DONNA ANN LASS (25) In many previous articles I have described how the Zodiac Killer may have sourced information from newspapers in the distant past, by periodically trawling through collections stored on microfiche in the library. Threats to school buses at Incline Village in Lake Tahoe in November and December of 1969 were received from somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer, long before the "Pines" card was mailed on March 22nd 1971, pasted with an advertisement from Incline Village. This opens up the possibility that the Zodiac Killer may have had a connection to the Lake Tahoe region in Nevada prior to the disappearance of Donna Lass on September 6th 1970 from the Sahara Tahoe Hotel & Casino. Her skull (according to the certificate of death) was found in a drainage ditch by two PG&E workers near the Drum Canal crossing at Emigrant Gap on July 31st 1986, but not identified as her until December 27th 2023 through familial DNA.
If the Zodiac Killer was her murderer, it is unlikely he would be buying newspapers regularly from this region spanning 1970 to 1986 to see if any remains had been found in the general area he had dumped (or buried) her body, but it is not inconceivable that he may have occasionally visited a library and performed targetted searches over several months to see if any body parts had been found in the approximate location he disposed of Donna Lass. If the Zodiac Killer had placed her body in the surrounding area by Lake Spaulding, then any remains reported in the newspapers mentioning body parts found around the lake, such as Emigrant Gap, Yuba Gap or Yuba Pass, could be understood by the Zodiac Killer to be the remains of Donna Lass, even if they weren't. If he had found the two newspaper articles from the Auburn Journal on January 2nd 1986 and Roseville Press-Tribune on January 23rd 1986, reporting the finding of a jawbone and skull by Yuba Gap, it would be understandable that he drew the conclusion these were the remains of Donna Lass.
If the Zodiac Killer was her murderer, it is unlikely he would be buying newspapers regularly from this region spanning 1970 to 1986 to see if any remains had been found in the general area he had dumped (or buried) her body, but it is not inconceivable that he may have occasionally visited a library and performed targetted searches over several months to see if any body parts had been found in the approximate location he disposed of Donna Lass. If the Zodiac Killer had placed her body in the surrounding area by Lake Spaulding, then any remains reported in the newspapers mentioning body parts found around the lake, such as Emigrant Gap, Yuba Gap or Yuba Pass, could be understood by the Zodiac Killer to be the remains of Donna Lass, even if they weren't. If he had found the two newspaper articles from the Auburn Journal on January 2nd 1986 and Roseville Press-Tribune on January 23rd 1986, reporting the finding of a jawbone and skull by Yuba Gap, it would be understandable that he drew the conclusion these were the remains of Donna Lass.
Roseville Press-Tribune, January 23rd 1986 This is what makes the timing of the Zodiac Killer's May 6th 1986 letter so very interesting, coming 5 years and 2 months after he mailed the "Atlanta" letter in 1981 - and the first known letter to the San Francisco Chronicle after a hiatus of 8 years, arriving just over three months after the body parts were discovered by Yuba Gap and reported in the newspapers. The Roseville Press-Tribune newspaper article on January 23rd 1986 read "The skull was found by a sheriff's search party headed by Deputy Lowell Carleton, who used scent dogs in looking for remains of the body believed to have been murdered elsewhere and dumped in the Yuba Gap area". The 1986 letter stated "The body count is growing now 100+ all over the state of Ca and Na" (but almost certainly meant "Nv" for Nevada). The Sahara Tahoe Hotel & Casino, where Donna was last reported seen, was in Nevada. The area around Lake Spaulding is in California. Hence why the Zodiac Killer felt the need to mention both the states of Nevada and California, to indicate he was referring to Donna Lass.
If the skull of Donna Lass was found by Emigrant Gap on July 31st 1986 by two PG&E workers, it is clear that the jawbone and skull found by Deputy Lowell Carleton and his search party on December 31st 1985 and January 19th 1986 did not belong to Donna Lass. But the Zodiac Killer would not have known this when he wrote the May 6th 1986 letter. However, he most certainly would have been aware that Yuba Gap in the area of Lake Spaulding was pertinent to the location of Donna Lass' remains, had he been the one that murdered and disposed of her. He may have mistakenly believed that the two finds on December 31st 1985 and January 19th 1986 were body parts belonging to Donna Lass, and why he chose his words carefully on May 6th 1986, writing "The body count is growing now 100+ all over the state of Ca and Nv" (corrected). The fact that the Zodiac Killer added the state of Nevada to his communications for the first time in 17 years, just three months after these remains were found in the general area where Donna's skull was ultimately found on July 31st 1986, is extremely unusual timing. Especially when you consider that Donna was last seen at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel & Casino in Nevada, and was almost certainly the person referenced in the 1971 "Pines" card by the Zodiac Killer.
If the skull of Donna Lass was found by Emigrant Gap on July 31st 1986 by two PG&E workers, it is clear that the jawbone and skull found by Deputy Lowell Carleton and his search party on December 31st 1985 and January 19th 1986 did not belong to Donna Lass. But the Zodiac Killer would not have known this when he wrote the May 6th 1986 letter. However, he most certainly would have been aware that Yuba Gap in the area of Lake Spaulding was pertinent to the location of Donna Lass' remains, had he been the one that murdered and disposed of her. He may have mistakenly believed that the two finds on December 31st 1985 and January 19th 1986 were body parts belonging to Donna Lass, and why he chose his words carefully on May 6th 1986, writing "The body count is growing now 100+ all over the state of Ca and Nv" (corrected). The fact that the Zodiac Killer added the state of Nevada to his communications for the first time in 17 years, just three months after these remains were found in the general area where Donna's skull was ultimately found on July 31st 1986, is extremely unusual timing. Especially when you consider that Donna was last seen at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel & Casino in Nevada, and was almost certainly the person referenced in the 1971 "Pines" card by the Zodiac Killer.
THE 1986 LETTER TO THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
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