The three-part documentary Lost Women of Highway 20 on ID revisits strange occurrences and killings done by John Arthur Ackroyd. These events involved the disappearance and murder of Kaye Turner, Rachanda Pickle, Melissa Sanders, Sheila Swanson, and survivor Marlene Gabrielsen. The documentary series will air on Investigation Discovery this Sunday, November 5, 2023, at 9 p.m. ET.
John Arthur Ackroyd, a state highway mechanic, was a long-time suspect in a series of late 1970s to early 1990s murders. Only in 1990, a decade later, Ackroyd was linked to Turner’s 1978 murder through his stepdaughter Rachanda’s disappearance. They also identified his friend Roger Dale Beck as a second suspect in the case.
In 1993, the court convicted Ackroyd and Beck of Turner’s murder, and they each received respective life sentences. The gruesomeness of these crimes sent shivers down everyone’s spines. What did John Arthur Acroyd do to his victims? Let’s take a look.
Kaye Turner to Rachanda Pickle, here’s what happened to all John Arthur Ackroyd’s victims
Ackroyd began committing heinous crimes in the 1970s. He reportedly abducted, raped, and killed several women in the vicinity of Oregon’s rural highway. However, Marlene Gabrielsen, one of his victims, survived. She was granted an interview after other females went missing or were killed.
Marlene Gabrielsen
In the late spring of 1977, 20-year-old Marlene Gabrielsen and her husband traveled to Sisters, Oregon, for the rodeo. They lived ninety miles away in Lebanon, and it was her first night out since giving birth to their baby girl three months earlier. The couple had planned to spend a night at the Sisters Rodeo, and Marlene arranged for a friend to care for their baby.
Later that night, a disagreement arose between Marlene and her husband, leading him to express his desire to separate from her and spend time with some friends. However, Marlene wanted to return home. She began searching for a ride and wandered out of the campground onto Highway 20. John Arthur Ackroyd offered her a ride, and during the journey, she fell asleep. An hour later, Ackroyd pulled off the highway onto an old wagon road. He brandished a knife, pressed it against her neck, and forcibly dragged her into the woods. There, he forcibly removed her jeans, cut off her underwear, and subsequently sexually assaulted her.
After Marlene pleaded to take her home to her baby, the stranger decided to drive her to her mother-in-law’s house in Lebanon. Upon reaching the destination, she immediately contacted the police and informed them about Ackroyd. Despite having evidence, including a rape kit and her bruised body, that corroborated her story, the police did not pursue prosecution against Ackroyd.
Authorities believe Marlene Gabrielsen was Ackroyd’s first victim.
Kaye Turner
Kaye, who was 35 years old, and her husband hailed from Eugene, Oregon. On Christmas Eve, she embarked on a solo run before breakfast at around 8:15 a.m. She started a one-hour run along a two-lane camp road, but she never came back.
Her husband, Noel Turner, was concerned when Kaye didn’t return by 10 a.m. He reportedly drove through Camp Sherman searching for her. Fearing her kidnapping, he contacted the police and initiated a search. John Arthur Ackroyd’s name was mentioned when a highway worker reported seeing him in the area. During the search for Turner, two sets of footprints were discovered in frozen snow, one matching her shoes and the other resembling a large man’s footprints. This suggested a potential struggle and abduction.
In August 1979, he informed the authorities that he discovered the remains of Kaye Turner, who was abducted and murdered. Over time, he revealed that he had conversed with her before he picked up his friend, Roger Dale Beck. It was not until Rachanda Pickle went missing in 1990 that the police began to earnestly investigate Ackroyd and collect new information.
A Jefferson County grand jury indicted John Arthur Ackroyd and Beck, leading to their arrest in 1992. He received a life sentence for the murder of Kaye Turner.
Rachanda Pickle
In 1990, 13-year-old Rachanda Pickle disappeared from her house in Sweet Home, Oregon. She was Ackroyd’s stepdaughter. Police swiftly gathered at the highway compound. Following which, word of Ackroyd’s stepdaughter’s vanishing quickly reached neighboring Jefferson County, where Kaye Turner had been murdered over a decade earlier.
As the investigation advanced, law enforcement authorities interrogated John Arthur Ackroyd. They began to suspect him as a person of interest because he was the last person to see his stepdaughter. After conducting numerous interviews and compiling evidence in the case against the highway worker, they charged John Arthur Ackroyd with Rachanda’s murder in April 2014. He pleaded no contest and agreed not to seek parole, meaning that he would die in prison.
Melissa Sanders and Sheila Swanson
Melissa Sanders, 17, and Sheila Swanson, 19, had been camping at Beverly Beach State Park with the Sanders family in the spring of 1992. The girls became bored and decided to hitchhike. The two spent evenings at a Shari’s restaurant along Highway 20, where they hung around with other teens and locals, including John Ackroyd.
They reportedly had a good time at the restaurant but went missing soon afterwards. On the night of the girls’ disappearance, Ackroyd had returned to the state highway shop in Sweet Home covered in blood. He claimed it was due to hitting a deer and having to “gut it out.” When questioned about the carcass, he mentioned throwing it into the brush.
Local hunters near an old logging spur off Highway 20 found Sanders and Swanson‘s bodies. The investigation began, and the authorities had credible evidence against Ackroyd. By the time they thought of starting a trial, Ackroyd was already in prison for killing Kaye Turner. So, they decided to close the case.
