John Arthur Ackroyd, the longtime suspect in 13-year-old Rachanda Lea Pickle's disappearance, has been arrested and charged with her murder. But at the time, he was just fourteen years old, and couldn't have foreseen what was going to happen just days later. She spotted two young women she knew. 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. 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. According to her brother, Byron, she loved fashion and anything that you'd hear on a top-40 radio station. In 1992, Ackroyd was sentenced to five life terms in prison for the unrelated murder of Kaye Jean Turner, who was abducted and murdered in 1978. Ackroyd told authorities Rachanda was watching cartoons when he asked her if she wanted to go for a ride. Lifesaving: Family flees Texas to transgender 'refuge' Minnesota. We just don't want people to forget that she's gone.". 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. 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". Linn County Sheriffs detectives Mike Harmon, left, and Paul Timm talk about the arrest of John Akroyd on murder charges. Bill Hanlon, the district attorney in Jefferson County, wasnt surprised when the call came from a prosecutor in Linn County, where Ackroyd lived. Rachanda was a good kid, helping around the house and taking care not to stray far. 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. 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. However, he would transfer away from the Santiam Junction location - where he had worked and lived for more than a decade - to a state highway shop near Corvallis. Seiber is shown here with her daughter. After his stepdaughter went missing, investigators reopened the Turner case and charged Ackroyd. #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 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). Despite having a rather low libido, John - as recounted by the great "Ghosts of Highway 20" project, this caused a great deal of stress on his relationship with Linda - had decided to initiate sex with Rachanda's mother on the night of the teenage girl's disappearance. By now, investigators knew who they were dealing with. Over time, the story took on even darker tones. 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. 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. Ackroyd was charged in Rachanda's murder in April 2013. Twenty-five years have passed since Rachanda's aunt made those remarks, and they remain just as true. Prior to her disappearance, Rachanda and her brother regularly went to school with bruises, and Rachanda told her friends Ackroyd had caused the injuries. John Ackroyd. Photos of Ackroyd are posted with this case summary. Ackroyd didnt seem bothered that Rachanda was gone and spoke about his missing stepdaughter in a way no panicked parent ever would. Didnt do anything to Channy? the cop pressed. 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. Investigators zeroed in on the encounter, suspecting that harming Rachanda had excited him. There was Ackroyd, standing at the back of his Ford pickup. Nieustpl. There had still been no sign of the girl - who would have been a woman at this point - since July of 1990. John Arthur Ackroyd is also implicated in several other similar crimes from the area, dating back to the mid-1970s. However, that wasn't the entire reason. 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. 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. In interviews, Ackroyd dwelled on how the teen had gotten her period and had begun to develop. Donations are accepted but not expected; the site remains free-access to all. She seemed withdrawn and tired. When he returned to the house at approximately 12:45 p.m., Rachanda had vanished. To him, this gave credence to the notion that she had intentionally run away, and had not been abducted, as originally theorized. John's accomplice, Roger Dale Beck, was convicted on almost identical grounds and continues to be housed in the Oregon State Penitentiary. Former Detective Sgt. 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. The family lived at the state highway division compound at Santiam Junction, where U.S. 20 and Oregon 22 meet. 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. They also might have belonged to an indigenous person that lived in the area centuries beforehand. "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 did not have a cell-phone, no internet connection. It was great, Ackroyd would later tell detectives. achanda Pickles stepfather could turn angry in a flash. Even the pajamas she was last seen wearing were found in her bedroom. 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. Later, the men told her that theyd mistaken Kaye for a deer and fatally shot her. 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. She wouldn't lie.". John Ackroyd had an unusual arrangement with Rachandas mother, Linda. Roger Dale Beck was married at the time of Kaye Turners killing. 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 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. Vacuum the house. 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. Her mother noticed the girls hairbrush, makeup and earrings were still there. On Tuesday, April 2, John Ackroyd was arrested and transported to the Linn County Jail for the homicide of Rachanda Pickle. Story by Noelle Crombie Photography by Beth Nakamura Video by Dave KillenTHE OREGONIAN | OREGONLIVE. He read about how Ackroyd had been with an old hunting buddy on the morning of Kayes killing. 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. She has double pierced ears and a scar on her forehead. Within months, without a body or physical evidence implicating Ackroyd, so did the investigation. Before beginning a widespread search of the area, members of the Linn County Sheriff's Office would reach out to Rachanda's father, Steve, who lived outside of the region in Medford. Ackroyd, 67,. John and Linda checked around with the other families in the maintenance complex for a little bit and were ultimately unable to find any sign of the missing thirteen-year-old. When he returned to the house at approximately 12:45 p.m., Rachanda had vanished. Early on, police looked into the possibility of Rachanda Pickle running away from home. Maybe it was the girls development, he told police, that drew a predator to the junction. We always believed Ackroyd had something to do with his stepdaughters murder, said Salsbery, who retired in 1996. While the case would remain registered as open and/or unsolved in the Oregon state database, there was no movement to proceed with Ackroyd's trial for the murder of Rachanda Pickle. An employee of Oregon's Highway Division, John had been away at a job that morning in Bend but had decided to come home during a break. The familys kittens were curled up on the girls lap, he said. Such a move is typically reserved for a national security-related case or oneinvolving sexual assault victims. Making matters even more complicated was Rachanda's father, Steven Pickle, casting doubt on investigators' statements towards the end of July. He told Linda to wait until the next day to call police. 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 said he came home during a break from work and asked Rachanda if she wanted to go for a ride with him.
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