March 22nd 1970 Kathleen Johns was supposedly abducted by the Zodiac Killer on March 22nd 1970, but what really happened on Highway 132 late that night? The first thing to examine is the very beginning when Kathleen accepted a lift from a complete stranger.
In the Robert Graysmith book, in her first contact with the man on Highway 132 she said "he seemed like a reliable person. Nobody that looked in anyway freaky", and continued "I really wouldn't have gotten in his car if I had had any bad vibes about it." It is therefore unusual that as they pulled away she remembered that she had left her keys in the ignition of her 1957 Chevrolet, which the man offered to and ultimately retrieved for her. According to the book "the man went back to the car, snapped off the lights and pocketed the keys". If Kathleen Johns had observed this, then why wouldn't she simply ask the man for the keys when he returned, after all, he seemed amiable up to this point? These keys were never recovered from the burnt out vehicle or from Kathleen Johns.
In most crimes, particularly regarding eyewitness testimony, it is imperative to retrieve information while memories are stronger. Often years later, such as the Robert Graysmith book 'Zodiac', memories have often faded or have become embellished with fiction as our minds attempt to fill in the gaps. So let us take a look at the police report detailing the interview with Kathleen Johns immediately following the abduction in the early hours of March 23rd 1970. It states the complainant approximated the beginning of the abduction at 11:15 pm, followed by a one, to one and a half hour drive around the outskirts of Tracy, CA, before she managed to escape into a nearby field back alongside Highway 132. According to Robert Graysmith, a semi-truck arrived and forced her abductor to drive off into the night, followed a short time later by "some people from Missouri" who drove Kathleen to Patterson Police Station, located approximately 20 minutes away from Highway 132 and recorded by the Sheriff's Department at 2:30 am.
This, however, places a serious strain on the timeline. Even a 90 minute abduction, a 20 minute journey to the police station and an extra 15 minutes thrown in for good measure, giving a total of 125 minutes (2 hours and 5 minutes), leaves us a heavy shortfall. An 11:15 pm abduction, plus 125 minutes, takes us to 1:20 am, not 2:30 am as recorded on the police statement. This has subsequently been padded out in the Robert Graysmith book to an abduction occurring close to midnight and an abduction lasting 2-3 hours, a massive change from the original police report that only sears holes in the validity of this account, or at the very least raises serious questions.
It seems inconceivable that a young woman would torch her own vehicle in the early hours of a cold March 23rd 1970 in the middle of nowhere, endangering not only herself and the lives of her unborn child and 10-month-old daughter Jennifer, to concoct a story of abduction, particularly at the hands of the Zodiac Killer. To deliberately interject herself into the Zodiac story for material gain would rely heavily on the Zodiac sketch being conveniently displayed on the wall of the Patterson Police Station for her to say "that's the man who abducted me", and presumably a police station she had previously never visited.
In the Robert Graysmith book, in her first contact with the man on Highway 132 she said "he seemed like a reliable person. Nobody that looked in anyway freaky", and continued "I really wouldn't have gotten in his car if I had had any bad vibes about it." It is therefore unusual that as they pulled away she remembered that she had left her keys in the ignition of her 1957 Chevrolet, which the man offered to and ultimately retrieved for her. According to the book "the man went back to the car, snapped off the lights and pocketed the keys". If Kathleen Johns had observed this, then why wouldn't she simply ask the man for the keys when he returned, after all, he seemed amiable up to this point? These keys were never recovered from the burnt out vehicle or from Kathleen Johns.
In most crimes, particularly regarding eyewitness testimony, it is imperative to retrieve information while memories are stronger. Often years later, such as the Robert Graysmith book 'Zodiac', memories have often faded or have become embellished with fiction as our minds attempt to fill in the gaps. So let us take a look at the police report detailing the interview with Kathleen Johns immediately following the abduction in the early hours of March 23rd 1970. It states the complainant approximated the beginning of the abduction at 11:15 pm, followed by a one, to one and a half hour drive around the outskirts of Tracy, CA, before she managed to escape into a nearby field back alongside Highway 132. According to Robert Graysmith, a semi-truck arrived and forced her abductor to drive off into the night, followed a short time later by "some people from Missouri" who drove Kathleen to Patterson Police Station, located approximately 20 minutes away from Highway 132 and recorded by the Sheriff's Department at 2:30 am.
This, however, places a serious strain on the timeline. Even a 90 minute abduction, a 20 minute journey to the police station and an extra 15 minutes thrown in for good measure, giving a total of 125 minutes (2 hours and 5 minutes), leaves us a heavy shortfall. An 11:15 pm abduction, plus 125 minutes, takes us to 1:20 am, not 2:30 am as recorded on the police statement. This has subsequently been padded out in the Robert Graysmith book to an abduction occurring close to midnight and an abduction lasting 2-3 hours, a massive change from the original police report that only sears holes in the validity of this account, or at the very least raises serious questions.
