11 May 2024 Ground Search at the Lee Site and an Unusual Find

The search at the Lee Site yesterday was a continuation of the prior 27 April Search. I started by overlapping the ground search with the 27 April area, since there is a decent amount of deadfall in the area. I wanted to make sure that I didn’t leave a seam between the two search boxes and inadvertently miss something.

I’m still working the plan I developed after finding the 1982 aerial survey, which is to work the edge of the felled area. Once I have that line on the hillside searched, I’ll get ropes to descend the hill and work between that line and the creek. The task for today was to clear a large pile of deadfall, branches, and debris that had built up in that search box. The weather was excellent-90, sunny and dry.

I was clearing debris from around the base of a standing cedar, visible in the center of the first photo above, when I discovered an unusual item.

Underneath the leaf litter, I found an old fortified wine bottle. I found it odd at the time, and throughout the day and into the night, it gnawed at me. I’m familiar with the “it’s Miller Time” beverages of the PNW working man. Beer cans don’t even rate a mention when found, but this is unusual. Fortified wine would be an out of the ordinary choice for a logger at the end of the day, let alone an entire bottle. It’s too far from the road to have been thrown from a passing truck and land in this spot, let alone land intact. There are enough debris traps between the road and its location to have prevented it from rolling downhill. Usually, you find these around campsites, but this isn’t a place you’d camp in or “hang out” at. Around the landing, sure, this wouldn’t be out of place. Here it is. Whoever drank this, sat here for a while, and left it behind when done.

John Arthur Ackroyd is known to have revisited his body dumps. We know that in February 1979 he revisited where he left Kaye Turner. We also have statements from Rachanda Pickle’s cousin, Jennifer Persinger, that she believes he revisited Rachanda’s remains while she was catching a ride with him along US20. Ackroyd is also a known drinker, according to neighbors. It is also not unusual for serial killers to revisit their body dumps. Typically this is done as part of reliving the crime. Gary Ridgeway (The Green River Killer) is one example of many who have also exhibited this behavior.

Given the location of this bottle, in context with the description of where Karen Lee’s clothing and bag were found, it’s possible this is from Ackroyd. That possibility is 100% speculation on my part, and without latent prints lifted from the glass, it would be impossible to confirm. Once thing I feel comfortable asserting is that whomever drank this, was in this spot deliberately, stayed here long enough to finish the bottle and then left it behind.

To say this has been gnawing at me since I found it, is an understatement. If it is correlated with the location where Karen’s clothing was found, it’s a strong indication that I am in the right area. I’m considering bringing a brush and powder back with me on the next search. After 47 years, developing and lifting a latent print is the longest of long shots, but worth the effort.

I finished the search of this particular debris field about 2pm. I had cleared a decent amount of ground, given the density of the grid I searched. I drove home via US20 and OR22, via the Santiam Junction. It was a good drive to think about that find and what it may mean, if anything.