DATE: Wednesday, July 2, 1997               TAG: 9707020573

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   68 lines

CHESAPEAKE POLICE SEEKING 3RD SUSPECT IN ABDUCTION, SLAYING LOSS OF YOUTH CRISIS NETWORK BOARD MEMBER STAGGERS BROTHER, CO-WORKERS.

Police are still looking for the third suspect in the abduction and murder of Mark E. Pickrel, who was dragged from his apartment last Thursday, taken to a wooded area and shot to death.

Detective Richard Black said the suspect is 18-year-old Richard Marron, whose last known address was in the 600 block of Mount Vernon Ave. in Portsmouth.

Two juveniles from Portsmouth were arrested and charged with murder last week. They were being held at Tidewater Detention Home. The motive appeared to be robbery.

Black said Pickrel, 29, and the juveniles - a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old - had been acquaintances for some time, but he did not say how they met.

Pickrel was manager of Cinemark Movies 10 just outside Chesapeake Square Mall. Police said the youths did not work at the theater.

Pickrel served for the past four years on the board of directors for the Youth Crisis Network, a crisis intervention agency that works with youths and families throughout South Hampton Roads. There were no indications that Pickrel met the youths through the network.

``We're suffering a great loss,'' said Ben Fuller, executive director of the agency. ``We're just trying to regroup and recover. It's very mystifying to us.''

Police said the abduction occurred early Thursday. Signs of a struggle indicated Pickrel was forced from his home in the 4400 block of Deborah Court. His body was found near an overgrown dirt path in the 2300 block of Elizabeth Harbor Drive across from a Virginia Power substation.

Pickrel, who grew up in Lynchburg and moved to Chesapeake about five years ago, was buried Monday near his mother's home in Roseland, Va. His older brother, Scott, said the family is still trying to come to grips with the murder.

``He was a real giving person,'' Scott Pickrel said Tuesday from Roseland. ``He meant a lot to a lot of people.''

Mark Pickrel was single, had no children and lived alone, he said. They spoke on the phone at least once a week, usually on Sundays.

``He was like my best friend,'' said Pickrel, 33. ``I'm real fortunate. He was my only brother. I was luckier than a lot of people.''

Pickrel said he did not know anything about the juveniles or how his brother had met them. But he was pleased police had made arrests.

``At least there's some finality to it,'' he said. ``That helps.''

Pickrel, who lives in Fair Bluff, N.C., also stressed that his brother loved to help people.

Fuller said Pickrel joined the Youth Crisis Network as a volunteer. Later, his business expertise made him a valued board member. He helped guide the agency's finances.

``He had an excellent rapport with kids,'' Fuller said. ``He was a natural.''

Fuller said Pickrel had not worked directly with youths since he became a board member. He said Pickrel put a lot of trust in the other volunteers and the youths he worked with.

``He was very down to earth, very understanding,'' Fuller said. ``It's just a tragic loss.''

Cathy Benton, a Churchland resident, said she knew Pickrel from her frequent trips to the theater for business and with her family. She said she had last talked to him a week before his death.

``He was a very friendly, very gentle individual and very soft spoken,'' said Benton, 41. ``This has just thrown everyone. How could this happen?'' MEMO: Anyone with information about Marron is asked to call Crime Line

at 482-1234. KEYWORDS: MURDER SHOOTING ABDUCTION SUSPECT

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu