Detectives moved on. 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. Linn County Sheriffs detectives Mike Harmon, left, and Paul Timm talk about the arrest of John Akroyd on murder charges. However, police were able to quickly eliminate this possibility - that she had run away to her father's home - and would eventually rule out Rachanda as a possible runaway entirely. 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 addition to some bone fragments, police were able to uncover the underpants, running shoes, and wristwatch she had been wearing at the time of her disappearance, in addition to pieces of her sweatshirt (which appeared to have been partially destroyed). It was even alleged that John had been molesting Rachanda, although that remains mostly-unconfirmed years later. He basked in attention from police. One of John Ackroyds coworkers was working on Highway 20 the morning Rachanda disappeared. 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. He said he came home during a break from work and asked Rachanda if she wanted to go for a ride with him. 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. 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. Cops went to search a storage unit Ackroyd had rented the year before, only to find hed cleared it out days earlier. "Rachanda was. Her mother and stepfather didn't report her missing until the next day. Rachanda has a scar on her forehead. As police continued their search of the area around Rachanda's family's home, they would also continue an investigation of the people inside of it. 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. What were the odds of that? ALBANY, Ore. - Rachanda Pickle disappeared from her parent's home at the Oregon DOT employee compound at Santiam Junction in July 1990. 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. Rachanda was described as being your typical teenage girl. Their clothes were spattered with so much blood that she got rid of Becks jeans and shirt. John. Wasnt it strange that he was the last person to see Kaye and Rachanda alive? 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. "That was something that he wanted," said George Eder, chief deputy district attorney for Linn County. Few kids lived there andthe ones who didwerent Rachandas age. One time, she made a scene when it was time to go. She was a young teenage girl with hopes and dreams, he said. He remains just one suspect of many in that case, but a strong one nonetheless. She's real fond of her makeup.". 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. When he returned to the house at approximately 12:45 p.m., Rachanda had vanished. Twenty-five years have passed since Rachanda's aunt made those remarks, and they remain just as true. Rachanda and her brother regularly went to school with bruises, and Rachanda told her friends Ackroyd had caused the injuries. Take hot dogs out of the freezer. On 10 July 1990, 13-year-old Rachanda Pickle was last seen inside her mother and stepfather's home in Santiam Junction, Oregon. She's never been seen again. She was afraid to go home from school; as a result, she often spent the night at friends' homes. Early on, police looked into the possibility of Rachanda Pickle running away from home. You were here with her.. In 1978, Kaye Turner disappeared while on a morning run during a Christmas visit to isolated Camp Sherman. When he returned to the house at approximately 12:45 p.m., Rachanda had vanished. On Tuesday, April 2, John Ackroyd was arrested and transported to the Linn County Jail for the homicide of Rachanda Pickle. 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. 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. Monville disputes that Ackroyd beat Rachanda and Byron. Before Ackroyd entered their lives, their mother cycled through boyfriends and husbands. Over the course of the investigation, he acted strangely. The morning she disappeared, Pickles mother, Linda, had gone to work at Black Butte. 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 family lived at the state highway division compound at Santiam Junction, where U.S. 20 and Oregon 22 meet. It was important to Ackroyd to have his plea sealed, prosecutors said. 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. 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. You should know. Her disappearance set off one of the largest search efforts in Linn County history; her remains were never found. Read the story Tagged: The Oregonian Support Longreads Linn County Circuit Judge David Delsman granted the request. 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. At the time, Ackroyd also was a suspect in a cold case killing - the 1978 death of Kaye Turner, 35, who disappeared while jogging in Camp Sherman on Christmas Eve morning. Lt. Darrel James would later tell reporters with the Albany Democrat-Herald: "You think you're going to find some clothing, a shoe. 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". For that reason, he had been on the shortlist for suspects, but police had no additional evidence to suspect Ackroyd's involvement in what was still listed as a missing persons case not a murder (yet). "I think we've come to the conclusion that we're probably not looking for a live individual.". Could trucks be to blame for killing more pedestrians? 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. Friends described her as silly and goofy. Ackroyd had been the lone suspect in his stepdaughter's mysterious disappearance from the home she shared with her mother and Ackroyd at a state highway compound at Santiam Junction. 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. For years, John Arthur Ackroyd - serving five life sentences at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem - would continue to assert that he had no involvement in the disappearance of his stepdaughter, Rachanda Pickle. John Ackroyd. 