This correspondence dated December 15th 1971 was mailed from Scottsville, New York and addressed to Mr J Edgar Hoover, first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
​In respect to the Zodiac timeline, it was sent 15 months after the disappearance of Donna Lass from Stateline, Nevada on September 6th 1970.
The communication claims to have evidence that with proper investigation would disclose the name and identity of the infamous 'Zodiac Killer of California.' 
The author of this letter would receive a reply dated December 23rd 1971, informing him that the matter was not within the investigative jurisdiction of the FBI and he should advise the San Francisco, California Police Department of any information which pertains to the Zodiac Killer. Signed by Director, John Edgar Hoover. 
The identity or signature of this individual is redacted, with a return address of some description- therefore determining its sincerity or otherwise is difficult to determine. One would like to think this was an extremely concerned citizen or somebody from an official agency, frustrated enough to mail a letter to the FBI offices (handwritten letter below). 

Tracers wrote this on the Zodiac Killer Tapatalk forum: "I did find this old reference to a letter: In a letter from J.Edgar Hoover dated 11/30/70 to Senator Karl E. Mundt concerning his interest in finding Donna A. Lass, he says, "In an effort to be of assistance, a search of our Identification Division files was conducted but I regret to tell you no indication of the whereabouts was disclosed. A missing person notice was previously placed in file in behalf of Senator George McGovern. In view of your interest I am having a notification added to the effect that any information we may receive will also be forwarded to you. We do not, of course, have the authority to conduct an active investigation in the absence of a violation of a federal statute within our jurisdiction."
​
Senator George Stanley McGovern was a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator born in Avon, South Dakota, approximately 100 miles from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which may reflect his interest in the case. 
 
Another communication in the form of a Christmas card was mailed to the sister of Donna Lass, Mary Pilker, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on December 27th 1974. The Christmas card read 'Holiday Greetings and Best Wishes for a Happy New Year', followed by the handwriting "Best Wishes, St Donna & Guardian of the Pines." 
It is unknown whether this card had sinister connotations in respect to where Donna Lass may be buried (somewhere in between the pines), or whether it is just misguided support. There are, however, some similarities in the handwriting of the John Edgar Hoover letter and the Christmas card mailed to Mary Pilker (shown below).
Handwriting comparisons in the Zodiac case are the topic of much debate, as they are extremely subjective, and should always be used in conjunction with other evidence. 

John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American detective and the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States. He was appointed as the director of the Bureau of Investigation — the FBI's predecessor — in 1924 and was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972 at the age of 77. Hoover has been credited with building the FBI into a larger crime-fighting agency than it was at its inception and with instituting a number of modernizations to police technology, such as a centralized fingerprint file and forensic laboratories.
Wikipedia.

The 'Halloween' card was mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle on October 27th 1970 inferring a fourteenth victim. On July 26th 1970 the Zodiac Killer mailed the 'Little List' letter claiming thirteen victims. If nurse Donna Ann Lass was a Zodiac victim, then the 'Halloween' card must surely have been referring to the disappearance and likely murder of Donna Lass from the Sahara Tahoe Hotel & Casino on September 6th 1970. But why did it take the Zodiac Killer nearly two months to send this correspondence to the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper? Was it imperative for the killer to somehow tie this possible murder into the Halloween festival, and did the depiction of skeletons, the pumpkin and the phrase "peek a boo you are doomed" provide any clue to the location of Donna Lass' body or burial site.
This by all accounts was a bold and brazen abduction at the end of the young woman's shift at approximately 1.50 am, in a seemingly predetermined crime. If this was a serial offender, such as the Zodiac Killer, the clues may lie in previous similar unsolved crimes with overlapping traits. The following ideas will be examining this possibility, using the design of the 'Halloween' card and later 'Pines' card mailed on March 22nd 1971, also believed by some to have been crafted by the hand of the Zodiac Killer. 

The choice of a skeleton on this card may have been deliberate, bearing in mind Donna Lass was likely murdered the day of her abduction and had remained undiscovered for nearly two months at this juncture. It is also easy to understand how the card can be interpreted as a skeleton wearing a pumpkin. But what if the depiction is implying something more sinister, in that Donna Lass is buried beneath a pumpkin or pumpkins. This may seem a ridiculous observation, until we consider the second skeleton on the card inner wearing a mask of sorts. Could the killer have intended us to interpret the card differently, such as an eye patch, thereby implying the phrase 'pumpkin patch.' 
The clue may not be entirely literal, but implying the young woman may have been buried on farmland, which may have grown pumpkins or sold farm produce. This is a real stretch, so we will go further. 
Randall Scott Clemons produced an interesting article linking the Zodiac Killer to various golf courses, and suggesting that he may have traveled extensively to murder in certain areas he was familiar with through his pastime. In his first contact with the newspapers on July 31st 1969 the killer stated "This is the murderer of the 2 teenagers last Christmass at Lake Herman + the girl on the 4th of July near the golf course in Vallejo." The murderer of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969 escaped into the Presidio Park adjacent to the Presidio Golf course. The Aetna Springs Golf Course, Napa, was one of the first golf courses west of the Mississippi River and built on the Aetna Springs Resort's property in 1891. It is only 11 miles as the crow flies from the Knoxville Road, bordering Lake Berryessa, the site of Zodiac's third attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard.​

But more crucially, it is less than 5 miles from Pope Valley, the location where the three young women had driven through at around 3.00 pm on September 27th 1969, just before they encountered a strange man, who appeared to be following them. Did he have a ball marker on him that day, which came in useful at around 6.30 pm?
Deana Hooper's skeletal remains were discovered on March 11th 1975 in an open field at Columbus Parkways and St.John's Mine Road, right next to the Blue Rock Springs Park Golf Course. She was last seen on July 11th 1974 at the Enlisted Men's Club on Mare Island.  Established in 1892, Mare Island Golf Club in Vallejo, California is the oldest golf course west of the Mississippi River. Originally built as a 9-hole course,  its first 30 years included sand greens and dry fairways. The course began near the former Marine Barracks and proceeded south to Lake Rodgers (built in 1876 and named after Rear Admiral Rodgers), then returned to the start. Was the killer somehow connected to the military, and an avid golfer, that inevitably made him familiar with these murder sites?

