Highway 20, a route in the US state of Oregon, became infamous because of the number of women who were raped and murdered or disappeared on this route. The atrocities against women happened on this route from the 1970s to the early 1990s. The route recently became the subject of conversations, again after being mentioned in an episode of the Crime Junkie podcast.
The prime suspect in these cases turned out to be John Arthur Ackroyd, who was a highway mechanic and worked with the Oregon Department of Transportation. Detectives were able to prosecute him for the murder of Kaye Turner and he was given five life sentences. Ackroyd was also found guilty of murdering his stepdaughter Rachanda Pickle.
This chilling subject is dealt with in the Crime Junkie podcast, in an episode titled INFAMOUS: Highway 20. Let us now explore in detail what the podcast is about and what shocking events happened on the highway there to make it infamous.
What makes the Crime Junkie podcast subject Highway 20 infamous?
The official synopsis of the Crime Junkie podcast episode INFAMOUS: Highway 20 goes like,
“Over several decades, women and girls have encountered a monster whose full reign of terror might not even be fully known. He hunted his own backyard, the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest, and there could be victims out there that have yet to be discovered.”
The podcast talks about John Arthur Ackroyd, the man behind making that highway, a nightmare. He was accused of sexual assault and he committed his crimes with such precision that despite their best efforts, police could not find the victims.
The women who lost their lives on this route and were assaulted came to be known as the Ghosts of Highway 20, a title, which was later adopted by The Oregonian, who documented the cold cases of these forgotten and unfortunate women.
John Arthur Ackroyd was the man behind the horrific crimes on Highway 20
As previously mentioned, it was a highway mechanic named John Arthur Ackroyd, who committed the gruesome crimes that took place on Highway 20, leading to its infamous reputation.
Born in 1949, Ackroyd was a victim of bullying in school. He started working for the Oregon Department of Transportation in 1977. The department was then known as the state highway department and his duties required him to work along the U.S. Route 20, which went from east to west, through Oregon.
It was during the same year that Ackroyd’s criminal activities began. In 1977, he raped his wife Marlene Gabrielsen. The following year, he found himself an accomplice named Roger Dale Beck, and together, they murdered Kaye Turner.
In 1990, Ackroyd’s stepdaughter Rachanda Pickle went missing and it was in 2013 that Ackroyd was charged with her murder, an accusation which he did not contest. His two other victims included Melissa Sanders and Sheila Swanson, who were murdered in Lincoln County, Oregon, in 1992.
The authorities were preparing more evidence against him regarding the murders of Sanders and Swanson. However, Ackroyd passed away in 2016.
Different newspapers, including The Oregonian, alleged that Ackroyd was behind several other women’s murders, a lot of which remain unsolved.
Crime Junkie podcast can be listened to on their official site.
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