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. Eight months later, Ackroyd reported finding her remains in the woods. He didn't seem upset that Rachanda was missing, and police were suspicious because he knew her weight and her bra size but not her birthday. At times, the effort included more than 100 deputies and volunteers from Linn, Lane, Benton, Marion, Douglas, Deschutes and Jefferson counties. 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. My children know they did have an Aunt Rachanda.. Rachanda was Ackroyd's 13-year-old stepdaughter who vanished in 1990 from the family home at the Santiam Junction highway compound. His friends became sick at the sight and left. 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. 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. He offered stability and helped provide for her two children. When the couple pulled into the compound that evening, Rachanda wasnt hanging around outside like she had the day before. They continued to live together, though, raising Linda's two kids, Rachanda and her older brother, Byron. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Plows stood ready to rumble onto the mountain pass during winter storms. 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. 0. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Linn County Sheriff's Office However, she agreed to go with him later to pick up Linda from work. Ackroyd didnt seem bothered that Rachanda was gone and spoke about his missing stepdaughter in a way no panicked parent ever would. They pressed him again and again about his interactions with Kaye. Ackroyd stopped. 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. Despite only being charged with one murder, they were being charged with five different counts; each symbolizing a different possible theory in the case. She would eventually remarry and move down to California, where she resides today. She introduced the women to him and they climbed in. Rachanda stuck close to her mother and rarely strayed from the family home at Santiam Junction. Ackroyd had driven to a state highway office in Bend, but returned home after only about an hour. Her stepfather was charged with her murder in April 2013. Rachanda's stepfather, John Arthur Ackroyd, is the last person known to have seen her. John Ackroyd had an unusual arrangement with Rachandas mother, Linda. Photos of Ackroyd are posted with this case summary. Speaking to the Albany Democrat-Herald, in a few words, he stated: John Arthur Ackroyd, Rachanda's stepfather, had been the last person to see her on the morning of July 10th, 1990. On Tuesday, July 10th, 1990 - just two days after returning home - Rachanda was woken up at about 5:00 AM by her mother. 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. 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. Linda Ackroyd and her young children moved around Springfield and Sweet Home before she settled down with Ackroyd in the 1980s. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. 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. 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.". By early 1992, investigators were closing in on Ackroyd. At other times, friends saw her with a black eye and a wound from where hed ripped out a patch of her hair. He would live nearby with his mother in Sweet Home. Rachanda's stepfather, John Arthur Ackroyd, is the last person known to have seen her. She has never been heard from again. 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. 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. She said no and he left. 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. The familys kittens were curled up on the girls lap, he said. Hed planned to fix snowplows but decided to take the day off after learning parts hadnt arrived, a claim that baffled his supervisor, who said there was plenty of work to keep Ackroyd busy. For years Ackroyd was the prime suspect in Rachanda's case, and her family believed he had murdered her. John would later pick up Linda from work, and when the two returned home, they discovered that Rachanda was not there waiting for them. Rachanda Pickle's brother, Byron Pickle, was consulted during the state's negotiations with Ackroyd, Marteeny said. The next several days would see extensive searches in the area around the maintenance complex, where Rachanda lived with her mother, brother, and stepfather. This is a police photo of the Ackroyd home at the time of Rachanda's disappearance on July 10, 1990. In fifth grade, something shifted. Rachanda Pickle's brother, Byron Pickle, was consulted during the state's negotiations with Ackroyd, Marteeny said. If she was going to plan to run away, she would have taken her makeup and her clothes, but nothing was missing. 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. I did not do nothing. While police had always kept John Ackroyd at the top of their suspect list, they never had enough evidence to pursue charges against anyone. 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. 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. Physical evidence proved he had been sexually abusing Rachanda prior to her disappearance. Her mother was at work at the time of her disappearance. She seemed withdrawn and tired. At the time of his death in December of 2016, this case was still suspended, and the murder charges filed more than three years earlier (2013) were permanently dismissed. It was great, Ackroyd would later tell detectives. 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. She confided in two girls who were sisters. Rachanda Pickle didn't want to be alone with her stepfather, John Ackroyd.