It seems inconceivable that a young woman would torch her own vehicle in the early hours of a cold March 23rd 1970 in the middle of nowhere, endangering not only herself and the lives of her unborn child and 10-month-old daughter Jennifer, to concoct a story of abduction, particularly at the hands of the Zodiac Killer. To deliberately interject herself into the Zodiac story for material gain would rely heavily on the Zodiac sketch being conveniently displayed on the wall of the Patterson Police Station for her to say "that's the man who abducted me", and presumably a police station she had previously never visited.
Click here to view police reports. Interviewing Officer Charles McNatt would describe Kathleen Johns as screaming and hysterical, which no doubt she would be after her terrifying ordeal: "On the morning of 23rd March 1970, at about 02:30 hours Mrs Kathleen Johns was brought to the Patterson Police Department in a hysterical condition". All the more strange then, that the "people from Missouri" who picked her up, failed to accompany her into the police station to give her some moral support, particularly after going out of their way and driving her 20 minutes to the police station in the first place.
The depiction of this crime in many documentaries has led us to believe that Kathleen Johns wheel came off after being sabotaged by a 'good Samaritan', but there is no evidence to corroborate this. In fact, the opposite is true. In the police report it states that Mr Reed of 'Reed and Son Towing Services' found that "the right rear wheel had had only two lug bolts on it and both of these lug bolts were very loose. Mr Reed advised that he took two of the lug bolts from the right front wheel and put them on the back wheel and tightened the lug bolts up prior to towing the vehicle to his shop on Highway 50". The responsible had loosened the lug bolts but the wheel never actually detached from her vehicle - and Mr Reed makes no mention of retrieving a wheel along with its missing lug nuts, and reattaching it to Kathleen Johns car. The only thing that flew off her vehicle was the hubcap, dislodged by the instability of the wheel. A hubcap was later retrieved and dusted for fingerprints.
Another thing that did not happen that night, are claims that her vehicle was found burnt out at a different location to where she was abducted. This is a fiction straight from the book of Robert Graysmith. If we take a look at passages from the 'Zodiac' book, it states that Kathleen Johns was offered a lift "not more than a quarter of a mile away was an ARCO service station". Kathleen, according to Robert Graysmith's book, had been pulled over by the edge of Maze Road near Interstate 5. Deputy Lovett was incorrect in stating the vehicle was found 2 miles east of Interstate 5, but was corrected in Detective Bauer's report which indicated the burnt vehicle was located west of Interstate 5, further confirmed by Mr Reed from 'Reed and Son Towing Services' stating he "towed the vehicle in from Highway 132, just east of Bird Road". East of Bird Road is west of Interstate 5. See here on Google Maps. If we drop down to street level we see the vineyards that Kathleen Johns eventually escaped into, meaning she actually ended up in very close proximity to where she was abducted.
The depiction of this crime in many documentaries has led us to believe that Kathleen Johns wheel came off after being sabotaged by a 'good Samaritan', but there is no evidence to corroborate this. In fact, the opposite is true. In the police report it states that Mr Reed of 'Reed and Son Towing Services' found that "the right rear wheel had had only two lug bolts on it and both of these lug bolts were very loose. Mr Reed advised that he took two of the lug bolts from the right front wheel and put them on the back wheel and tightened the lug bolts up prior to towing the vehicle to his shop on Highway 50". The responsible had loosened the lug bolts but the wheel never actually detached from her vehicle - and Mr Reed makes no mention of retrieving a wheel along with its missing lug nuts, and reattaching it to Kathleen Johns car. The only thing that flew off her vehicle was the hubcap, dislodged by the instability of the wheel. A hubcap was later retrieved and dusted for fingerprints.
Another thing that did not happen that night, are claims that her vehicle was found burnt out at a different location to where she was abducted. This is a fiction straight from the book of Robert Graysmith. If we take a look at passages from the 'Zodiac' book, it states that Kathleen Johns was offered a lift "not more than a quarter of a mile away was an ARCO service station". Kathleen, according to Robert Graysmith's book, had been pulled over by the edge of Maze Road near Interstate 5. Deputy Lovett was incorrect in stating the vehicle was found 2 miles east of Interstate 5, but was corrected in Detective Bauer's report which indicated the burnt vehicle was located west of Interstate 5, further confirmed by Mr Reed from 'Reed and Son Towing Services' stating he "towed the vehicle in from Highway 132, just east of Bird Road". East of Bird Road is west of Interstate 5. See here on Google Maps. If we drop down to street level we see the vineyards that Kathleen Johns eventually escaped into, meaning she actually ended up in very close proximity to where she was abducted.
Click to enter Google Maps On the left we see the approximate location of the ARCO service station (marked in red) and the location of Kathleen Johns burnt out vehicle (marked in blue), both west of Interstate 5. In fact, in Robert Graysmith's book, Kathleen Johns describes seeing the ARCO sevice station in the distance, "not more than a quarter of a mile away", when in fact it was over two miles away.
If Deputy Lovett was correct in stating the vehicle was found 2 miles east of Interstate 5, then Kathleen Johns would have been pulled over by her assailant nearly 5 miles from the ARCO station and clearly out of visible range.
