Found Deceased SD - Pamella Jackson & Cheryl Miller, both 17, Vermillion, 29 May 1971 *car and remains found 2013*

[mysteriew]

It's been a year of digging, searching and studying the evidence, all in hopes of solving a 34-year-old cold case. In May 1971, Vermillion High School juniors Cheryl Miller and Pam Jackson disappeared.

A year ago this week, South Dakota's new cold case unit took on the three decades old mystery, and started looking for answers at a farm near Beresford, South Dakota.

But it's 1971 that would change everything. That year, Miller finished her junior year with Pam Jackson, who knew Lykken through church activities. The two left for a end-of-the-year party, just a few miles from Lykken's home. They never showed up.

A year ago investigators came out to an area near Beresford to search the farm where David Lykken grew up.
http://www.ktiv.com/News/NewsDetail64.cfm?Id=26,9340

 

[SewingDeb]

Hmmm....David Lykken is serving a 227 year sentence for a 1990 rape. No wonder they are searching the Lykken farm again.

 

[Richard]

35 years ago....

Cheryl Kay Miller
Missing since May 29, 1971 from Vermillion, Clay County, South Dakota.
Classification: Endangered Missing
Vital Statistics
Date of Birth: November 16, 1953
Age at Time of Disappearance: 17 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'8" - 5'10", 130 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Blonde hair; blue eyes.
AKA: Sherri

Pamela Ann Jackson
Missing since May 29, 1971 from Vermillion, Clay County, South Dakota.
Classification: Endangered Missing
Vital Statistics
Date of Birth: January 24, 1954
Age at Time of Disappearance: 17 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'8"; 150 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Brown hair; hazel eyes.

Circumstances of Disappearance
Cheryl Miller and Pamela Jackson were last seen on May 29th, 1971. Thery were on their way to a party. The two 17-year-olds were both from the Vermillion area and no trace of them has ever been found.

On the evening of the 29th, the two high school juniors visited Miller's grandmother in the hospital. After that, they stopped and talked to some boys at a church near the Spink exit and asked them for directions. Miller and Jackson started following the the car full of boys to the party at a gravel pit about 15 miles south of Beresford, but when the boys looked back in their rear-view mirror, Miller and Jackson had vanished. To this day, there has been no sign of them or their car. The car is described as a 1960 beige Studebaker Lark, SD license 19-3994.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact: South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation Cold Case Team (605) 773-3331

Source Information:
Keloland Television
KTIV News
The Doe Network: Case File 1468DFSD and Case File 1469DFSD

Links:

Cheryl Miller
http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/1468dfsd.html

Pamela Jackson
http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/1469dfsd.html

 

[smile22]

how could they just disapear in the car if they were following the boys like it was said were the boys being truthfull did they take a wrong turn somewhere and got lost and ended up with foul play? you just dont follow someone to a party then just vanish they would have had to find something like a car or something very strange disaperance is their anymore info on it?

 

[HesterMofet]

I think there are a few possibilities in this case:

1) If this was an area with a lot of gravel pits, perhaps the girls lost control of the car and drove into one. If it was very deep and filled with water, unless they dredged with hooks, it may have been impossible to find them back then. Now they have devices to look for large objects, but it wasn't possible back in the 70s.

2) Another possibility is that the boys are lying. Perhaps drugs or alcohol were involved and something got out of hand. Maybe the girls were sexually assaulted and killed and the car pushed into a deep quarry.

3) Maybe they stopped for someone by the side of the road and that person ended up being a killer. (Highly unlikely on the road following the boys as the car full of boys would have most likely seen anyone loitering.)

4) The girls changed their minds about going to the party, turned around and scenario 1 or 3 happened.

Hester

 

[Eoanthropus Dawsoni]

I believe that parts of the car have been found on a farm owned by the suspect's family.

 

[Eoanthropus Dawsoni]

The suspect, David Lykken, is serving a 227 year sentence in the SD state penitentiary for rape and kidnapping.

A couple of years ago authorities served a search warrant on the farm owned by his family. They did a lot of digging and recovered some "items of interest" including bones, clothing, and a purse. That was in late 2004, I have not heard much since then.

 

[wondering22]

The suspect, David Lykken, is serving a 227 year sentence in the SD state penitentiary for rape and kidnapping.

A couple of years ago authorities served a search warrant on the farm owned by his family. They did a lot of digging and recovered some "items of interest" including bones, clothing, and a purse. That was in late 2004, I have not heard much since then.

Thanks for sharing this, I've often wondered how this pair simply vanished. I hope that they release more information to the public soon.

 

[wondering22]

I believe that parts of the car have been found on a farm owned by the suspect's family.

I'm very surprised that this info hasn't been added on their doenetwork or charley project pages.

That is simply chilling, after all these decades to learn something so terrible.

 

[Eoanthropus Dawsoni]

Here is a link to an article about the suspect, related to a different case:



http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050401/NEWS03/504010327/1001

 

[Rle7]

A family whose Alcester, S.D., farm was searched during an investigation into the unsolved 1971 disappearance of two teen girls has sued six South Dakota law enforcement agents for the emotional and physical damages they left behind.

The lawsuit, filed last week in federal court by 84-year-old Esther Lykken and her son, Kerwyn, asks for at least $400,000 in reimbursement. The Lykkens named former South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation Director Kevin Thom and current Assistant Director Trevor Jones, as well as a Vermillion, S.D., police detective, among the defendants.

