Her body has never been found. For more than three decades, these loved ones have only been able to guess where Rachanda is or, if she's dead, what her final minutes must have been like. Rachanda's stepfather, John Arthur Ackroyd, is the last person known to have seen her. Then he said he left. (ALBANY, OR) - Linn County detectives arrested a man for murder related to the 1990 disappearance of Rachanda Leah Pickle. John, Rachanda's stepfather, came home during a break from work, at around 9:30 AM. You could win the lottery four or five times before something like that would happen, Salsbery said. They continued to believe that Ackroyd was involved in his stepdaughter's disappearance, and began to go through his statements with a fine-toothed comb. Detectives dug into Kayes killing once more and soon stumbled on their biggest breakthrough. achanda Pickles stepfather could turn angry in a flash. While the family's home was surrounded by dense wilderness, Rachanda quickly picked up on the area around them. However, these hearings came to an abrupt end after October 4th, 2013. A lot of them are awful weird, but a lot are as nice as you can imagine.". To him, this gave credence to the notion that she had intentionally run away, and had not been abducted, as originally theorized. 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 had actually been one of the few witnesses who claimed to have seen Kaye Turner jogging on the morning of Christmas Eve, on what would have been mile four of a planned six-mile jog. Detectives moved on. Ackroyd worked out of Corvallis and continued to roam the highway. By his account, Rachanda was gone when he returned a couple of hours later. Her son, Byron, described Ackroyd as a violent man who once beat Rachanda over a broken clock. He would continue to plead his innocence in both cases, including the murder of Kaye Turner, which he had already been found guilty of. They werent expected back until afternoon. Ackroyd did little to look for her and later picked up Linda from work. John would later pick up Linda from work, and when the two returned home, they discovered that Rachanda was not there waiting for them. Please subscribe to keep reading. Cops went to search a storage unit Ackroyd had rented the year before, only to find hed cleared it out days earlier. A police photo taken inside the Ackroyd home shows Rachanda Pickle's bra. Years later, his ex-wife told police Beck and John Ackroyd told her to lie to police about their whereabouts the morning of Kaye's disappearance. First Name: Rachanda Lea. By then, Ackroyd was dead; he had died in prison in late 2016. Stockpiles of cinder rock towered near the buildings inside the complex. McAnulty wondered if an ex-wife might see the events of the distant past in a different light. Brown hair; brown eyes. John Arthur Ackroyd was questioned extensively in the days and weeks after Rachanda's disappearance and would be asked to perform a polygraph test by authorities early on. Weeks after his death, prosecutors publicly acknowledged for the first time that Ackroyd had entered a plea in 2013 in the disappearance and presumed murder of Rachanda Pickle, his stepdaughter. In the early morning hours of July 10, 1990 John and Linda Ackroyd left their residence at the Oregon Department of Transportation shops at the Santiam Junction in east Linn County, Oregon. Yet even in those types of cases, the terms of a plea agreement aren't generally secret. No, the bewildered dispatcher said, thats not true, not with children., The dispatcher asked: Who was the last person that saw her, do you know?, GONE FROM SANTIAM JUNCTION (Photo 1 of 7): Rachanda Pickle didnt like living at Santiam Junction. For years Ackroyd was the prime suspect in Rachanda's case, and her family believed he had murdered her. John Ackroyd killed Kaye Turner, he replied. While police had always kept John Ackroyd at the top of their suspect list, they never had enough evidence to pursue charges against anyone. Donations are accepted but not expected; the site remains free-access to all. Brown hair, brown eyes. The two often went to school with bruises, which they attributed to John's abuse. It was important to Ackroyd to have his plea sealed, prosecutors said. But Rachanda grew homesick and came back a few days before her disappearance. He had his sisters image tattooed on his arm last year. If she had run away, she had not done so with any of her clothing or makeup. Despite the disappearance of Rachanda Pickle causing massive changes in the lives of those that had known her, her case would remain unshakeable over the next several years. In class, she counted down the minutes, a sense of dread rising as the end of the school day approached. Sometime after he moved, Ackroyd was in his truck with the daughter of an old friend. What we're afraid of is that someone came up to the house, found her alone here and took her.". Byron was Rachandas companion and playground protector. Police would begin to reach out to those close to Rachanda and learned that John had been abusive to Rachanda and her brother in the past. Story by Noelle Crombie Photography by Beth Nakamura Video by Dave KillenTHE OREGONIAN | OREGONLIVE. Three years would pass, in which this case seemed to just fade from the headlines. He said he came home during a break from work and asked Rachanda if she wanted to go for a ride with him. He loved her. In the autumn of 2013, Ackroyd reached a plea deal with prosecutors in Rachanda's death. ALBANY, Ore. - Rachanda Pickle disappeared from her parent's home at the Oregon DOT employee compound