As Gian Quasar points out in the excellent Quester Files here: "when she escaped from “The ZODIAC” into the fields she plainly described them as vineyards (Graysmith). The only vineyards around 132 are at Bird Road. They are still there today. The only thing Johns has ever been able to clearly describe is the immediate area of where she initially stopped. No other place." The police report stated "Mrs Johns then got to a roadway or highway, this part is not clear to undersigned or to the Stanislaus Deputy, Mr Lovett, but finally did get back on highway or near Highway 132, where she was given a ride by some people from Missouri".
In essence, the abductor took Kathleen Johns on a 1-2 hour journey around the outskirts of Tracy, before eventually returning her to exactly the same location she was abducted, where her vehicle was burnt out and where she escaped into the vineyards. Of all the places to escape, just where your car was originally left. That could be interpreted as cynical, but it begs the question that something about this story doesn't sit well, as it contains so many inconsistencies that all cannot be attributed to hysteria. Since Kathleen Johns was discovered by the vineyards of Bird Road close to where her vehicle was 'abandoned', there is no way the abductor could have driven immediately from this location to her vehicle and set it ablaze, as this would have been noticed by, not only Kathleen Johns, but by the occupants of the vehicle that rescued her, who obviously were traveling along Highway 132 before spotting the semi-truck and the stricken Johns. There was clearly no mention of her vehicle being on fire in the police report prior to its discovery by Deputy Lovett. This can only mean one thing - that Zodiac was likely observing from a distance until the rescue and removal of Kathleen Johns from the area, before he torched her vehicle.
The Zodiac Killer would eventually lay claim to the abduction on July 24th 1970: "This is the Zodiac speaking.
I am rather unhappy because you people will not wear some nice ( Zodiac symbol inserted ) buttons. So now I have a little list, starting with that woeman + her baby that I gave a rather intersting ride for a coupple howers one evening a few months back that ended in my burning her car where I found them". But was it really Zodiac?
Possible timeline;
11.15 pm- Kathleen Johns flagged down by suspect.
11.20 pm- Kathleen Johns accepts lift from suspect.
01.50 am- After 2 hours and 30 minutes driving around Tracy, CA, Kathleen Johns escapes into vineyard.
01.55 am- Semi-truck arrives, Kathleen Johns reluctant to seek help from the male driver.
02.00 am- Second vehicle arrives with female occupant and rescues Kathleen Johns.
02.30 am- Kathleen Johns arrives at Patterson PD.
03.00 am- Deputy Lovett locates smoldering vehicle of Kathleen Johns.
If Deputy Lovett was correct in stating the vehicle was found 2 miles east of Interstate 5, then Kathleen Johns would have been pulled over by her assailant nearly 5 miles from the ARCO station and clearly out of visible range.
As Gian Quasar points out in the excellent Quester Files here: "when she escaped from “The ZODIAC” into the fields she plainly described them as vineyards (Graysmith). The only vineyards around 132 are at Bird Road. They are still there today. The only thing Johns has ever been able to clearly describe is the immediate area of where she initially stopped. No other place." The police report stated "Mrs Johns then got to a roadway or highway, this part is not clear to undersigned or to the Stanislaus Deputy, Mr Lovett, but finally did get back on highway or near Highway 132, where she was given a ride by some people from Missouri".
In essence, the abductor took Kathleen Johns on a 1-2 hour journey around the outskirts of Tracy, before eventually returning her to exactly the same location she was abducted, where her vehicle was burnt out and where she escaped into the vineyards. Of all the places to escape, just where your car was originally left. That could be interpreted as cynical, but it begs the question that something about this story doesn't sit well, as it contains so many inconsistencies that all cannot be attributed to hysteria. Since Kathleen Johns was discovered by the vineyards of Bird Road close to where her vehicle was 'abandoned', there is no way the abductor could have driven immediately from this location to her vehicle and set it ablaze, as this would have been noticed by, not only Kathleen Johns, but by the occupants of the vehicle that rescued her, who obviously were traveling along Highway 132 before spotting the semi-truck and the stricken Johns. There was clearly no mention of her vehicle being on fire in the police report prior to its discovery by Deputy Lovett. This can only mean one thing - that Zodiac was likely observing from a distance until the rescue and removal of Kathleen Johns from the area, before he torched her vehicle.
The Zodiac Killer would eventually lay claim to the abduction on July 24th 1970: "This is the Zodiac speaking.
I am rather unhappy because you people will not wear some nice ( Zodiac symbol inserted ) buttons. So now I have a little list, starting with that woeman + her baby that I gave a rather intersting ride for a coupple howers one evening a few months back that ended in my burning her car where I found them". But was it really Zodiac?
Possible timeline;
11.15 pm- Kathleen Johns flagged down by suspect.
11.20 pm- Kathleen Johns accepts lift from suspect.
01.50 am- After 2 hours and 30 minutes driving around Tracy, CA, Kathleen Johns escapes into vineyard.
01.55 am- Semi-truck arrives, Kathleen Johns reluctant to seek help from the male driver.
02.00 am- Second vehicle arrives with female occupant and rescues Kathleen Johns.
02.30 am- Kathleen Johns arrives at Patterson PD.
03.00 am- Deputy Lovett locates smoldering vehicle of Kathleen Johns.
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