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Ghosts of Highway 20 · Murder Files Unsealed

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  Speaker 1: All right, so we're diving into a collection of articles
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  about Highway twenty in Oregon, a place they call, get this,
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  the Ghosts of Highway twenty.
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  Speaker 2: And when we say ghosts, we don't mean actual ghosts.
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  It's more about the mysteries surrounding a string of disappearances
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  and murders all happening along this.
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  Speaker 1: Highway, spanning decades, right decades.
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  Speaker 2: And what's truly unsettling is the potential connection between these cases.
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  And it all seems to point back to a man
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  named John Arthur Ackroyd.
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  Speaker 1: See, this is what gets me. These aren't just stories, right,
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  they're real people, people like Marlene Gabrielsen her story in
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  seventy seven. That's what really gets to me.
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  Speaker 2: What makes Marlene's case so compelling is that it highlights
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  the human cost of these tragedies. She was a young mother,
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  just twenty years old, heading back from a rodeo when
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  she crossed paths with Akroyd.
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  Speaker 1: Offered her arrived right, just as simple act of kindness.
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  Speaker 2: You'd think it's a chilling reminder that things aren't always
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  as they seem. According to the articles, Marlene woke up
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  to Akroyd holding a knife to her throat. This wasn't
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  a robbery gone wrong. This felt deeply, deeply personal awful.
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  Speaker 1: But you know, for as terrifying as that must have been,
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  she kept her cool, she preserved evidence.
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  Speaker 2: That's right, even after such a traumatic experience. Marlene's bravery
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  was remarkable.
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  Speaker 1: But get this, despite the evidence, Ackroyd wasn't prosecuted.
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  Speaker 2: It's a frustrating turn of events, and the sources don't
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  dealt into the specifics of why.
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  Speaker 1: So we're left with this question, did this in action
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  have consequences? Did it? You know, embold and Acroyd.
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  Speaker 2: It's hard not to wonder, especially as we moved to
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  nineteen seventy eight in the case of Kay Turner, another
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  life tragically cut short, and the fact that it happened
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  on Christmas Eve, it just adds another layer to it.
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  Speaker 1: It's like something out of a movie. You know. Yeah,
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  here's k an athletic, accomplished woman goes out for a
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  jog on Christmas Eve and vanishes.
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  Speaker 2: Her disappearance understandably sparked a massive search. Everyone was looking
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  for her. Initially, suspicion fell on her husband, which unfortunately
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  is a common occurrence in these types of situations.
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  Speaker 1: As you see that a lot.
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  Speaker 2: Whenn Ackroyd enters the picture, he's seemingly eager to help,
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  even leading investigators to kease remains months later.
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  Speaker 1: Wait, so he inserts himself into the investigation.
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  Speaker 2: It's like he wanted to control the narrative, to be
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  seen as the one who solved the case.
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  Speaker 1: That sends chills down my spine.
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  Speaker 2: But this time justice wasn't entirely elusive. Forensic evidence and
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  witness testimony played a key role in convicting Ackroyd and
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  his accomplice, Roger dale Beck.
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  Speaker 1: It's a small consolation, but at least there was some accountability.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, it shows the importance of thorough investigation and the
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  power of evidence, even in the face of such darkness.
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  And yet, even with this conviction, Ackroyd's story doesn't end there.
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  We have to talk about his stepdaughter, Richanda Pickle, who
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  vanished in nineteen ninety.
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  Speaker 1: See that's what gets me. You hear about these cases
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  and you think, how could someone hurt their own family,
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  let alone their own stepdaughter.
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  Speaker 2: Britana's story is particularly unsettling because it reveals a different
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  side to Ackroyd. She lived with him in relative isolation
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  at Santium junction. Imagine the fear she must have felt.
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  Speaker 1: I can't even imagine.
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  Speaker 2: And when she vanished, massive search efforts were launched, but
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  nothing turned up. It seemed like Richanda's disappearance might remain unsolved.
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  But then the investigation into Kay Turner's murder took an
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  unexpected turn.
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  Speaker 1: Wait, so they found something connecting those two cases years apart.
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  Speaker 2: They did. Evan is discovered during the investigation into K's
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  murder ultimately led to charges against Ackroyd for Richanda's death
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  as well.
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  Speaker 1: Wow.
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  Speaker 2: He ended up taking a plea deal, ensuring he would
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  spend the rest of his life in prison, but he
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  died without ever admitting guilt. In Richanda's case.
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  Speaker 1: That's heartbreaking. Two lives gone and for what it's just,
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  it's senseless. It's just tragic, and sadly, the story doesn't
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  end there. In ninety two, we have Melissa Sanders and
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  Sheila Swanson, two teenagers, just on a camping.
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  Speaker 2: Trip and they made a decision that, unfortunately, was all
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  too common back then. They decided to hitchhike.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, you hear about that, and it's like, oh man,
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  that's risky. Back then, it was almost normal.
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  Speaker 2: It's a reminder of how societal norms around safety have evolved.
