Each March 16th from this point forward would mark another year gone, in which the girl's loved ones didn't get to experience what she would have been like as a teenager, and then eventually, as an adult. Seiber, 41, said Rachanda and her older brother, Byron, came to school with bruises. The highway worker had hurt Rachanda, stuffed her into a garbage bag and hauled her away, Linn County Sheriffs Detective Jim Salsbery said during one of their interviews. Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. The dishes werent in the dishwasher and the floor wasnt vacuumed. By now, investigators knew who they were dealing with. Rachandas green nightgown was on her bedroom floor. If she had run away, she had not done so with any of her clothing or makeup. So, lots of NKOTB, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Paula Abdul, Martika - you know, all the old school late 80's/early 90's goodness. 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). Rachanda Lea Pickle was born on March 15, 1977. At times, the effort included more than 100 deputies and volunteers from Linn, Lane, Benton, Marion, Douglas, Deschutes and Jefferson counties. This had originally been discovered by a dog, but the dog's owner called police to the scene, leading to a full-scale dig of the area where the skull had been found, which uncovered some additional fragments of bone. Following his separation from Linda, Rachanda's mother, months later, he would continue to work for the Oregon Highway Division as a mechanic. 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. 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 the same time, a dozen investigators working the Turner case seized on Ackroyds shifting accounts. She didn't even have a telephone in their home.". A police photograph shows evidence from the investigation into Kaye Turners murder. Linda Monville's response was matter of fact. 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. He said he came home during a break from work and asked Rachanda if she wanted to go for a ride with him. On the morning of December 24th, 1978, Kaye Jean Turner left a cabin she had been renting near Camp Sherman, a tourist hotspot in central Oregon, about 40 miles northwest of Bend. You could win the lottery four or five times before something like that would happen, Salsbery said. Linn County District Attorney Doug Marteeny said he wanted to ensure Ackroyd would spend the rest of his life in prison. Her disappearance triggered one of the larger searches in the Linn Countys history. He thought she was pretty, he said, and noticed that shed begun to develop. While Rachanda would ask her mother not to go to work that morning, Linda - focused on getting ready for work - didn't really take notice of the request, later recalling to the Statesman Journal: "I woke her up at about ten after five to have her french-brain my hair. As part of their negotiations, prosecutors pressed Ackroyd to disclose her whereabouts; he refused to say. He was arrested a little less than two years later for his involvement in the murder of Kaye Turner, and spent the rest of his shitty, miserable life behind bars. 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. Lifesaving: Family flees Texas to transgender 'refuge' Minnesota. Load the dishwasher. John, Rachanda's stepfather, came home during a break from work, at around 9:30 AM. This is one of those things when you hope youll get a call from the family saying shes in Los Angeles or somewhere, Martinak said during the search. Authorities stated current technology made it possible to test old evidence and come up with the information necessary to make a case against Ackroyd. John Ackroyd was her third husband. 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. 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. Last seen alive: July 10, 1990. Read the story Tagged: The Oregonian Support Longreads She said he threatened to do to me exactly what they did to Kaye Turner., REMEMBERING RACHANDA (Photo 1 of 4): Byron Pickle is 42 and lives in Aumsville with his wife and two children. Linda would last see Rachanda when she left for work just after 6:00 AM. The Charley Project is NOT a registered non-profit organization and any donations will NOT be tax-deductible. The men ate and left to poach deer, not returning until the next day, she said. This seemed to leave the case in an unusual spot moving forward since the victim's body had never been found, and now the only suspect had died without the case going to trial. Rachanda's stepfather, John Arthur Ackroyd, is the last person known to have seen her. When the couple pulled into the compound that evening, Rachanda wasnt hanging around outside like she had the day before. While I'd like to point out that he was already serving five life sentences without the possibility of parole, and was already in poor health at the time charges were filed, it is worth pointing out that this plea deal was agreed upon by Rachanda's living family members primarily, her brother Byron, who had struggled to come to grips with his sister's loss for decades. The home showed no signs of foul play. Within 30 minutes of her mom getting home from work, she'd be right there, hanging on her mom's shirttail". 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. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. These sporadic sightings extended not only through Oregon, but throughout a large chunk of the country; in particular, along the west coast, ranging as far south as California and as far north as Vancouver. He would be charged with two counts of aggravated murder and three counts of murder, accused of conspiring to kidnap, rape, and murder Kaye Jean Turner nearly two decades prior. "I don't think this was out of bounds or anything. 