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Is it possible the Santa Rosa slasher is connected to numerous other vehicle related killings across California. From the late 60s to early 70s young women were killed in the California Bay Area, Valley, and Los Angeles areas. These murders all featured either a act of sabotage or an abduction after car trouble. This trend then stops. In 1972 Girls hitchhiking in California's Santa Rosa area were viciously murdered. In 1973 killings of teenage and college aged San Francisco girls took place in the span of 47 days. Could the Zodiac killings of the late 1960s and early 1970s have taught killers to not leave a pattern. Changing location and technique allowed for the killer to go uncaptured. Thoughts if these could be connected ? (Links Below)
Theories on the Santa Rosa Slasher ? Theories on the San Francisco killings ? Theories on the Zodiac and did the Zodiac ever travel into Oregon or Nevada ?
List of murders Below:
The Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Killer Summary: A series of at least seven murders in the North Bay, California area, the Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders occurred between 1972 and 1973. The female victims of these murders were all found nude in rural areas near steep embankments, or in creek beds along a roadside. Originally, it was thought that there were only seven victims in the case, who ranged in ages from 12 to approximately 23 years old. However, the FBI released a report in 1975 claiming that there were a series of fourteen connected homicides, which included the original seven Santa Rosa Hitchhiker murders. The cause of death for victims was typically asphyxiation due to being strangled with a cord of some nature. Many possible murder suspects were proposed, ranging from The Zodiac Killer to Ted Bundy, but no one was ever prosecuted, and the case has gone cold in Sonoma County.
Zodiac Killer Summary: https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/zodiac-killer Theories are vast. Highly unlikely but seems to fit a pattern of changing serial killer techniques. These change as others begin. None were captured. Did the Zodiac ever travel to Oregon ?
The San Francisco Murders of ‘73 Summary:The body of Rosa Vasquez (20) was discovered close to the Arguello boulevard entrance of the Golden Gate Park on May 29th 1973. She had been strangled and thrown from the nearby road. Twelve days later, a pregnant Yvonne Quilantang (15), from Delta Street was found strangled in a Bayview district vacant lot on June 12th 1973. She had been out to buy groceries. Nancy Patricia Gidley (24) was last seen alive on Thursday July 12th 1973 leaving the Rodeway Inn at 895 Geary Street, San Francisco. Her body was found on Sunday 15th July 1973, nude and strangled in the grounds of George Washington High School in the Richmond area, although it was believed she was murdered elsewhere. Finally, Angela Thomas (16), a resident of Belton, Texas, had traveled to San Francisco for a brief stay. After a day out in Hayward she visited friends in the Presidio district- but neither of her friends were at home and she was last seen walking away at 9.00 pm on Sunday July 1st 1973. She was found naked and smothered the following day in the grounds of Benjamin Franklin Junior High School.
Almost three years earlier Donna Ann Lass disappeared from the Sahara Tahoe Hotel on September 6th 1970 after finishing her shift as a nurse. A few months earlier in June she had moved to South Lake Tahoe, from San Francisco, where she had previously been employed as a nurse at the Letterman General Hospital in the Presidio, near the Paul Stine murder scene. Curiously Rosa Vasquez was also employed at the Letterman General Hospital as a keypunch operator.There is no evidence to suggest that any of these four victims were Zodiac crimes, although there is reason enough, to consider these four murders may have been committed by a single perpetrator, due to numerous similarities, within such a short time frame.
Some researchers believe that Lawrence Kane and the Zodiac Killer may be one and the same, trailing Donna Lass from San Francisco to South Lake Tahoe, having lived at 217 Eddy Street, close to Mason and Geary Streets in San Francisco at the time of the Paul Stine murder. Latterly, working near Donna Lass at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel, according to former law enforcement officer Harvey Hines. Is it possible he returned in 1973?. Two possible murders- that of Donna Lass and Rosa Vasquez from the same hospital, inside of three years seems unusual, albeit probably coincidental. Whoever the Zodiac Killer is, may never be known- but did he continue his reign of terror beyond the murder of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969?
Bonus Nevada, Oregon, and Montana story
Cheri Jo Bates Vehicle: Sabotaged (Ignition Coil Disabled) The murder of Cheri Jo Bates is an unsolved murder that occurred in Riverside, California on October 30, 1966. Bates, an 18-year-old college freshman, was stabbed and slashed to death on the grounds of Riverside City College.
In November, 1967, Multiple Van Nuys area women were approached by a man following them and flashing their lights. similar to the
In the Fall of 1968, on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, two young women were walking when a man pulled alongside them and asked if they needed a ride. Cheri Jo Bates similar SABOTAGE Survived
David Arthur Faraday, 17, and Betty Lou Jensen, 16: shot and killed on December 20, 1968, on Lake Herman Road, within the city limits of Benicia. (Zodiac Killing)
Rose Tashman Vehicle: Tire went flat On May 18th 1969, Rose Tashman (aged 19) was driving from a friend’s home in Van Nuys to her home in Hollywood when she had gotten a flat tire near the Highway Avenue off ramp within the greater Los Angeles, California area.
Michael Renault Mageau, 19, and Darlene Elizabeth Ferrin, 22: shot on July 4, 1969, in the parking lot of Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo. While Mageau survived the attack, Ferrin was pronounced dead on arrival at Kaiser Foundation Hospital. (Zodiac Killing)
Bryan Calvin Hartnell, 20, and Cecelia Ann Shepard, 22: stabbed on September 27, 1969, at Lake Berryessa in Napa County. Hartnell survived eight stab wounds to the back, but Shepard died as a result of her injuries on September 29, 1969. (Zodiac Killing)
Paul Lee Stine, 29: shot and killed on October 11, 1969, in the Presidio Heights neighborhood in San Francisco. (Zodiac Killing)
Cindy Lee Mellin Vehicle: Tire was flat in parking lot. Not flat when parked Cindy was abducted on January 20, 1970.After work that evening. Cindy walked to her car in the parking lot, apparently to find she had a flat tire. Cindy’s father admitted that his daughter would not have been able to tend to a flat tire, so a theory that an unidentified man approached Cindy under the guise of helping her makes sense. Ventura, California
Joy Hungerford Vehicle: Headlights Went Out January, 1970 Redwood City
Kathleen Johns Vehicle: Signalled with lights to pull over, then sabotaged. On March 20, 1970, a man driving behind her started flashing his headlights. Johns pulled over for the man. He walked up to her car and said that her rear wheel was loose and wobbling and that he’d tighten it for her. Modesto, California area. (Survived)
Donna Lass (Nevada) Vehicle: Found Untouched A Stateline casino nurse, Donna Lass, 25, disappeared after work on September 6, 1970. Her car was found parked at her apartment with no signs of a struggle. She may have been a victim of the infamous Zodiac Killer, a serial killer who claimed 37 murder victims (seven of whom who were confirmed by investigators) during the 1960s and 1970s.
Vicki Miner Abduction method: Unclear On November 14, 1970 Vicki Miner’s badly decomposed body was found in a vacant field near Malvern Avenue and Dale Street. Police determined that she had been bludgeoned to death. A student at Buena Park High School, Miner was last seen alive as she left for school at about 9:30 on the morning of Oct. 30. Her parents reported her missing later that day when she didn’t show up at school.
Robin Graham Vehicle: Ran out of Gas On November 15, 1970 Robin Ann Graham, an 18 year old college student, ran out of gas on a Los Angeles area freeway near the Santa Monica off ramp.
Maureen Louise Sterling and Yvonne Lisa Weber Abduction method: Hitchhiking On February 4, 1972 both 12-year-old Herbert Slater Middle School students disappeared around 9 pm. after visiting the Redwood Empire Ice Arena. They were last seen hitchhiking on Guerneville Road, northwest of Santa Rosa.
Kim Wendy Allen Abduction method: Hitchhiking On March 4, 1972 Kim Wendy Allen, 19, was given a ride by two men on March 4, 1972 from her job at Larkspur Natural Foods to San Rafael. They last saw her at approximately 5:20 pm hitchhiking to school near the Bell Avenue entrance to Highway 101, northbound, carrying a large wooden soy barrel with red Chinese characters on it. Her body was found the following day down an embankment in a creek bed 20 feet off Enterprise Road in Santa Rosa.
Ernestine Terello Vehicle: Tire was punctured On April 20, 1972, a woman named Ernestine Terello pulled over for a flat tire near the Ventura freeway in Agoura.
Lori Lee Kursa, Abduction method: Hitch-hiking On November 11, 1972 after disappearing while they shopped at a U-Save and was last seen on November 20 or 21 in Santa Rosa while visiting friends, having deliberately run away She was a frequent hitchhiker and habitual runaway. The 13 year old girls' frozen remains were located on December 14, 1972, in a ravine approximately 50 feet off Calistoga Road, northeast of Rincon Valley in Santa Rosa.
Rosa Vasquez Abduction Method: Unclear On May 29th 1973, the body of Rosa Vasquez, 20, was found strangled near the Arguello Boulevard entrance at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. The victim had been thrown seven feet off the roadway into some shrubs.
Yvonne Quilantang Abduction Method: Unclear Quilantang aged 15, from Delta Street was found strangled in a Bayview district vacant lot on June 12th 1973. She had been out to buy groceries.
Angela Thomas Abduction Method: Unclear Angela, 16, was found July 2, 1973, smothered on the playground of Benjamin Franklin Junior High School in Daly City. She had last been seen the previous evening at the Presidio of San Francisco.
Nancy Patricia Gidley Abduction Method: Unclear Nancy was a 24-year-old radiographer. She was found strangled behind the George Washington High School gymnasium on 15 July 1973. She was last seen at a Rodeway Inn motel on July 12, 1973.
Carolyn Nadine Davis Abduction method: Hitchhiking Carolyn, 14, ran away from her home outside Anderson in Shasta County on 6 February 1973, but disappeared 15 July 1973 after being dropped off by her grandmother at the Garberville Post Office. She was last seen hitchhiking that afternoon near the Highway 101 ramp in Garberville. Her body was discovered on 31 July 1973 about three feet from where the remains of Sterling and Weber had been recovered seven months earlier. Carolyn died of strychnine poisoning 10–14 days before her body was discovered. It could not be determined if she had been raped.
Nancy Feusi Abduction Method: Unclear Nancy, 22, disappeared after going dancing at a club in the Sacramento area on July 22, 1973. A fisherman discovered the body in a remote area off Pleasant Grove Road. The woman was clad only in a miniskirt and bikini-type briefs. A blouse was found nearby.
Laura A. O'Dell Abduction method: Unclear Laura, 21, was found in bushes behind the boathouse at Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. She was last seen on 4 November 1973, three days before her body was discovered.
Theresa Walsh Abduction method: Hitch-hiking On December 22, 1973 Theresa Diane Smith Walsh, 23, was last seen on December 22, 1973, at Zuma Beach in Malibu, intent on hitchhiking to Garberville and joining her family for Christmas. Her partially submerged body was found six days later by kayakers in Mark West Creek. She had been hogtied with clothesline rope, sexually assaulted, strangled and had been dead approximately one week when her body was discovered.
Brenda Kaye Merchant Abduction method: Unclear Brenda, 19, was found stabbed to death at her home February 1, 1974, in Marysville. The killer left a bloody fingerprint on the screen door when he fled.
Donna M. Braun Abduction method: Unclear On September 29, 1974, the strangled body of, 14, was found in the Salinas River near Monterey.
Mona Jean Gallegos Vehicle: Ran out of gas On June 19,1975, Mona Jean Gallegos, a 19 year old Covina girl, was returning home from a friend’s house in Alhambra at about 1am when she ran out of gas near Santa Anita Avenue on the San Bernardino Freeway.
Eileen Hynson Abduction method: Unclear Eileen Francis Hynson’s disappearance on June 1, 1976, from Napa, California. Hynson left the residence she shared with her father and brother to attend a wedding in Solano County. She never arrived and her suitcase was left at home.
Unidentified Remains On July 2, 1979, the skeletal remains of a young white female were found in a ravine off Calistoga Road approximately 100 yards from where the body of Lori Lee Kursa had been recovered seven years earlier. One expert consulted by authorities determined that the victim was likely killed between 1972 and 1974 and was about 19 years old.The victim had been hogtied and her arm fractured around the time of her murder.
Larry Peyton and Beverly Allan (Oregon) On the evening of November 26, 1960, Larry Ralph Peyton and his girlfriend, Beverly Ann Allan disappeared after having made plans to shop at the Lloyd Center in Portland, Oregon, United States. The following day, November 27, Peyton's Ford coupe was found in Forest Park, with his mutilated body inside. Allan was missing from the scene, though her purse and coat were still inside the car. A widespread manhunt ensued over the following two months. In January 1961, a highway crew 30 miles outside Portland discovered Allan's partially-nude body in a ravine, and it was determined she had been raped and strangled to death.
Lloyd Duane Bogle and Patti Kalitzke (Montana) On Jan. 3, 1956, three young boys walking west of Great Falls, in an area now known as Wadsworth Park, discovered the body of 18-year-old airman Lloyd Duane Bogle lying next to a car. Bogle's hands were tied behind his back using his own belt, and he'd been shot through the head. The car's ignition switch was still engaged, and its headlights were still on. The body of Bogle's 16-year-old girlfriend, Patti Kalitzke, was found the next day northwest of the city. Like Bogle, Kalitzke was shot through the head. She showed no signs of sexual assault.
More Information: http://www.santarosahitchhikermurders.com/suspects.php
https://www.sfweekly.com/news/yesterdays-crimes-the-santa-rosa-hitchhiker-murders/
https://zodiackillersite.com/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=86http://truecrimeguy.com/californias-good-samaritan-ruse/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders_of_Larry_Peyton_and_Beverly_Allan
https://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-news/the-san-francisco-1973-murders
Boston Hitchhiker Killers: (unrelated but interesting to read) https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1973/2/14/the-hitchhike-murders-pbbebllen-reichb-was/