The 'Pines' card depicted an advertisement for mountain condominiums.
A newspaper article stated that: 'the site depicted on the 'Pines Card' was from an advertisement published last Sunday by several newspapers. It was an artist's rendition of houses among the trees at a Boise Cascade Company project at Incline Village, where construction has just begun on the development. While much of the Sierra area is under several feet of snow, Incline Village has only two feet on the ground. Police went to the area to determine if a search is possible'.
Many observers toyed with the idea that Donna Lass may have been buried by the punch hole in the card- but surely that would have been too simple a clue by the Zodiac Killer. In another stretch of the imagination, could the positioning of 'Sierra Club' on the tree, be designed to give the impression of a flagpole. We would then be possibly looking for a burial site east of a Sierra Club golf course- not at Incline Village- but somewhere 'past the Lake Tahoe areas'. Somewhere the killer was familiar with, and had used to bury a previous victim. 

​Judith Hakari was a nurse at Sutter Hospital, who disappeared heading back to the Markston Apartments on March 7th 1970. Her body was later discovered by Ponderosa Way in Weimar, forty two miles along Interstate 80.​
'At 11:30 pm. Hakari calls her fiance to tell him she's leaving Sutter Memorial Hospital where she works as a nurse. By 1:30 in the morning, she has still not come home. Her fiance, waiting at her apartment, begins to worry.
"He went out to the apartment complex parking lot and discovered her car was parked in the assigned space that she had," Links said. But Judith was nowhere to be seen. She was found one month later, strangled and bludgeoned to death. "Some hikers discovered a body in a shallow grave up in the town of Weimar, in Placer County. And during their investigation they determined that it was Judith Hakari," Links said.' Fox40.com.
Both Judith Hakari and Donna Lass were nurses, who disappeared after their shift end, both at night or in the early hours of darkness, and both en route back home. Is it conceivable that the murderer of Judith Hakari is also responsible for the abduction and murder of Donna Lass, and if so, did he bury or conceal her body somewhere he was familiar with and had ultimately escaped detection before- in Weimar. Or somewhere very close. 

We could be looking for a location in Placer County near farm land, that may have a connection to pumpkins. There will be a Sierra Club golf course west of the location. It may also be a location that has relevance to parts of the phrases contained within the 'Halloween' card, such as "From your secret pal," "peek a boo you are doomed" and "slaves." And more importantly, somewhere close to where Judith Hakari's body was discovered.
There is such a place- Colfax, Placer County, California.
It was named after Schuyler Colfax Jr, known for his opposition to slavery while serving in Congress, and was a founder of the Republican Party. In January 1865, as Speaker of the House, Colfax made the unusual choice to cast a vote for passage of the Thirteenth Amendment.
Colfax is located 4.4 miles (crow flies) from Ponderosa Way, the burial site of Judith Hakari.
The Bierwagen's Donner Trail Fruit and Farm Market near Chicago Park, is situated only 7 miles east of the Alta Sierra Country Club and golf course.
Secret Town is 7 miles from Colfax and 14 miles from Ponderosa Way.
The residence of Judith Hakari and the area her body was discovered, not only were situated alongside Interstate 80, but Ponderosa Way is only 2 miles or 5 minutes from Interstate 80, and the Markston Apartments only 4 miles or 8 minutes from Interstate 80. 
Interstate 80 is bisected by Colfax and runs from the Markston Apartments where Judith Hakari lived, to Truckee, California on the north side of Lake Tahoe. As the crow flies, Ponderosa Way is 38 miles from the Markston Apartments and 46 miles from Truckee. Was the same killer responsible for the murder of both women, and prepared to create a set buffer zone to each burial site? A familiar 'dumping ground' similar to that employed by the likes of the Green River and Gilgo Beach Killer.
Finally, we have this lonely lane, in the heart of 'pine country,' where you can "peek through the pines" into "peek a boo" lane- as the crow flies, just 2 miles from Ponderosa Way. But would you be doomed?   

This is a continuation from a previous article, but relevant in regards to the History Channel docudrama about to air on December 12th 2017. Undoubtedly they will continue to pursue suspect Lawrence Kane and attempt to provide a credible link between Lake Tahoe and San Francisco, which according to Detective Harvey Hines, Lawrence Kane had. He purportedly lived at 217 Eddy Street, San Francisco during the Paul Stine murder and worked for Alan Dorfman selling Arizona real estate at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel and Casino, the same hotel Donna Lass was employed. The likelihood of Lawrence Kane being the Zodiac Killer is down to opinion, however, as previously suggested, the link between Donna Lass, Lake Tahoe, San Francisco and the Zodiac Killer could be a very real one. A link inadvertently or otherwise, left by the killer when designing his 'Pines' card, mailed on March 22nd 1971.         

Many observers believe the 'Pines' card was crafted by a hoaxer, on account of the fact 'Victim 12' had already been claimed by the Zodiac Killer on June 26th 1970 when he mailed the 'Button' letter to the San Francisco Chronicle.
On the contrary, this could go a long way to actually validating this correspondence. Bearing in mind the make-up of the 'Pines' card, it is extremely likely it is referring to the disappearance of Donna Lass. But in order for its author to have deliberately chosen the phrase 'Sought Victim 12' in reference to Donna Lass, we could assume he knew her previous employment and movements in the preceding few months, or just made a lucky guess when choosing this particular phrase.
Would a hoaxer, having gone to all the effort of pasting up a card, then have made the basic error of getting the victim total incorrect. One could argue that the author of this card knew Donna Lass, knew that she had previously worked at the Letterman General Hospital and knew exactly when she had moved to South Lake Tahoe. 
Donna Lass left her job at the Letterman General Hospital and moved to South Lake Tahoe on June 6th 1970. Had he targeted Donna Lass before her move to the Sahara Tahoe Hotel? If so, then 'Sought Victim 12,' in its use of the past tense, could simply be implying that he had intended Donna Lass as a target before she moved from San Francisco.
Harvey Hines stated in his 120 page report "Now we have the Zodiac running into the Presidio in the direction of Letterman General Hospital. The very place that Donna Lass worked. Also, in looking at the area map, I found that Lass lived six blocks south in the 4000 block of Balboa. That meant the Zodiac Killer started his ride near where Kane lived and ended it several blocks away where Donna Lass lived and worked.
During the time she worked in San Francisco she lived at 4122 Balboa Street with a roommate named Carol Emerich. Emerich was also a nurse. According to the employment records, Lass was working a late night shift in October of 1969 when the San Francisco cab driver, Paul Stine, was killed by the Zodiac." 
If the killer knew Donna Lass, or indeed was familiar with the Presidio Park and Letterman General Hospital, then it is not beyond the realms of possibility he likely was familiar with this area and the advantages it provided as an escape route after the murder of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969.       