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. Rachanda was a good kid, helping around the house and taking care not to stray far. On July 10, 1990, Rachanda disappeared from her home in Sweet Home, Oregon. Linn County Sheriff's Office mounted extensive search for Rachanda Pickle in 1990. 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. Two years later, at age 14, she married Beck. John would later pick up Linda from work, and when the two returned home, they discovered that Rachanda was not there waiting for them. The men spent hours talking to Ackroyd. When he returned to the house at approximately 12:45 p.m., Rachanda had vanished. Take hot dogs out of the freezer. Rachanda had one older brother named Byron, who was a little more than a year older than her, and the two would grow up with their mother, Linda, but would remain close to their father, whom they visited regularly. The family had lived at the state highway compound for six years. Linda Ackroyd and her young children moved around Springfield and Sweet Home before she settled down with Ackroyd in the 1980s. Didnt do anything to Channy? the cop pressed. A lot of them are awful weird, but a lot are as nice as you can imagine.". Melissa Sanders was 17 and from Sweet Home. John Arthur Ackroyd, the longtime suspect in 13-year-old Rachanda Lea Pickle's disappearance, has been arrested and charged with her murder. The family had lived at the state highway compound for six years. Ackroyd was finally arrested 14 years after what's believed to be his first killing, the 1978 murder of Turner. 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. When he returned to the house at approximately 12:45 p.m., Rachanda had vanished. Photos of Ackroyd are posted with this case summary. Hed pored over Ackroyds police interviews from 1979 when the highway worker admitted he was the last person to see Kaye Turner. None of the chores she had been assigned that day had been accomplished, but none of her clothing or belongings seemed to be missing (indicating that Rachanda had not planned to leave). The couple had since divorced and Pam had moved to California. A dozen or so work crews called the junction home. Their childhood friend, Michelle Seiber, said Rachanda wouldnt have dreamed of leaving behind her brother. The following spring, a grand jury heard testimony from 17 witnesses, most of them people who knew the girl and Ackroyd. At the time, there was unfortunately no way to tell. This includes the 1977 rape of Marlene Gabrielsen, who identified Ackroyd as her attacker at the time, but police chose not to pursue rape charges; instead, taking John at his word when he simply said their encounter was consensual. It was even alleged that John had been molesting Rachanda, although that remains mostly-unconfirmed years later. He told Linda to wait until the next day to call police. 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. She wouldn't lie.". 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. Her brother kept an eye on her. In the autumn of 2013, Ackroyd reached a plea deal with prosecutors in Rachanda's death. The photograph also shows the girls suitcase hadnt been unpacked after a recent trip to see her father. he officers assigned to interrogate Ackroyd were direct. It was a 30-minute drive to the nearest store for milk. When youre a young kid used to living in Springfield and you go to the Santiam Junction, its like this is a desolate area.. But Rachanda Pickle's disappearance remained unsolved. Ackroyd made the plea in open court, but then it was immediately sealed at his request. What were the odds of that? We still search for her. A tipster had claimed that Rachanda was still alive, and residing in eastern Linn County. 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. This is a police photo of the Ackroyd home at the time of Rachanda's disappearance on July 10, 1990. However, the search would be confined to this specific area for the first several days, with the search not extending far beyond the immediate vicinity. The next day, Hanlon hopped in a car with a Jefferson County deputy for a briefing on the search for Rachanda. She said no and he left. Who was the last person that saw her, do you know?the dispatcher asked the girl's mother. Case Chandy's stepfather, John Ackroyd, was the last person to have seen her prior to her disappearance. Monville disputes that Ackroyd beat Rachanda and Byron. 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. Rachanda's mother, Linda Monville, 62, left Oregon 26 years ago and remarried. Former Detective Sgt. But at the time, he was just fourteen years old, and couldn't have foreseen what was going to happen just days later. In the case of Kaye Turner, he had guessed that the woman had been shot and stabbed to death. The couple married in the mid-1980s but divorced after a year. Unfortunately, police had been unable to uncover any evidence of the teenager's current whereabouts, so they couldn't speak beyond these generalities without mucking up their ongoing investigation. Despite the case officially being "solved", the loved ones of Rachanda are left with just as many unanswered questions today as they had back in 1990. It was during this period - the two years following Rachanda's disappearance - that investigators made a realization. She introduced the women to him and they climbed in. He stated that a black duffel bag filled with clothes - which he had seen with Rachanda just days before her disappearance - was missing from her belongings at the time. A police photo taken inside the Ackroyd home. On Tuesday, April 2, John Ackroyd was arrested and transported to the Linn County Jail for the homicide of Rachanda Pickle. "He said, 'I will give a plea but I want the case to stop at this point and it not be announced that I have entered the plea and in return I won't ever try to get out of prison.'". While investigating Rachanda's disappearance, detectives turned up evidence linking her stepfather John Arthur Ackroyd to the murder of Kaye Jean Turner, a 35-year-old woman from Eugene who was. If a jury. Brown hair, brown eyes. Rachanda Pickle's brother, Byron Pickle, was consulted during the state's negotiations with Ackroyd, Marteeny said. They ended up staying at Lake Creek Lodge with a small group of friends for Christmas, and Kaye Turner - hoping to take advantage of the quiet surroundings on the morning of Christmas Eve - headed out on a six-mile jog through the woods. Over the next several months, several court hearings would be adjourned to get rolling on the trial itself. *Wiem, e le wymawiaam imi Rachandy, ale niestety musicie mi wybaczy*13-letnia Rachanda Pickle zagina ze swojego domu w Oregonie w 1990 roku. Bill Hanlon, the D.A. This is a photo from inside the Linn County Sheriff's Office file room. Based on the information being given to them by Rachanda's family members, investigators began to believe that the 13-year-old might have been abducted from her home. Michelle Seiber, Rachanda's classmate and friend, had a feeling that her stepdad did something because she was scared of him. Despite that, however, reporters with Oregon Live and the Oregonian have uncovered information that points to a long reign of terror for this one man, which extended far beyond his two known crimes. His friends became sick at the sight and left. Her body has never been found. While Rachanda was home alone during this period, someone else would claim to see her a few hours after this. Rachanda was incredibly close with her mother, Linda, and her aunt JoAnn Serdy would later recall to the Albany Democrat-Herald: "You could almost set your clock by her. 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. Thats what pulled our relationship together.. He said he came home during a break from work and asked Rachanda if she wanted to go for a ride with him. Its rough country and theres lots of brush.. For a man suspected of murder, Ackroyd was impassive under intense grilling by Salsbery and McAnulty. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. While his marriage to Linda was rather unusual - the couple divorced after a year, but continued to live together and were still technically a "couple" in every sense of the word - the family seemed to have become accustomed to this quiet little corner of the world. Such a move is typically reserved for a national security-related case or oneinvolving sexual assault victims. Rachanda has a scar on her forehead. 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. Rachanda's stepfather, John Arthur Ackroyd, is the last person known to have seen her. Rachanda Lea Pickle Rachanda, approximately 1990; Age when reported missing: 41 (approximately 2018); John Arthur Ackroyd, approximately 1990; Ackroyd, approximately 2013 . Within weeks, Melissa and Sheila were dead. While the family's home was surrounded by dense wilderness, Rachanda quickly picked up on the area around them. He was convicted in Jefferson County of two counts of aggravated murder and three counts of murder in Turner's death. When I left, she was laying on the couch watching TV, and I kissed her, and I hugged her and said 'I love you, Channy, and I'll see you later.'". By then, Ackroyd was dead; he had died in prison in late 2016. She did, and because of this wait, Rachanda wasn't reported missing until Wednesday, July 11th, and the search to find her wouldn't begin until the day after that, Thursday, July 12th. Her disappearance set off one of the largest search efforts in Linn County history; her remains were never found. 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. She reportedly declined and when Ackroyd returned home about 12:45 p.m., she was gone. Ackroyd drove by the woman twice that morning. In the case of Rachanda, however, he told investigators that she had been, as recounted by the Oregonian in their "Ghosts of Highway 20" project: " dumped and buried in the woods or threatened with a knife, tied up and gagged, her body rolled in plastic". I know that my daughters dead, Steve Pickle said in a 2003 newspaper interview. In 1990, Rachanda Pickle lived with her mother, brother and stepfather, John Ackroyd. Friends described her as silly and goofy. (Mark Ylen/Democrat-Herald). 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. In 2013, he was charged with murder related to the 1990 disappearance of 13-year-old Rachanda Pickle, his stepdaughter. Hed returned to Sweet Home to live with his mother and split for good with Linda. She confided in two girls who were sisters. One of Rachanda's dolls sits atop a shelf in the tidy manufactured home in California where her mother now lives. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. ", Rachanda and Byron Pickle were close. Rachanda Lea Pickle Missing since July 10, 1990 from Sweet Home, Linn County, Oregon. Yet even in those types of cases, the terms of a plea agreement aren't generally secret. Current Sheriff Tim Mueller was a deputy involved with the search and rescue team in 1990. We must have laid 150 miles of string line laying out the grids, Mueller said. In August of 1979, a man that lived in the region - named John Arthur Ackroyd - came forward with information. This is about 150 miles southeast of Portland and about 80 miles northeast of Eugene. However, following the disappearance of John's stepdaughter, investigators had begun looking into the dormant case of Kaye Turner. His wife, Pam, said the two men were around the trailer for most of the morning, which helped give Ackroyd an alibi. Her son, Byron, described Ackroyd as a violent man who once beat