Is it possible the Santa Rosa slasher is connected to numerous other vehicle related killings across California. From the late 60s to early 70s young women were killed in the California Bay Area, Valley, and Los Angeles areas. These murders all featured either a act of sabotage or an abduction after car trouble. This trend then stops. In 1972 Girls hitchhiking in California's Santa Rosa area were viciously murdered. In 1973 killings of teenage and college aged San Francisco girls took place in the span of 47 days. Could the Zodiac killings of the late 1960s and early 1970s have taught killers to not leave a pattern. Changing location and technique allowed for the killer to go uncaptured. Thoughts if these could be connected ? (Links Below)
*reuploaded with new information
Theories on the Santa Rosa Slasher ?
Theories on the San Francisco killings ?
Theories on the Zodiac and did the Zodiac ever travel into Oregon or Nevada ?
List of murders Below:
The Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Killer
Summary: A series of at least seven murders in the North Bay, California area, the Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders occurred between 1972 and 1973. The female victims of these murders were all found nude in rural areas near steep embankments, or in creek beds along a roadside. Originally, it was thought that there were only seven victims in the case, who ranged in ages from 12 to approximately 23 years old. However, the FBI released a report in 1975 claiming that there were a series of fourteen connected homicides, which included the original seven Santa Rosa Hitchhiker murders. The cause of death for victims was typically asphyxiation due to being strangled with a cord of some nature. Many possible murder suspects were proposed, ranging from The Zodiac Killer to Ted Bundy, but no one was ever prosecuted, and the case has gone cold in Sonoma County.
Zodiac Killer:
Summary: https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/zodiac-killer
Theories are vast. Highly unlikely but seems to fit a pattern of changing serial killer techniques. These change as others begin. None were captured. Did the Zodiac ever travel to Oregon ?
The San Francisco Murders of ‘73
Summary: The body of Rosa Vasquez (20) was discovered close to the Arguello boulevard entrance of the Golden Gate Park on May 29th 1973. She had been strangled and thrown from the nearby road. Twelve days later, a pregnant Yvonne Quilantang (15), from Delta Street was found strangled in a Bayview district vacant lot on June 12th 1973. She had been out to buy groceries. Nancy Patricia Gidley (24) was last seen alive on Thursday July 12th 1973 leaving the Rode-way Inn at 895 Geary Street, San Francisco. Her body was found on Sunday 15th July 1973, nude and strangled in the grounds of George Washington High School in the Richmond area, although it was believed she was murdered elsewhere. Finally, Angela Thomas (16), a resident of Belton, Texas, had traveled to San Francisco for a brief stay. After a day out in Hayward she visited friends in the Presidio district- but neither of her friends were at home and she was last seen walking away at 9.00 pm on Sunday July 1st 1973. She was found naked and smothered the following day in the grounds of Benjamin Franklin Junior High School.
Almost three years earlier Donna Ann Lass disappeared from the Sahara Tahoe Hotel on September 6th 1970 after finishing her shift as a nurse. A few months earlier in June she had moved to South Lake Tahoe, from San Francisco, where she had previously been employed as a nurse at the Letterman General Hospital in the Presidio, near the Paul Stine murder scene. Curiously Rosa Vasquez was also employed at the Letterman General Hospital as a keypunch operator. There is no evidence to suggest that any of these four victims were Zodiac crimes, although there is reason enough, to consider these four murders may have been committed by a single perpetrator, due to numerous similarities, within such a short time frame.
Some researchers believe that Lawrence Kane and the Zodiac Killer may be one and the same, trailing Donna Lass from San Francisco to South Lake Tahoe, having lived at 217 Eddy Street, close to Mason and Geary Streets in San Francisco at the time of the Paul Stine murder. Latterly, working near Donna Lass at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel, according to former law enforcement officer Harvey Hines. Is it possible he returned in 1973?. Two possible murders- that of Donna Lass and Rosa Vasquez from the same hospital, inside of three years seems unusual, albeit probably coincidental. Whoever the Zodiac Killer is, may never be known- but did he continue his reign of terror beyond the murder of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969?
Bonus Nevada, Oregon, and Montana story
Cheri Jo Bates
Vehicle: Sabotaged (Ignition Coil Disabled)
The murder of Cheri Jo Bates is an unsolved murder that occurred in Riverside, California on October 30, 1966. Bates, an 18-year-old college freshman, was stabbed and slashed to death on the grounds of Riverside City College.
In November, 1967, Multiple Van Nuys area women were approached by a man following them and flashing their lights. similar to the
In the Fall of 1968, on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, two young women were walking when a man pulled alongside them and asked if they needed a ride. Cheri Jo Bates similar SABOTAGE Survived
David Arthur Faraday, 17, and Betty Lou Jensen, 16: shot and killed on December 20, 1968, on Lake Herman Road, within the city limits of Benicia. (Zodiac Killing)
Rose Tashman
Vehicle: Tire went flat
On May 18th 1969, Rose Tashman (aged 19) was driving from a friend’s home in Van Nuys to her home in Hollywood when she had gotten a flat tire near the Highway Avenue off ramp within the greater Los Angeles, California area.
Michael Renault Mageau, 19, and Darlene Elizabeth Ferrin, 22: shot on July 4, 1969, in the parking lot of Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo. While Mageau survived the attack, Ferrin was pronounced dead on arrival at Kaiser Foundation Hospital. (Zodiac Killing)
Bryan Calvin Hartnell, 20, and Cecelia Ann Shepard, 22: stabbed on September 27, 1969, at Lake Berryessa in Napa County. Hartnell survived eight stab wounds to the back, but Shepard died as a result of her injuries on September 29, 1969. (Zodiac Killing)
Paul Lee Stine, 29: shot and killed on October 11, 1969, in the Presidio Heights neighborhood in San Francisco. (Zodiac Killing)
Cindy Lee Mellin
Vehicle: Tire was flat in parking lot. Not flat when parked
Cindy was abducted on January 20, 1970.After work that evening. Cindy walked to her car in the parking lot, apparently to find she had a flat tire. Cindy’s father admitted that his daughter would not have been able to tend to a flat tire, so a theory that an unidentified man approached Cindy under the guise of helping her makes sense. Ventura, California
Joy Hungerford
Vehicle: Headlights Went Out
January, 1970 Redwood City
Kathleen Johns
Vehicle: Signalled with lights to pull over, then sabotaged.
On March 20, 1970, a man driving behind her started flashing his headlights. Johns pulled over for the man. He walked up to her car and said that her rear wheel was loose and wobbling and that he’d tighten it for her. Modesto, California area. (Survived)
Donna Lass (Nevada)
Vehicle: Found Untouched
A Stateline casino nurse, Donna Lass, 25, disappeared after work on September 6, 1970. Her car was found parked at her apartment with no signs of a struggle. She may have been a victim of the infamous Zodiac Killer, a serial killer who claimed 37 murder victims (seven of whom who were confirmed by investigators) during the 1960s and 1970s.
Vicki Miner
Abduction method: Unclear
On November 14, 1970 Vicki Miner’s badly decomposed body was found in a vacant field near Malvern Avenue and Dale Street. Police determined that she had been bludgeoned to death. A student at Buena Park High School, Miner was last seen alive as she left for school at about 9:30 on the morning of Oct. 30. Her parents reported her missing later that day when she didn’t show up at school.
Robin Graham
Vehicle: Ran out of Gas
On November 15, 1970 Robin Ann Graham, an 18 year old college student, ran out of gas on a Los Angeles area freeway near the Santa Monica off ramp.
Maureen Louise Sterling and Yvonne Lisa Weber
Abduction method: Hitchhiking
On February 4, 1972 both 12-year-old Herbert Slater Middle School students disappeared around 9 pm. after visiting the Redwood Empire Ice Arena. They were last seen hitchhiking on Guerneville Road, northwest of Santa Rosa.
Kim Wendy Allen
Abduction method: Hitchhiking
On March 4, 1972 Kim Wendy Allen, 19, was given a ride by two men on March 4, 1972 from her job at Larkspur Natural Foods to San Rafael. They last saw her at approximately 5:20 pm hitchhiking to school near the Bell Avenue entrance to Highway 101, northbound, carrying a large wooden soy barrel with red Chinese characters on it. Her body was found the following day down an embankment in a creek bed 20 feet off Enterprise Road in Santa Rosa.
Ernestine Terello
Vehicle: Tire was punctured
On April 20, 1972, a woman named Ernestine Terello pulled over for a flat tire near the Ventura freeway in Agoura.
Lori Lee Kursa,
Abduction method: Hitch-hiking
On November 11, 1972 after disappearing while they shopped at a U-Save and was last seen on November 20 or 21 in Santa Rosa while visiting friends, having deliberately run away She was a frequent hitchhiker and habitual runaway. The 13 year old girls' frozen remains were located on December 14, 1972, in a ravine approximately 50 feet off Calistoga Road, northeast of Rincon Valley in Santa Rosa.
Rosa Vasquez
Abduction Method: Unclear
On May 29th 1973, the body of Rosa Vasquez, 20, was found strangled near the Arguello Boulevard entrance at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. The victim had been thrown seven feet off the roadway into some shrubs.
Yvonne Quilantang
Abduction Method: Unclear
Quilantang aged 15, from Delta Street was found strangled in a Bayview district vacant lot on June 12th 1973. She had been out to buy groceries.
Angela Thomas
Abduction Method: Unclear
Angela, 16, was found July 2, 1973, smothered on the playground of Benjamin Franklin Junior High School in Daly City. She had last been seen the previous evening at the Presidio of San Francisco.
Nancy Patricia Gidley
Abduction Method: Unclear
Nancy was a 24-year-old radiographer. She was found strangled behind the George Washington High School gymnasium on 15 July 1973. She was last seen at a Rodeway Inn motel on July 12, 1973.
Carolyn Nadine Davis
Abduction method: Hitchhiking
Carolyn, 14, ran away from her home outside Anderson in Shasta County on 6 February 1973, but disappeared 15 July 1973 after being dropped off by her grandmother at the Garberville Post Office. She was last seen hitchhiking that afternoon near the Highway 101 ramp in Garberville.
Her body was discovered on 31 July 1973 about three feet from where the remains of Sterling and Weber had been recovered seven months earlier. Carolyn died of strychnine poisoning 10–14 days before her body was discovered. It could not be determined if she had been raped.
Nancy Feusi
Abduction Method: Unclear
Nancy, 22, disappeared after going dancing at a club in the Sacramento area on July 22, 1973. A fisherman discovered the body in a remote area off Pleasant Grove Road. The woman was clad only in a miniskirt and bikini-type briefs. A blouse was found nearby.
Laura A. O'Dell
Abduction method: Unclear
Laura, 21, was found in bushes behind the boathouse at Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. She was last seen on 4 November 1973, three days before her body was discovered.
Theresa Walsh
Abduction method: Hitch-hiking
On December 22, 1973 Theresa Diane Smith Walsh, 23, was last seen on December 22, 1973, at Zuma Beach in Malibu, intent on hitchhiking to Garberville and joining her family for Christmas. Her partially submerged body was found six days later by kayakers in Mark West Creek. She had been hogtied with clothesline rope, sexually assaulted, strangled and had been dead approximately one week when her body was discovered.
Brenda Kaye Merchant
Abduction method: Unclear
Brenda, 19, was found stabbed to death at her home February 1, 1974, in Marysville. The killer left a bloody fingerprint on the screen door when he fled.
Donna M. Braun
Abduction method: Unclear
On September 29, 1974, the strangled body of, 14, was found in the Salinas River near Monterey.
Mona Jean Gallegos
Vehicle: Ran out of gas
On June 19,1975, Mona Jean Gallegos, a 19 year old Covina girl, was returning home from a friend’s house in Alhambra at about 1am when she ran out of gas near Santa Anita Avenue on the San Bernardino Freeway.
Eileen Hynson
Abduction method: Unclear
Eileen Francis Hynson’s disappearance on June 1, 1976, from Napa, California. Hynson left the residence she shared with her father and brother to attend a wedding in Solano County. She never arrived and her suitcase was left at home.
Unidentified Remains
On July 2, 1979, the skeletal remains of a young white female were found in a ravine off Calistoga Road approximately 100 yards from where the body of Lori Lee Kursa had been recovered seven years earlier. One expert consulted by authorities determined that the victim was likely killed between 1972 and 1974 and was about 19 years old. The victim had been hogtied and her arm fractured around the time of her murder.
Larry Peyton and Beverly Allan (Oregon)
On the evening of November 26, 1960, Larry Ralph Peyton and his girlfriend, Beverly Ann Allan disappeared after having made plans to shop at the Lloyd Center in Portland, Oregon, United States. The following day, November 27, Peyton's Ford coupe was found in Forest Park, with his mutilated body inside. Allan was missing from the scene, though her purse and coat were still inside the car. A widespread manhunt ensued over the following two months. In January 1961, a highway crew 30 miles outside Portland discovered Allan's partially-nude body in a ravine, and it was determined she had been raped and strangled to death.
Lloyd Duane Bogle and Patti Kalitzke (Montana)
On Jan. 3, 1956, three young boys walking west of Great Falls, in an area now known as Wadsworth Park, discovered the body of 18-year-old airman Lloyd Duane Bogle lying next to a car. Bogle's hands were tied behind his back using his own belt, and he'd been shot through the head. The car's ignition switch was still engaged, and its headlights were still on. The body of Bogle's 16-year-old girlfriend, Patti Kalitzke, was found the next day northwest of the city. Like Bogle, Kalitzke was shot through the head. She showed no signs of sexual assault.
More Information:
http://www.santarosahitchhikermurders.com/suspects.php
https://www.sfweekly.com/news/yesterdays-crimes-the-santa-rosa-hitchhiker-murders/
https://zodiackillersite.com/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=86http://truecrimeguy.com/californias-good-samaritan-ruse/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders_of_Larry_Peyton_and_Beverly_Allan
https://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-news/the-san-francisco-1973-murders
Boston Hitchhiker Killers: (unrelated but interesting to read)
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1973/2/14/the-hitchhike-murders-pbbebllen-reichb-was/