If the killer knew, worked with, or was familiar with Donna Lass during the short period she worked at the Letterman General Hospital, then clearly he may have sought her as victim 12 during this period.
The Zodiac mailed the '13 Symbol' cipher on April 20th 1970 claiming 10 victims. On June 26th 1970 he was claiming 12 victims in the 'Button' letter. Therefore, he must have 'Sought Victim 12' between these two dates. The window of opportunity narrows when we consider that Donna Lass left for South Lake Tahoe on June 6th 1970. If the Zodiac Killer  targeted Donna Lass while she worked and lived in San Francisco, it likely fell between April 20th 1970 and June 6th 1970. A window of just 46 days. Is this something a casual hoaxer would be aware of.
Unless the employment records and movements of Donna Lass between these dates had been reported in the newspapers, was the choice of the 'Sought Victim 12' phrase just a lucky guess on behalf of the hoaxer, and just happened to fall correctly between these dates. Did the author of the 'Pines' card do his research, or was Donna Lass specifically targeted by the Zodiac Killer, who moved or traveled to South Lake Tahoe with the sole purpose of completing his 'mission,' and the wording on the 'Pines' card was anything but a mistake. 
It may possibly dispel the preconception that the Zodiac Killer only targeted strangers, as has been alluded to in the case of Darlene Ferrin, murdered on July 4th 1969. Maybe the Zodiac Killer didn't care who he killed. 

In several articles we have explored the concept of geographical profiling to narrow down the search area for the likely residence of the Zodiac Killer, using timelines and his own words in an effort to identify the elusive murderer. A forum member of Zodiac Killer Site with the moniker 'Seagull' has been invaluable in this quest, mailing me names and addresses around the Springs Road and Tuolumne Street payphone in Vallejo in 1969. By cross checking these to previous residency in Riverside and other locations using ancestry records, a common thread is hoped to be unearthed. The problem is, it may take months or even years to manually trawl through a sample area radius of just 0.5 miles around the payphone. 
Another common thread that has been explored, is a possible link between Donna Lass and the Zodiac Killer. According to former police officer Harvey Hines "During the time she worked in San Francisco she lived at 4122 Balboa Street with a roommate named Carol Emerich. Emerich was also a nurse. According to the employment records, Lass was working a late night shift in October of 1969 when the San Francisco cab driver, Paul Stine, was killed by the Zodiac."
This, bearing in mind the disappearance and likely murder of Donna Lass only eleven months later, along with the alleged Zodiac 'Pines' card mailed on March 22nd 1971, it is something not to be overlooked. It may be coincidence, but the 'Pines' card does reveal an interesting feature, long believed to be from the hands of a hoaxer because of the victim count not marrying up with known Zodiac correspondence. However, it does in fact fit perfectly into the Zodiac timeline.         

'Lemonboy', a contributor to this site triggered this article, when he stated "What if Donna lass saw Zodiac as he was walking away from the Stine murder? After that he targets her thinking she might have recognized him. The fact she lived so close to the crime scene seems more than coincidence."
But what if the Zodiac moved in the circle of Donna Lass, knew the young nurse, or even worked alongside her. His confidence in these surroundings was evident after the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969, apparent by his detailed account of events in the November 9th 1969 'Bus Bomb' letter. He may have lived in the Vallejo area and worked in San Francisco, hence the copious mailings to the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper. If we could tie this person to Donna Lass through San Francisco and South Lake Tahoe, and possibly Cheri Jo Bates at Riverside, we may inch a little closer. The 'Pines' card may be suspect Zodiac material, but the wording on the postcard does leave a subtle hint that a connection may exist.
It all lies in the wording "Sought Victim 12", considered by some an error on behalf of its sender. But if we examine the victim count of the Zodiac Killer, the past participle of seek, indicated the killer may have been targeting Donna Lass during her residency in San Francisco some four months earlier.
"Sought Victim 12" suggested that the Zodiac Killer at some point in his recent history had trailed victim 12. Bearing in mind the 'Pines' card was supposedly referencing the disappearance and murder of Donna Lass on September 6th 1970, then it isn't a giant leap of faith to believe that the murderer was searching for victim 12 relative to his timeline and the young nurse.
On April 20th 1970 the Zodiac Killer mailed the '13 Symbol' cipher claiming 10 victims. On June 26th 1970 the killer mailed the 'Button' letter and Phillips 66 map claiming 12 victims. His search for victim 12 was clearly over, according to him, therefore it couldn't have been Donna Lass, who was abducted just over two months later. However, she may have been the original target. If she had been earmarked as victim 12, as hinted by the 'Pines' card, his plans were clearly thwarted or sidelined.​      

Before Zodiac could "seek victim 12" though, he had to secure victim 11, which he wasn't claiming when the 'Dragon' card landed at the offices of the San Francisco Chronicle on April 28th 1970. Donna Lass left her job at the Letterman General Hospital and moved to South Lake Tahoe on June 6th 1970 to begin her new post at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel and Casino. If he had targeted Donna Lass in San Francisco, it would likely have fell somewhere between the dates of April 28th 1970 and June 6th 1970, but was ultimately denied to him by circumstances unknown or her move away from the Bay Area. Even if Zodiac had claimed victim 11 as early as the end of April, then we could be looking for a man who either worked with the young nurse during the month of May, was in her near circle, or had a romantic or unhealthy interest in Donna Lass during this short timeframe.
Friends and colleagues of Donna Lass included Carol Emerich and Jo Anne Goettsche, the latter of which visited her around the time she disappeared, and it is these friends, or persons close to them, that may hold the key to the identity of the Zodiac Killer during that crucial month in 1970. When the killer mailed the 'Pines' card on March 22nd 1971, either by accident or design, his mask of anonymity may have slipped even further upon pasting the words "Sought Victim 12," and place him a lot closer to Donna Lass than we care to imagine.   

