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. On that date, Ackroyd had asked, through his attorneys, for an expedited trial date because of some lingering health concerns. Rachanda Lea "Chandy" Pickle was a girl who went missing in 1990 in Oregon. While they had never discovered what had happened to the missing teenager, there was another unsolved case that John Ackroyd was attached to On June 12th, 1992, John Arthur Ackroyd was arrested while at work in Corvallis, Oregon. Linn County Circuit Judge David Delsman granted the request. Linda Monville, Rachanda's mother, keeps this photo of Rachanda and Byron on a shelf in her home. Making matters even more complicated was Rachanda's father, Steven Pickle, casting doubt on investigators' statements towards the end of July. In 1990, Rachanda Pickle lived with her mother, brother and stepfather, John Ackroyd. To this day, this remains one of the few decisions in Bryon's life that he wishes he could change. Detectives refused to name this a cold case, continuing to work on it regularly, but would have very little to show for it after several months. On 10 July 1990, 13-year-old Rachanda Pickle was last seen inside her mother and stepfather's home in Santiam Junction, Oregon. She feared him and often asked friends if she could spend the night. Linn County Sheriff's Office mounted extensive search for Rachanda Pickle in 1990. "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. 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. There's certainly the possibility that we've got a crime committed here. 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. Circumstances: Rachanda was last seen at her home on July 10, 1990. On Tuesday, April 2, John Ackroyd was arrested and transported to the Linn County Jail for the homicide of Rachanda Pickle. He loved her. The couple had since divorced and Pam had moved to California. He wouldnt leave her for nothing.. In one transcript of an interrogation, Ackroyd offered this explanation of what could have happened to Rachanda: Somebody could have just come in, Ackroyd told police, 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. As had been the case beforehand, nothing of any significance was found during these searches. Last seen alive: July 10, 1990. Ackroyds low libido was the source of such open conflict that Lindas teenage son, Byron, knew of their troubles. She wouldn't lie.". He thought she was pretty, he said, and noticed that shed begun to develop. "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.'". Vacuum the house. He was painting the tailgate. This would usually lead to him being sentenced for the crime, but the attorneys involved agreed to suspend sentencing for an indefinite period meaning that he received no actual sentence for this crime. He would be charged alongside his longtime friend, Roger Dale Beck, who was living in Porterville, California at the time. The night of RachandaPickles disappearance, John Ackroydinitiated sex with Linda Ackroyd. "I think we've come to the conclusion that we're probably not looking for a live individual.". As Noelle Crombie writes in Part III of the Oregonian/OregonLive's five-part series. Donations are accepted but not expected; the site remains free-access to all. 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. 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. Rachanda declined, citing the chores her mother expected her to finish, he said. This is a photo from inside the Linn County Sheriff's Office file room. 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. Her stepfather was charged with her murder in April 2013. Dec 31, 2016. Speaking to the Albany Democrat-Herald in March of 1996, Rachanda's aunt, JoAnn Serdy would state: "Everything's hanging in limbo. He recalled that Rachanda was on the living room couch in her pajamas, watching cartoons, at the time. 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 . Lifesaving: Family flees Texas to transgender 'refuge' Minnesota. The photograph also shows the girls suitcase hadnt been unpacked after a recent trip to see her father. By then, Ackroyd was dead; he had died in prison in late 2016. He offered stability and helped provide for her two children. Rachanda's stepfather, John Arthur Ackroyd, is the last person known to have seen her. 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). The couple married in the mid-1980s but divorced after a year. She confided in two girls who were sisters. John would later pick up Linda from work, and when the two returned home, they discovered that Rachanda was not there waiting for them. But they were always short-lived, so I mean, me and my sister had to rely on each other, Byron said. Her mother, Linda, would add fuel to this fire by telling reporters with the Statesman Journal a week after her disappearance: "I really fully believe that she was taken without her will.". 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 check on her at recess, recalled Mandy Cook, a childhood friend and classmate who now lives in Amarillo, Texas. "Ensuring that Mr. Ackroyd was never released from prison has been a primary objective this office has pursued for a number of years," said Linn County District Attorney Doug Marteeny. The responsibility of speaking for Rachanda rested with her brother, Byron Pickle. When questioned about why he had taken the day off, he explained it away, claiming that he wanted to check in at home and see if some car parts he needed had arrived, having been delivered to the home. 