Is it possible the Santa Rosa slasher is connected to numerous other vehicle related killings across California. From the late 60s to early 70s young women were killed in the California Bay Area, Valley, and Los Angeles areas. These murders all featured either a act of sabotage or an abduction after car trouble. This trend then stops. In 1972 Girls hitchhiking in California's Santa Rosa area were viciously murdered. In 1973 killings of teenage and college aged San Francisco girls took place in the span of 47 days. Could the Zodiac killings of the late 1960s and early 1970s have taught killers to not leave a pattern. Changing location and technique allowed for the killer to go uncaptured. Thoughts if these could be connected ? (Links Below)
Theories on the Santa Rosa Slasher ?
Theories on the San Francisco killings ?
Theories on the Zodiac and did the Zodiac ever travel into Oregon or Nevada ?
List of murders Below:
The Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Killer
Summary: A series of at least seven murders in the North Bay, California area, the Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders occurred between 1972 and 1973. The female victims of these murders were all found nude in rural areas near steep embankments, or in creek beds along a roadside. Originally, it was thought that there were only seven victims in the case, who ranged in ages from 12 to approximately 23 years old. However, the FBI released a report in 1975 claiming that there were a series of fourteen connected homicides, which included the original seven Santa Rosa Hitchhiker murders. The cause of death for victims was typically asphyxiation due to being strangled with a cord of some nature. Many possible murder suspects were proposed, ranging from The Zodiac Killer to Ted Bundy, but no one was ever prosecuted, and the case has gone cold in Sonoma County.
Zodiac Killer]
Summary: https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/zodiac-killer
Theories are vast. Highly unlikely but seems to fit a pattern of changing serial killer techniques. These change as others begin. None were captured. Did the Zodiac ever travel to Oregon ?
The San Francisco Murders of ‘73
Summary: The body of Rosa Vasquez (20) was discovered close to the Arguello boulevard entrance of the Golden Gate Park on May 29th 1973. She had been strangled and thrown from the nearby road. Twelve days later, a pregnant Yvonne Quilantang (15), from Delta Street was found strangled in a Bayview district vacant lot on June 12th 1973. She had been out to buy groceries. Nancy Patricia Gidley (24) was last seen alive on Thursday July 12th 1973 leaving the Rodeway Inn at 895 Geary Street, San Francisco. Her body was found on Sunday 15th July 1973, nude and strangled in the grounds of George Washington High School in the Richmond area, although it was believed she was murdered elsewhere. Finally, Angela Thomas (16), a resident of Belton, Texas, had traveled to San Francisco for a brief stay. After a day out in Hayward she visited friends in the Presidio district- but neither of her friends were at home and she was last seen walking away at 9.00 pm on Sunday July 1st 1973. She was found naked and smothered the following day in the grounds of Benjamin Franklin Junior High School.
Almost three years earlier Donna Ann Lass disappeared from the Sahara Tahoe Hotel on September 6th 1970 after finishing her shift as a nurse. A few months earlier in June she had moved to South Lake Tahoe, from San Francisco, where she had previously been employed as a nurse at the Letterman General Hospital in the Presidio, near the Paul Stine murder scene. Curiously Rosa Vasquez was also employed at the Letterman General Hospital as a keypunch operator. There is no evidence to suggest that any of these four victims were Zodiac crimes, although there is reason enough, to consider these four murders may have been committed by a single perpetrator, due to numerous similarities, within such a short time frame.
Some researchers believe that Lawrence Kane and the Zodiac Killer may be one and the same, trailing Donna Lass from San Francisco to South Lake Tahoe, having lived at 217 Eddy Street, close to Mason and Geary Streets in San Francisco at the time of the Paul Stine murder. Latterly, working near Donna Lass at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel, according to former law enforcement officer Harvey Hines. Is it possible he returned in 1973?. Two possible murders- that of Donna Lass and Rosa Vasquez from the same hospital, inside of three years seems unusual, albeit probably coincidental. Whoever the Zodiac Killer is, may never be known- but did he continue his reign of terror beyond the murder of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969?
- Bonus Oregon and Montana murders Lovers lane Murder's (at end)
Cheri Jo Bates
Vehicle: Sabotaged (Ignition Coil Disabled)
The murder of Cheri Jo Bates is an unsolved murder that occurred in Riverside, California on October 30, 1966. Bates, an 18-year-old college freshman, was stabbed and slashed to death on the grounds of Riverside City College.
In November, 1967, Multiple Van Nuys area women were approached by a man following them and flashing their lights. similar to the
In the Fall of 1968, on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, two young women were walking when a man pulled alongside them and asked if they needed a ride. Cheri Jo Bates similar SABOTAGE Survived
David Arthur Faraday, 17, and Betty Lou Jensen, 16: shot and killed on December 20, 1968, on Lake Herman Road, within the city limits of Benicia. (Zodiac Killing)
Rose Tashman
Vehicle: Tire went flat
On May 18th 1969, Rose Tashman (aged 19) was driving from a friend’s home in Van Nuys to her home in Hollywood when she had gotten a flat tire near the Highway Avenue off ramp within the greater Los Angeles, California area.
Michael Renault Mageau, 19, and Darlene Elizabeth Ferrin, 22: shot on July 4, 1969, in the parking lot of Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo. While Mageau survived the attack, Ferrin was pronounced dead on arrival at Kaiser Foundation Hospital. (Zodiac Killing)
Bryan Calvin Hartnell, 20, and Cecelia Ann Shepard, 22: stabbed on September 27, 1969, at Lake Berryessa in Napa County. Hartnell survived eight stab wounds to the back, but Shepard died as a result of her injuries on September 29, 1969. (Zodiac Killing)
Paul Lee Stine, 29: shot and killed on October 11, 1969, in the Presidio Heights neighborhood in San Francisco. (Zodiac Killing)
Cindy Lee Mellin
Vehicle: Tire was flat in parking lot. Not flat when parked
Cindy was abducted on January 20, 1970.After work that evening. Cindy walked to her car in the parking lot, apparently to find she had a flat tire. Cindy’s father admitted that his daughter would not have been able to tend to a flat tire, so a theory that an unidentified man approached Cindy under the guise of helping her makes sense. Ventura, California
Joy Hungerford
Vehicle: Headlights Went Out
January, 1970 Redwood City
Kathleen Johns
Vehicle: Signalled with lights to pull over, then sabotaged.
On March 20, 1970, a man driving behind her started flashing his headlights. Johns pulled over for the man. He walked up to her car and said that her rear wheel was loose and wobbling and that he’d tighten it for her. Modesto, California area. (Survived)
Donna Lass (Nevada)
Vehicle: Found Untouched
A Stateline casino nurse, Donna Lass, 25, disappeared after work on September 6, 1970. Her car was found parked at her apartment with no signs of a struggle. She may have been a victim of the infamous Zodiac Killer, a serial killer who claimed 37 murder victims (seven of whom who were confirmed by investigators) during the 1960s and 1970s.
Vicki Miner
Abduction method: Unclear
On November 14, 1970 Vicki Miner’s badly decomposed body was found in a vacant field near Malvern Avenue and Dale Street. Police determined that she had been bludgeoned to death. A student at Buena Park High School, Miner was last seen alive as she left for school at about 9:30 on the morning of Oct. 30. Her parents reported her missing later that day when she didn’t show up at school.
Robin Graham
Vehicle: Ran out of Gas
On November 15, 1970 Robin Ann Graham, an 18 year old college student, ran out of gas on a Los Angeles area freeway near the Santa Monica off ramp.
Maureen Louise Sterling and Yvonne Lisa Weber
Abduction method: Hitchhiking
On February 4, 1972 both 12-year-old Herbert Slater Middle School students disappeared around 9 pm. after visiting the Redwood Empire Ice Arena. They were last seen hitchhiking on Guerneville Road, northwest of Santa Rosa.
Kim Wendy Allen
Abduction method: Hitchhiking
On March 4, 1972 Kim Wendy Allen, 19, was given a ride by two men on March 4, 1972 from her job at Larkspur Natural Foods to San Rafael. They last saw her at approximately 5:20 pm hitchhiking to school near the Bell Avenue entrance to Highway 101, northbound, carrying a large wooden soy barrel with red Chinese characters on it. Her body was found the following day down an embankment in a creek bed 20 feet off Enterprise Road in Santa Rosa.
Ernestine Terello
Vehicle: Tire was punctured
On April 20, 1972, a woman named Ernestine Terello pulled over for a flat tire near the Ventura freeway in Agoura.
Lori Lee Kursa,
Abduction method: Hitch-hiking
On November 11, 1972 after disappearing while they shopped at a U-Save and was last seen on November 20 or 21 in Santa Rosa while visiting friends, having deliberately run away She was a frequent hitchhiker and habitual runaway. The 13 year old girls' frozen remains were located on December 14, 1972, in a ravine approximately 50 feet off Calistoga Road, northeast of Rincon Valley in Santa Rosa.
Rosa Vasquez
Abduction Method: Unclear
On May 29th 1973, the body of Rosa Vasquez, 20, was found strangled near the Arguello Boulevard entrance at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. The victim had been thrown seven feet off the roadway into some shrubs.
Yvonne Quilantang
Abduction Method: Unclear
Quilantang aged 15, from Delta Street was found strangled in a Bayview district vacant lot on June 12th 1973. She had been out to buy groceries.
Angela Thomas
Abduction Method: Unclear
Angela, 16, was found July 2, 1973, smothered on the playground of Benjamin Franklin Junior High School in Daly City. She had last been seen the previous evening at the Presidio of San Francisco.
Nancy Patricia Gidley
Abduction Method: Unclear
Nancy was a 24-year-old radiographer. She was found strangled behind the George Washington High School gymnasium on 15 July 1973. She was last seen at a Rodeway Inn motel on July 12, 1973.
Carolyn Nadine Davis
Abduction method: Hitchhiking
Carolyn, 14, ran away from her home outside Anderson in Shasta County on 6 February 1973, but disappeared 15 July 1973 after being dropped off by her grandmother at the Garberville Post Office. She was last seen hitchhiking that afternoon near the Highway 101 ramp in Garberville.
Her body was discovered on 31 July 1973 about three feet from where the remains of Sterling and Weber had been recovered seven months earlier. Carolyn died of strychnine poisoning 10–14 days before her body was discovered. It could not be determined if she had been raped.
Nancy Feusi
Abduction Method: Unclear
Nancy, 22, disappeared after going dancing at a club in the Sacramento area on July 22, 1973. A fisherman discovered the body in a remote area off Pleasant Grove Road. The woman was clad only in a miniskirt and bikini-type briefs. A blouse was found nearby.
Laura A. O'Dell
Abduction method: Unclear
Laura, 21, was found in bushes behind the boathouse at Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. She was last seen on 4 November 1973, three days before her body was discovered.
Theresa Walsh
Abduction method: Hitch-hiking
On December 22, 1973 Theresa Diane Smith Walsh, 23, was last seen on December 22, 1973, at Zuma Beach in Malibu, intent on hitchhiking to Garberville and joining her family for Christmas. Her partially submerged body was found six days later by kayakers in Mark West Creek. She had been hogtied with clothesline rope, sexually assaulted, strangled and had been dead approximately one week when her body was discovered.
Brenda Kaye Merchant
Abduction method: Unclear
Brenda, 19, was found stabbed to death at her home February 1, 1974, in Marysville. The killer left a bloody fingerprint on the screen door when he fled.
Donna M. Braun
Abduction method: Unclear
On September 29, 1974, the strangled body of, 14, was found in the Salinas River near Monterey.
Mona Jean Gallegos
Vehicle: Ran out of gas
On June 19,1975, Mona Jean Gallegos, a 19 year old Covina girl, was returning home from a friend’s house in Alhambra at about 1am when she ran out of gas near Santa Anita Avenue on the San Bernardino Freeway.
Eileen Hynson
Abduction method: Unclear
Eileen Francis Hynson’s disappearance on June 1, 1976, from Napa, California. Hynson left the residence she shared with her father and brother to attend a wedding in Solano County. She never arrived and her suitcase was left at home.
Unidentified Remains
On July 2, 1979, the skeletal remains of a young white female were found in a ravine off Calistoga Road approximately 100 yards from where the body of Lori Lee Kursa had been recovered seven years earlier. One expert consulted by authorities determined that the victim was likely killed between 1972 and 1974 and was about 19 years old.The victim had been hogtied and her arm fractured around the time of her murder.
Larry Peyton and Beverly Allan (Oregon)
On the evening of November 26, 1960, Larry Ralph Peyton and his girlfriend, Beverly Ann Allan disappeared after having made plans to shop at the Lloyd Center in Portland, Oregon, United States. The following day, November 27, Peyton's Ford coupe was found in Forest Park, with his mutilated body inside. Allan was missing from the scene, though her purse and coat were still inside the car. A widespread manhunt ensued over the following two months. In January 1961, a highway crew 30 miles outside Portland discovered Allan's partially-nude body in a ravine, and it was determined she had been raped and strangled to death.
Lloyd Duane Bogle and Patti Kalitzke (Montana)
On Jan. 3, 1956, three young boys walking west of Great Falls, in an area now known as Wadsworth Park, discovered the body of 18-year-old airman Lloyd Duane Bogle lying next to a car. Bogle's hands were tied behind his back using his own belt, and he'd been shot through the head. The car's ignition switch was still engaged, and its headlights were still on. The body of Bogle's 16-year-old girlfriend, Patti Kalitzke, was found the next day northwest of the city. Like Bogle, Kalitzke was shot through the head. She showed no signs of sexual assault.
​
More Information:
http://www.santarosahitchhikermurders.com/suspects.php
https://www.sfweekly.com/news/yesterdays-crimes-the-santa-rosa-hitchhiker-murders/
https://zodiackillersite.com/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=86http://truecrimeguy.com/californias-good-samaritan-ruse/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders_of_Larry_Peyton_and_Beverly_Allan
https://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-news/the-san-francisco-1973-murders
Boston Hitchhiker Killers: (unrelated but interesting to read)
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1973/2/14/the-hitchhike-murders-pbbebllen-reichb-was/

Is it possible the Santa Rosa slasher is connected to numerous other vehicle related killings across California. From the late 60s to early 70s young women were killed in the California Bay Area, Valley, and Los Angeles areas. These murders all featured either a act of sabotage or an abduction after car trouble. This trend then stops. In 1972 Girls hitchhiking in California's Santa Rosa area were viciously murdered. In 1973 killings of teenage and college aged San Francisco girls took place in the span of 47 days. Could the Zodiac killings of the late 1960s and early 1970s have taught killers to not leave a pattern. Changing location and technique allowed for the killer to go uncaptured. Thoughts if these could be connected ? (Links Below)
Theories on the Santa Rosa Slasher ?
Theories on the San Francisco killings ?
Theories on the Zodiac and did the Zodiac ever travel into Oregon or Nevada ?
List of murders Below:
The Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Killer
Summary: A series of at least seven murders in the North Bay, California area, the Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders occurred between 1972 and 1973. The female victims of these murders were all found nude in rural areas near steep embankments, or in creek beds along a roadside. Originally, it was thought that there were only seven victims in the case, who ranged in ages from 12 to approximately 23 years old. However, the FBI released a report in 1975 claiming that there were a series of fourteen connected homicides, which included the original seven Santa Rosa Hitchhiker murders. The cause of death for victims was typically asphyxiation due to being strangled with a cord of some nature. Many possible murder suspects were proposed, ranging from The Zodiac Killer to Ted Bundy, but no one was ever prosecuted, and the case has gone cold in Sonoma County.
Zodiac Killer:
Summary: https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/zodiac-killer
Theories are vast. Highly unlikely but seems to fit a pattern of changing serial killer techniques. These change as others begin. None were captured. Did the Zodiac ever travel to Oregon ?
The San Francisco Murders of ‘73
Summary: The body of Rosa Vasquez (20) was discovered close to the Arguello boulevard entrance of the Golden Gate Park on May 29th 1973. She had been strangled and thrown from the nearby road. Twelve days later, a pregnant Yvonne Quilantang (15), from Delta Street was found strangled in a Bayview district vacant lot on June 12th 1973. She had been out to buy groceries. Nancy Patricia Gidley (24) was last seen alive on Thursday July 12th 1973 leaving the Rode-way Inn at 895 Geary Street, San Francisco. Her body was found on Sunday 15th July 1973, nude and strangled in the grounds of George Washington High School in the Richmond area, although it was believed she was murdered elsewhere. Finally, Angela Thomas (16), a resident of Belton, Texas, had traveled to San Francisco for a brief stay. After a day out in Hayward she visited friends in the Presidio district- but neither of her friends were at home and she was last seen walking away at 9.00 pm on Sunday July 1st 1973. She was found naked and smothered the following day in the grounds of Benjamin Franklin Junior High School.
Almost three years earlier Donna Ann Lass disappeared from the Sahara Tahoe Hotel on September 6th 1970 after finishing her shift as a nurse. A few months earlier in June she had moved to South Lake Tahoe, from San Francisco, where she had previously been employed as a nurse at the Letterman General Hospital in the Presidio, near the Paul Stine murder scene. Curiously Rosa Vasquez was also employed at the Letterman General Hospital as a keypunch operator. There is no evidence to suggest that any of these four victims were Zodiac crimes, although there is reason enough, to consider these four murders may have been committed by a single perpetrator, due to numerous similarities, within such a short time frame.
Some researchers believe that Lawrence Kane and the Zodiac Killer may be one and the same, trailing Donna Lass from San Francisco to South Lake Tahoe, having lived at 217 Eddy Street, close to Mason and Geary Streets in San Francisco at the time of the Paul Stine murder. Latterly, working near Donna Lass at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel, according to former law enforcement officer Harvey Hines. Is it possible he returned in 1973?. Two possible murders- that of Donna Lass and Rosa Vasquez from the same hospital, inside of three years seems unusual, albeit probably coincidental. Whoever the Zodiac Killer is, may never be known- but did he continue his reign of terror beyond the murder of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969?
Bonus Nevada, Oregon, and Montana story
Cheri Jo Bates
Vehicle: Sabotaged (Ignition Coil Disabled)
The murder of Cheri Jo Bates is an unsolved murder that occurred in Riverside, California on October 30, 1966. Bates, an 18-year-old college freshman, was stabbed and slashed to death on the grounds of Riverside City College.
In November, 1967, Multiple Van Nuys area women were approached by a man following them and flashing their lights. similar to the
In the Fall of 1968, on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, two young women were walking when a man pulled alongside them and asked if they needed a ride. Cheri Jo Bates similar SABOTAGE Survived
David Arthur Faraday, 17, and Betty Lou Jensen, 16: shot and killed on December 20, 1968, on Lake Herman Road, within the city limits of Benicia. (Zodiac Killing)
Rose Tashman
Vehicle: Tire went flat
On May 18th 1969, Rose Tashman (aged 19) was driving from a friend’s home in Van Nuys to her home in Hollywood when she had gotten a flat tire near the Highway Avenue off ramp within the greater Los Angeles, California area.
Michael Renault Mageau, 19, and Darlene Elizabeth Ferrin, 22: shot on July 4, 1969, in the parking lot of Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo. While Mageau survived the attack, Ferrin was pronounced dead on arrival at Kaiser Foundation Hospital. (Zodiac Killing)
Bryan Calvin Hartnell, 20, and Cecelia Ann Shepard, 22: stabbed on September 27, 1969, at Lake Berryessa in Napa County. Hartnell survived eight stab wounds to the back, but Shepard died as a result of her injuries on September 29, 1969. (Zodiac Killing)
Paul Lee Stine, 29: shot and killed on October 11, 1969, in the Presidio Heights neighborhood in San Francisco. (Zodiac Killing)
Cindy Lee Mellin
Vehicle: Tire was flat in parking lot. Not flat when parked
Cindy was abducted on *January 20, 1970.*After work that evening. Cindy walked to her car in the parking lot, apparently to find she had a flat tire. Cindy’s father admitted that his daughter would not have been able to tend to a flat tire, so a theory that an unidentified man approached Cindy under the guise of helping her makes sense. Ventura, California
Joy Hungerford
Vehicle: Headlights Went Out
January, 1970 Redwood City
Kathleen Johns
Vehicle: Signalled with lights to pull over, then sabotaged.
On March 20, 1970, a man driving behind her started flashing his headlights. Johns pulled over for the man. He walked up to her car and said that her rear wheel was loose and wobbling and that he’d tighten it for her. Modesto, California area. (Survived)
Donna Lass (Nevada)
Vehicle: Found Untouched
A Stateline casino nurse, Donna Lass, 25, disappeared after work on September 6, 1970. Her car was found parked at her apartment with no signs of a struggle. She may have been a victim of the infamous Zodiac Killer, a serial killer who claimed 37 murder victims (seven of whom who were confirmed by investigators) during the 1960s and 1970s.
Vicki Miner
Abduction method: Unclear
On November 14, 1970 Vicki Miner’s badly decomposed body was found in a vacant field near Malvern Avenue and Dale Street. Police determined that she had been bludgeoned to death. A student at Buena Park High School, Miner was last seen alive as she left for school at about 9:30 on the morning of Oct. 30. Her parents reported her missing later that day when she didn’t show up at school.
Robin Graham
Vehicle: Ran out of Gas
On November 15, 1970 Robin Ann Graham, an 18 year old college student, ran out of gas on a Los Angeles area freeway near the Santa Monica off ramp.
Maureen Louise Sterling and Yvonne Lisa Weber
Abduction method: Hitchhiking
On February 4, 1972 both 12-year-old Herbert Slater Middle School students disappeared around 9 pm. after visiting the Redwood Empire Ice Arena. They were last seen hitchhiking on Guerneville Road, northwest of Santa Rosa.
Kim Wendy Allen
Abduction method: Hitchhiking
On March 4, 1972 Kim Wendy Allen, 19, was given a ride by two men on March 4, 1972 from her job at Larkspur Natural Foods to San Rafael. They last saw her at approximately 5:20 pm hitchhiking to school near the Bell Avenue entrance to Highway 101, northbound, carrying a large wooden soy barrel with red Chinese characters on it. Her body was found the following day down an embankment in a creek bed 20 feet off Enterprise Road in Santa Rosa.
Ernestine Terello
Vehicle: Tire was punctured
On April 20, 1972, a woman named Ernestine Terello pulled over for a flat tire near the Ventura freeway in Agoura.
Lori Lee Kursa,
Abduction method: Hitch-hiking
On November 11, 1972 after disappearing while they shopped at a U-Save and was last seen on November 20 or 21 in Santa Rosa while visiting friends, having deliberately run away She was a frequent hitchhiker and habitual runaway. The 13 year old girls' frozen remains were located on December 14, 1972, in a ravine approximately 50 feet off Calistoga Road, northeast of Rincon Valley in Santa Rosa.
Rosa Vasquez
Abduction Method: Unclear
On May 29th 1973, the body of Rosa Vasquez, 20, was found strangled near the Arguello Boulevard entrance at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. The victim had been thrown seven feet off the roadway into some shrubs.
Yvonne Quilantang
Abduction Method: Unclear
Quilantang aged 15, from Delta Street was found strangled in a Bayview district vacant lot on June 12th 1973. She had been out to buy groceries.
Angela Thomas
Abduction Method: Unclear
Angela, 16, was found July 2, 1973, smothered on the playground of Benjamin Franklin Junior High School in Daly City. She had last been seen the previous evening at the Presidio of San Francisco.
Nancy Patricia Gidley
Abduction Method: Unclear
Nancy was a 24-year-old radiographer. She was found strangled behind the George Washington High School gymnasium on 15 July 1973. She was last seen at a Rodeway Inn motel on July 12, 1973.
Carolyn Nadine Davis
Abduction method: Hitchhiking
Carolyn, 14, ran away from her home outside Anderson in Shasta County on 6 February 1973, but disappeared 15 July 1973 after being dropped off by her grandmother at the Garberville Post Office. She was last seen hitchhiking that afternoon near the Highway 101 ramp in Garberville.
Her body was discovered on 31 July 1973 about three feet from where the remains of Sterling and Weber had been recovered seven months earlier. Carolyn died of strychnine poisoning 10–14 days before her body was discovered. It could not be determined if she had been raped.
Nancy Feusi
Abduction Method: Unclear
Nancy, 22, disappeared after going dancing at a club in the Sacramento area on July 22, 1973. A fisherman discovered the body in a remote area off Pleasant Grove Road. The woman was clad only in a miniskirt and bikini-type briefs. A blouse was found nearby.
Laura A. O'Dell
Abduction method: Unclear
Laura, 21, was found in bushes behind the boathouse at Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. She was last seen on 4 November 1973, three days before her body was discovered.
Theresa Walsh
Abduction method: Hitch-hiking
On December 22, 1973 Theresa Diane Smith Walsh, 23, was last seen on December 22, 1973, at Zuma Beach in Malibu, intent on hitchhiking to Garberville and joining her family for Christmas. Her partially submerged body was found six days later by kayakers in Mark West Creek. She had been hogtied with clothesline rope, sexually assaulted, strangled and had been dead approximately one week when her body was discovered.
Brenda Kaye Merchant
Abduction method: Unclear
Brenda, 19, was found stabbed to death at her home February 1, 1974, in Marysville. The killer left a bloody fingerprint on the screen door when he fled.
Donna M. Braun
Abduction method: Unclear
On September 29, 1974, the strangled body of, 14, was found in the Salinas River near Monterey.
Mona Jean Gallegos
Vehicle: Ran out of gas
On June 19,1975, Mona Jean Gallegos, a 19 year old Covina girl, was returning home from a friend’s house in Alhambra at about 1am when she ran out of gas near Santa Anita Avenue on the San Bernardino Freeway.
Eileen Hynson
Abduction method: Unclear
Eileen Francis Hynson’s disappearance on June 1, 1976, from Napa, California. Hynson left the residence she shared with her father and brother to attend a wedding in Solano County. She never arrived and her suitcase was left at home.
Unidentified Remains
On July 2, 1979, the skeletal remains of a young white female were found in a ravine off Calistoga Road approximately 100 yards from where the body of Lori Lee Kursa had been recovered seven years earlier. One expert consulted by authorities determined that the victim was likely killed between 1972 and 1974 and was about 19 years old. The victim had been hogtied and her arm fractured around the time of her murder.
Larry Peyton and Beverly Allan (Oregon)
On the evening of November 26, 1960, Larry Ralph Peyton and his girlfriend, Beverly Ann Allan disappeared after having made plans to shop at the Lloyd Center in Portland, Oregon, United States. The following day, November 27, Peyton's Ford coupe was found in Forest Park, with his mutilated body inside. Allan was missing from the scene, though her purse and coat were still inside the car. A widespread manhunt ensued over the following two months. In January 1961, a highway crew 30 miles outside Portland discovered Allan's partially-nude body in a ravine, and it was determined she had been raped and strangled to death.
Lloyd Duane Bogle and Patti Kalitzke (Montana)
On Jan. 3, 1956, three young boys walking west of Great Falls, in an area now known as Wadsworth Park, discovered the body of 18-year-old airman Lloyd Duane Bogle lying next to a car. Bogle's hands were tied behind his back using his own belt, and he'd been shot through the head. The car's ignition switch was still engaged, and its headlights were still on. The body of Bogle's 16-year-old girlfriend, Patti Kalitzke, was found the next day northwest of the city. Like Bogle, Kalitzke was shot through the head. She showed no signs of sexual assault.
More Information:
http://www.santarosahitchhikermurders.com/suspects.php
https://www.sfweekly.com/news/yesterdays-crimes-the-santa-rosa-hitchhiker-murders/
https://zodiackillersite.com/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=86http://truecrimeguy.com/californias-good-samaritan-ruse/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders_of_Larry_Peyton_and_Beverly_Allan
https://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-news/the-san-francisco-1973-murders
Boston Hitchhiker Killers: (unrelated but interesting to read)
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1973/2/14/the-hitchhike-murders-pbbebllen-reichb-was/