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  Speaker 1: Right, definitely, But for these girls it ended tragically. They
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  were found their bodies near Highway twenty, and.
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  Speaker 2: Like a recurring nightmare, Ackroyd's name surfaces yet again. He
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  was in the area at the time, behaving suspiciously, and
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  some reports even put him in contact with the girls
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  before their disappearance, So.
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  Speaker 1: They had to be looking at him, right, I mean,
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  the similarities are there.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, the investigators had their suspicions, but this time, actually
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  building a solid case against Akroid proved to be really difficult.
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  Speaker 1: What was it? Not enough evidence?
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  Speaker 2: Partly forensic technology wasn't what it is today. DNA analysis,
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  for example, wasn't as advanced then. It made things much harder.
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  Speaker 1: I can imagine.
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  Speaker 2: And on top of that, Ackroyd, he refused to cooperate
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  with the investigation, stonewalled them.
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  Speaker 1: So frustrated, but it seems like a pattern with him.
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  Speaker 2: It does make you wonder. But officially he was never
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  charged in Melissa and Sheila's case, even though investigators they
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  strongly suspected he was involved.
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  Speaker 1: So many cases, so many questions. It's like Highway twenty
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  itself is cursed. It makes you think, how did anyone
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  even begin to connect these dots. Who's the one that said,
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  wait a minute, something's not right here.
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  Speaker 2: That's where investigator Ron Benson comes in. He dedicated himself
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  to really looking at these cases, searching for any link,
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  no matter how small.
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  Speaker 1: A real life detective huh what did he find?
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  Speaker 2: Benson? She started noticing these chilling similarities between the cases.
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  One thing he picked up on was how the victim's
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  remains were often left unburied.
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  Speaker 1: It was a.
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  Speaker 2: Detail that stood out.
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  Speaker 1: That's eerie, it is.
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  Speaker 2: And there's more. He also found that Ackroyd conveniently took
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  time off work around the times when these disappearances happened.
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  Speaker 1: Come on, what are the chances right?
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  Speaker 2: And if that wasn't enough, Ackroyd kept using hunting and
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  being out in the wilderness as his alibi, almost like
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  he was trying too.
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  Speaker 1: Hard creating a cover story, maybe.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly, but he left these little breadcrumbs, these inconsistencies. As
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  Benson dug deeper, he uncovered even more unsettling things like
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  witnesses who remember seeing Ackroyd covered in blood and he'd
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  just brush it off, say it was from a deer.
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  Speaker 1: But something tells me Benson wasn't buying it.
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  Speaker 2: He wasn't. It was like Ackroyd was building this facade,
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  but Benson was seeing right through it.
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  Speaker 1: It's like something out of a crime novel. Yeah, but
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  what about the cases without names that Jane does. It's heartbreaking.
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  It makes you think about their families, you know, than
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  not knowing.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, each Jane Doe represents a life cut short, a
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  family left with unanswered questions, and that's a weight they
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  carry with them.
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  Speaker 1: And then there's the case of Karen and Rodney, the teenagers.
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  Speaker 2: That one really gets to you.
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  Speaker 1: They disappear and all they have is that last phone
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  call and the words. It sends chills down your spine
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  just thinking about it. Our ride is here.
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  Speaker 2: It makes you realize how vulnerable we all are, especially
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  young people.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely, And then of course there's.
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  Speaker 2: Elizabeth Musseler found near Highway twenty ym after she vanished.
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  Speaker 1: You start to feel it, right, like a darkness hanging
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  over that road, over those miles.
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  Speaker 2: Highway twenty becomes more than just a road in these stories,
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  like a character exactly, a silent witness to these tragedies. Yeah,
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  and even though Ackroyd was the prime suspect in so
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  many of these cases. His death, it didn't bring closure.
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  He took his secrets with him, he did, and that's
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  a tough pill to swallow, for the families, for the
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  investigators who poured their hearts into these cases.
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  Speaker 1: It's like a puzzle you can never quite solve.
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  Speaker 2: You know piece is missing, but that doesn't mean we
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  stop searching for those pieces.
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  Speaker 1: Just like Ron Benson, he never gave up.
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  Speaker 2: He showed us the power of perseverance, of never letting
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  go of that hope for justice even when it seems impossible.
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  Speaker 1: And maybe, just maybe, by talking about these cases, by
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  keeping these stories alive, someone somewhere might remember something, something
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  that could help bring closure to these fans.
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  Speaker 2: A long shot, but it happens.
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  Speaker 1: It does, and to everyone listening. If you want to
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  learn more this has piqued your interest, please dig into
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  the articles we use for this deep dive.
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  Speaker 2: Read them, share them. Don't let these victims be forgotten.
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  Speaker 1: And if you're ever driving along Highway twenty, maybe roll
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  down the window, say a prayer and remember their names.
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  Speaker 2: Sometimes that's all we can.
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  Speaker 1: Do until next time. Everyone, stay safe out there,