Pamella Jackson And Cheryl Miller Headed To A Party When They Disappeared.

Pamella"Pam" Ann Jackson and Cheryl "Sherri" Kay Miller

"Our Hearts Are At Peace Now."

They were a well-liked pair from the farming town of Alcester, South Dakota. They were both very outgoing and wonderful people. They also were juniors at Beresford High School and both worked at Dakota Hospital.

Pamella's hobbies included singing, raising animals for 4-H, and dressmaking. She would make cakes for for her friends's birthdays and have slumber parties.

Pamella was born on January 24, 1952 to Adele Evelyn Hanson Jackson and Oscar Jackson.

Cheryl was caring and a friend to all. Friendships and loyalty were of the utmost importance to her. She was very dedicated to all whom she knew.

Cheryl was born on November 16th, 1953 to Melvin and Helen (Jensen) Miller. She grew up in both the Vermillion and Beresford area. She transferred to the Vermillion/Beresford High School partway through her time in school. She managed to quickly make friends in both schools due to her outspoken and outgoing nature. While in school she was active in the cheer squad and enjoyed baton twirling. 

On the evening of May 19th, 1971, they were both 17 years old and headed to an end-of-the-year school party at a gravel pit in Clay County, South Dakota.

At 9:30 p.m., which was a half hour after sunset, the girls left the hospital after Cheryl’s ailing grandmother. They then stopped and talked to some boys at St. Mary's Church and asked them for directions. The boys were also going to the party so the girls decided to follow them there. Cheryl was behind the wheel of her grandmother's beige 1960 Studebaker Lark and Pamella was in the passenger’s seat. The boys missed a turn and accidentally drove past the party. When they turned around, they no longer saw the Studebaker’s headlights. The boys figured the girls had changed their minds about attending the party. They would be the last people to see Pamella and Cheryl alive.

The girls were considered to be runaways at first, due to their ages. Both girls left behind all their personal belongings, including clothes, makeup, paychecks and Pamella's hepatitis medication, when they vanished. Friends and family were adamant that the girls were not runaways and they, along with police and volunteers searched tirelessly for weeks, hoping to find some sign of the girls or the car. Nothing was found however, the girls had vanished without a trace. 

Cheryl's grandmother died shortly after the girls disappeared.

In August 2004, police searched a rural farm eight miles southwest of Alcester, South Dakota, looking for evidence in the girls' disappearances.

The farm was only a few miles from the party that the girls were on their way to attend. Investigators recovered bones, photographs, clothing, and a purse among other items. At the time Cheryl and Pamela disappeared, David Lykken lived on the farm. David was seventeen years old and went to the same school as the girls. He knew Pamella through church. 

In 2004, David was already serving a 225 year sentence for rape and kidnapping in cases not pertaining to Cheryl or Pamella's. David's sister claimed that she had seen Cheryl and Pamella's bodies on the farm and is the one who pointed the finger at her brother.

In July of 2007, the grand jury indicted David on several charges including the murders of Cheryl and Pamella. His trial was to start the next year. Authorities allegedly had a taped confession from David to his cell mate. Weeks before the trial was to start, the grand jury dropped all the charges. It was discovered that the confession tape was a fake.

In September of 2013, as the Brule Creek in Clay County dried up due to drought, a local fisherman spotted the wheels of a vehicle upside down in the water near a bridge. He then called authorities.

When the car was pulled from the river, it was indeed a 1960 Studebaker Lark.

And the license plate confirmed that the car belonged to Cheryl's grandmother. 

Inside the car were the girl's bodies along with their belongings that seemed frozen in time.

There was no evidence the teens had been drinking. And mechanical tests on the car did not suggest any foul play. The headlight switch on the dashboard was on. The car was in third gear, and both girls were found in the front seat. There was also severe damage to one tire. Due to all the evidence, the girls' death was ruled as a accident.

Pamella Jackson's father never gave up looking for her. Every night after supper he drove along the rural roads near the quarry, looking for signs of the missing Studebaker. He passed away at 102 years old, just five days before the car was found.