Zodiac meticulously hand drew his ciphers, but his handwritten letters were sometimes sloppy and often contained spelling errors. Theories about the misspelled words vary. But I think they do have a purpose.
I was looking at the dragon card message when I realized the obvious. Zodiac was meticulous with his correspondence. Nothing was included that wasn't meant to be there. Because he put in so much effort, he wouldn't have allowed for any mistakes. If you read the message you will notice that he misspells a word, only to spell it correctly a couple lines down. So he knows how to spell correctly. There are no mistakes in any of those letters. The misspellings are meant to be there because they serve a purpose.
1) The first mistake is the last word of Line 6 - "butons". Now, if you write the correct spelling "Buttons" above "butons" and cross out the matching letters in each word, you are left with a "T".
2) The next mistake you will come to isn't a misspelled word, but contains one. The Zodiac is talking about all of the buttons he sees people around San Fran wearing. One of his examples is "Melvin eats bluber". The Melvin Belli reference aside, this was a mistake. There never were any Melvin eats blubber buttons. The buttons actually said "Melville eats blubber". So, write that above his mistake and cross out the letters that occur in both words. You will get N, L, L, E, B.
3) Next is the word "considerbly" which will give you an A.
4) Then another "Buton" which will give you a T.
5) Lastly for this message, another "Melvin's", which will give you N, L, L, E.
So all together you have ( T N LLE B A T N LLE )
You can make that into several things. I first saw the last name of one of the prime Zodiac suspects, Arthur Lee Allen. Remember, Arthur Lee Allen lived with his mother, whose name was Bernice Allen. B Allen?
TELL
B ALLEN NT
BALLET or BATTLE?
It may just be nonsense. But there are obvious clues in the letters besides the ciphers. For Instance, the 13 cipher with the map of Mt. Diablo. The 13 cipher uses letters and symbols from the face of a 1968 Zodiac Watch Company Sea Wolf watch. Now, Zodiac drew the watch company's symbol (his symbol) of the circle and cross over Mt. Diablo. He then wrote 0, 3, 6, 9 and "Set to Mag. N." next to the 0. (FYI, a model of the Sea Wolf had a compass N,E,S,W dial around the face). So, the 3,6,9 are all in the correct place where they would appear on the watch face. BUT THE 0! The 0 is where the 12 o'clock should be. I think there may have been a 0 on the ring around the watch face as well, but can't remember. Now, in the same letter Zodiac drew his circle and cross with "-12". He was saying there wasn't a 12, there was a 0. Because Zodiac -12 SFPD - 0. Was this his location in relation to the SFPD and not his body count?
Also, the South Lake Tahoe letter and victim Lass. She worked at a casino there. In the 13 Cipher, you can clearly see that the first word plainly says
C A S I N × O. The message on the postcard in question said "Peek through the pines". Could he have meant, "Peak through the pines", as in mountain peak? Zodiac had said that the cipher related to radians and inches on a map. The first and last letters of this cipher are C and G. In geometry, C represents radians, G represents gradians. I am not extremely proficient in math, but I can't see where it actually does represent what he says it does. I think he was lying..Go figure.
A while back I took a different approach to the 340 or 408 Cipher, can't remember which one I used at the time, and I lost everything because that computer crashed. I have an anger issue with computers. I punch them too much, which greatly affects their performance. But all of the symbols used are actually astrological symbols that, in turn, represent specific numbers. They are symbols that are used to make a person's astrological chart, like for the moment they were born. It gets difficult tracking down the meaning of each symbol when you know nothing about astrology. But, I went one symbol at a time and replaced them with their numeric value and it actually read real coordinates of longitude and latitude. The first coordinate was a place in Northern California, near the Nevada Border, by the Scott Warner Wilderness Area. I only finished the first two lines, so I don't know if it would have lead to something of actual importance. But I think it would have been just another dead end or another puzzle.
All of the tangents, leads, and circumstantial evidence can lead you in so many different directions. I know a lot of people were very excited when they discovered the 1952 Tim Holt Red Mask comic book. The issue that featured Lady Doom and the Wheel of Death. The wheel listed ways to die, like "Death by Knife", "Death by Gun", "Death by Rope". So the Zodiac's message scratched into the car door at Lake Berryessa appears to be directly linked to the comic. People began looking at Tim Holt. But even more curious was the illustrator of the comic book, Frank Bolle. He signed his initials in the artwork "FWB" in a way that is extremely similar to one of the symbols designs Zodiac used later on (not in a cipher). Frank Bolle wrote a comic strip in 1971 called Alexander Gates. The character was an astrologist. Frank Bolle is deceased now, but the coincidences were strange.
Despite all of this, I can't get by the idea that Zodiac wasn't just one or two people, but the result of several events. The first couple killed were David Farraday and Betty Lou Jensen. I do not believe Cherri Jo Bates was a Zodiac victim, but was later claimed for understandable reasons that I will discuss. I read an interview with Betty Lou's family after the murder, and I was left with the feeling that there wasn't really any grieving. The father, Verne Jensen, struck me as odd. Verne Jensen was a career Army officer, and was working at the GSA in that area. One thing that I noticed was that Betty Lou had siblings, or at least one sibling, an older sister. After she is pictured in that interview, you don't hear of her again.
From my understanding, the relationship between Verne and his youngest daughter Betty Lou, was somewhat rocky. Betty Lou was sort of the black sheep. She wanted to date boys when she was too young, and had been in trouble with her parents before that. On the night of the murders, she was supposed to be at a school function, and I believe her parents had forbid her from going on a date. So, perhaps Verne suspected something, or saw her pull away from the diner in a boys car. But he followed them out to a remote lover's lane spot. He had been upset about how her activities made the family look. It would not have been good if she was whoring around with some boy. And kids go out to lover's lanes to have sex. It's that simple.
Instead of going to the school function like she was supposed to, she went to the diner with the boy to meet friends, then went to the lover's lane. Verne pulled up, and in a fit of rage, ordered them out of the car. One thing led to another and he shot David Farraday in the back of the head. Betty Lou was back from the car. Perhaps he had ordered her to go back to his car. But then, out of anger and fear, he shot Betty Lou. She was shot five times, opposed to David's one. There was some prejudice and a connection between her and the killer.
Six months later..Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau are parked in a dark, remote lover's lane. A car pulls up, leaves, and comes back about ten minutes later. The two can't see because of the lights from the car behind. That's why they think it's a cop. The killer fires multiple rounds into the car, killing Darlene. Michael survives.
Darlene Ferrin was a married woman. No matter how you try to spin this, the husband could not have been happy with her activities. So, perhaps he drove by and saw them parked. Or one of his friends did. They pulled in, verified it was them, went to get a gun and came back. Once again, Darlene was killed. Michael survived, but probably not on purpose. I think different ammunition was used in this killing, as opposed to Betty Lou and David.
After that, the killer got scared. If it was Darlene's husband, his only thought was that he would be the prime suspect. So he panicked. Three blocks from his house, across the street from the police station, he called the police and reported the murders. He also said he was responsible for the other two murders six months before, and hung up. Why would he do that? The first two murders were shocking, and everybody in that area knew about them. He didn't want the police to suspect him, the natural suspect in this type of murder. So he claimed to be the killer of the kids at both places. If the police went on the idea that one psycopath killer was responsible, and if the husband had an airtight alibi for the time when Betty Lou and David were killed, then he couldn't have been responsible for any of them.
I don't know if Verne wrote the first letter, or he did. But it solidified the idea that one person was responsible for the two seperate instances. Anybody who followed the case at the time would know this. So then we have the Lake Berryessa murders, which was well planned. Someone had followed the case and made himself a Zodiac costume to hide his identity. But this killing wasn't like the others. The killer tied up his victims and used a knife. And he did it in broad daylight.
He was using the Zodiac image of the killer that had been created in the news. To tie them into the others, he wrote the dates of the murders and played off the Tim Holt comic book.
Then came Paul Stine, which didn't match any of the others.
In that time, letters were written which the Zodiac established his identity, taunted the police, threatened more killings, and included cryptic ciphers to mislead the police. The Cherri Jo Bates murder became known as a possible Zodiac killing, and the writer gladly claimed credit. The more killings, the more locations, the more times, if all tied into one suspect, would essentially disqualify any of the killers (one, two, or three people). Because not one of them could have been in all those places at those times, and that would have provided an alibi. One thing that the writer of the letters could count on, was the fact that he could claim the previous murders and not worry about the real killer stepping forward and saying, "No he didn't. That was me." Because Verne would have just wanted to be forgotten about.
And handwriting analysis was not very good at the time. You will notice that some Zodiac letters are sloppy and some are neatly printed. They vary. I wouldn't doubt if the ciphers are all just nonsensical bullshit. The more murders you tie into one person, the more of an airtight alibi you create for yourself. Because, if one person was responsible for all of them, then an alibi for just one would disqualify you as the killer for all of them.
Lastly, you have to look at serial killers before and after. Serial killers kill for personal reasons. It something that is very private to them. They usually have one safe spot where they feel comfortable. Ed Gein had his farm and was somewhat of a recluse. The Green River Killer had a remote spot on the Green River. John Wayne Gacy had all of his bodies under his house. Richard NG had the bodies under a remote cabin. Ted Bundy broke this rule, but killed in the same manner as he travelled across country. But the bodies were mostly in one private location. It would probably have really bothered any of them to have their private locations discovered. None of them wrote lettter after letter claiming responsibility for killing. All of them killed by one method. The last thing any of them wanted was to be a suspect, or to be in the spotlight. None of them wrote letters to shame the police. They were all very private people. So, Zodiac strays away from this. It doesn't match the profile of a serial killer. It's not what a serial killer would do, because it's not why a serial killer actually kills.
I don't think we will ever know who the killer or killers actually were.
Thanks for reading,
Matt Brubach