at Santiam Junction in July 1990. I know that my daughters dead, Steve Pickle said in a 2003 newspaper interview. If she was going to plan to run away, she would have taken her makeup and her clothes, but nothing was missing. However, the information that he was able to recall - such as her weight and bra size, as well as when she had started getting periods - didn't paint him in the most flattering light. Her disappearance triggered one of the larger searches in the Linn Countys history. "That was something that he wanted," said George Eder, chief deputy district attorney for Linn County. Load the dishwasher. He was painting the tailgate. Approximately two months later, Rachanda's 14th birthday would pass by without any celebration or fanfare. There's certainly the possibility that we've got a crime committed here. Their childhood friend, Michelle Seiber, said Rachanda wouldnt have dreamed of leaving behind her brother. His partner, Detective Will McAnulty, sat nearby. After a four-week trial which took place in the latter half of 1993, John Arthur Ackroyd was convicted for Kaye Turner's death and was later given five life sentences without the possibility of parole. We can surmise that this is when he returned home and encountered Rachanda at around 9:30 AM. Rachanda Pickle's brother, Byron Pickle, was consulted during the state's negotiations with Ackroyd, Marteeny said. We spent several days up there several times. In 1990, Rachanda Pickle lived with her mother, brother and stepfather, John Ackroyd. Russell Barnett, a Portland criminal defense lawyer who represented Ackroyd along with Elizabeth Baker, declined to say why Ackroyd wanted the deal to remain secret. Before Ackroyd entered their lives, their mother cycled through boyfriends and husbands. In 1978, Kaye Turner disappeared while on a morning run during a Christmas visit to isolated Camp Sherman. Time had fogged her memory, but on one point she was clear: The men ordered her to lie if police asked where they were that morning. The first time he stared ahead as Corinna Strouse waved hello. By then, Becks ex-wife had lost touch with Ackroyd but remained fond of him. All rights reserved (About Us). Rachanda was Ackroyd's 13-year-old stepdaughter who vanished in 1990 from the family home at the Santiam Junction highway compound. The couple had since divorced and Pam had moved to California. So, lots of NKOTB, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Paula Abdul, Martika - you know, all the old school late 80's/early 90's goodness. Rachanda's new stepfather, John, worked as a mechanic for the Oregon Highway Division and had already been living at this maintenance complex for over a decade by the time Linda, Byron, and Rachanda moved in. 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. After his stepdaughter went missing, investigators reopened the Turner case and charged Ackroyd. My children know they did have an Aunt Rachanda.. He was arrested at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, where he is serving a life sentence for the murder of Kaye Turner on December 24, 1978 in Camp Sherman, Oregon. If he could have kept his mouth shut, this case would have gone nowhere.". 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. Ackroyds low libido was the source of such open conflict that Lindas teenage son, Byron, knew of their troubles. It was definitely in the middle of nowhere, said her brother, Byron. Physical evidence proved he had been sexually abusing Rachanda prior to her disappearance. On 10 July 1990, 13-year-old Rachanda Pickle was last seen inside her mother and stepfather's home in Santiam Junction, Oregon. She also believed that a commonly-used payphone, which was just about forty yards away from their home, might have played a part, stating in that same interview: "It's really a good access and if anybody had come up and asked her directions and asked if her mother was home, she would have said no. When he returned to the house at approximately 12:45 p.m., Rachanda had vanished. In the months after Rachanda's disappearance, Rachanda's mother Linda would officially separate from her stepfather John, moving away to Portland. He remains just one suspect of many in that case, but a strong one nonetheless. He said he returned home to find his stepdaughter under a blanket on the couch. Rachanda Lea Pickle was born on March 15, 1977. 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. Sheila Swanson was 19 and from nearby Lebanon. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. During the ensuing court case, defense attorneys would argue that John Arthur Ackroyd was slow-witted and mentally deficient, to the point of him being unaware of specific questions asked by investigators. Michelle Seiber and her sister, Mandy Cook, were friends with Rachanda in elementary school in Sweet Home. {{start_at_rate}} {{format_dollars}} {{start_price}} {{format_cents}} {{term}}, {{promotional_format_dollars}}{{promotional_price}}{{promotional_format_cents}} {{term}}, By Alex Paul and Kyle Odegard, Albany Democrat-Herald, Two Albany pharmacies will close their doors next month, Sad ending to story: Lebanon goose killed, Trash, recycling, yard waste pickup day changing in Linn County, Lebanon woman accused of setting fire to her grandparents' house, Albany gas station briefly missed annual report, Waterfront project costs more than Albany anticipated, Update: Man says he set Sweet Home church fire, 'I don't like church', Falls City man sentenced to 8 years in prison for manslaughter, DUII, Mattel introduces first Barbie doll representing