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. She lives in San Bernardino, California, where she works at a medical supply company. Rachanda Lea Pickle was born on March 15, 1977. On Tuesday, July 10th, 1990 - just two days after returning home - Rachanda was woken up at about 5:00 AM by her mother. 5,000-foot mountain pass in the southern reaches of the Cascade Mountains). The plea deal was immediately sealed as per Ackroyd's request, and it didn't become public until March 2017. Rachanda stuck close to her mother and rarely strayed from the family home at Santiam Junction. 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. 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. Missing From: SISTERS, OR. Ackroyd, too, hung out there. We still search for her. 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. #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 It was even alleged that John had been molesting Rachanda, although that remains mostly-unconfirmed years later. 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. 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". Detectives dug into Kayes killing once more and soon stumbled on their biggest breakthrough. Byron was Rachandas companion and playground protector. The home showed no signs of foul play. Forensic experts and search-and-rescue workers spent nearly a week looking for her remains. Before Ackroyd entered their lives, their mother cycled through boyfriends and husbands. Ackroyd had driven to a state highway office in Bend, but returned home after only about an hour. It started when a supervisor in the Linn County Sheriffs Office assigned McAnulty to organize press clippings from the early days of the investigation. 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. This would lead them to begin to question the statements of her stepfather. One of the major factors in this determination was that if she had run away, Rachanda had done so without any of her belongings. "We asked the brother what his desire was and his desire to take this deal and keep him in prison forever.". You have permission to edit this article. At the wrong place at the right time.. It was great, Ackroyd would later tell detectives. While Rachanda was home alone during this period, someone else would claim to see her a few hours after this. The men spent hours talking to Ackroyd. His partner, Detective Will McAnulty, sat nearby. The district attorney asked Byron if he supported a plea deal or if he wanted Ackroyd to stand trial. As part of their "Ghosts of Highway 20" project, these journalists have uncovered evidence linking him to several other crimes. They were restless and broke, living an itinerant existence, drinking too much and keeping dangerous company. Rachanda has a scar on her forehead. 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.". He was indicted on a single count of murder. SWEET HOME Rachanda Pickle was wearing a T-shirt, black sweat pants and tennis shoes when the 13-year-old on vanished on July 10, 1990 from her home at the state highway maintenance compound near the Santiam Junction. 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. She was a young teenage girl with hopes and dreams, he said. Brown hair, brown eyes. 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. Occasionally, Ackroyd would reach for one of the Fireball candies he carried in his pocket. 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. The DA knew Ackroyd had changed his story and admitted he had talked to Kaye the morning he encountered her on a run. 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. Ackroyd was charged in Rachanda's murder in April 2013. The family had lived at the state highway compound for six years. Ackroyd is eligible for parole, but according to the Linn County Sheriffs Tim Mueller, he has not submitted paperwork to do so. 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. achanda Pickles stepfather could turn angry in a flash. Ackroyd told authorities Rachanda was watching cartoons when he asked her if she wanted to go for a ride. 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. 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. He pleaded no contest in her death and agreed not to seek parole for Turner's murder and to decline release even if he became eligible. The next several days would see extensive searches in the area around the maintenance complex, where Rachanda lived with her mother, brother, and stepfather. 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. He said he returned home to find his stepdaughter under a blanket on the couch. he officers assigned to interrogate Ackroyd were direct. Despite this, however, almost none of Rachanda's clothing or belongings were missing from her bedroom. It was a 30-minute drive to the nearest store for milk. 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. Classification: Endangered Missing Vital Statistics Date Of Birth: March 15, 1977 Age at Time of Disappearance: 13 years old Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 4'7; 90 pounds Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. When he returned to the house at approximately 12:45 p.m., Rachanda had vanished. If you recall, John Ackroyd had been one of the last people to see Kaye Turner alive and had also led police to her clothing and skull approximately eight months after her disappearance. I did not do nothing. Ackroyd did little to look for her and later picked up Linda from work. Few kids lived there andthe ones who didwerent Rachandas age. The girl told her mother she didnt want to return home after a visit to her grandparents. Melissa Sanders was 17 and from Sweet Home. He's too much of a calm man.". 