Is it possible the Santa Rosa slasher is connected to numerous other vehicle related killings across California. From the late 60s to early 70s young women were killed in the California Bay Area, Valley, and Los Angeles areas. These murders all featured either a act of sabotage or an abduction after car trouble. This trend then stops. In 1972 Girls hitchhiking in California's Santa Rosa area were viciously murdered. In 1973 killings of teenage and college aged San Francisco girls took place in the span of 47 days. Could the Zodiac killings of the late 1960s and early 1970s have taught killers to not leave a pattern. Changing location and technique allowed for the killer to go uncaptured. Thoughts if these could be connected ? (Links Below)
*reuploaded with new information
Theories on the Santa Rosa Slasher ?
Theories on the San Francisco killings ?
Theories on the Zodiac and did the Zodiac ever travel into Oregon or Nevada ?
List of murders Below:
The Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Killer
Summary: A series of at least seven murders in the North Bay, California area, the Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders occurred between 1972 and 1973. The female victims of these murders were all found nude in rural areas near steep embankments, or in creek beds along a roadside. Originally, it was thought that there were only seven victims in the case, who ranged in ages from 12 to approximately 23 years old. However, the FBI released a report in 1975 claiming that there were a series of fourteen connected homicides, which included the original seven Santa Rosa Hitchhiker murders. The cause of death for victims was typically asphyxiation due to being strangled with a cord of some nature. Many possible murder suspects were proposed, ranging from The Zodiac Killer to Ted Bundy, but no one was ever prosecuted, and the case has gone cold in Sonoma County.
Zodiac Killer:
Summary: https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/zodiac-killer
Theories are vast. Highly unlikely but seems to fit a pattern of changing serial killer techniques. These change as others begin. None were captured. Did the Zodiac ever travel to Oregon ?
The San Francisco Murders of ‘73
Summary: The body of Rosa Vasquez (20) was discovered close to the Arguello boulevard entrance of the Golden Gate Park on May 29th 1973. She had been strangled and thrown from the nearby road. Twelve days later, a pregnant Yvonne Quilantang (15), from Delta Street was found strangled in a Bayview district vacant lot on June 12th 1973. She had been out to buy groceries. Nancy Patricia Gidley (24) was last seen alive on Thursday July 12th 1973 leaving the Rode-way Inn at 895 Geary Street, San Francisco. Her body was found on Sunday 15th July 1973, nude and strangled in the grounds of George Washington High School in the Richmond area, although it was believed she was murdered elsewhere. Finally, Angela Thomas (16), a resident of Belton, Texas, had traveled to San Francisco for a brief stay. After a day out in Hayward she visited friends in the Presidio district- but neither of her friends were at home and she was last seen walking away at 9.00 pm on Sunday July 1st 1973. She was found naked and smothered the following day in the grounds of Benjamin Franklin Junior High School.
Almost three years earlier Donna Ann Lass disappeared from the Sahara Tahoe Hotel on September 6th 1970 after finishing her shift as a nurse. A few months earlier in June she had moved to South Lake Tahoe, from San Francisco, where she had previously been employed as a nurse at the Letterman General Hospital in the Presidio, near the Paul Stine murder scene. Curiously Rosa Vasquez was also employed at the Letterman General Hospital as a keypunch operator. There is no evidence to suggest that any of these four victims were Zodiac crimes, although there is reason enough, to consider these four murders may have been committed by a single perpetrator, due to numerous similarities, within such a short time frame.
Some researchers believe that Lawrence Kane and the Zodiac Killer may be one and the same, trailing Donna Lass from San Francisco to South Lake Tahoe, having lived at 217 Eddy Street, close to Mason and Geary Streets in San Francisco at the time of the Paul Stine murder. Latterly, working near Donna Lass at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel, according to former law enforcement officer Harvey Hines. Is it possible he returned in 1973?. Two possible murders- that of Donna Lass and Rosa Vasquez from the same hospital, inside of three years seems unusual, albeit probably coincidental. Whoever the Zodiac Killer is, may never be known- but did he continue his reign of terror beyond the murder of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969?
Bonus Nevada, Oregon, and Montana story
Cheri Jo Bates
Vehicle: Sabotaged (Ignition Coil Disabled)
The murder of Cheri Jo Bates is an unsolved murder that occurred in Riverside, California on October 30, 1966. Bates, an 18-year-old college freshman, was stabbed and slashed to death on the grounds of Riverside City College.
In November, 1967, Multiple Van Nuys area women were approached by a man following them and flashing their lights. similar to the
In the Fall of 1968, on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, two young women were walking when a man pulled alongside them and asked if they needed a ride. Cheri Jo Bates similar SABOTAGE Survived
David Arthur Faraday, 17, and Betty Lou Jensen, 16: shot and killed on December 20, 1968, on Lake Herman Road, within the city limits of Benicia. (Zodiac Killing)
Rose Tashman
Vehicle: Tire went flat
On May 18th 1969, Rose Tashman (aged 19) was driving from a friend’s home in Van Nuys to her home in Hollywood when she had gotten a flat tire near the Highway Avenue off ramp within the greater Los Angeles, California area.
Michael Renault Mageau, 19, and Darlene Elizabeth Ferrin, 22: shot on July 4, 1969, in the parking lot of Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo. While Mageau survived the attack, Ferrin was pronounced dead on arrival at Kaiser Foundation Hospital. (Zodiac Killing)
Bryan Calvin Hartnell, 20, and Cecelia Ann Shepard, 22: stabbed on September 27, 1969, at Lake Berryessa in Napa County. Hartnell survived eight stab wounds to the back, but Shepard died as a result of her injuries on September 29, 1969. (Zodiac Killing)
Paul Lee Stine, 29: shot and killed on October 11, 1969, in the Presidio Heights neighborhood in San Francisco. (Zodiac Killing)
Cindy Lee Mellin
Vehicle: Tire was flat in parking lot. Not flat when parked
Cindy was abducted on *January 20, 1970.*After work that evening. Cindy walked to her car in the parking lot, apparently to find she had a flat tire. Cindy’s father admitted that his daughter would not have been able to tend to a flat tire, so a theory that an unidentified man approached Cindy under the guise of helping her makes sense. Ventura, California
Joy Hungerford
Vehicle: Headlights Went Out
January, 1970 Redwood City
Kathleen Johns
Vehicle: Signalled with lights to pull over, then sabotaged.
On March 20, 1970, a man driving behind her started flashing his headlights. Johns pulled over for the man. He walked up to her car and said that her rear wheel was loose and wobbling and that he’d tighten it for her. Modesto, California area. (Survived)
Donna Lass (Nevada)
Vehicle: Found Untouched
A Stateline casino nurse, Donna Lass, 25, disappeared after work on September 6, 1970. Her car was found parked at her apartment with no signs of a struggle. She may have been a victim of the infamous Zodiac Killer, a serial killer who claimed 37 murder victims (seven of whom who were confirmed by investigators) during the 1960s and 1970s.
Vicki Miner
Abduction method: Unclear
On November 14, 1970 Vicki Miner’s badly decomposed body was found in a vacant field near Malvern Avenue and Dale Street. Police determined that she had been bludgeoned to death. A student at Buena Park High School, Miner was last seen alive as she left for school at about 9:30 on the morning of Oct. 30. Her parents reported her missing later that day when she didn’t show up at school.
Robin Graham
Vehicle: Ran out of Gas
On November 15, 1970 Robin Ann Graham, an 18 year old college student, ran out of gas on a Los Angeles area freeway near the Santa Monica off ramp.
Maureen Louise Sterling and Yvonne Lisa Weber
Abduction method: Hitchhiking
On February 4, 1972 both 12-year-old Herbert Slater Middle School students disappeared around 9 pm. after visiting the Redwood Empire Ice Arena. They were last seen hitchhiking on Guerneville Road, northwest of Santa Rosa.
Kim Wendy Allen
Abduction method: Hitchhiking
On March 4, 1972 Kim Wendy Allen, 19, was given a ride by two men on March 4, 1972 from her job at Larkspur Natural Foods to San Rafael. They last saw her at approximately 5:20 pm hitchhiking to school near the Bell Avenue entrance to Highway 101, northbound, carrying a large wooden soy barrel with red Chinese characters on it. Her body was found the following day down an embankment in a creek bed 20 feet off Enterprise Road in Santa Rosa.
Ernestine Terello
Vehicle: Tire was punctured
On April 20, 1972, a woman named Ernestine Terello pulled over for a flat tire near the Ventura freeway in Agoura.
Lori Lee Kursa,
Abduction method: Hitch-hiking
On November 11, 1972 after disappearing while they shopped at a U-Save and was last seen on November 20 or 21 in Santa Rosa while visiting friends, having deliberately run away She was a frequent hitchhiker and habitual runaway. The 13 year old girls' frozen remains were located on December 14, 1972, in a ravine approximately 50 feet off Calistoga Road, northeast of Rincon Valley in Santa Rosa.
Rosa Vasquez
Abduction Method: Unclear
On May 29th 1973, the body of Rosa Vasquez, 20, was found strangled near the Arguello Boulevard entrance at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. The victim had been thrown seven feet off the roadway into some shrubs.
Yvonne Quilantang
Abduction Method: Unclear
Quilantang aged 15, from Delta Street was found strangled in a Bayview district vacant lot on June 12th 1973. She had been out to buy groceries.
Angela Thomas
Abduction Method: Unclear
Angela, 16, was found July 2, 1973, smothered on the playground of Benjamin Franklin Junior High School in Daly City. She had last been seen the previous evening at the Presidio of San Francisco.
Nancy Patricia Gidley
Abduction Method: Unclear
Nancy was a 24-year-old radiographer. She was found strangled behind the George Washington High School gymnasium on 15 July 1973. She was last seen at a Rodeway Inn motel on July 12, 1973.
Carolyn Nadine Davis
Abduction method: Hitchhiking
Carolyn, 14, ran away from her home outside Anderson in Shasta County on 6 February 1973, but disappeared 15 July 1973 after being dropped off by her grandmother at the Garberville Post Office. She was last seen hitchhiking that afternoon near the Highway 101 ramp in Garberville.
Her body was discovered on 31 July 1973 about three feet from where the remains of Sterling and Weber had been recovered seven months earlier. Carolyn died of strychnine poisoning 10–14 days before her body was discovered. It could not be determined if she had been raped.
Nancy Feusi
Abduction Method: Unclear
Nancy, 22, disappeared after going dancing at a club in the Sacramento area on July 22, 1973. A fisherman discovered the body in a remote area off Pleasant Grove Road. The woman was clad only in a miniskirt and bikini-type briefs. A blouse was found nearby.
Laura A. O'Dell
Abduction method: Unclear
Laura, 21, was found in bushes behind the boathouse at Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. She was last seen on 4 November 1973, three days before her body was discovered.
Theresa Walsh
Abduction method: Hitch-hiking
On December 22, 1973 Theresa Diane Smith Walsh, 23, was last seen on December 22, 1973, at Zuma Beach in Malibu, intent on hitchhiking to Garberville and joining her family for Christmas. Her partially submerged body was found six days later by kayakers in Mark West Creek. She had been hogtied with clothesline rope, sexually assaulted, strangled and had been dead approximately one week when her body was discovered.
Brenda Kaye Merchant
Abduction method: Unclear
Brenda, 19, was found stabbed to death at her home February 1, 1974, in Marysville. The killer left a bloody fingerprint on the screen door when he fled.
Donna M. Braun
Abduction method: Unclear
On September 29, 1974, the strangled body of, 14, was found in the Salinas River near Monterey.
Mona Jean Gallegos
Vehicle: Ran out of gas
On June 19,1975, Mona Jean Gallegos, a 19 year old Covina girl, was returning home from a friend’s house in Alhambra at about 1am when she ran out of gas near Santa Anita Avenue on the San Bernardino Freeway.
Eileen Hynson
Abduction method: Unclear
Eileen Francis Hynson’s disappearance on June 1, 1976, from Napa, California. Hynson left the residence she shared with her father and brother to attend a wedding in Solano County. She never arrived and her suitcase was left at home.
Unidentified Remains
On July 2, 1979, the skeletal remains of a young white female were found in a ravine off Calistoga Road approximately 100 yards from where the body of Lori Lee Kursa had been recovered seven years earlier. One expert consulted by authorities determined that the victim was likely killed between 1972 and 1974 and was about 19 years old. The victim had been hogtied and her arm fractured around the time of her murder.
Larry Peyton and Beverly Allan (Oregon)
On the evening of November 26, 1960, Larry Ralph Peyton and his girlfriend, Beverly Ann Allan disappeared after having made plans to shop at the Lloyd Center in Portland, Oregon, United States. The following day, November 27, Peyton's Ford coupe was found in Forest Park, with his mutilated body inside. Allan was missing from the scene, though her purse and coat were still inside the car. A widespread manhunt ensued over the following two months. In January 1961, a highway crew 30 miles outside Portland discovered Allan's partially-nude body in a ravine, and it was determined she had been raped and strangled to death.
Lloyd Duane Bogle and Patti Kalitzke (Montana)
On Jan. 3, 1956, three young boys walking west of Great Falls, in an area now known as Wadsworth Park, discovered the body of 18-year-old airman Lloyd Duane Bogle lying next to a car. Bogle's hands were tied behind his back using his own belt, and he'd been shot through the head. The car's ignition switch was still engaged, and its headlights were still on. The body of Bogle's 16-year-old girlfriend, Patti Kalitzke, was found the next day northwest of the city. Like Bogle, Kalitzke was shot through the head. She showed no signs of sexual assault.
More Information:
http://www.santarosahitchhikermurders.com/suspects.php
https://www.sfweekly.com/news/yesterdays-crimes-the-santa-rosa-hitchhiker-murders/
https://zodiackillersite.com/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=86http://truecrimeguy.com/californias-good-samaritan-ruse/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders_of_Larry_Peyton_and_Beverly_Allan
https://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-news/the-san-francisco-1973-murders
Boston Hitchhiker Killers: (unrelated but interesting to read)
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1973/2/14/the-hitchhike-murders-pbbebllen-reichb-was/