a person with Down syndrome, Highway 20 construction prompts these changes between Albany, Corvallis, Police track bullet holes at Sweet Home elementary to neighborhood, LBCC faculty: Budget cut process violated our contract, High school track and field: Dickson quickly climbs the rankings, Philomath man accused of multiple Dollar Tree robberies, 'A legend is born': Kirsten Neuschfer becomes first woman to win historic Golden Globe Race, OSP inmate faces Linn County murder charge. Maybe they just walked in, seen an opportunity and grasped at it.. On Christmas Eve morning, Ackroyd showed up at the house. Most nights, the pair could be found at Sharis in Lebanon, where teens and adults gathered to talk on CB radios and drink coffee. Due to the three decades that have passed since, however, there are fewer people left to ask those questions many of Rachanda's relatives have passed on, and the ones that live on only have faded memories and mementos to remember her by. "The settlement reached a point where we were able to have the certainty. Sadly, this is where the story just kind of ends. He is also a suspect in the deaths of two other young women. This team would be called in to not only help reinvigorate the investigation itself but work up a profile for a potential suspect in this unsolved disappearance. It was great, Ackroyd would later tell detectives. The interview sputtered to a halt. "It was the best resolution for him, for the case, at the time," Barnett said. He was the last person to see both, exhibited troubling behavior at the time of their disappearance, provided investigators with both conflicting and troubling information, involved himself in the search parties and investigation, and then - when questioned - offered up troubling guesses for the victim's fate. "The settlement reached a point where we were able to have the certainty that he would be in prison forever," Marteeny told The Oregonian/OregonLive. Rachanda, circa 1990; Age-progression to age 41 (circa 2018); John Arthur Ackroyd, circa 1990; Ackroyd, circa 2013. However, as recounted by family members, later on, she never ventured too far out into the woods unless she had her big brother Byron with her. Over the course of the investigation, he acted strangely. If that would have happened, I would not have any of my kids stay there any longer. But Rachandas distress was clear. 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). Her mother and stepfather didn't report her missing until the next day. Rachanda nicknamed Chandy and her brother, Byron, had gone to live with their biological father, Steve Pickle, in Medford earlier in the summer. She had double pierced ears and a scar on her forehead. 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. He later told police that when he did return, the front door was partly open, and a pellet gun he owned was propped up against a camper, with a box of pellets nearby. 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. And on the morning she vanished, Rachanda asked her mother not to go to work. However, following the disappearance of John's stepdaughter, investigators had begun looking into the dormant case of Kaye Turner. Thats what pulled our relationship together.. This sighting would help kick up some interest in the case, nearly a decade later, but that excitement was relatively short-lived. She introduced the women to him and they climbed in. That friend was Roger Dale Beck. These many months later, John Arthur Ackroyd claimed to have discovered bone fragments while walking his dog in a wooded area nearby. There, Rachanda would live alongside her mother, brother, and stepfather in a trailer at the junction, surrounded by dozens of miles of vast wilderness, becoming just one of a dozen or so families that called this mountain pass 'home.'. Could trucks be to blame for killing more pedestrians? Her stepdad., Ackroyds grim speculation about the harm that had likely come to Rachanda echoed gory stories like the ones hed replay over and over in Friday the 13th and Texas Chainsaw Massacre.. John would tell investigators, loved ones anyone interested, really, that he didn't know what had happened to the missing girl. Jim Salsbery was instrumental in the investigation that culminated with Ackroyds conviction in the death of Kaye Jean Turner. After Rachanda disappeared, he and her mother separated, and her mother moved to California and remarried. He thought she was pretty, he said, and noticed that shed begun to develop. This is a photo from inside the Linn County Sheriff's Office file room. Even the pajamas she was last seen wearing were found in her bedroom. John then reportedly left the home by himself, and wouldn't return until approximately 12:30 PM (roughly three hours later). The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Linn County Sheriff's Office Rachanda Pickle, the 13-year-old daughter of his ex-wife Linda, went missing from her Santiam Junction home. Its rough country and theres lots of brush.. Ackroyd, 67,. Ackroyd spun the same story from then on. (From this AMA with the Oregonian journalists who investigated the serial killings by Rachanda's stepfather . Hanlon, whod spent his career practicing law in rural Oregon, knew of Ackroyd from reading a slim three-ring binder stashed in a cardboard box left behind by his predecessor. Then Rachanda Pickle, Ackroyd's 13-year-old stepdaughter, disappeared. She has double pierced ears and a scar on her forehead. #MISSING: Rachanda Pickle, Linn County, Oregon DOB: 03/15/77 Missing since: July 10, 1990 NAMUS #6529 Linn County Sheriff's Office Case Case Investigator: Detective Mike Harmon (541) 917-6654 For a man suspected of murder, Ackroyd was impassive under intense grilling by Salsbery and McAnulty. A police photo shows Rachanda's bedroom. One of John Ackroyds coworkers was working on Highway 20 the morning Rachanda disappeared. We saw no human movement at all; no tracks, no nothing.". He read about how Ackroyd had been with an old hunting buddy on the morning of Kayes killing. Her parents reported her missing the next day. Once, when a clock fell off a shelf, he beat her with a homemade paddle. Rachanda's year-older brother, Byron Pickle, is still tormented that he hadn't hugged her the last time he saw her, and he feels like he should have done more to protect her from their stepfather. 