Attorney General Larry Long said he hadn't seen the lawsuit and that the state Office of Risk Management would be dealing with it.

Sherri Miller and Pamella Jackson, both 17 and of Vermillion, were last seen on May 29, 1971, driving on a rural Union County road. In August 2004, a state Cold Case unit began a search at the farm for any remains of the 1960 Studebaker Lark the girls were last seen driving and of the teens themselves. Items of interest that were unearthed included two chrome-plated hubcaps, a red purse, rubber gloves and clothing -- as well as bones which investigators have so far declined to identify as human.

More than two years later, no arrests have been made.

http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2007/03/03/news/local/96e31208387a6a62862572930012d7b2.txt

 

[Richard]

A family whose Alcester, S.D., farm was searched during an investigation into the unsolved 1971 disappearance of two teen girls has sued six South Dakota law enforcement agents for the emotional and physical damages they left behind.

The lawsuit, filed last week in federal court by 84-year-old Esther Lykken and her son, Kerwyn, asks for at least $400,000 in reimbursement. The Lykkens named former South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation Director Kevin Thom and current Assistant Director Trevor Jones, as well as a Vermillion, S.D., police detective, among the defendants.

There is a very similar story about the family of a prime suspect trying to sue Prince Georges County Maryland for similar complaints. See the thread on Kimberly Christine Mileo's 1983 disappearance. That suit was thrown out as frivilous.

 

[Rle7]

More than 36 years after they disappeared on their way to a party, Pam Jackson and Sherri Miller's accused killer has been charged.

David Lykken, 52, faces 6 different charges based on 1971 law, in the deaths of the two Vermillion girls. Lykken is already in prison on an unrelated rape charge. Lykken lived on his family farm near where the girls disappeared.

http://www.keloland.com/NewsDetail6162.cfm?Id=0,58472

 

[Mr. E]

Wow...I used to live in Vermillion. It is where the University of South Dakota is. The area is very much prairie and farmland, although the town of Vermillion itself is a little oasis of trees and shade. I hope that the girls' families find closure with these new charges.

 

[Rle7]

Oscar and Adele Jackson hold the last picture taken of their daughter Pamella since she disappeared in 1971.

Adele Jackson, Pam's Mother, "Her friend came to pick her up and they went for a ride, and we just never saw them again."

The friend Pam left with was Cheryl Miller. The two were headed for a party.

Adele Jackson, "When she wasn't there the next morning we notified the authorities."

From that moment on... the Jackson's only had pictures and memories of their daughter... without even a body to bury.

Adele Jackson, "Always busy sewing... she was getting ready for the high school concert, she was a singer too."

For the past 3 years, the family farm of David Lykken has been searched for evidence in this case. Today he's serving 227 years for rape and kidnapping, crimes committed 20 years after the disappearance of the two girls. This week a grand jury indicted Lykken for the murders of Cheryl and Pam, which sits well with Adele and Oscar, but they say no judge can sentence Lykken to the punishment he deserves.

Oscar, "He ought to be locked up in solitary confinement.... where he wouldn't see anybody... give him bread and water the rest of his days."

Adele, "We're all going to meet a judge higher up one day and we'll have to give an account of everything we've said and done. And he will too."

http://www.ktiv.com/News/index.php?ID=14730

 

[Richard]

...
For the past 3 years, the family farm of David Lykken has been searched for evidence in this case. Today he's serving 227 years for rape and kidnapping, crimes committed 20 years after the disappearance of the two girls. This week a grand jury indicted Lykken for the murders of Cheryl and Pam, ...

http://www.ktiv.com/News/index.php?ID=14730

One can only wonder how many others there were in the intervening 20 years.

Here is a case in which the Death Penalty, if allowed and awarded, following a successful trial would certainly have proven an effective deterrant.

 

[Richard]

Does anyone have an update on this case. Last summer a long time suspect was charged in the disappearance and death of these two girls. Has that case gone to trial yet?

 

[olympicprincess]

I know this is all after the fact since they got him :clap:...
Did it say anywhere: how did he get to them if they were following the boys in the car? Did they stop?
What happened to their (the girls) car?
How did they know to look at this guy or the farm? Was it his past or the location of the farm? (a couple articles are old & the links don't work)

 

[ASU2USC]

Crazy that this thread was bumped today - I just found this article that was published today:

http://argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080104/NEWS/80104030

Apparently he is going to trial in March.

 

[Rle7]

Five women testified Thursday that they were physically and sexually abused by the man charged with killing two Vermillion girls 37 years ago.

The women were the first witnesses during a planned two-day hearing to determine what evidence will be allowed at the March trial of David Lee Lykken, 53, on six alternate counts of murder.

Prosecutors accuse him of killing high school juniors Cheryl Miller and Pamella Jackson, both 17. They were last seen May 29, 1971, driving a 1960 Studebaker Lark on a rural Union County road on their way to a party.

Investigators also suspect Lykken of being involved in the cases of at least three other people whose names have not been released, according to a warrant authorizing an August 2004 search.

Lykken's former wife and three ex-girlfriends said he choked, strangled, raped and beat them, that they often feared for their safety, and that he stalked them after they tried to end relationships with him.

Another woman said she refused to date Lykken and he raped her.

http://yankton.net/stories/011808/new_237705587.shtml