Is it possible the Santa Rosa slasher is connected to numerous other vehicle related killings across California. From the late 60s to early 70s young women were killed in the California Bay Area, Valley, and Los Angeles areas. These murders all featured either a act of sabotage or an abduction after car trouble. This trend then stops. In 1972 Girls hitchhiking in California's Santa Rosa area were viciously murdered. In 1973 killings of teenage and college aged San Francisco girls took place in the span of 47 days. Could the Zodiac killings of the late 1960s and early 1970s have taught killers to not leave a pattern. Changing location and technique allowed for the killer to go uncaptured. Thoughts if these could be connected ? (Links Below)
Theories on the Santa Rosa Slasher ?
Theories on the San Francisco killings ?
Theories on the Zodiac and did the Zodiac ever travel into Oregon or Nevada ?
List of murders Below:
The Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Killer
Summary: A series of at least seven murders in the North Bay, California area, the Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders occurred between 1972 and 1973. The female victims of these murders were all found nude in rural areas near steep embankments, or in creek beds along a roadside. Originally, it was thought that there were only seven victims in the case, who ranged in ages from 12 to approximately 23 years old. However, the FBI released a report in 1975 claiming that there were a series of fourteen connected homicides, which included the original seven Santa Rosa Hitchhiker murders. The cause of death for victims was typically asphyxiation due to being strangled with a cord of some nature. Many possible murder suspects were proposed, ranging from The Zodiac Killer to Ted Bundy, but no one was ever prosecuted, and the case has gone cold in Sonoma County.
Zodiac Killer]
Summary: https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/zodiac-killer
Theories are vast. Highly unlikely but seems to fit a pattern of changing serial killer techniques. These change as others begin. None were captured. Did the Zodiac ever travel to Oregon ?
The San Francisco Murders of ‘73
Summary: The body of Rosa Vasquez (20) was discovered close to the Arguello boulevard entrance of the Golden Gate Park on May 29th 1973. She had been strangled and thrown from the nearby road. Twelve days later, a pregnant Yvonne Quilantang (15), from Delta Street was found strangled in a Bayview district vacant lot on June 12th 1973. She had been out to buy groceries. Nancy Patricia Gidley (24) was last seen alive on Thursday July 12th 1973 leaving the Rodeway Inn at 895 Geary Street, San Francisco. Her body was found on Sunday 15th July 1973, nude and strangled in the grounds of George Washington High School in the Richmond area, although it was believed she was murdered elsewhere. Finally, Angela Thomas (16), a resident of Belton, Texas, had traveled to San Francisco for a brief stay. After a day out in Hayward she visited friends in the Presidio district- but neither of her friends were at home and she was last seen walking away at 9.00 pm on Sunday July 1st 1973. She was found naked and smothered the following day in the grounds of Benjamin Franklin Junior High School.
Almost three years earlier Donna Ann Lass disappeared from the Sahara Tahoe Hotel on September 6th 1970 after finishing her shift as a nurse. A few months earlier in June she had moved to South Lake Tahoe, from San Francisco, where she had previously been employed as a nurse at the Letterman General Hospital in the Presidio, near the Paul Stine murder scene. Curiously Rosa Vasquez was also employed at the Letterman General Hospital as a keypunch operator. There is no evidence to suggest that any of these four victims were Zodiac crimes, although there is reason enough, to consider these four murders may have been committed by a single perpetrator, due to numerous similarities, within such a short time frame.
Some researchers believe that Lawrence Kane and the Zodiac Killer may be one and the same, trailing Donna Lass from San Francisco to South Lake Tahoe, having lived at 217 Eddy Street, close to Mason and Geary Streets in San Francisco at the time of the Paul Stine murder. Latterly, working near Donna Lass at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel, according to former law enforcement officer Harvey Hines. Is it possible he returned in 1973?. Two possible murders- that of Donna Lass and Rosa Vasquez from the same hospital, inside of three years seems unusual, albeit probably coincidental. Whoever the Zodiac Killer is, may never be known- but did he continue his reign of terror beyond the murder of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969?
- Bonus Oregon and Montana murders Lovers lane Murder's (at end)
Cheri Jo Bates
Vehicle: Sabotaged (Ignition Coil Disabled)
The murder of Cheri Jo Bates is an unsolved murder that occurred in Riverside, California on October 30, 1966. Bates, an 18-year-old college freshman, was stabbed and slashed to death on the grounds of Riverside City College.
In November, 1967, Multiple Van Nuys area women were approached by a man following them and flashing their lights. similar to the
In the Fall of 1968, on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, two young women were walking when a man pulled alongside them and asked if they needed a ride. Cheri Jo Bates similar SABOTAGE Survived
David Arthur Faraday, 17, and Betty Lou Jensen, 16: shot and killed on December 20, 1968, on Lake Herman Road, within the city limits of Benicia. (Zodiac Killing)
Rose Tashman
Vehicle: Tire went flat
On May 18th 1969, Rose Tashman (aged 19) was driving from a friend’s home in Van Nuys to her home in Hollywood when she had gotten a flat tire near the Highway Avenue off ramp within the greater Los Angeles, California area.
Michael Renault Mageau, 19, and Darlene Elizabeth Ferrin, 22: shot on July 4, 1969, in the parking lot of Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo. While Mageau survived the attack, Ferrin was pronounced dead on arrival at Kaiser Foundation Hospital. (Zodiac Killing)
Bryan Calvin Hartnell, 20, and Cecelia Ann Shepard, 22: stabbed on September 27, 1969, at Lake Berryessa in Napa County. Hartnell survived eight stab wounds to the back, but Shepard died as a result of her injuries on September 29, 1969. (Zodiac Killing)
Paul Lee Stine, 29: shot and killed on October 11, 1969, in the Presidio Heights neighborhood in San Francisco. (Zodiac Killing)
Cindy Lee Mellin
Vehicle: Tire was flat in parking lot. Not flat when parked
Cindy was abducted on *January 20, 1970.*After work that evening. Cindy walked to her car in the parking lot, apparently to find she had a flat tire. Cindy’s father admitted that his daughter would not have been able to tend to a flat tire, so a theory that an unidentified man approached Cindy under the guise of helping her makes sense. Ventura, California
Joy Hungerford
Vehicle: Headlights Went Out
January, 1970 Redwood City
Kathleen Johns
Vehicle: Signalled with lights to pull over, then sabotaged.
On March 20, 1970, a man driving behind her started flashing his headlights. Johns pulled over for the man. He walked up to her car and said that her rear wheel was loose and wobbling and that he’d tighten it for her. Modesto, California area. (Survived)
Donna Lass (Nevada)
Vehicle: Found Untouched
A Stateline casino nurse, Donna Lass, 25, disappeared after work on September 6, 1970. Her car was found parked at her apartment with no signs of a struggle. She may have been a victim of the infamous Zodiac Killer, a serial killer who claimed 37 murder victims (seven of whom who were confirmed by investigators) during the 1960s and 1970s.
Vicki Miner
Abduction method: Unclear
On November 14, 1970 Vicki Miner’s badly decomposed body was found in a vacant field near Malvern Avenue and Dale Street. Police determined that she had been bludgeoned to death. A student at Buena Park High School, Miner was last seen alive as she left for school at about 9:30 on the morning of Oct. 30. Her parents reported her missing later that day when she didn’t show up at school.
Robin Graham
Vehicle: Ran out of Gas
On November 15, 1970 Robin Ann Graham, an 18 year old college student, ran out of gas on a Los Angeles area freeway near the Santa Monica off ramp.
Maureen Louise Sterling and Yvonne Lisa Weber
Abduction method: Hitchhiking
On February 4, 1972 both 12-year-old Herbert Slater Middle School students disappeared around 9 pm. after visiting the Redwood Empire Ice Arena. They were last seen hitchhiking on Guerneville Road, northwest of Santa Rosa.
Kim Wendy Allen
Abduction method: Hitchhiking
On March 4, 1972 Kim Wendy Allen, 19, was given a ride by two men on March 4, 1972 from her job at Larkspur Natural Foods to San Rafael. They last saw her at approximately 5:20 pm hitchhiking to school near the Bell Avenue entrance to Highway 101, northbound, carrying a large wooden soy barrel with red Chinese characters on it. Her body was found the following day down an embankment in a creek bed 20 feet off Enterprise Road in Santa Rosa.
Ernestine Terello
Vehicle: Tire was punctured
On April 20, 1972, a woman named Ernestine Terello pulled over for a flat tire near the Ventura freeway in Agoura.
Lori Lee Kursa,
Abduction method: Hitch-hiking
On November 11, 1972 after disappearing while they shopped at a U-Save and was last seen on November 20 or 21 in Santa Rosa while visiting friends, having deliberately run away She was a frequent hitchhiker and habitual runaway. The 13 year old girls' frozen remains were located on December 14, 1972, in a ravine approximately 50 feet off Calistoga Road, northeast of Rincon Valley in Santa Rosa.
Rosa Vasquez
Abduction Method: Unclear
On May 29th 1973, the body of Rosa Vasquez, 20, was found strangled near the Arguello Boulevard entrance at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. The victim had been thrown seven feet off the roadway into some shrubs.
Yvonne Quilantang
Abduction Method: Unclear
Quilantang aged 15, from Delta Street was found strangled in a Bayview district vacant lot on June 12th 1973. She had been out to buy groceries.
Angela Thomas
Abduction Method: Unclear
Angela, 16, was found July 2, 1973, smothered on the playground of Benjamin Franklin Junior High School in Daly City. She had last been seen the previous evening at the Presidio of San Francisco.
Nancy Patricia Gidley
Abduction Method: Unclear
Nancy was a 24-year-old radiographer. She was found strangled behind the George Washington High School gymnasium on 15 July 1973. She was last seen at a Rodeway Inn motel on July 12, 1973.
Carolyn Nadine Davis
Abduction method: Hitchhiking
Carolyn, 14, ran away from her home outside Anderson in Shasta County on 6 February 1973, but disappeared 15 July 1973 after being dropped off by her grandmother at the Garberville Post Office. She was last seen hitchhiking that afternoon near the Highway 101 ramp in Garberville.
Her body was discovered on 31 July 1973 about three feet from where the remains of Sterling and Weber had been recovered seven months earlier. Carolyn died of strychnine poisoning 10–14 days before her body was discovered. It could not be determined if she had been raped.
Nancy Feusi
Abduction Method: Unclear
Nancy, 22, disappeared after going dancing at a club in the Sacramento area on July 22, 1973. A fisherman discovered the body in a remote area off Pleasant Grove Road. The woman was clad only in a miniskirt and bikini-type briefs. A blouse was found nearby.
Laura A. O'Dell
Abduction method: Unclear
Laura, 21, was found in bushes behind the boathouse at Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. She was last seen on 4 November 1973, three days before her body was discovered.
Theresa Walsh
Abduction method: Hitch-hiking
On December 22, 1973 Theresa Diane Smith Walsh, 23, was last seen on December 22, 1973, at Zuma Beach in Malibu, intent on hitchhiking to Garberville and joining her family for Christmas. Her partially submerged body was found six days later by kayakers in Mark West Creek. She had been hogtied with clothesline rope, sexually assaulted, strangled and had been dead approximately one week when her body was discovered.
Brenda Kaye Merchant
Abduction method: Unclear
Brenda, 19, was found stabbed to death at her home February 1, 1974, in Marysville. The killer left a bloody fingerprint on the screen door when he fled.
Donna M. Braun
Abduction method: Unclear
On September 29, 1974, the strangled body of, 14, was found in the Salinas River near Monterey.
Mona Jean Gallegos
Vehicle: Ran out of gas
On June 19,1975, Mona Jean Gallegos, a 19 year old Covina girl, was returning home from a friend’s house in Alhambra at about 1am when she ran out of gas near Santa Anita Avenue on the San Bernardino Freeway.
Eileen Hynson
Abduction method: Unclear
Eileen Francis Hynson’s disappearance on June 1, 1976, from Napa, California. Hynson left the residence she shared with her father and brother to attend a wedding in Solano County. She never arrived and her suitcase was left at home.
Unidentified Remains
On July 2, 1979, the skeletal remains of a young white female were found in a ravine off Calistoga Road approximately 100 yards from where the body of Lori Lee Kursa had been recovered seven years earlier. One expert consulted by authorities determined that the victim was likely killed between 1972 and 1974 and was about 19 years old.The victim had been hogtied and her arm fractured around the time of her murder.
Larry Peyton and Beverly Allan (Oregon)
On the evening of November 26, 1960, Larry Ralph Peyton and his girlfriend, Beverly Ann Allan disappeared after having made plans to shop at the Lloyd Center in Portland, Oregon, United States. The following day, November 27, Peyton's Ford coupe was found in Forest Park, with his mutilated body inside. Allan was missing from the scene, though her purse and coat were still inside the car. A widespread manhunt ensued over the following two months. In January 1961, a highway crew 30 miles outside Portland discovered Allan's partially-nude body in a ravine, and it was determined she had been raped and strangled to death.
Lloyd Duane Bogle and Patti Kalitzke (Montana)
On Jan. 3, 1956, three young boys walking west of Great Falls, in an area now known as Wadsworth Park, discovered the body of 18-year-old airman Lloyd Duane Bogle lying next to a car. Bogle's hands were tied behind his back using his own belt, and he'd been shot through the head. The car's ignition switch was still engaged, and its headlights were still on. The body of Bogle's 16-year-old girlfriend, Patti Kalitzke, was found the next day northwest of the city. Like Bogle, Kalitzke was shot through the head. She showed no signs of sexual assault.
More Information:
http://www.santarosahitchhikermurders.com/suspects.php
https://www.sfweekly.com/news/yesterdays-crimes-the-santa-rosa-hitchhiker-murders/
https://zodiackillersite.com/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=86http://truecrimeguy.com/californias-good-samaritan-ruse/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders_of_Larry_Peyton_and_Beverly_Allan
https://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-news/the-san-francisco-1973-murders
Boston Hitchhiker Killers: (unrelated but interesting to read)
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1973/2/14/the-hitchhike-murders-pbbebllen-reichb-was/

Florida to San Jose in a 1964 Corvette. My buddy spent every penny he had buying it with nothing left over for a tune-up or fresh tires before we took off. (Mistake #1) He picked me up @ Hartsfield in Atlanta at 2 a.m, (long before cellphones....coordinating my late arrival was difficult) we ate at a Waffle House at 3 a.m. and off we went. It was to be all blue highways, back roads, 2-lanes, no interstates or national chain restaurants from that point forward.
A copy of “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” was to be our Bible.
We saw innumerable "See Rock City" signs and drove through the apparent fireworks capital of the free world @ the Georgia/TN border.
The damn Vette kept breaking down, first a clutch in Nashville, later a U-joint near Clarksville. Carb troubles in Nevada. I remember we saw “Weird Science” at the Clarksville theater, long before theaters were all 24-plexes. Afterwards at a bar we told a pair of local ladies we were “Location Agents” in town scouting sites for a film that was going to be shot there. Remember, this was pre-HIV... We were looking for a LAKE that the SUN came up over in the East.......\snicker, snicker**
What surprised us most were the full size satellite TV dishes behind every farmhouse across America. From nothing to 250+ channels with nothing but a check and a bootleg converter. Rural America had gotten wired. Well, dished. News, or what passed for it, was now broadcast 24 hours a day. (Mistake #2?)
Mosquitoes ate us alive at some state park in Arkansas where we’d foolishly chosen to camp rather than get a cheap motel room. We had a cassette walkman to pass the time before sleep came. The waitress at the one cafe in some lonely small town in Kansas assured us “Charlie,” the Frito Lay guy, came by EVERY DAY to refill the rack. We've joked about "Charlie" ever since.
We trailed a shiny stainless Kraft tanker truck across the loneliest highway in America, drafting for better fuel mileage, until he locked up the brakes and turned down a deserted dirt road. Trust me. There were no cows, and no dairies down that road. Must have been Area 51, or something else, cause a “milk truck” had no business being there. Fortunately we just missed creaming his rear bumper.
By this point we were getting around 7 mpg's belching black smoke , until a “19 year Chevy dealership mechanic” in a tiny town in the middle of east nowhere, Nevada, told us “No problem, one bowl on your Holley double pumper has sagged, I’ll file it flat and double gasket it and we were on our way again having barely finished lunch, back into, barely, double digit gas mileage. It was AS IF he had been placed there, just for us.
We camped among the stars in a mountaintop State Park near Eloy, Nevada, decided THIS was the place to hang out after nuclear war. You could see cars approaching from 50 miles away. Big cave, glacier full of icemelt pure water, deer everywhere. Survival city. The gubbmit was inexplicably stringing wire and fiber-optic cables into the cave. Maybe they had the same idea. A tiny casino with two slot machines and some serious alcoholics was Eloy's entertainment offering.
It seemed at every breakdown we ran into JUST the right person to fix the ‘64 for us, although the 10 pound metal glove box door continued slamming into my knees all the way to San Jose. @#$@!!!!
Everywhere we went there was someone wanting to talk to us about the burnt orange, white-striped Vette. Either a parent had owned one, a neighbor or their friend had owned one, or a good friend / cousin had died crashing one. We heard, or shall I say endured, endless Vette stories. (As I do again today, it’s the price of admission).
A fourth and final flat occurred near Lake Tahoe. I was ready to pull my hair out at Dave's frugality. Stopping at endless gas stations looking for ANY used tire that would fit. We were running for home at that point, late on our schedule. I think we did the final 200 miles without a spare.
A fly fishing trip on the South Fork of the North something river outside Denver had been the hi-light of the trip, along with an impromptu color TV repair at the cabin. My buddy pulled a trout out on his first cast, having never fished before. "To catch a fish one must THINK like a fish" he had pontificated,..... and then proceeded to JUST DO IT. Rest of us were amazed. I got skunked by a noob!
A cold solder joint in an old TV was repaired with a nail, held in Vice-Grips, heated red hot over a stove burner. Instantly the football field was green once again. My companion impressed the shit out of me with that piece of wizardry.
Forty years ago and I remember it like it was yesterday. We ultimately had to do about 17 miles on an Interstate somewhere in Utah. No way around. There are no road trips to be had, no stories to be gained, blasting 80mph on a superslab and eating in chain restaurants. Never have been, never will be. 2-lanes, diners, cafe's, that's where you see and talk to America.
We learned to take the road less traveled and to take ALL the time needed with everyone who had a story to tell us. We didn't take nearly enough (film) pictures. Mistake #3.