The first three crimes of Lake Herman Road, Blue Rock Springs Park and Lake Berryessa were committed in situ, in that the Zodiac Killer attacked the couples where he discovered them. The Zodiac at Presidio Heights entered the taxicab of Paul Stine in the bustling theater district of San Francisco and murdered him at Washington and Cherry, although Paul Stine effectively remained in situ, within the taxicab throughout. The three crimes that have widely been attributed to Zodiac, are the Riverside murder of Cheri Jo Bates, the Modesto abduction of Kathleen Johns and the disappearance of Donna Lass from the Sahara Tahoe Casino, all of which were followed by alleged communications from the Zodiac Killer. These three crimes had one thing in common, the perpetrator used a ruse, to lure the women into his vehicle and remove them from the first point of contact. Cheri Jo Bates' car distributor was tampered with, followed by the promise of a lift home, to lure the young woman into his vehicle. Kathleen Johns, again would fall prey to the same tactic, her wheel was tampered with, followed by the promise of a lift to a service station. Donna Lass was lured away from her place of work, by a false medical emergency, to again draw the nurse toward his vehicle. Three crimes, involving three young women, and in all instances similar tactics were employed, followed by a correspondence claiming the crime. Here though, it is the Donna Lass abduction we shall concentrate on.
In the aftermath of the disappearance, the search for Donna Lass would be badly affected by the inclement weather in the coming months, highlighted by Police Chief Ray Lauritzen in the newspapers from the outset: "We don't know where we're going to begin. There's a four or five foot pack of snow out there and it's still snowing heavily. There's no point to a search at this time. It's unlikely a victim would be uncovered before spring."  
The Zodiac Killer, we know, was an avid reader of the newspapers, and it is likely he also read this statement by Chief Ray Lauritzen. It is possible the 'Pines' card, mailed on March 22nd 1971 was a direct response to this article, but in a very subtle way. This we will come to later.   

It is far from certain the perpetrator of this crime knew Donna Lass, but the following will explore reasons why this may be the case.  
Similar to the second and third crimes by the Zodiac Killer, the disappearance of Donna Lass was again followed by a phone call from the supposed perpetrator. But unlike Blue Rock Springs Park and Lake Berryessa, this phone call didn't brag about his crime, it claimed Donna Lass had been 'called away' or 'called out of town' due to a family illness, all of which was subsequently proved to be false. The caller was seemingly trying to give the impression nothing sinister had happened, suggesting the act of the phone call was simply to 'buy time'. If the abductor was affording himself some extra breathing space, then the real possibility he was local to the area or known to Donna Lass is a credible argument, and he was either holding Donna Lass at this juncture, needed time to dispose of her body, or possibly needed to remove incriminating evidence from his home or vehicle before the police came knocking. This may have suggested that the responsible moved in the circle of Donna Lass, such as friends and work colleagues, who are inevitably the first people to be questioned in most police investigations. 
The nature of the call was also suggestive of a perpetrator who knew Donna Lass. A friend or work colleague through conversation or private details, would be privy to information about her family, and the fact they lived in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, 1,555 miles away. A phone call in this instance, using a family illness as a ruse, would be of the utmost benefit to the caller, possibly 'buying' the perpetrator plenty of time. The caller it would seem, knew her family did not reside in South Lake Tahoe or nearby, because this would have made the call ineffectual.
Two phone calls were laid, one to her employer and one to her landlord. The first would obviously explain her absence from work after the Labor Day weekend, the second would possibly allay the concerns of her landlord over rent collection. He may have known Donna Lass, but would unlikely have known the exact date her payments were due. The fact he called her landlord at all, is indicative of somebody who was familiar with Donna Lass, unlikely to be known by a random killer or abductor, who just turned up at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel that morning. If the perpetrator was the Zodiac Killer, then his close ties to Donna Lass could be of crucial importance, bearing in mind the widely held belief he was unknown to his victims in the first four confirmed attacks in the Bay Area. If the Zodiac Killer was also known to Cheri Jo Bates, due to the specific targeting of her Volkswagen Beetle, then Riverside and South Lake Tahoe may be more closely linked than ever imagined.  

​Donna Lass had recently moved into the Monte Verdi apartments on 3893 Pioneer Trail Road, located just a three minute drive from the Sahara Tahoe Hotel. When she first arrived in South Lake Tahoe in June she stayed with Ann and Larry Lowe at 4054 US Highway 50, and was just finding her feet in the new residence when she went missing. Although her 1968 Chevrolet Camaro convertible was discovered outside the Monte Verdi apartment complex in its usual parking spot, it is believed she had not driven it to work on the evening of her disappearance, having walked to work from this previous residence, which was a short walking distance to the Sahara Tahoe Hotel of approximately 8-10 minutes. She had made plans to meet up with her friend Jo Anne Goettsche, intending to travel back to the Monte Verdi Apartments in her vehicle, once her shift at the casino had finished.
The fact she was targeted immediately on her shift change at around 1.50 am is also telling. Had a nurse just vanished from the start or middle of her shift, this would obviously have raised a red flag with the Sahara Tahoe Casino, negating the intention of the abductor, and most certainly rendering the phone call unnecessary and highly suspicious. She had already changed from her nurses uniform into her civilian clothes, as her shift was due to end at 2.00 am, something the perpetrator likely knew.
The last person apparently to see Donna Lass before her disappearance was a Joan Bentley from San Francisco, who stated that Donna appeared in good spirits at approximately 1.40 am. The last entry on her log according to her sister, Mary Pilker, was "patient complains of", before the pen trailed off the page. This pen mark is unlikely to have been created by her being physically manhandled from the casino, as it was extremely busy during the Labor Day weekend. More likely, is that somebody approached her nurses station and asked for medical assistance in the car park. Donna Lass may have been writing in her nurses log, when she had her arm tugged in a gesture of 'please help,' or had been in the middle of writing, when she abruptly rushed off to aid the concerned citizen. Either way, her pen trailed down the page. 

