Farmer Kidnaps, Rapes and Murders Jogger
By: Jean Campbell
Tags: Rape, Arkansas, Short Read, True Crime, Kidnappings

Farmer Kidnaps, Rapes and Murders Jogger

Sydney Sutherland and her killer, Quake Lewellyn. Photo courtesy KNEWZ.com

He was captured after he joined a Facebook group dedicated to solving the mysterious disappearance of Sydney Sutherland, who was jogging her usual route between Newport and Grubbs, AR, one Wednesday afternoon when she vanished.

She walked out of her house in Jackson County for an afternoon run August 19th, 2020. The next day, authorities found her cell phone about a quarter mile from where she lived.

Sydney, who was a petite 5’3” with blond hair and brown eyes, was seen by at least one witness around 3pm as she jogged down South County Route 41. The witness reported seeing her around 3pm, wearing black shorts and a white tank top.

She did not appear to be in distress.

Well-Loved and local

Sydney, 25, was employed at Unity Health-Harris Medical Center, where she’d only recently begun working as a Registered Nurse after passing her boards a few months earlier. She was described by one of the searchers as “well-loved.”

She lived with her boyfriend and jogged regularly.

The search for Sydney didn’t last long: authorities found her body buried in a field on Friday, August 21st, within two days of her disappearance. Her killer, Quake Lewellyn, was among those searching for her.

Within hours of finding her buried in a field, Lewellyn was arrested.

Lewellyn is a large man, well over six feet tall and burly. His family has lived in the area — just like Sydney’s has — for generations. Quake’s family (both he and his father) were honored with the 2016 Family Farm of the Year award in 2016.

Lewellyn, according to Jackson County Sheriff David Lucas, knew his victim, and as the investigation proceeded more details of their relationship emerged.

A case quickly solved

Shortly after she vanished, Sydney’s boyfriend and family began to search for her after an App she used, Life360, indicated she was not where she was supposed to be. Her mother had made sure she had the App on her iPhone as it allowed the family members to stay informed in as to the locations of the others.

Although AT&T did “ping” her phone, the App gave the first clue that something was amiss.

Her iPhone was discovered in a field running alongside Jackson County Road 41, approximately 1.3 miles from her home, on August 20th.

A day later, on Thursday afternoon, Jackson County authorities discovered her body, also by using cell phone clues.

Investigators suspected Lewellyn because both his mother and his (now ex) wife had called police to report a dent in the hood of his GMC Sierra pickup truck. His mother, Kerry Lewellyn, called police and stated they should take a look at security video footage from the Lewellyn property.

The sheriff’s office called Lewellyn and asked him to help solve the case, and he said yes.

They questioned him about his relationship with Sutherland; he said he hardly knew her. Records indicated that was unlikely, however, since they’d attended the same high school, which had only about 50 students per grade.

When doing a search of social media, police also found the Lewellyn had recently been dropped as a “friend” from Sutherland’s Facebook page.

Lewellyn agreed to a “consent search” of his phone.

Cell phones use location services Apps, which show where the phone has been. In this case, Lewellyn’s phone indicated he was close to her last known location when she disappeared, and eventually revealed the location where he had taken her, raped her and buried her body.

Confession and custody

Lewellyn confessed within moments of arrest, shortly after being read his Miranda rights. He explained that he was driving down the two-lane highway and saw her jogging. He passed her in his truck, then turned around and struck her with the vehicle.

Sutherland did not die because of the collision. Lewellyn forced her into the bed of his pickup and drove her to the location where her body was eventually found. Once there, he confessed he raped her on the tailgate of the truck, then murdered her.

The medical examiner has reported that Sydney died from “multiple blunt force injuries.”

He buried her and went back to his everyday activities, returned to his home before night fell.

The next day, he joined in the search. He also joined the Facebook page set up to help find Sydney.

Lewellyn, who is 28 and has been a farmer his whole life, is now incarcerated at Randolph County jail in Pochahantas, AR. He was originally placed in the Jackson County jail but it was unsafe for him, so he was removed 50 miles away.

He has pled innocent to all charges.

He will be prosecuted by the State of Arkansas for capital murder (in addition to abuse of a corpse) and may face the death penalty.