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. Rachanda nicknamed Chandy and her brother, Byron, had gone to live with their biological father, Steve Pickle, in Medford. He wouldnt leave her for nothing.. What we're afraid of is that someone came up to the house, found her alone here and took her.". As part of their "Ghosts of Highway 20" project, these journalists have uncovered evidence linking him to several other crimes. We just don't want people to forget that she's gone.". This sighting would help kick up some interest in the case, nearly a decade later, but that excitement was relatively short-lived. Ackroyd was a prime suspect and he knew it. After Rachanda disappeared, he and her mother separated, and her mother moved to California and remarried. 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. for Oregon's Jefferson County, would tell reporters that November: "He was trying to go for the reward money. John would later pick up Linda from work, and when the two returned home, they discovered that Rachanda was not there waiting for them. He's too much of a calm man.". Rachanda Pickle Unresolved 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. An adult would have a database trail associated with credit cards, utility bills, driver's licenses and property transactions. Oregon's 48 missing children: Photos, how to help Linda Monville, Rachanda's mother, keeps this photo of Rachanda and Byron on a shelf in her home. 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. 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. The reason for it remaining confidential for over three years has never been determined and is only known by the people in the courtroom that fateful day in 2013. "It was the best resolution for him, for the case, at the time," Barnett said. But Rachanda grew homesick and came back a few days before her disappearance. After his stepdaughter went missing, investigators reopened the Turner case and charged Ackroyd. 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. In class, she counted down the minutes, a sense of dread rising as the end of the school day approached. He loved her. Rachanda's mother, Linda Monville, 62, left Oregon 26 years ago and remarried. Police and court records filled a file cabinet in the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office. You could tell they were both being physically abused, said Seiber, who now lives outside Houston. On the morning of July 10, Rachanda was awake early to help her mother get ready for the day. 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. But at the time, he was just fourteen years old, and couldn't have foreseen what was going to happen just days later. As Noelle Crombie writes in Part III of the Oregonian/OregonLive's five-part series. Rachanda Pickles mother and stepfather waited 24 hours to report the girls disappearance to 911. Later, the men told her that theyd mistaken Kaye for a deer and fatally shot her. Didnt do anything to Kaye Jean Turner? McAnulty asked, his voice cool. Uniformed deputies, mounted posses, and members of the Explorer Post (a search and rescue group) would search the ground level of the neighboring woods, while a Linn County helicopter searched above them. In 2010, Linn County sheriff's. Melissa Sanders was 17 and from Sweet Home. He had his sisters image tattooed on his arm last year. He said he returned home to find his stepdaughter under a blanket on the couch. He said he came home during a break from work and asked Rachanda if she wanted to go for a ride with him. Ackroyd, too, hung out there. The photograph also shows the girls suitcase hadnt been unpacked after a recent trip to see her father. If she had been believed, all of these crimes might have been avoided. 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.'". She has double pierced ears and a scar on her forehead. We can surmise that this is when he returned home and encountered Rachanda at around 9:30 AM. His Stepdaughter Vanished. What He Said Was Disturbing At times, the effort included more than 100 deputies and volunteers from Linn, Lane, Benton, Marion, Douglas, Deschutes and Jefferson counties. Rachanda has a scar on her forehead. They also might have belonged to an indigenous person that lived in the area centuries beforehand. Kaye Turner's killing became a faded memory. She seemed withdrawn and tired. 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. Early on, police looked into the possibility of Rachanda Pickle running away from home. Plows stood ready to rumble onto the mountain pass during winter storms. Wasnt it strange that he was the last person to see Kaye and Rachanda alive? The interview sputtered to a halt. Linn County Sheriff's Office mounted extensive search for Rachanda Pickle in 1990. The district attorney asked Byron if he supported a plea deal or if he wanted Ackroyd to stand trial. The familys kittens were curled up on the girls lap, he said. John Ackroyd killed Kaye Turner, he replied. 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. 5,000-foot mountain pass in the southern reaches of the Cascade Mountains). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. She has never been heard from again. You can cancel at any time. "I think we've come to the conclusion that we're probably not looking for a live individual.". Before Ackroyd entered their lives, their mother cycled through boyfriends and husbands. My children know they did have an Aunt Rachanda.. Where is she? Linda asked Ackroyd as darkness enveloped the highway compound. As part of their negotiations, prosecutors pressed Ackroyd to disclose her whereabouts; he refused to say. He rattled off the girls weight and bra size but couldnt remember her birthday. It wasn't even really a confirmation of him committing the crime, but seemed to be more of a refusal to deny it (if that makes sense). Her parents reported her missing the next day. In signing onto this plea deal, John Ackroyd pleaded no contest to Rachanda's murder and agreed to not seek parole for Kaye Turner's murder and decline release even if he were to become eligible. This is about 150 miles southeast of Portland and about 80 miles northeast of Eugene. Rachanda's stepfather, John Arthur Ackroyd, is the last person known to have seen her. Photos of Ackroyd are posted with this case summary. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Speaking to the Albany Democrat-Herald in March of 1996, Rachanda's aunt, JoAnn Serdy would state: "Everything's hanging in limbo. When the couple pulled into the compound that evening, Rachanda wasnt hanging around outside like she had the day before. Investigators were troubled by John Ackroyds knowledge of Rachandas bra size. She was afraid to go home from school; as a . Her stepfather was charged with her murder in 2013 but died three years later without revealing Chandy's whereabouts. Ackroyd told authorities Rachanda was watching cartoons when he asked her if she wanted to go for a ride. At other times, friends saw her with a black eye and a wound from where hed ripped out a patch of her hair. The television was on. 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. Could trucks be to blame for killing more pedestrians? At the time, journalists with the Oregonian and Oregon Live were investigating this story for their amazing "Ghosts of Highway 20" project (which I honestly can't recommend enough, it's an amazing piece of journalism that you all should check out). But they were always short-lived, so I mean, me and my sister had to rely on each other, Byron said. The two often went to school with bruises, which they attributed to John's abuse. 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. 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. Maybe it was the girls development, he told police, that drew a predator to the 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. 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). Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. It just didnt add up., John Arthur Ackroyd is accused of killing his stepdaughter, Rachanda Pickle, who vanished in 1990. All rights reserved (About Us). Middle Name: Lea. Current Sheriff Tim Mueller was a deputy involved with the search and rescue team in 1990. Over the course of the investigation, he acted strangely. 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. One of John Ackroyds coworkers was working on Highway 20 the morning Rachanda disappeared. Last seen alive: July 10, 1990. 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.". John Ackroyd had an unusual arrangement with Rachandas mother, Linda. Ackroyd, 67,. Ackroyd drove by the woman twice that morning. 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. Three years would pass, in which this case seemed to just fade from the headlines. Rachanda and her brother regularly went to school with bruises, and Rachanda told her friends Ackroyd had caused the injuries. On that date, Ackroyd had asked, through his attorneys, for an expedited trial date because of some lingering health concerns. We must have laid 150 miles of string line laying out the grids, Mueller said. 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. Rachandas green nightgown was on her bedroom floor. 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. Rachanda Pickle's brother, Byron Pickle, was consulted during the state's negotiations with Ackroyd, Marteeny said. You should know. 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. On Tuesday, July 10th, 1990 - just two days after returning home - Rachanda was woken up at about 5:00 AM by her mother. 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. He was drawn to Melissa and Sheila, making a point to chat them up. However, that wasn't the entire reason. His wife, Pam, said the two men were around the trailer for most of the morning, which helped give Ackroyd an alibi. He would eventually move back, however, to be closer to family. OSP inmate faces Linn County murder charge - Albany Democrat Herald Rachandas mother now says: So there was something going on there but I just didnt see it then., REMEMBERING RACHANDA (Photo 1 of 4): Byron Pickle is 43 and lives in Aumsville with his wife and two children. She was a young teenage girl with hopes and dreams, he said. John Ackroyd was her third husband. Later speaking to the number of travelers that drove by daily, he recalled to the Albany Democrat-Herald: "We do get a lot of strangers stopping here. Her son, Byron, described Ackroyd as a violent man who once beat Rachanda over a broken clock. Authorities stated current technology made it possible to test old evidence and come up with the information necessary to make a case against Ackroyd. To some, she seemed lost, almost invisible. They continued to live together, though, raising Linda's two kids, Rachanda and her older brother, Byron. This was unusual and definitely out of the ordinary, but it wasn't enough for John to take notice at the time, it seems. In the months after Rachanda's disappearance, Rachanda's mother Linda would officially separate from her stepfather John, moving away to Portland. Circumstances: Rachanda was last seen at her home on July 10, 1990. He talked his boss into letting him drive 750 miles to California to find out. But they knew Ackroyd was a killer. We spent several days up there several times. 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. 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. When he returned to the house at approximately 12:45 p.m., Rachanda had vanished. 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. He said he came home during a break from work and asked Rachanda if she wanted to go for a ride with him. Kaye had been raped and shot, Beck told Pam. He said he didnt know. 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. 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. 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". The couple married in the mid-1980s but divorced after a year. Prior to her disappearance, Rachanda and her brother regularly went to school with bruises, and Rachanda told her friends Ackroyd had caused the injuries. 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. Her brother kept an eye on her. 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. Didnt do anything to Channy? the cop pressed. So, lots of NKOTB, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Paula Abdul, Martika - you know, all the old school late 80's/early 90's goodness. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. A sadistic killer goes around killing people, taking girls off somewhere? 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. 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. A tipster had claimed that Rachanda was still alive, and residing in eastern Linn County. Despite this, however, almost none of Rachanda's clothing or belongings were missing from her bedroom. Rachanda Leah Pickle. 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. A police photo shows Rachanda's bedroom.

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