The person who made the phone call was also likely aware Donna Lass had not traveled to work that evening in her 1968 Chevrolet Camaro convertible. Had he contacted the Sahara Tahoe Hotel explaining the family illness, and that she had been called 'out of town', then this would have been negated, had her employer or work colleagues noticed her vehicle sitting idle in the car park over the next few days. A vehicle she would likely have used for her trip to South Dakota.
​Was the perpetrator aware of her plans to meet Jo Anne Goettsche at around 2.00 am inside the casino, so acted just before the end of her shift. The subsequent phone call may then have served an extra purpose of allaying the worries of Jo Anne Goettsche, had she informed the casino of her concerns or contacted the police. If the perpetrator knew of Donna Lass' arrangement with her friend, he may very well have spoken to her in the preceding days, further cementing the idea he was known to the young woman.
Six and a half months after her disappearance, the 'Pines' postcard was mailed by Zodiac to the San Francisco Chronicle on March 22nd 1971. But why did the likely killer of Donna Lass wait this long to mail the communication. Did his closeness to Donna Lass play any part?
There could be another answer in the words of Police Chief Ray Lauritzen; "We don't know where we're going to begin. There's a four or five foot pack of snow out there and it's still snowing heavily. There's no point to a search at this time. It's unlikely a victim would be uncovered before spring."  
The Zodiac did refer to snow in the 'Pines' card. His exact wording was "around in the snow," pasted at ground level and upside-down, possibly signifying that Donna had been buried, or placed under the snow. The snowfall was extremely heavy that winter, and it was "unlikely a victim would be uncovered before spring." Fitting then, that Zodiac contacted the newspapers on March 22nd 1971, just two days after the beginning of Spring.

With little progress in the Zodiac case, often we have to return to what we already know but examine it in more depth. The search for the Zodiac Killer has become wider as the years have passed, with ever more suspects being introduced into the fold, effectively diluting the identity of the real murderer. The bigger the haystack becomes, the harder the needle is to find.
One, if not the best clue in the Zodiac case, is the phone call he made from the intersection of Springs and Tuolumne at 12.40 am, on July 5th 1969, approximately 40 minutes after the attack at Blue Rock Springs Park, particularly in light of a journey that should have taken little more than 10 minutes. What did he do during this time period. We cannot rule out that he just sat in his vehicle for the entire duration, but if the killer lived nearby, then separating himself from the weapon and any blooded clothing, before making a risky phone call, appeared to be the sensible option. It has already been surmised that the killer may be local to the area, due to the fact he seemed aware that Blue Rock Springs Park and Lake Herman Road were a good place to target couples.
If the Zodiac Killer had lived in San Francisco, then he could have made this phone call anywhere en route back to his residence. There would appear little reason to sit closer to the crime scene than separate yourself from it, especially loaded down with incriminating evidence. The journey time back to San Francisco is approximately 40 minutes, with innumerable payphones on the way, thereby negating the logic of remaining in the danger zone, unless of course you lived in Vallejo and were determined to make a call to police no matter.    

Kim Rossmo, who pioneered the science of geographical profiling made an important observation that the killer exhibited target selection at Presidio Heights, as opposed to his first three crimes, where the location was the overriding consideration. If we believe the Zodiac Killer to be a resident of Vallejo or Benicia and less familiar with the San Francisco area, then control would be the order of the day and his 'search attempts' in alien surroundings are less certain. He could not afford to travel around looking for victims without designated prime locations and expect to escape with any surety, thereby he targeted the victim first and took him to a predetermined location, as opposed to the location being the prime requisite. In the Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs attacks, he frequented known locations to find a victim, whereas in San Francisco he searched for a victim and took him to a location. Kim Rossmo states that 'criminals who travel longer distances to offend are less likely to use uncertain target selection techniques'.
The Zodiac Killer knew Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs Park were secluded locations and knew that by cruising between these two areas he would eventually find his moment to strike, shrouded by the darkness and limited traffic. Using the software Rigel, Kim Rossmo entered various details in the Zodiac case, some of which were the murder locations, travel routes and phone calls and came up with some key areas of interest. These areas were [1] southeastern Napa County, including American Canyon and north Vallejo. [2] eastern Solano County, including east and north Vallejo, Mare Island and Benicia. [3] northern Contra Costa County, just south of the Carquinez Strait, including Crockett.
All of these areas are viable destinations to reach from Blue Rock Springs Park and back to the Springs and Tuolumne intersection in 40 minutes to make the phone call to police. This is great, but we need to narrow the field of view further and begin with the most likely first, before extending outward.     

In a recent re-examination of the Lake Herman Road murders, it was possible to open up the timeline of James Owen and Stella Borges to 12 minutes, to enable the Zodiac Killer to head to Vallejo after exiting the turnout and pass by the Borges Ranch before she entered Lake Herman Road in her vehicle. Michael Mageau stated the killer exited the Blue Rock Springs parking lot and headed in the direction of Ascot Parkway, Tennessee Street and Springs Road, so we could have the Zodiac approaching the same exit of Columbus Parkway on both occasions, heading in the direction of central Vallejo. However, with the many inconsistencies in Michael Mageau's testimony, we cannot be certain which direction the Zodiac traveled after leaving the parking lot.   
We know​ that killers employ a 'buffer zone' from their residence and we know that with increased confidence, a serial killer will move from their comfort zone further afield. Often though, their initial crimes start closer to home. This is why the Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs Park crimes, separated by only 3.9 miles, are of paramount importance.
Additionally both attacks fell on a Friday, which for somebody working a normal Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 job, would explain the lack of 'adventure', that was otherwise displayed at the Lake Berryessa and Presidio Heights attacks, which both fell on a Saturday. This is referred to as the 'least effort principle'.
There is one particular area of interest, that of northern Vallejo, we can examine for all the right reasons and also examine for all the wrong reasons.​        

