Mrs. Dorothy Cullison stated that she observed Donna Lass (who she recognised from a later photograph) in the company of a clean shaven, blonde haired man traveling southbound on Pioneer Trail Road away from the Tahoe Bottle Shop at 3950 Lake Tahoe Blvd, South Lake Tahoe on September 7th 1970 at about 3pm to 4pm. Of course, she could have been mistaken, but the location would have been relevant to Donna Lass as she lived nearby, having just moved into the Monte Verdi apartments at 3893 Pioneer Trail Road. The location described by Mrs. Dorothy Cullison would have placed Donna Lass just 650 feet from her home residence
According to the private investigator's report, friend of Donna Lass, Jo Anne Goettsche, was planning to meet her on the night of September 7th 1970 at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel & Casino, making contact with security guard George Victor Jonasson and asking of Donna's whereabouts through until 4:00am on September 8th 1970. If both of these recollections were correct, then something prevented Donna Lass from meeting Jo Anne Goettsche between approximately 4pm and the night of September 7th 1970. This ties in with the suspicious phone call from a "Mr. Davis" the following day (September 8th), which was previously argued to be from the killer of Donna Lass, who knew her well enough to know the name of her landlord. Did the man accompanying Donna Lass also live at the Monte Verdi apartments, or was it possible he was just walking her home? Their route along Pioneer Trail Road had them heading towards the Monte Verdi apartment complex, but this wasn't the only pertinent address along this road.
According to the private investigator's report, Donna Lass dated a waiter at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel & Casino called Tony Chapman, who testified that he never REALLY dated Donna Lass, although he did have drinks with her after work until 5am, and had "taken her out" at least three times but never kissed her. Tony Chapman's address was also located close to Pioneer Trail Road, 4,260 feet beyond the Monte Verdi apartments at 3608 Terry Lane. He stated he hadn't seen Donna Lass since September 2nd 1970, when he, Donna and Vern Lauflin had a drink after work. Was this the individual seen walking with Donna Lass by Mrs. Dorothy Cullison on September 7th 1970, heading in the direction of the Monte Verdi apartments or 3608 Terry Lane? It would certainly be interesting to discover if Tony Chapman was a clean shaven, blonde haired individual. Despite this, Mrs. Dorothy Cullison couldn't state conclusively that her sighting was Labor Day weekend, so we cannot put all our eggs in this basket.
According to the private investigator's report, friend of Donna Lass, Jo Anne Goettsche, was planning to meet her on the night of September 7th 1970 at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel & Casino, making contact with security guard George Victor Jonasson and asking of Donna's whereabouts through until 4:00am on September 8th 1970. If both of these recollections were correct, then something prevented Donna Lass from meeting Jo Anne Goettsche between approximately 4pm and the night of September 7th 1970. This ties in with the suspicious phone call from a "Mr. Davis" the following day (September 8th), which was previously argued to be from the killer of Donna Lass, who knew her well enough to know the name of her landlord. Did the man accompanying Donna Lass also live at the Monte Verdi apartments, or was it possible he was just walking her home? Their route along Pioneer Trail Road had them heading towards the Monte Verdi apartment complex, but this wasn't the only pertinent address along this road.
According to the private investigator's report, Donna Lass dated a waiter at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel & Casino called Tony Chapman, who testified that he never REALLY dated Donna Lass, although he did have drinks with her after work until 5am, and had "taken her out" at least three times but never kissed her. Tony Chapman's address was also located close to Pioneer Trail Road, 4,260 feet beyond the Monte Verdi apartments at 3608 Terry Lane. He stated he hadn't seen Donna Lass since September 2nd 1970, when he, Donna and Vern Lauflin had a drink after work. Was this the individual seen walking with Donna Lass by Mrs. Dorothy Cullison on September 7th 1970, heading in the direction of the Monte Verdi apartments or 3608 Terry Lane? It would certainly be interesting to discover if Tony Chapman was a clean shaven, blonde haired individual. Despite this, Mrs. Dorothy Cullison couldn't state conclusively that her sighting was Labor Day weekend, so we cannot put all our eggs in this basket.
If Donna Lass was murdered in the region of Pioneer Trail Road, her killer certainly felt the need to create great distance from the murder site to the location her body was ultimately found in 1986. Despite innumerable, secluded wooded areas being available to dispose of a body en route to Camp Spaulding and Yuba Gap, our killer selected a location popular with campers, fishermen and hikers. This doesn't seem like the quickest and most obvious choice to dispose of a body, unless it's a location that the killer felt comfortable with because he had previous knowledge of this area. Killers will often select dumping sites based on previous experience. If the killer of Donna Lass is ever identified, I expect it to be a young man closely associated with Donna Lass through her work or the Monte Verdi apartment complex, who had previously spent some of his time in the region of Camp Spaulding, Lake Spaulding and Lake Valley Reservoir. On the other hand, I could be completely wrong.
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