OR OR - John Arthur Ackroyd, suspected serial killer, US Highway 20, 1976-1992

[janne]

Recently read an excellent series by the Oregonian, "Ghosts of Highway 20" on suspected serial killer John Arthur Ackroyd, who was active in Oregon from the late 1970s, operating on a remote stretch of US Highway 20 between Bend and Newport, where he was employed by the State Highway Department.

Ghosts of Highway 20 - oregonlive.com

Ackroyd was jailed in 1993 for a 1978 murder, which curtailed his crimes, and died in prison in 2016, with only 1 murder conviction to his name (although he did plead no contest in a further case).

Crimes Ackroyd was tied to by LE:

- 1978 Murder of Kaye Turner - convicted along with an accomplice, Roger Dale Beck in 1993
-1990 Disappearance and presumed murder of Rachanda Pickle (his stepdaughter) - pleaded no contest in 2013; refused to disclose location of Rachanda's remains
-1992 Double Murder of Melissa Sanders and Sheila Swanson - a case was built against Ackroyd, and sufficient evidence was gathered to prosecute, however the case was never brought to court

Crimes Ackroyd has not previously been tied to by LE, but which were linked in the Oregonian article:

- 1976 Swamp Mountain Jane Doe - UID discovered in 1976 close to highway 20
- 1977 Disappearance of Karen Lee & Rodney Grissom - 2 teenagers, last seen in Lebanon, OR. Their personal effects were later found off logging roads adjacent to Highway 20
- 1977 Assault of Marlene Gabrielsen
- 1977 Murder of Elizabeth Mussler - Last seen in Lebanon, her remains were found close to Highway 20
- 1978 Snow Creek Jane Doe - UID discovered in 19768 in woods close to Highway 20

 

[mrz]

Cant wait to look into this. Thanks..

 

[ClaireNC]

Thanks for posting this. Had not heard of this guy before and started watching the series last night. Nicely done documentary. Ghosts of Highway 20 - oregonlive.com The videos are also available on YouTube.

This is another example where LE completely failed to do the right thing. If they had taken Marlene seriously, they could have prevented so many more deaths.

Rachanda has a thread here: Deceased/Not Found - OR - Rachanda Pickle, 13, Santiam Junction, 10 July 1990

Karen Lee and Rodney Grissom: OR - OR - Rodney Grissom, 14, & Karen Lee, 15, Albany/Cornelius, May 1977

Swamp Mountain Doe: OR - OR - Sweet Home, 'Swamp Mountain Doe' WhtFem 762UFOR, 18-40, Jul'76

 

[ClaireNC]

I couldn’t find anything on the Snow Creek Jane Doe, so I created a thread for her: OR - OR-White Female, Linn County, April 1978, UP7776 - graphic

 

[medgal1968]

Recently read an excellent series by the Oregonian, "Ghosts of Highway 20" on suspected serial killer John Arthur Ackroyd, who was active in Oregon from the late 1970s, operating on a remote stretch of US Highway 20 between Bend and Newport, where he was employed by the State Highway Department.

Ghosts of Highway 20 - oregonlive.com

Ackroyd was jailed in 1993 for a 1978 murder, which curtailed his crimes, and died in prison in 2016, with only 1 murder conviction to his name (although he did plead no contest in a further case).

Crimes Ackroyd was tied to by LE:

- 1978 Murder of Kaye Turner - convicted along with an accomplice, Roger Dale Beck in 1993
-1990 Disappearance and presumed murder of Rachanda Pickle (his stepdaughter) - pleaded no contest in 2013; refused to disclose location of Rachanda's remains
-1992 Double Murder of Melissa Sanders and Sheila Swanson - a case was built against Ackroyd, and sufficient evidence was gathered to prosecute, however the case was never brought to court

Crimes Ackroyd has not previously been tied to by LE, but which were linked in the Oregonian article:

- 1976 Swamp Mountain Jane Doe - UID discovered in 1976 close to highway 20
- 1977 Disappearance of Karen Lee & Rodney Grissom - 2 teenagers, last seen in Lebanon, OR. Their personal effects were later found off logging roads adjacent to Highway 20
- 1977 Assault of Marlene Gabrielsen
- 1977 Murder of Elizabeth Mussler - Last seen in Lebanon, her remains were found close to Highway 20
- 1978 Snow Creek Jane Doe - UID discovered in 19768 in woods close to Highway 20

I am going to go and look for this series! My cousin is Rodney Grissom who went missing in 1977. I am wanting to learn more and hopefully get some closure for our family.

 

[mrz]

I am going to go and look for this series! My cousin is Rodney Grissom who went missing in 1977. I am wanting to learn more and hopefully get some closure for our family.

Rodney Lynn Grissom – The Charley Project

charleyproject.org/case/rodney-lynn-grissom

 

[SquiffyRae]

Human remains found off Forest Service Road 417 in Linn County, east of Sweet Home. Could be a victim of Ackroyd?