The area of interest is denoted by the red circle in the diagram. The blue circle is the Springs and Tuolumne payphone.
This area of interest is 4.7 miles from Blue Rock Springs Park (10 minutes). This area is 4.1 miles from the payphone (10 minutes). The times are approximated based on the route. A murderer leaving Blue Rock Springs at 12.04 am at the latest, with 15 minutes to hide the weapon and clothes at home, and ready himself before returning to the payphone, would arrive to make the phone call at 12.39 am.
This area of interest is also in a direct line south from the 1231 Main Street, Napa payphone, only 12 miles away. It is situated 9 miles from Lake Herman Road.
In each case a reasonable 'buffer zone' is employed from the crime scene at Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs, and from both payphones, while still allowing the total journey time of 36-40 minutes to be achieved after the Blue Rock Springs crime.
But in all cases the 'buffer zone' is not too large either, it is a delicate balance.
Now we will focus on this area of interest for all the wrong reasons and the following must be taken with a huge pinch of salt.
Donna Ann Lass disappeared from the Sahara Tahoe Hotel and Casino on September 6th 1970, and was presumably highlighted by the Zodiac Killer in the March 22nd 1971 'Pines' card. The card itself indicated a location, thought to be the burial site of Donna Lass, but it was vague in nature, supplying what appeared to be directional markers. The text on the card read;   [1] 'Sierra Club'  [2] 'Sought Victim 12'  [3] 'Peek through the pines'  [4] 'pass Lake Tahoe areas'  [5] 'around in the snow' (pasted upside down). 
Two notable Sierra Club properties were identified. In a newspaper article it stated 'the site depicted on the 'Pines' Card was from an advertisement published last Sunday by several newspapers. It was an artist's rendition of houses among the trees at a project at Incline Village', located at 895 Tanager Street, Nevada. The other was Clair Tappaan Lodge at 19940 Donner Pass Rd, Norden, highlighted as a potential burial site and investigated by police officer Harvey Hines. An excavation of the site was performed but no body was unearthed. It has been stated that a pair of sunglasses, that may have belonged to Donna Lass were found, but this cannot be verified. The directions on the 'Pines' card, if from the Sahara Tahoe Hotel, seem to indicate that we have to pass some 'lake tahoe areas'. Traveling on the lake's western shore, along California State Route 89, brings us out by Truckee, only 2 miles from the Donner Memorial State Park, a few miles east of Clair Tappaan Lodge.
Here is an overhead view of Clair Tappaan Lodge on Google maps. Now let us drop to the roadside and 'peek through the pines' at Clair Tappaan Lodge.
Whether the Zodiac Killer was using a play on words, possibly bringing us out by the Donner Memorial State Park and suggesting she could be found in this area, only he knows. Or was his play on words suggestive of somewhere entirely different.  
As stated above, Clair Tappaan Lodge is situated alongside Donner Pass Road, but are we in the wrong place, and does the clue point towards a totally different area, somewhere we are much more familiar with. Somewhere only 4.7 miles from Blue Rock Springs Park. 

In a recent article we covered the disappearance of two casino workers from South Lake Tahoe in 1982. Julie Schossow (25) and Marilyn Putt (27), were found murdered several months later. Both victims worked as blackjack dealers at Harrah's Lake Tahoe Casino and were last seen leaving the Rendevouz Bar at Harrah's around midnight. This casino is only 359 meters from the Sahara Tahoe Hotel and Casino.

Less than seven years after the abduction and likely murder of Donna Lass (25), from the Sahara Casino on September 6th 1970 at around 1.45 am, another woman was abducted from the same location and later found murdered.
Brynn Rainey (27), who resided on Emerald Bay Road, was early for her 2.00 am graveyard shift as a Keno girl at the Sahara Casino on July 24th 1977. She popped into a local bar, the Bitter Creek Saloon, just prior to her shift. The bar was situated near the corner of Sandy Way and Takela Drive in South Lake Tahoe, only two miles from her workplace. The bartender remembered her that night. Unfortunately she was never seen alive again. Her body was discovered the following month in a shadow grave on a South Lake Tahoe horse riding area, referred to as the Stateline Stables. Her cause of death has been classified as undetermined. It is likely she was abducted somewhere between the Bitter Creek Saloon and the Sahara Tahoe Casino. 
To learn some more about this case, here is a three minute video on Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipW72rlecr8​

​http://www.cbsnews.com/womans-1977-cold-case-murder/
​http://www.zodiacciphers.com/wanda-gail-loe-disappearance1968

The Pines Card, often questioned on its authorship, was mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle on March 22nd 1971. Was this a Zodiac correspondence offering subtle hints to the disappearance of Donna Lass (25) from the Sahara Tahoe Hotel and Casino on September 6th 1970. If we traveled the 'lake tahoe areas' on the western shore of Lake Tahoe, we would arrive at Donna Pass and the Donner Memorial State Park on its northern edge, by Truckee, California. Could this be the final resting place of Donna Lass, buried 'in the snow.'
Two years earlier Wanda Gail Loe (26), similar in age to Donna Lass, disappeared from the Lake Tahoe region on July 27th 1968, five months prior to the Lake Herman Road murders. She worked at the Sunnyside Resort 1850 West Lake Boulevard in Placer County. The resort is 30 miles northwest of the Sahara Tahoe Hotel, now the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, where Donna Lass was last seen.
​Her boyfriend Dennis Finn allegedly made a drunken confession to the crime, according to his cousin, however ill feeling between the pair has cast huge doubt on his claims, and no evidence exists linking Dennis Finn to the crime. Later arrested and jailed for an unrelated crime, he committed suicide in 1992.
Were the disappearances of Donna Lass and Wanda Loe connected in any way, and if so, how relevant is the Zodiac Killer or Pines Card to either investigation.
The disappearances were two years apart, their ages were similar and they worked on the fringes of Lake Tahoe, only 30 miles apart. An officer involved in the Wanda Loe case, Sergeant Perea, believed she may be buried in the Carpenter Valley area, near Truckee. Carpenter Valley Road is a mere four miles from Donner Lake and Donner Pass Road.  