Rachanda over a broken clock. Detectives dug into Kayes killing once more and soon stumbled on their biggest breakthrough. (ALBANY, OR) - Linn County detectives arrested a man for murder related to the 1990 disappearance of Rachanda Leah Pickle. Detectives moved on. John Arthur Ackroyd is also implicated in several other similar crimes from the area, dating back to the mid-1970s. Despite this, however, almost none of Rachanda's clothing or belongings were missing from her bedroom. One of John Ackroyds coworkers was working on Highway 20 the morning Rachanda disappeared. Once, when a clock fell off a shelf, he beat her with a homemade paddle. Rachanda Pickle loved her brother, going to school, playing on the playground and helping around the house. He basked in attention from police. Despite no information being published in the disappearance of Rachanda Pickle following the developments from early in 1991 (when the FBI was brought in to develop a suspect profile), the case was still being actively worked on by members of the Linn County Sheriff's Office. Investigators were already familiar with John because of his history; in particular, his connection to the still-unsolved case of Kaye Turner, the jogger that had gone missing on Christmas Eve back in 1978. Her mother left behind a short list of chores. You should know. When Rachanda was about seven years old, her mother would remarry. The sheriff's office would eventually reach out to the FBI the following January (1991), asking for the Criminal Investigative Analysis Team from Portland to help. Donations are accepted but not expected; the site remains free-access to all. Ackroyds low libido was the source of such open conflict that Lindas teenage son, Byron, knew of their troubles. We always believed Ackroyd had something to do with his stepdaughters murder, said Salsbery, who retired in 1996. But according to the series, investigators always suspected he was also responsible. She was afraid to go home from school; as a . He loved her. 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. Later that morning, the door to the house opened unexpectedly. She has never been heard from again. We spent several days up there several times. 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. However, these hearings came to an abrupt end after October 4th, 2013. He even pretended to aid in the fruitless search for the girl. If he could have kept his mouth shut, this case would have gone nowhere.". 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 Salem. Her case remained unsolved. She French-braided her moms hair, then settled on the couch to watch cartoons in her pajamas. However, most are reasonably certain that the man who caused her disappearance - her stepfather, John Arthur Ackroyd - was thankfully taken off the streets a short time after her disappearance. A spokesman with the Linn County Sheriff's Office would dispute this allegation, claiming that there was no evidence indicating Rachanda had run away from home and had likely become a victim of foul play. Speaking to the Albany Democrat-Herald in March of 1996, Rachanda's aunt, JoAnn Serdy would state: "Everything's hanging in limbo. A grand jury would hear the case. She was a young teenage girl with hopes and dreams, he said. Cook said Rachanda once came to school with a black eye. "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. This was unusual and definitely out of the ordinary, but it wasn't enough for John to take notice at the time, it seems. Most nights, the pair could be found at Sharis in Lebanon, where teens and adults gathered to talk on CB radios and drink coffee. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. The two often went to school with bruises, which they attributed to John's abuse. Twenty-five years have passed since Rachanda's aunt made those remarks, and they remain just as true. 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. Middle Name: Lea. Three years would pass, in which this case seemed to just fade from the headlines. 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. I did not do nothing. They would follow up on these reported sightings - and even talk to people that had been visited campgrounds or hiking trails in the area - but were unable to find any clue pointing to the teenage girl's whereabouts. 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. 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. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. There was Ackroyd, standing at the back of his Ford pickup. Maybe it was the girls development, he told police, that drew a predator to the junction. She seemed withdrawn and tired. 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. She spotted two young women she knew. The Oregonian/OregonLive went to court to lift a judge's order that had kept secret for years John Ackroyd's unusual plea deal in the death of his 13-year-old stepdaughter Rachanda Pickle. They pressed him again and again about his interactions with Kaye. Missing From: SISTERS, OR. Sadly, searches of the area would be unable to come up with any answers; whatever had happened to Kaye Turner, she seemed to have disappeared into thin air. He is currently serving a life sentence at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem for the Christmas Eve 1978 murder of Kaye Jean Turner near the Metolius River. Rachanda did not have a cell-phone, no internet connection. 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. 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. Eleven days after Rachanda's disappearance, a pair of hikers found a pair of dark sweatpants along a hiking trail near Big Lake, about five miles away from where the teenager had last been seen. If she had been believed, all of these crimes might have been avoided.