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. Her mother and stepfather didn't report her missing until the next day. Ackroyd worked out of Corvallis and continued to roam the highway. A forensic examination of the sweatpants would later reveal that they likely did not belong to Rachanda. Ackroyd was finally arrested 14 years after what's believed to be his first killing, the 1978 murder of Turner. Rachanda was noted as standing about four feet tall and weighing approximately 90 pounds at the time of her disappearance, with curly brown hair and brown eyes. Most nights, the pair could be found at Sharis in Lebanon, where teens and adults gathered to talk on CB radios and drink coffee. He asked her if she wanted to go for a drive with him to go and take some pictures of deer in the nearby woods, but that she said no, claiming to have some chores to do around the house. One of Rachanda's dolls sits atop a shelf in the tidy manufactured home in California where her mother now lives. John Arthur Ackroyd is also implicated in several other similar crimes from the area, dating back to the mid-1970s. Ackroyd "found" her body eight months later and was under suspicion in her case for many years, but he wasn't convicted in her death until 1994. You could tell they were both being physically abused, said Seiber, who now lives outside Houston. But at the time, he was just fourteen years old, and couldn't have foreseen what was going to happen just days later. Please subscribe to keep reading. 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. We just don't want people to forget that she's gone.". YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. Rachanda Pickle didn't want to be alone with her stepfather, John Ackroyd. At other times, friends saw her with a black eye and a wound from where hed ripped out a patch of her hair. 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. Rachanda Lea Pickle Missing Since 07/10/1990 Missing From Sweet Home, Oregon Age 13 years old Height and Weight 4'7, 90 pounds Clothing/Jewelry Description Pajamas or black sweatpants, a white t-shirt, sneakers and silver stud earrings. Her son, Byron, described Ackroyd as a violent man who once beat Rachanda over a broken clock. Over the next several months, several court hearings would be adjourned to get rolling on the trial itself. We always believed Ackroyd had something to do with his stepdaughters murder, said Salsbery, who retired in 1996. He dropped off Linda at the resort and continued east on Highway 20 to the state maintenance shop in Bend. She spotted two young women she knew. You know, he said, both of you sitting there pointing your fingers at me, and I didnt do nothing.. 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. The two often went to school with bruises, which they attributed to John's abuse. 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. According to her brother, Byron, she loved fashion and anything that you'd hear on a top-40 radio station. 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. There had still been no sign of the girl - who would have been a woman at this point - since July of 1990. 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. Story by Noelle Crombie Photography by Beth Nakamura Video by Dave KillenTHE OREGONIAN | OREGONLIVE. 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. In 2010, Linn County sheriff's. It was during this period - the two years following Rachanda's disappearance - that investigators made a realization. Police had still not uncovered any sign of her whereabouts, and this conviction seemed to essentially slam the door on any likelihood of her being found alive. The family lived at the state highway division compound at Santiam Junction, where U.S. 20 and Oregon 22 meet. His friends became sick at the sight and left. 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. You could win the lottery four or five times before something like that would happen, Salsbery said. A police photo taken inside the Ackroyd home shows Rachanda Pickle's bra. Beck and his wife lived in a trailer not far from Camp Sherman, where Kaye had disappeared. She rode her bike in the lane just outside the door and took a bus to grade school in Sweet Home. Rachanda nicknamed Chandy and her brother, Byron, had gone to live with their biological father, Steve Pickle, in Medford earlier in the summer. 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. He would eventually move back, however, to be closer to family. But Rachanda Pickle's disappearance remained unsolved. By early 1992, investigators were closing in on Ackroyd. Friends described her as silly and goofy. She's never been seen again. Their clothes were spattered with so much blood that she got rid of Becks jeans and shirt. She would eventually remarry and move down to California, where she resides today. Doug Beloof, a professor at Lewis & Clark Law School, said it's unusual for the court to seal a plea agreement.
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