The following is not meant to indicate any Zodiac connection, but its locality in relation to the Donna Lass case is worthy of mention.  
Approximately eleven years after the disappearance of Donna Lass, on January 12th 1982, two young women, Julie Schossow (25) and Marilyn Putt (27),  disappeared from South Lake Tahoe. Their bodies were recovered several months later.
​On June 6th 1982 Marilyn Putt's body was found in the South Fork of the American River, one mile west of Chili Bar. The police press release stated “Her body 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 six to eight weeks prior to her body being found.” Julie Schossow was discovered only a short distance away on July 9th 1982. The women had been bound and strangled with a ligature. Both victims worked as blackjack dealers at Harrah's Lake Tahoe Casino and were last seen leaving the Rendevouz Bar at Harrah's around midnight. This casino is only 359 meters from the Sahara Tahoe Hotel and Casino, where Donna Lass had worked in 1970. Reports circled about a possible interaction with some men, indicating that the women may have traveled with them to the Bay Area, although this is unsubstantiated.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO5PxH6rFeE
​http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/news/information-sought-in-1982-south-lake-tahoe-killings/
​http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?309900-CA-Julie-Schossow-25-amp-Marilyn-Putt-27-S-Lake-Tahoe-12-Jan-1982

There have remained questions over the authenticity of the '13 Hole' postcard mailed on October 5th 1970, particularly in light of the author claiming 13 victims for a second time. However this may be the very reason the postcard is genuine Zodiac material. The 'Little List' letter claiming 13 victims, mailed by the Zodiac on July 26th 1970, was withheld from publication and not released until the San Francisco Chronicle released an article on October 12th 1970. So the Zodiac Killer by October 5th 1970 was either under the impression the 'Little List' letter was being withheld or had gone astray, hence a further communication reiterating 13 victims. There is something more important about this postcard that has yet to be fully explained, the reasoning behind the 'Fk' abbreviation, believed by some to be an expletive, but the answer may be much closer to home, bearing hallmarks of the Cheri Jo Bates murder in Riverside four years earlier.    

The Zodiac Killer has been argued to be responsible for the abduction and possible murder of Donna Ann Lass from outside the Sahara Tahoe Hotel and Casino on September 6th 1970. The 13 Hole Postcard was mailed twenty nine days later, so wouldn't it make more sense for this postcard to be somehow related, as the '13 Symbol' cipher correspondence mailed on April 20th 1970 should be related to the Kathleen Johns abduction on March 22nd 1970, in line with his earlier crimes and correspondence. 
In both instances a woman was seized against her will, and in both instances the following communication implied money. "I am mildly cerous as to how much money you have on my head now," and "There are reports city police pig cops are closeing in on me. Fk I'm crackproof. What is the price tag now?"
The Zodiac sent three coded segments in three letters on July 31st 1969 to the San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco Chronicle and Vallejo-Times Herald, giving details of the first two crimes to police. The Zodiac Killer seemingly though still had a lot to prove to Police Chief Jack E Stiltz, who was less than satisfied that the letter writer and killer were one and the same. On Saturday August 2nd 1969 in the San Francisco Chronicle he requested the writer send a second letter "with more facts to prove it." Another Zodiac article featured the following day on Sunday August 3rd 1969 in the San Francisco Examiner. Jack E Stiltz was 'still not convinced the letters and codes were written by the actual killer.' The police chief 'urged the writer to send more letters, with more facts to prove his connections to the crimes.'
The Zodiac responded immediately, detailing the Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs attacks with greater clarity. He did exactly the same thing in the 'Bus Bomb' letter mailed on November 9th 1969, outlining his excursion into Presidio Park, when challenged by Chief of Police Martin Lee.
The question remained, was the '13 Hole' postcard a response to the disappearance of Donna Lass.
Shortly after her disappearance, somebody rang her landlord and the casino to report Donna Lass had been called out to attend a family emergency. This in all likelihood was used to buy time, knowing that police will question family and friends first, before spreading their net wider afield. It appears the perpetrator may have known Donna Lass or was somehow connected to her. So to avoid any incriminating searches, the phone call may have been implemented to afford some breathing space.
Additionally, it has become apparent she walked to work that evening from a previous residence, so her car was never parked outside the casino that night. If the perpetrator knew Donna Lass and the vehicle she drove, then a phone call to the casino, implying she had been called out of town for a family emergency and would be away from work for a period, would be negated if her Chevrolet Camaro convertible was spotted sitting idle in the car park of the casino for any extended period. This may suggest she was carefully tracked that evening and the crime planned in advance. Was the killer close enough to Donna Lass to know her family lived in Beresford, South Dakota and the phone call had a better chance of buying time under these circumstances. The perpetrator also appeared to be fully aware of her shift details, as she vanished moments after changing from her nurses uniform into regular clothes.
The San Francisco Chronicle ran an article on the missing Donna Lass on September 26th 1970 entitled 'Nurse Vanishes...A Tahoe Mystery.'  It stated "As the absence lengthened hotel officials contacted the South Lake Tahoe Police, who checked her apartment and could find no clue to her whereabouts. Relatives in Sioux Falls flew here a week ago."
So I suppose Zodiac's paraphrasing of the Mikado on July 26th 1970 stating "none of them will be missed", partly rang true, in the sense it bought him valuable time. The idea the Zodiac knew Donna Lass, has its origin from the Letterman General Hospital, San Francisco, situated in the Presidio Park, the occupation she held prior to arriving in South Lake Tahoe just months earlier.          