Deputies: Investigation underway after human remains found off Forest Service road near Sweet Home

 

[vermontaigne]

I haven't seen a good timeline that pinpoints exactly when Ackroyd returned to the area after his military service.

 

[Dcliff]

Human remains found off Forest Service Road 417 in Linn County, east of Sweet Home. Could be a victim of Ackroyd?

Deputies: Investigation underway after human remains found off Forest Service road near Sweet Home

Any new info on this? The only thing I could find was that the remains were just a year or two old. This could mean another killer is out there.

Human remains found off Forest Service Road 417 in Linn County, east of Sweet Home. Could be a victim of Ackroyd?

Deputies: Investigation underway after human remains found off Forest Service road near Sweet Home

Human remains found off Forest Service Road 417 in Linn County, east of Sweet Home. Could be a victim of Ackroyd?

Deputies: Investigation underway after human remains found off Forest Service road near Sweet Home

Have they learned any more about this woman? The only thing I can find is that she was killed 1-2 years ago, which means another killer could be in the area.

 

[novo8085]

 

[rauclair]

I haven't seen a good timeline that pinpoints exactly when Ackroyd returned to the area after his military service.

I've been working to recover Karen Jean Lee and Rodney Grissom, and I have done a deep dive into the records about John Arthur Ackroyd. I haven't found his DD214 yet, but I have NJP records from West Germany, dated 12 March 75. Considering that the earliest murder attributed to him was Swamp Mountain Doe, found 24 July 1976, I would assume that Ackroyd ETS from the Army between Spring 1975 and probably early 1976. Swamp Mountain Doe's remains were skeletal and disarticulated, so she had been there a decent amount of time. Near as I can tell, Ackroyd enlisted in 1968, after graduating high school. A pair of 4 year enlistment contracts would bring him to an ETS around late 75, early 1976. The exact dates would depend on how much terminal leave he had accrued, but generally you can't carry more than 90 days, and the Army prefers that number to be under 60 days.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

How to watch ‘Lost Women of Highway 20,’ based on The Oregonian investigation

Octavia Spencer narrates and is an executive producer of "Lost Women of Highway 20," a three-part documentary series that airs on the Investigation Discovery network Sunday.

www.oregonlive.com

 

[snooptroop88]

I've started to strongly suspect that Ackroyd himself or a confederate of his moved at least some victims "out east." During a 1990 police interrogation interview, when talking about how he felt "implicated" in the case with Kaye Turner, Ackroyd notes an "Indian" who Ackroyd happened to see as Ackroyd was coming up to Highway 20, I guess around the time Ackroyd says he saw Kaye Turner. Ackroyd notes he saw an "Indian" and that the "Indian" had been discussed by Ackroyd & others, he never stated who. And how this "Indian" disappeared, didn't even collect his last check from the state, and this man Ackroyd keeps noting-- Ackroyd then says he (Ackroyd) had been told by these mystery Others that the Indian had done a murder "out east." This comes around 1:56:00 in the video.

I've come to believe that NJ Salem County John Doe 1979 may be Rodney Grissom, who has long been suspected to have been an Ackroyd victim. Rodney and Karen Lee ran away together from Oregon in 1977.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

Salem County John Doe was found wearing this denim jacket with a very unusual looking little initial "R" in gold on the pocket flap:

I am wondering if Rodney doesn't have a similar sort of thing on his jacket flap:

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

Moreover, Rodney had a framed backpack with him where he'd written on it "R. Grissom," so he marks his first initial on his items. They also found a pack of Rodney's Marlboro cigarettes near Ackroyd's stomping grounds, but not Rodney, or Karen Lee. Rodney's last location is listed as Albany OR before he and Karen ran away, planning to hitch rides. Salem County John Doe also had a pack of Marlboros found with his remains. If SCJD is Rodney, I believe this is Karen Lee, found in Perth Amboy about an hour and a half or so away from Salem County NJ where the John Doe was located:

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

She largely matches Karen's description. While I don't think the replica they created for SCJD looks at all like Rodney, I do believe the composite for this Jane Doe does look like Karen Lee. Also, the SCJDoe had some kind of gray metal horn charm, this is never pictured, but it's noted. With the Perth Amboy Jane Doe, they found this jewelry:

And both these Does evidently died by gunshot. I've seen .22 specifically mentioned for SCJD on some sources. At least one witness noted Ackroyd had a .22 rifle. And victim Kaye Turner had been shot.

Rodney's last known location was Albany and in another interrogation interview of Ackroyd, Ackroyd repeatedly notes some relative of his being located somewhere in Albany. Karen Lee's last call to a relative/friend (?) of hers in Wisconsin was placed from a payphone in Lebanon, OR, a place that was known well by Ackroyd. And both Rodney and Karen had possessions of theirs later found east of Sweet Home, the small logging town where Ackroyd was raised.

Is anyone aware of what US states Ackroyd might have become familiar with during his time in the military? Also, does anyone know where Roger Dale Beck was originally from, and/or where he might have journeyed outside Oregon?