"How does it even happen? This is like the best and kind of the only lead that they have." — Brit
"The red flags on this guy are like piled so how you can't see over that and it doesn't get any better." — Ashley Flowers
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The episode investigates the 1978 disappearance of Kay Turner, a runner who vanished on Christmas Eve in a remote area of Oregon near Highway 20. Initial searches yielded no results, but the discovery of footprints suggesting a struggle and a larger individual dragging a smaller one provided an early, albeit unresolved, lead. The investigation later explored personal aspects of Kay's life, including potential marital issues, though her husband passed a polygraph regarding knowledge of these matters. Eight months after her disappearance, Kay's remains were discovered, including her jawbone, Nike running shoes, and a broken watch indicating the time of her likely demise. John Ackroyd, a highway worker who had previously been interviewed as a witness, became the prime suspect. Ackroyd's testimony shifted multiple times, and he failed a polygraph test, but definitive proof remained elusive. His past record included an alleged sexual assault in 1977, where the victim, Marlene Gabriel, reported being assaulted by Ackroyd after hitchhiking; however, he was not prosecuted.
The investigation into Kay Turner's murder gained significant momentum in 1991 when Roger Dale Beck's ex-wife, Pam, revealed that Roger and John had gone deer poaching on Christmas Eve and returned with blood on them. Pam testified that they claimed to have mistaken Kay for a deer and shot her, later admitting she had been sexually assaulted and shot. This testimony, along with forensic analysis of Kay's clothing indicating stab wounds and gunshot fragments, led to Ackroyd's conviction for Kay's murder in 1993. The episode also delves into other unsolved cases along Highway 20 that investigators believe may be linked to John Ackroyd, including the disappearance of Rachanda Pickle in 1990 and the murders of Melissa Sanders and Sheila Swanson in 1992. Despite substantial circumstantial evidence, including blood and hair found in Ackroyd's truck in Rachanda's case, definitive forensic links to these later victims were difficult to establish. Ackroyd was never definitively linked to these other cases, though he was convicted of Kay Turner's murder and eventually died in prison.