I searched Reddit and was surprised not to see a writeup of this case, particularly when it has been mentioned with serial killers including Leonard Lake and Zodiac (although, IMO, both seem unlikely suspects). Much of the accessible coverage (e.g., from the El Dorado DA) lacks details about the circumstances of their disappearance. I apologize in advance that this isn’t the smoothest writeup, but I’m trying to weave together details from a couple of different sources into a cohesive and accurate account.
The Disappearance
Julie Schossow, 25, and Marilyn Putt, 27, were close friends. They had both worked as blackjack dealers at the Harrah's Casino in South Lake Tahoe, on the border of Nevada and California, since May 1980. Marilyn had a 5-year-old son, Jason, and they had lived in a rented house at 725 Los Angeles Avenue since October 1981. The Putts shared the house with a roommate, Colleen Gore, who often helped take care of Jason. Schossow was in between apartments and temporarily living in the home as well. Neighbors recalled there were often many cars at the house, although there weren’t wild or noisy parties there. Jason was often seen playing in the snow with other neighborhood children.
On January 12, 1982, Schossow and Putt had both worked at Harrah’s and then returned home after their shift. What is known about the intervening hours seems to come largely from their roommate, Colleen Gore. Schossow and Putt told Gore they were going “to party,” and at approximately 1 AM, a car horn sounded outside of the house and the women left.
Both victims were seen drinking together at the Rendezvous Bar inside Harrah’s and leaving a bar with some men that evening, however I do not know if this happened before they returned home or after they went out again to party. Colleen told police that sometime during the night, Schossow came back to pick up her car. Putt called 11 hours later (unclear if this is at noon on January 13, or 11 hours after Schossow returned for the car) and said they had “met a couple of rich guys” and were headed to Sacramento or San Francisco. Putt asked Gore to babysit her son.
Gore did not report the women missing for four days. This would have been approximately January 17.
On February 2, police found Schossow’s brown Honda in the Harrah’s parking lot, covered in snow and with flat tires. Police said this indicated the car had been there since the day the women went missing, January 13. (What is mystifying is why the police knew the women were missing since January 17, knew Schossow’s car was missing, and knew both women worked at Harrah’s—yet apparently didn’t check that parking lot until February 2.)
Note this interesting passage in an article from February 18, 1982, in the Reno Gazette-Journal: “The neighbors and some of the women’s co-workers from Harrah’s are reluctant to talk about Putt and Schossow. One Los Angeles Avenue woman said she was worried about retribution from the ‘two men the girls were with that night,’ and the Harrah’s workers have been ordered by casino officials not to talk about the missing dealers.”
Discovery of the Bodies
On June 6, 1982, almost six months later, the body of Marilyn Putt was discovered in the South Fork of the American River, one mile west of an area known as Chili Bar off of Highway 193. Her body was nude and had been weighted down with chains and binding material and the cause of death appears to be ligature strangulation, with the time of death being estimated at 6-8 weeks prior to her body being found.
One month later, on July 9, 1982, the body of Julie Schossow was discovered also in the South Fork of the American River, approximately 150 yards from where Marilyn Putt's body had been discovered. She had a cord tightly wrapped around her neck two times and the coroner could not rule out the fact that she may have been bound together with Marilyn Putt. The cause of death appears to be ligature strangulation, with the time of death being estimated at 6-8 weeks prior to her body being found.
Given the discrepancy between the time the women went missing and the estimated time of death, it is believed that the women were held captive for approximately three months, believed to be somewhere in between South Lake Tahoe and Placerville.
Other events or potential leads
*Notably, another woman, Debney Lynn Lobanoff, 28, went missing not long before these women in December 1981. Her nude body was found floating in the Slab Creek Reservoir on July 3, 1982, in between the discoveries of Putt’s and Schossow’s bodies and approximately 7.5 miles upstream. According to her husband, Debney left with two “biker-type” men. This case also remains unsolved.
*In 2016, the El Dorado District Attorney’s Office launched a campaign to revive this cold case and made a specific request: “If there’s anyone out there that’s directly involved with or associated with the Church of Scientology in South Lake Tahoe, you may or may not know you have information that could be helpful, so please contact us.” The DA’s website further notes, “Although not a member herself, Marilyn Putt was closely associated with several leading members of the Church of Scientology.”
*In February this year, the El Dorado DA’s office announced they had used genetic genealogy databases to identify Joseph Holt, a local real estate worker, as the man who kidnapped and killed a woman, Brynn Rainey, in 1977 and a teenaged girl, Carol Andersen, in 1979. Rainey was last seen at a bar just before her 2 AM shift at a South Lake Tahoe Casino; her body was found in a shallow grave and her cause of death was believed to be strangulation or suffocation. Andersen disappeared on her way home from a party near a South Lake Tahoe ski resort. Her body was found dumped by the side of the road a few miles away; she had been bound and strangled. Unfortunately, justice evaded Holt as he died in 2014.
Questions
--How is it that the women weren’t reported missing for so many days? January 13, 1982, was a Wednesday—it seems, especially during ski season, that it’s unlikely that both of them would have had multiple consecutive days off of work and over a weekend, but it appears that no one (Harrah’s or the roommate) reported the women missing until Saturday or Sunday.
--The quotation from the anonymous neighbor is also odd—why would they be worried about retribution? Were these two men known to locals, but perhaps not to the women? Although they had both been there for some time, they were both transplants.
--Were they held captive for months, or is there another explanation for the discrepancy in between their date of disappearance and apparent times of death?
--Why is the DA currently inquiring about the Church of Scientology?
--Holt’s MO doesn’t sound dissimilar from the circumstances of Putt and Schossow’s case except that evidence is pointing towards two men. Could Holt have had or later taken on a partner? It’s interesting to note that he worked in real estate given it appears the women were held captive.
What do you think happened to Julie and Marilyn?
​
Sources
Julie Schossow & Marilyn Putt’s case info:
https://www.eldoradocoldcase.com/victim/index.html?NewsID=45648
https://blog.edcda.com/2016/07/07/1982-cold-case-homicide-revisited-marilyn-putt-and-julie-schossow/
Brief video by the El Dorado County Cold Case Task Force about the case:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO5PxH6rFeE
Debney Lobanoff:
https://www.eldoradocoldcase.com/victim/index.html?NewsID=45649
https://newspaperarchive.com/placerville-mountain-democrat-apr-18-1984-p-16/
Joseph Holt case:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/investigators-solve-1970s-cold-cases-with-emerging-dna-technique-today-2019-02-25/?fbclid=IwAR1CfHq6zwmNSTPPVpnnPp6D517L9zU3RG_RqvlakgaSL6tdWmxz161BzNI
https://www.kolotv.com/content/news/Two-decades-old-El-Dorado-County-cold-cases-solved-506390741.html
Other sources:
https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2016/06/08/cold-case-murders-reopened-with-questions-for-church-of-scientology/
https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article88292277.html
https://www.tahoedailytribune.com/news/information-sought-in-1982-south-lake-tahoe-killings/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=9776368&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjE0OTY1OTIwNCwiaWF0IjoxNTYxNDc5MjI5LCJleHAiOjE1NjE1NjU2Mjl9.jK1hrxhcfwdV9JM0ox6wUKsOQObiUm7g1tniwDtNL3E
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/9556461/julie_schossow1/

I am trying to collect bottle caps from as many CA-based based breweries as possible...I think I've bought all the individual ones currently available on eBay. Looking for recommendations on where I might be able to find more, whether for individual sale or in bulk. I even have a list of the breweries I'm still missing. I lived in CA for several years where my collection began. I'm trying to get bottle caps from 61 different breweries to fill a wooden map of CA. Currently I have 25.
I've posted in CaliforniaBeer as well, just looking for whatever recommendations are out there.
​
Edit: Breweries I am currently looking for listed below
​

• 21st Amendment Brewery in San Leandro • Ale Industries in Oakland • Altamont Beer Works in Livermore • Buffalo Bill's Brewery in Hayward • Cleophus Quealy Beer Company in San Leandro • Diving Dog Brewhouse in Oakland • Drake's Brewing Company in San Leandro • Eight Bridges Brewing Company in Livermore • Faction Brewing in Alameda • Fieldwork Brewing Company in Berkeley • Hoi Polloi Brewpub and Beat Lounge in Berkeley • JP DasBrew in Fremont • Oakland United Beerworks (formerly Linden Street Brewery) in Oakland • Old Kan Beer & Co. in Oakland • The Rare Barrel in Berkeley • Shadow Puppet Brewing Company in Livermore • Triple Rock Brewery and Alehouse in Berkeley • Trumer Brauerei in Berkeley • Woods Bar & Brewery in Oakland • Working Man Brewing Company in Livermore 

Amador County

• Amador Brewing Company in Plymouth • Butte County • Sierra Nevada Brewing Company headquarters in Chico • Eckert Malting and Brewing in Chico • Feather Falls Casino Brewing Company in Oroville • Feather River Brewing Company in Magalia • NorCal Brewing in Chico • Secret Trail Brewing in Chico 

Contra Costa County

• Calicraft in Walnut Creek • Danville Brewing Company in Danville • E.J. Phair Brewing Company in Pittsburg • Farm Creek Brewing Company in Walnut Creek • Elevation 66 Brewing Company in El Cerrito • Schubros Brewery in San Ramon • Epidemic Ales in Concord • Ocean View Brew Works in Albany 

El Dorado County

• The Brewery at Lake Tahoe in South Lake Tahoe • Cold Water Brewery and Grill in South Lake Tahoe • Cool Beerwerks in Cool • El Dorado Brewing Company in Diamond Springs • Gold Hill Winery and Brewery in Placerville • HWY 50 Brewery in Camino • Jack Russell Farm Brewery in Camino • Lake Tahoe AleWorX in South Lake Tahoe • Mraz Brewing Company in El Dorado Hills • Outbreak Brewing Company in Placerville • Outpost Brewing Company in South Lake Tahoe • Placerville Brewing Company in Placerville • Sidellis Lake Tahoe in South Lake Tahoe • Solid Ground Brewing in Diamond Springs • South Lake Brewing Company in South Lake Tahoe • Stash Brewing Co. in Garden Valley • Stateline Brewery and Restaurant in South Lake Tahoe 

Fresno County

• The Mad Duck Craft Brewery in Fresno • Fresno Brewing Company in Fresno • Full Circle Brewing in Fresno • Pine & Palm Brewing in Fresno • Tactical OPS Brewing in Fresno • Tioga–Sequoia Brewing Company in Fresno 

Humboldt County

• Eel River Brewing Company in Fortuna • Redwood Curtain Brewing Company in Arcata • Six Rivers Brewery in McKinleyville 

Inyo County

• Mountain Rambler Brewery in Bishop 

Kern County

• Crusader Brewing in Bakersfield • Dionysus Brewing Company in Bakersfield • Great Change Brewing in Bakersfield • Kern River Brewing Company in Kernville • Lengthwise Brewing in Bakersfield • Local Craft Beer in Tehachapi • Temblor Brewing Company in Bakersfield 

Kings County

• Bird Street Brewing in Lemoore • Hop Forged Brewing Company in Hanford 

Lake County

• Kelsey Creek Brewing Company in Kelseyville
• Mount St. Helena Brewing Company in Middletown
• O'Meara Brothers Brewing Company in Lakeport

Los Angeles County

• Absolution Brewing Company in Torrance
• Alosta Brewing Co in Covina
• Ambitious Ales in Los Angeles
• Angel City Brewery in Los Angeles
• Beachwood BBQ and Brewery in Long Beach
• Belmont Brewing Company in Long Beach
• Bravery Brewing in Lancaster
• Brouwerij West in San Pedro
• Congregation Ale House in Azusa
• Cosmic Brewery in Torrance
• Claremont Craft Ales in Claremont
• The Dudes' Brewing Company in Torrance
• Eagle Rock Brewery in Los Angeles
• El Segundo Brewing Company in El Segundo
• Golden Road Brewery in Los Angeles
• Gordon Biersch Brewing Company in Burbank
• Hand-Brewed Beer in Chatsworth
• Homage Brewing in Pomona
• Kinetic Brewing Company in Lancaster
• King Harbor Brewing Company in Redondo Beach
• MacLeod Ale Brewing Company in Los Angeles
• MillerCoors brewery in Irwindale
• Monkish Brewing Company in Torrance
• Mumford Brewing in Los Angeles
• Ohana Brewing Company in Los Angeles
• Pacific Plate Brewing Company in Monrovia
• Progress Brewing in South El Monte
• Red Car Brewery in Torrance
• Skyscraper Brewing Company in El Monte
• Sanctum Brewing Company in Pomona
• Scholb Premium Ales in Torrance
• Strand Brewing Company in Torrance
• Timeless Pints Brewing Company in Lakewoo

Madera County

• South Gate Brewing Company in Oakhurst 

Marin County

• Adobe Creek Brewing in Novato • Indian Valley Brewing in Novato • Iron Springs Pub & Brewery in Fairfax • Marin Brewing in Larkspur • Moylan's Brewery in Novato • Pond Farm Brewing in San Rafael • The State Room in San Rafael 

Mariposa County

• Yosemite Ale Werks in Mariposa 

Merced County

• Bobcat Brewing Company in Merced 

Mono County

• Mammoth Brewing Company in Mammoth Lakes • June Lake Brewing in June Lake 

Monterey County

• Alvarado Street Brewery in Monterey • Cannery Row Brewing Company in Monterey • English Ales in Marina • Peter B's Brew Pub in Monterey • Yeast of Eden in Carmel 

Napa County

• Calistoga Inn, Restaurant and Brewing in Calistoga • Downtown Joe's Brewery in Napa • Mad Fritz in St. Helena • Napa Smith Brewery in Napa • St. Clair Brown in Napa • Tannery Bend Beerworks in Napa • Trade Brewing in Napa 

Nevada County

• FiftyFifty Brewing Company in Truckee • Nevada Brewery in Nevada City • Ol' Republic Brewery in Nevada City • Tahoe Mountain Brewing Company in Truckee • Three Forks Bakery & Brewing Company in Nevada City 

Orange County

• Anaheim Brewery in Anaheim • Barley Forge Brewing Company in Costa Mesa • Brewing Reserve of California in Costa Mesa • Bootlegger's Brewery in Fullerton and Costa Mes • Bottle Logic Brewing, Anaheim • Cismontane Brewing Company in Santa Ana • The Good Beer Company in Santa Ana • Green Cheek Beer Company in Orange • Gunwhale Ales in Costa Mesa • Laguna Beach Beer Company in Rancho Santa Margarita and Laguna Beach • Left d Brewing Company in San Clemente and Irvine • Network Brewery in Santa Ana • Noble Ale Works in Anaheim • Old Orange Brewing Company in Orange • Riip Beer Company in Huntington Beach • TAPS Brewery & Barrel Room in Tustin • Tustin Brewing Company in Tustin • Valiant Brewing Company in Orange 

Placer County

• Auburn Alehouse in Auburn • Boneshaker Public House and Community Brewery in Rocklin • Crooked Lane Brewing Company in Auburn • GoatHouse Brewing Company in Lincoln • Knee Deep Brewing Company in Auburn • Loomis Basin Brewing Company in Loomis • Moksa Brewing in Rocklin • Moonraker Brewing Company in Auburn • Out of Bounds Brewing Company in Rocklin • Slice Beer Company in Lincoln • The Monk's Cellar in Roseville 

Plumas County

• The Brewing Lair of the Sierra (formerly UnderCover Ale Works) • Waganupa Brewing in Chester • Quintopia Brewing Co in Quincy 

Riverside County

• Aftershock Brewing Company in Temecula • Area 51 Craft Brewery in Riverside • Babe's BBQ & Brewhouse in Rancho Mirage • Black Market Brewing Company in Temecula • Brew Rebellion in Banning • Brewcaipa Brewing in Yucaipa • Coachella Valley Brewing in Thousand Palms • Desert Beer Company in Palm Desert • Electric Brewing Company in Murrieta • Grey Wolf in Norco • Inland Empire Brewing Company in Riverside • Ironfire Brewing Company in Temecula • La Quinta Brewing in Palm Desert • Las Palmas Brewing in Palm Springs • Refuge Brewery in Temecula • Wiens Brewing Company in Temecula • Woody's Brewhouse in Moreno Valley 

Sacramento County

• Alaro Brewing in Sacramento • At Ease Brewing in Sacramento • Big Sexy Brewing in Sacramento • Big Stump Brew Co. in Sacramento • Burning Barrel Brewing in Rancho Cordova • Claimstake Brewing in Rancho Cordova • Delta Borne Brewing in Sacramento • Device Brewing Company in Sacramento • Dreaming Dog Brewery in Elk Grove • Flatland Brewing in Elk Grove • Fort Rock Brewing in Rancho Cordova • Fountainhead Brewing in Sacramento • Hoppy Brewing Co in Sacramento • King Cong Brewing Company in Sacramento • New Glory Craft Brewery in Sacramento • New Helvetia Brewing in Sacramento • Oak Park Brewing in Sacramento • Palm Tree Brewing Company in Orangevale • Porchlight Brewing in Sacramento • Red Bus Brewing in Folsom • River Rock Brewery in Galt • Sacrament Brewing in Sacramento • Tower Brewing in Sacramento • Track 7 Brewing Company in Sacramento • Tilted Mash Brewing in Elk Grove • Urban Roots Brewing in Sacramento 

