walk out without anybody seeing her. Because of the time she had been gone - weeks, almost a month now - authorities were fairly certain that even if she was out in the woods somewhere, they were unlikely to save her. Rachanda Pickle Unresolved He had his sisters image tattooed on his arm last year. A sadistic killer goes around killing people, taking girls off somewhere? This involved search effort would cease their searches after Friday - three days after Rachanda had last been seen alive - but the Linn County Mounted Posse would carry on, and would be joined by employees from the U.S. Forest Service. When speaking to news station KRWQ, Steven would state that he believed Rachanda had run away from home, citing some missing clothing from her bedroom. They would end up attending a family reunion along the Oregon coast, but in the middle of July, Rachanda started to feel a bit homesick. Deceased/Not Found - OR - Rachanda Pickle, 13, Santiam Junction, 10 She said no and he left. In fact, the only clothing that seemed to be missing was a pair of black sweatpants and a white New Kids on the Block t-shirt she had been wearing a lot recently, so it was theorized that she had been wearing those items when she went missing. John had also been one of the last people to see her alive, and - if you recall from the introduction - had led police to her partial remains eight months later (which he claims he discovered through mere happenstance). Seiber is shown here with her daughter. Police and court records filled a file cabinet in the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office. Ackroyds low libido was the source of such open conflict that Lindas teenage son, Byron, knew of their troubles. Rachanda, circa 1990; Age-progression to age 41 (circa 2018); John Arthur Ackroyd, circa 1990; Ackroyd, circa 2013. They continued to live together, though, raising Linda's two kids, Rachanda and her older brother, Byron. Donations are accepted but not expected; the site remains free-access to all. The whereabouts of Rachanda Pickle have never been determined, with none of her friends, family members, or acquaintances having seen her after July 10th, 1990. The home showed no signs of foul play. Who was the last person that saw her, do you know?the dispatcher asked the girl's mother. By then, Becks ex-wife had lost touch with Ackroyd but remained fond of him. It was even alleged that John had been molesting Rachanda, although that remains mostly-unconfirmed years later. While this plea deal provided some kind of closure in the case, John Arthur Ackroyd was not required to provide any kind of proof in the murder case of Rachanda Pickle. He claimed he invited her to join him on a drive to photograph deer on back roads near the junction. McAnulty wondered if an ex-wife might see the events of the distant past in a different light. Investigators had learned that while John had gone to work on the day of Rachanda's disappearance, driving out to Bend, he had only been there for about an hour before deciding to take the rest of the day off. No, what do you think I am? Ackroyd said, his voice rising in rare agitation. Stockpiles of cinder rock towered near the buildings inside the complex. Also, it was determined that John's accomplice, Roger Dale Beck, had told friends and family about the killing and had threatened them never to tell or they would suffer the same fate. Rachanda Lea Pickle - The Charley Project This is a police photo of the Ackroyd home at the time of Rachanda's disappearance on July 10, 1990. Once, he invited neighbors over to watch horror movies, becoming so animated over scenes of women being chopped up that hed hit rewind again and again. He was convicted of a sex crime in Minnesota, served seven months in prison, and moved to California. Lt. Darrel James, who had coordinated the search efforts, told reporters during a press briefing: "There's no reason to think she ran away, and no information that she just walked off playing around. While the family's home was surrounded by dense wilderness, Rachanda quickly picked up on the area around them. Prosecutors stated that information obtained during the investigation into Rachanda Pickle's disappearance had ultimately led to these charges being filed approximately two years later. It was the kind of menial task you might give a rookie detective. By then, Ackroyd was dead; he had died in prison in late 2016. The home showed no signs of foul play. His friends became sick at the sight and left. When he returned to the house at approximately 12:45 p.m., Rachanda had vanished. Later speaking to the number of travelers that drove by daily, he recalled to the Albany Democrat-Herald: "We do get a lot of strangers stopping here. Two hours later, he was back, but this time he made sure she saw him. Last updated April 1, 2021; clothing/jewelry description and details of disappearance updated. RACHANDA PICKLE - zaginiona pasierbica seryjnego mordercy The dishes werent in the dishwasher and the floor wasnt vacuumed. During the summer of 1990, when Rachanda was thirteen years old, she and her brother Byron had gone to spend a couple of weeks with their father, Steve, in Medford. Rachanda Pickle's brother, Byron Pickle, was consulted during the state's negotiations with Ackroyd, Marteeny said. She was calm as she told the dispatcher that her daughter, a homebody, had gone missing. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. Over the next several months, several court hearings would be adjourned to get rolling on the trial itself. Investigators were troubled by John Ackroyds knowledge of Rachandas bra size. This fact alone made investigators suspicious, but paired together with all of the other red flags in John Ackroyd's past, put him at the very top of their suspect list. Ackroyd was finally arrested 14 years after what's believed to be his first killing, the 1978 murder of Turner. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 4/4/2023), Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (updated 1/26/2023). Linda Monville, Rachanda's mother, keeps this photo of Rachanda and Byron on a shelf in her home. Eight months later, Ackroyd reported finding her remains in the woods. Sadly, for all of these cases - as was the case with his stepdaughter's disappearance - Ackroyd went to the grave with whatever answers he may have had. He recalled that Rachanda was on the living room couch in her pajamas, watching cartoons, at the time. However, she agreed to go with him later to pick up Linda from work. In March of 1996, police would investigate the origins of a partial skull recovered near Crawfordsville, about fifty miles east of where Rachanda had last been seen alive. Plows stood ready to rumble onto the mountain pass during winter storms. The Charley Project is NOT a registered non-profit organization and any donations will NOT be tax-deductible. Story by Noelle Crombie Photography by Beth Nakamura Video by Dave KillenTHE OREGONIAN | OREGONLIVE. On 10 July 1990, 13-year-old Rachanda Pickle was last seen inside her mother and stepfather's home in Santiam Junction, Oregon. For some reason, however, the agreement had been kept confidential for over three years, until after Ackroyd's death. Ackroyd had driven to a state highway office in Bend, but returned home after only about an hour. Officials with the Linn County Sheriff's Office would continue to routinely check in on the case over the next several months; typically, whenever they received reports of sightings of Rachanda. Noelle Crombie | The Oregonian/OregonLive. She would eventually remarry and move down to California, where she resides today. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. This was unusual and definitely out of the ordinary, but it wasn't enough for John to take notice at the time, it seems. They would also spend hours going through the Ackroyd home, taking photographs and looking for any evidence that pointed to a struggle having taken place inside. In class, she counted down the minutes, a sense of dread rising as the end of the school day approached. He said he came home during a break from work and asked Rachanda if she wanted to go for a ride with him. Looking over their notes from years earlier, investigators were disturbed by how close Ackroyd's involvement in Kaye Turner's case mirrored his involvement in Rachanda Pickle's disappearance. They kept their exasperation in check, rarely raising their voices as they combed fine details for any new revelation. This search effort would be organized and overseen by the Linn County Sheriff's Office, who were augmented by members of neighboring counties over the next several weeks. Searches would also be conducted in the area on occasion but were primarily limited to recertification time that local officials needed to continue operating as part of the state's search-and-rescue apparatus. Detective Jim Salsbery, who oversaw the case, later said that he believed he knew what happened to the missing girl, but he just didn't have the evidence to prove it. Despite them ruling out the theory pretty definitively within a day or so of her disappearance, investigators would be plagued by rumors of potential sightings throughout the area. John Ackroyd had an unusual arrangement with Rachandas mother, Linda. In August of 1979, a man that lived in the region - named John Arthur Ackroyd - came forward with information. Early on, police looked into the possibility of Rachanda Pickle running away from home. An adult would have a database trail associated with credit cards, utility bills, driver's licenses and property transactions. To some, she seemed lost, almost invisible. He knew it was Ackroyd who had eventually led police to her remains. If we could find her remains, we could say our final goodbye, but at this point, we don't have anything We still think about her. Rachandas mother now says: So there was something going on there but I just didnt see it then., REMEMBERING RACHANDA (Photo 1 of 4): Byron Pickle is 43 and lives in Aumsville with his wife and two children. The family had lived at the state highway compound for six years. He would lead police to this scene - which he had discovered by mere chance, as he told it - and investigators would later identify the remains as Kaye Jean Turner's. Rachanda Pickle loved her brother, going to school, playing on the playground and helping around the house.

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