The family after arriving in South Lake Tahoe would undoubtedly go through the usual appeals for information on the missing woman and although the family would eventually offer a reward for any information, this came in early 1971 in the form of a cryptic poster and a 500 dollar reward. They also hired a private detective in the weeks after she vanished. What exact media appeals ensued in the month of September after her disappearance and to what extent, can only be imagined, but it could be argued the Zodiac clearly got wind of it.  Nine days after the San Francisco Chronicle article, the '13 Hole' postcard landed on their doorstep.
​This takes us back to "There are reports city police pig cops are closeing in on me. Fk I'm crackproof. What is the price tag now?" Could the killer, aware of the family's appeals to the media have responded personally. The thought has crossed many peoples minds that Fk may be somebody's initials. Had a police officer been quoted or a newspaper reporter written an article about the Zodiac Killer, suggesting the net was closing, and this was his response, using the initials of the said person to reply. However, trawling every article on the Zodiac Killer has failed to throw up any possible name that fits with the initials, suggesting it may be wrong.
Gregory Haugevik, a Zodiac enthusiast, pointed out that the 'k' was not capitalized, pouring serious doubts on the idea, unless of course the author simply had no capital 'K' to hand when pasting the card. Or in some subtle way, the lower case 'k' he used was a clue to the identity of the person he was addressing.
The following may very well be incorrect, but this postcard was the first correspondence mailed by the Zodiac Killer after the disappearance of Donna Lass and as stated above, it was mailed only nine days after the San Francisco Chronicle article, so in the absence of any reporter or police officer, is it likely the killer could be addressing the family of Donna Lass, in his usual taunting manner. Donna Lass' father was James Lass and the maiden name of her mother was Frances Kukar, to become Frances Lass upon marriage.
"There are reports city police pig cops are closeing in on me. Frances Kukar, I'm crackproof. What is the price tag now?"   
If the Zodiac Killer was aware of the maiden name, it may suggest him to be closer, or have a lot more knowledge about the family than we dare to imagine, projecting a sinister overtone upon the card. On the other hand 'Fk' could simply mean F@@k.      

Another crime on the fringes of the Zodiac story was the likely abduction and murder of Donna Ann Lass from the Sahara Tahoe Hotel and Casino on September 6th 1970. Planning to meet her friend Jo Anne Goettsche immediately after her shift at 2.00 am, the only telltale sign that she had been interrupted, was a pen mark trailing off her log book, estimated at fifteen minutes to the hour. She had left her 1968 Chevrolet Camaro at the Monte Verdi Apartments and traveled to work from her previous residence by foot to begin her shift, planning to ride home to the new flat with her friend, but unfortunately this meeting never happened and the young 25 year old woman was never seen again. This was Labor Day weekend, but obviously Donna Lass not returning to work in the following days would have aroused concern, ultimately circumvented by an anonymous caller ringing her employer, stating Donna Lass had been called to a family emergency.  

But what does the phone call tell us about the perpetrator/s.
It seems on the face of it to suggest the phone caller is buying time. They appear not to want any police involvement immediately, and since family, friends and associates are usually the first port of call for investigating officers, this is who would benefit most from any investigative delay.
The perpetrator/s most likely had a vehicle parked outside the Sahara Tahoe Hotel, Abducting a woman at a busy casino and hotel by dragging her away on foot is extremely unlikely and far too risky. Whatever happened subsequent to this is in the realm of speculation, but one reason to want to buy time in the following days, can be attributed to a forensic standpoint. Had Donna Lass been taken to a second location connected to the abductor, or attacked within the confines of the assailant's vehicle leaving trace evidence, then clearly this provides good reason for the perpetrator to want the clean up before the police come knocking. A murder distinct and separate, leaving nothing of forensic value to connect to the perpetrator, does not necessitate the further risk of identification through a phone call. The phone call itself provides another clue. If Donna Lass had driven to work on the day in question, her car would have been laying dormant in the casino car park, so an anonymous caller claiming she had been called out of town on family business, could easily have raised suspicion from her employers, and simply negated the caller's intention of buying time. In fact it would have had the opposite effect. The same could be said regarding the landlord of the Monte Verdi Apartments, if the landlord was familiar with her vehicle or was regularly present on site.                    

It would also suggest the abductor was not aware of Donna's intention to meet her friend Jo Ann Goettsche that night, as she could easily have raised concern about Donna's non appearance. Was the abductor familiar enough with Donna's movements that day, that told him she had not traveled to work in her vehicle that evening. She also disappeared close to the end of her shift, having already changed from her nurses uniform into her casual clothes, another convenient circumstance for the abductor. Had she vanished from her post, let's say, hours earlier, her disappearance would have certainly raised more eyebrows, indicating the abductor likely had some knowledge of Donna Lass prior to September 6th 1970, negating the idea this was a random perpetrator. The abduction of Donna Lass has all the hallmarks of a planned abduction, by somebody familiar with the young woman, her vehicle and her 'clocking off' time. And more importantly, somebody who needs to keep the police off their doorstep for as long as possible.
Her Chevrolet Camaro parked outside her Monte Verdi Apartments and the apartment itself, showed no signs of foul play or disturbance. The likelihood is she disappeared from the vicinity of the casino at around 1.45 -1.50 am and unlikely from her nurses station, as this would have attracted too much attention. As Zodiac researcher Raymond Grant has already stated, the likeliest scenario, is Donna Lass was enticed away from her work station close to the end of her shift in a planned abduction, performed under the guise of a medical emergency, that not only explains the abrupt pen mark trailing off her log book, but is the perfect ruse to necessitate her separation from the confines of the building and into the darkness. She is bundled into the abductor's vehicle with relative ease and is never seen again.            

Apart from the four confirmed Zodiac attacks, the Bay Area killer would also indicate his involvement in the Richard Radetich murder, Cheri Jo Bates stabbing and Kathleen Johns abduction, however here he doesn't specifically attach himself to the crime, just the locality of the crime, some six and a half months after the fact.
The phone call after the Donna Lass abduction is not unusual to Zodiac and neither is the mailed correspondence, but the nature of the crime is, along with the purpose of the phone call. His previous two phone calls were designed for menace and taunting, whereas this call had the sole design to create breathing space, indicative of somebody connected to the victim and area. Of course Zodiac could have been resident in the area, known Donna Lass and been the abductor. But from what we know of Zodiac's confirmed attacks, by all accounts, he attacked strangers at a specific location and never abducted them.
The phone call in the case of Donna Lass was designed to misdirect for a reason, and quite possibly the Pines Card was mailed for the same purpose;- the first to delay the focus and the second to take the focus away. This time the perfect fall guy would be Zodiac, but one killer may have been responsible for both and it may not be the killer we have been tracking for nearly fifty years.