San Bernardino County

• 3 Iron Brewing Co. in Colton • Brewcaipa in Yucaipa • Desert Barn Brewery in Hesperia • Escape Craft Brewery in Redlands • Hangar 24 Craft Brewery in Redlands • I & I Brewing in Chino • Kings Brewing in Rancho Cucamonga • Oak Hills Brewing Company in Hesperia • Ritual Brewing Co. in Redlands • Rowdy's Brew Co. in Rancho Cucamonga • Sour Cellars in Rancho Cucamonga 

San Francisco City and County

• 21st Amendment Brewery • Barrel Head Brewhouse • Beach Chalet Brewery & Restaurant • Black Sands Brewery • Black Hammer Brewing • Cellarmaker Brewing Company • Cervezería de MateVeza • Eagle Brewery • Enterprise Brewery • Fort Point Beer Company • Golden City Brewery • Hamm's Brewer • Harmonic Brewing • Hibernia Brewery • Laughing Monk Brewing • Lafayette Brewery • Local Brewing Company • Magnolia Brewing Company • Schuster's Railroad Brewery • Seven Stills • Southern Pacific Brewing • Speakeasy Ales and Lagers • Sunset Reservoir Brewing Company • Thirsty Bear Brewing Company • Triple Voodoo Brewing • Washington Brewery • Willow's Brewery 

San Joaquin County

• Dancing Fox Winery and Brewery in Lodi • Five Window Beer Company in Lodi • High Water Brewing Company in Lodi • Idol Beer Works in Lodi • Lodi Beer Company in Lodi • Morgan Territory Brewing in Tracy 

San Luis Obispo County

• 927 Beer Company in Cambria • BarrelHouse Brewing Co. in Paso Robles • Libertine Brewing Company in San Luis Obispo • Tap It Brewing Company in San Luis Obispo 

San Mateo County

• 47 Hills Brewing in South San Francisco • Alpha Acid Brewing Company in Belmont • Armstrong Brewing Company in South San Francisco • Blue Oak Brewing Company in San Carlos • Devil's Canyon Brewing Company in Belmont • Freewheel Brewing Company in Redwood City • Half Moon Bay Brewing Company in Princeton-by-the-Sea • Highway 1 Brewing in Pescadero • Hop Dogma Brewing in El Granada • Sacrilege Brewery + Kitchen in Half Moon Bay 

Santa Barbara County

• Captain Fatty's Brewery in Goleta • Island Brewing Company in Carpinteria • M. Special Brewing Company in Goleta • Pure Order Brewing Company in Santa Barbara • Solvang Brewing Company in Solvang • Telegraph Brewing Company in Santa Barbara 

Santa Clara County

• Clandestine Brewing in San Jose • El Toro Brewing Company in Morgan Hill • Gordon Biersch Brewing Company in San Jose • Hermitage Brewing Company in San Jose • Kelly Brewing in Morgan Hill 

Santa Cruz County

• Discretion Brewing in Soquel • Humble Sea Brewing Company in Santa Cruz • New Bohemia Brewing Company in Capitola • Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing in Santa Cruz • Sante Adairius Rustic Ales in Capitola • Seabright Brewery in Santa Cruz • Steel Bonnet Brewing Company in Scotts Valley • Uncommon Brewers in Santa Cruz 

Shasta County

• Fall River Brewing Co. in Fall River Mills • Wildcard Brewing in Redding • Final Draft Brewing in Redding • Woody's Brewing Co. in Redding 

Siskiyou County

• Dunsmuir Brewery Works in Dunsmuir • Etna Brewing Company in Etna • Mt. Shasta Brewing Company in Weed • Siskiyou Brew Works 

Solano Countu

• Heretic Brewing Company in Fairfield • Right Eye Brewery in Suisun • Mare Island Brewing Company in Vallejo 

Sonoma County

• Carneros Brewing Company in Sonoma • Fog Belt Brewing Company in Santa Rosa • Moonlight Brewing Company in Santa Rosa • Old Redwood Brewing Company in Windsor • Petaluma Hills Brewing Company in Petaluma • Seismic Brewing Company in Santa Rosa • Sonoma Springs Brewing Company in Sonoma • St. Florian's Brewery in Windsor • Stumptown Brewery in Guerneville • Third Street Aleworks in Santa Rosa 

Stanislaus County

• St. Stan's Brewery in Modesto • Blaker Brewing in Ceres 

Ventura County

• Anacapa Brewing in Ventura • Casa Agria Specialty Ales in Ventura • Enegren Brewing Co. in Moorpark • Flat Fish Brewing Company in Camarillo • Institution Ale Co. in Camarillo • Leashless Brewing Co. in Ventura • MadeWest Brewing in Ventura • Poseidon Brewing Company in Ventura • Red Tandem Brewery in Ventura • Surf Brewery in Ventura • Topa Topa Brewing Company in Ventura • Ventura Coast Brew Co. in Ventura • Westlake Brewing Co. in Westlake Village 

Yolo County

• Bike Dog Brewing Company in West Sacramento • Dunloe Brewing in Davis • Jackrabbit Brewing Company in West Sacramento • Super Owl Brewing in Davis • Three Mile Brewing Company in Davis • Yolo Brewing in West Sacramento 

San Diego County

• Burgeon Beer Company • Carlsbad Brewing Company • Pizza Port • Rouleur Brewing Company • Offbeat Brewing Co • Nickel Beer Company • Bagby Beer Company • Legacy Brewing Company • Breakwater Brewing Co • Oceanside Ale Works • ChuckAlek Independent Brewers • Abnormal Beer Company • Acoustic Ales Brewing Experiment • Align Brewing • Amplified Aleworks • The Beer Company • Deft Brewing • Division 23 Brewing • Duck Foot Brewing Company • Eppig Brewing • Fall Brewing • Kilowatt Brewing • Little Miss Brewing • Longship Brewery • Mike Hess Brewing Co. • Mikkeller • Mission Brewery • Modern Times Beer • New English Brewing Co. • North Park Beer Company • O'Sullivan Brother's Brewing • Pacific Beach Alehouse • Pariah Brewing Company • Protector Brewing • Rip Current Brewing • Rough Draft Brewing Company • Saint Archer Brewing • San Diego Brewing Company • Savagewood • Societe Brewing Company • Thorn Street Brewery • Thunderhawk Alements • Lost Abbey • Port Brewing Company • Rip Current Brewing Company • Stumblefoot Brewing Company • Wild Barrel Brewing Company • Aztec Brewing Company • Barrel Harbor Brewing • Belching Beaver Brewery • Booze Brothers Brewing Company • Indian Joe Brewing Company • Latitude 33 Brewing • Mother Earth Brew Co. • Toolbox Brewing 

Culture Brewing Co

Please note the first part of this writeup was originally posted on UnresolvedMysteries earlier this year, but locals have chimed in to clarify some points and answer some questions. More importantly, Marilyn’s sister reached out and provided new information that paints a very different story than existing media coverage, and also enlightens the El Dorado County DA's renewed call for information, which had mystified many people. If you recall the previous post you may wish to skip to the “New information” section.
The Disappearance
Julie Schossow, 25, and Marilyn Putt, 27, were close friends. They had both worked as blackjack dealers at the Harrah's Casino in South Lake Tahoe, on the border of Nevada and California, since May 1980. Marilyn had a 5-year-old son, Jason, and they had lived in a rented house at 725 Los Angeles Avenue since October 1981. The Putts shared the house with a roommate, Colleen Gore, who often helped take care of Jason. Schossow was in between apartments and temporarily living in the home as well. Neighbors recalled there were often many cars at the house, although there weren’t wild or noisy parties there. Jason was often seen playing in the snow with other neighborhood children.
On Tuesday, January 12, 1982, Schossow and Putt had both worked at Harrah’s and then returned home after their shift. What is known about the intervening hours seems to come largely from their roommate, Colleen Gore. Schossow and Putt told Gore they were going “to party,” and at approximately 1 AM, a car horn sounded outside of the house and the women left.
Both victims were seen drinking together at the Rendezvous Bar inside Harrah’s and leaving a bar with some men that evening, however I do not know if this happened before they returned home or after they went out again to party. Gore told police that sometime during the night, Schossow came back to pick up her car. Putt called 11 hours later (unclear if this is at noon on January 13, or 11 hours after Schossow returned for the car) and said they had “met a couple of rich guys” and were headed to Sacramento or San Francisco. Putt asked Gore to babysit her son.
Gore did not report the women missing for four days. This would have been approximately January 17.
On February 2, police found Schossow’s brown Honda in the Harrah’s parking lot, covered in snow and with flat tires. Police said this indicated the car had been there since the day the women went missing, January 13. This seemed odd at first, but locals have clarified there was a snowstorm around that time. It was not uncommon for cars to be buried for long periods of time, and tires can go flat. There was no sign of the missing women, however.
An article from February 18, 1982, in the Reno Gazette-Journal stated: “The neighbors and some of the women’s co-workers from Harrah’s are reluctant to talk about Putt and Schossow. One Los Angeles Avenue woman said she was worried about retribution from the ‘two men the girls were with that night,’ and the Harrah’s workers have been ordered by casino officials not to talk about the missing dealers.”
On June 6, 1982, almost six months later, the body of Marilyn Putt was discovered in the South Fork of the American River, one mile west of an area known as Chili Bar off of Highway 193. Her body was nude and had been weighted down with chains and binding material and the cause of death appears to be ligature strangulation, with the time of death being estimated at 6-8 weeks prior to her body being found.
One month later, on July 9, 1982, the body of Julie Schossow was discovered also in the South Fork of the American River, approximately 150 yards from where Marilyn Putt's body had been discovered. She had a cord tightly wrapped around her neck two times and the coroner could not rule out the fact that she may have been bound together with Marilyn Putt. The cause of death appears to be ligature strangulation, with the time of death being estimated at 6-8 weeks prior to her body being found.
Given the discrepancy between the time the women went missing and the estimated time of death, it is believed that the women were held captive for approximately three months, believed to be somewhere in between South Lake Tahoe and Placerville.
Other events or potential leads
*Notably, another woman, Debney Lynn Lobanoff, 28, went missing not long before these women in December 1981. Her nude body was found floating in the Slab Creek Reservoir on July 3, 1982, in between the discoveries of Putt’s and Schossow’s bodies and approximately 7.5 miles upstream. According to her husband, Debney left with two “biker-type” men. This case also remains unsolved.
*In 2016, the El Dorado District Attorney’s Office launched a campaign to revive this cold case and made a specific request: “If there’s anyone out there that’s directly involved with or associated with the Church of Scientology in South Lake Tahoe, you may or may not know you have information that could be helpful, so please contact us.” The DA’s website further notes, “Although not a member herself, Marilyn Putt was closely associated with several leading members of the Church of Scientology.”
*In February this year, the El Dorado DA’s office announced they had used genetic genealogy databases to identify Joseph Holt, a local real estate worker, as the man who kidnapped and killed a woman, Brynn Rainey, in 1977 and a teenaged girl, Carol Andersen, in 1979. Rainey was last seen at a bar just before her 2 AM shift at a South Lake Tahoe Casino; her body was found in a shallow grave and her cause of death was believed to be strangulation or suffocation. Andersen disappeared on her way home from a party near a South Lake Tahoe ski resort. Her body was found dumped by the side of the road a few miles away; she had been bound and strangled. Unfortunately, justice evaded Holt as he died in 2014.
New information from Marilyn Putt’s sister
Marilyn’s sister responded to the original above and provided valuable information and her recollection of events, many of which contradict roommate Colleen Gore’s narrative.
First, her sister noted that something had gone down in between Gore and Putt. “On Monday, my sister called me and told me she had to move as soon as possible. I asked why would she need to move out of the cute cabin she was so thrilled to rent. She told me that I wouldn’t believe what her room mate and her boyfriend are doing. She wouldn’t give me details over the phone because they might hear, just that it was very bad and she wanted no part of it. She told me that she no longer trusted her room mate to watch her son and just needed me to come help her move on Wednesday. She didn’t even want them to know she was moving.”
The women went out on Tuesday night and were last seen on Tuesday night. Marilyn's sister said that their mother had called Marilyn and talked to her at her home around midnight on Tuesday. It seems important to clarify when eyewitnesses saw Putt and Schossow out--Tuesday night, or in the early hours of Wednesday.
No media reports that I came across suggested that Gore was behaving in a shady manner, although it was odd why it took four days for her to report the women missing—particularly given Gore was taking care of Putt’s son. The fact that Putt would come back to retrieve her car (after allegedly leaving at 1 AM according to Gore’s account) never made much sense—but it seems the only source for this claim is Gore.
Marilyn’s sister drove in from Sacramento on Wednesday to help her sister move: “When I arrived Wednesday morning, I had my boyfriend and another couple with me to help. When I knocked on the door, her room mate answered but only opened the door about an inch. She said my sister had gone to work and she was indisposed.”
Marilyn’s sister went to Harrah’s, found out Marilyn didn’t show up for her shift, and searched for her sister at Harrah’s. Unsuccessful, she called Gore. “We hung out there for a bit and finally I called the room mate back and told her the situation. That’s when the room mate told me that my sister had just called to tell her to watch her son because she had spent the night with some rich guy and now they were going to San Francisco. I was so confused! Why would she go to San Francisco when she wanted to move and she knew I was coming? Why did she leave her son with the person she just told me she didn’t trust especially when she knew I was coming up and she could just hand him off to me. Why would she take off with someone she barely knew? None of it made sense.” Indeed, the inconsistency in the stories makes Gore seem very suspicious. Why the sudden change in stories?
Marilyn’s sister returned to the house, where Gore let her in. Marilyn’s sister found all of Marilyn’s stuff packed up in boxes in the closet in her room, including an overnight bag. If Marilyn had come back to pick up her car before running off to San Francisco, why wouldn’t she have picked up her pre-packed overnight bag? Gore was convincing, however, and Marilyn’s sister went back to Sacramento.
Marilyn’s sister continued checking in with Gore. It wasn’t until she threatened to drive to Tahoe and file the missing person report herself that Gore finally reported it to the police.
One last thing Marilyn’s sister pointed may be a clue as to why the 2016 revival of the case by the DA asks about Scientologists: “As a side note, Marilyn’s room mate used to live with Marilyn’s babysitter until there was a falling out and she moved in with Marilyn. The babysitter, the room mate and the babysitter ‘s ex husband all belonged to the Church of Scientology.”
Marilyn’s sister ended her story on a heartbreaking note: “There are many more unexplained details to this case but I’m sure none of it will make a difference now. I have come to the agonizing conclusion that we will never get the whole story as probably many of the people involved may have died themselves or have no memory left.”
One small piece of good news in the wake of this tragedy: Marilyn’s sister reported that her son Jason “has managed to overcome all and leaves a happy and successful life.”
I think the sister's information puts an entirely new perspective on this case. What do you think happened to Julie and Marilyn?
Sources
Julie Schossow & Marilyn Putt’s case info:
https://www.eldoradocoldcase.com/victim/index.html?NewsID=45648
https://blog.edcda.com/2016/07/07/1982-cold-case-homicide-revisited-marilyn-putt-and-julie-schossow/
Brief video by the El Dorado County Cold Case Task Force about the case:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO5PxH6rFeE
Debney Lobanoff:
https://www.eldoradocoldcase.com/victim/index.html?NewsID=45649
https://newspaperarchive.com/placerville-mountain-democrat-apr-18-1984-p-16/
Joseph Holt case:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/investigators-solve-1970s-cold-cases-with-emerging-dna-technique-today-2019-02-25/?fbclid=IwAR1CfHq6zwmNSTPPVpnnPp6D517L9zU3RG_RqvlakgaSL6tdWmxz161BzNI
https://www.kolotv.com/content/news/Two-decades-old-El-Dorado-County-cold-cases-solved-506390741.html
Other sources:
https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2016/06/08/cold-case-murders-reopened-with-questions-for-church-of-scientology/
https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article88292277.html
https://www.tahoedailytribune.com/news/information-sought-in-1982-south-lake-tahoe-killings/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=9776368&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjE0OTY1OTIwNCwiaWF0IjoxNTYxNDc5MjI5LCJleHAiOjE1NjE1NjU2Mjl9.jK1hrxhcfwdV9JM0ox6wUKsOQObiUm7g1tniwDtNL3E
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/9556461/julie_schossow1/