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. Two years later, at age 14, she married Beck. Rachanda has a scar on her forehead. Didnt do anything to Kaye Jean Turner? McAnulty asked, his voice cool. 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. Rachanda Lea Pickle Rachanda, approximately 1990; Age when reported missing: 41 (approximately 2018); John Arthur Ackroyd, approximately 1990; Ackroyd, approximately 2013 . The DA knew Ackroyd had changed his story and admitted he had talked to Kaye the morning he encountered her on a run. She didn't even have a telephone in their home.". Police investigating this rumor discovered that the young woman identified by the tipster was actually a relative of Rachanda's, but was not her. "Rachanda was. Noelle Crombie | The Oregonian/OregonLive. You should know. This is about 150 miles southeast of Portland and about 80 miles northeast of Eugene. ", Rachanda and Byron Pickle were close. Martinak told a Democrat-Herald reporter at the time that despite the rough conditions, mounted posses and search teams on foot were attacking the terrain. Born on March 15th, 1977, Rachanda Lea Pickle (commonly called "Chandy" by her loved ones) was the second child born to her parents, Steven and Linda, who split up and divorced when the children were quite young. John Arthur Ackroyd would remain one of investigators' top suspects in this case, and as a result, would be questioned several times alongside a friend of his (whom police considered a potential accomplice). The responsibility of speaking for Rachanda rested with her brother, Byron Pickle. 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. He basked in attention from police. He rattled off the girls weight and bra size but couldnt remember her birthday. 0. A dozen or so work crews called the junction home. For some reason, however, the agreement had been kept confidential for over three years, until after Ackroyd's death. He knew it was Ackroyd who had eventually led police to her remains. Few kids lived there andthe ones who didwerent Rachandas age. The next day, Hanlon hopped in a car with a Jefferson County deputy for a briefing on the search for Rachanda. He said he came home during a break from work and asked Rachanda if she wanted to go for a ride with him. Eight months later, Ackroyd reported finding her remains in the woods. However, on Wednesday, April 3rd, 2013 - nearly 23 years after his stepdaughter's disappearance - John Arthur Ackroyd would be charged with her murder by Linn County prosecutors. You can cancel at any time. Rachanda did not have a cell-phone, no internet connection. John Ackroyd, a longtime state highway worker, died alone in his prison celllate last year while serving a life sentence in another murder. After all, she's a teenage girl.". The night of RachandaPickles disappearance, John Ackroydinitiated sex with Linda Ackroyd. Unfortunately, any additional evidence would be hard to come by in this case, and it would remain stagnant for more than a decade until it was revived years later, in the most unlikely of ways. Chandy remains missing. "My guess is the prosecution was in a bind in terms of how tough this case was and so I think when the state has cases that are weak, they tend to pursue creative options," Beloof said. John Arthur Ackroyd, the longtime suspect in 13-year-old Rachanda Lea Pickle's disappearance, has been arrested and charged with her murder. She has never been heard from again. There was Ackroyd, standing at the back of his Ford pickup. The more that investigators spoke with John Ackroyd, the more troubled they became. She rode her bike in the lane just outside the door and took a bus to grade school in Sweet Home. She said no and he left. Linda cited their home's proximity to Highway 20, as their home was the closest to the highway out of all of them at the maintenance complex. At around the same time, Rachanda's stepfather John would tell reporters with the Albany Democrat-Herald: "At this point, we're hoping that she did run away and that she's safe and sound somewhere. She said no and he left. Their clothes were spattered with so much blood that she got rid of Becks jeans and shirt. You know, he said, both of you sitting there pointing your fingers at me, and I didnt do nothing.. As part of their "Ghosts of Highway 20" project, these journalists have uncovered evidence linking him to several other crimes. A forensic examination of the sweatpants would later reveal that they likely did not belong to Rachanda. John's accomplice, Roger Dale Beck, was convicted on almost identical grounds and continues to be housed in the Oregon State Penitentiary. 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. Ackroyd was charged in Rachanda's murder in April 2013.

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