Brynn Rainey (27) Joseph Stephen Holt was identified in 2019 through DNA to be responsible for the murders of Brynn Rainey (27) in 1977 and Carol Ann Andersen (16) in 1979, both in South Lake Tahoe. Unfortunately he had already died in 2014 so he escaped justice.
Brynn Rainey had headed to work on Sunday, July 24th 1977 at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel for her 2am shift, when she decided to stop off at the Bittercreek Saloon close to Sandy Way and Takela Drive at approximately 10:00pm. This was the last time she was seen alive, being found strangled at Sunset Stables a month later. So had she been abducted as she traveled to the Sahara Tahoe Hotel, the reverse of Donna Lass on September 6th 1970, who some believe was abducted as she exited the Sahara Tahoe Hotel, or during her journey home? Both Donna Lass and Brynn Rainey were last seen alive at the end and near beginning of their 2am shift, who both worked at the same establishment. The distance from the Bittercreek Saloon at Sandy Way and Takela Drive to the Sahara Tahoe Hotel is 1.86 miles by crow.
Carol Andersen had gone to a party on June 30th 1979 near the Heavenly Ski Resort on Regina Road, and decided to leave sometime between 11pm and 11:30pm rather than accept a lift from partygoers. Carol was found facedown over the curb line on Sundown Trail on July 1st 1979. Where she went after leaving the party is unknown, but had she headed toward her lower Kingsbury home, she would have likely joined Lake Tahoe Boulevard at some point.
Lake Tahoe Boulevard joins Highway 50, which would have taken her past the Sahara Tahoe Hotel situated 1.7 miles by crow from Regina Road, and just shy of lower Kingsbury, which sits just beyond the California/Nevada border. If she had decided to walk home from the party it was a 45 to 50 minute journey. Had she had left the party and traveled on Ski Run Boulevard to Lake Tahoe Boulevard, this location would have placed her only 3,400 feet from the Bittercreek Saloon where Brynn Rainey was last seen. She would have had to head east along Lake Tahoe Boulevard, the same route that Brynn Rainey would have needed to take to reach the Sahara Tahoe Hotel for her 2am shift. Donna Lass would also have had to walk along Lake Tahoe Boulevard to reach her 3893 Pioneer Trail Road home in 1970, had she chosen this option. Although it may seem extremely unlikely, all three females could have been abducted on the same road. The apartment of Donna Lass is 5,000 feet from Regina Road and 400 feet from Lake Tahoe Boulevard.
Brynn Rainey had headed to work on Sunday, July 24th 1977 at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel for her 2am shift, when she decided to stop off at the Bittercreek Saloon close to Sandy Way and Takela Drive at approximately 10:00pm. This was the last time she was seen alive, being found strangled at Sunset Stables a month later. So had she been abducted as she traveled to the Sahara Tahoe Hotel, the reverse of Donna Lass on September 6th 1970, who some believe was abducted as she exited the Sahara Tahoe Hotel, or during her journey home? Both Donna Lass and Brynn Rainey were last seen alive at the end and near beginning of their 2am shift, who both worked at the same establishment. The distance from the Bittercreek Saloon at Sandy Way and Takela Drive to the Sahara Tahoe Hotel is 1.86 miles by crow.
Carol Andersen had gone to a party on June 30th 1979 near the Heavenly Ski Resort on Regina Road, and decided to leave sometime between 11pm and 11:30pm rather than accept a lift from partygoers. Carol was found facedown over the curb line on Sundown Trail on July 1st 1979. Where she went after leaving the party is unknown, but had she headed toward her lower Kingsbury home, she would have likely joined Lake Tahoe Boulevard at some point.
Lake Tahoe Boulevard joins Highway 50, which would have taken her past the Sahara Tahoe Hotel situated 1.7 miles by crow from Regina Road, and just shy of lower Kingsbury, which sits just beyond the California/Nevada border. If she had decided to walk home from the party it was a 45 to 50 minute journey. Had she had left the party and traveled on Ski Run Boulevard to Lake Tahoe Boulevard, this location would have placed her only 3,400 feet from the Bittercreek Saloon where Brynn Rainey was last seen. She would have had to head east along Lake Tahoe Boulevard, the same route that Brynn Rainey would have needed to take to reach the Sahara Tahoe Hotel for her 2am shift. Donna Lass would also have had to walk along Lake Tahoe Boulevard to reach her 3893 Pioneer Trail Road home in 1970, had she chosen this option. Although it may seem extremely unlikely, all three females could have been abducted on the same road. The apartment of Donna Lass is 5,000 feet from Regina Road and 400 feet from Lake Tahoe Boulevard.
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Carol Andersen (16) "Joseph Stephen Holt was born on November 8, 1947, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the first child of an airline pilot and a high school teacher. Shortly after his birth, the family began moving around various locations before finally settling in San Jose, California, where Holt spend most of his youth. After graduating from the Cupertino High School, he studied political science at the UC Santa Barbara and later UC Berkeley, receiving a bachelor's degree. He moved to South Lake Tahoe in 1974, where he soon began a career in real estate, holding down that job up until his death. As a realtor, he frequently travelled between San Jose and South Lake Tahoe, and was regarded as very familiar with the area". Taken from Wikipedia.
The overriding question, is did Joseph Stephen Holt ever visit South Lake Tahoe prior to moving there? As a 22-year-old man he may have vacationed there in September 1970 (or many times) - and liked the location so much - he decided to up sticks after his stint at the University of California in Berkeley and move 140 miles northeast (by crow) to South Lake Tahoe. Just because he didn't move there until 1974, doesn't mean he had never visited there previously. But was he there on September 6th 1970? The last seen locations of Brynn Rainey and Carol Andersen are tantalizingly close to the apartment of Donna Lass, so could the intelligent and articulate Joseph Stephen Holt have befriended Donna Lass several years earlier?
FURTHER READING: ANOTHER SINISTER PHONE CALL TO THE SAHARA IN 1977
Thanks to Canadian filmmaker Andrew Gray (Druzer) from the Citizen Detective YouTube channel, who inspired this article.
The overriding question, is did Joseph Stephen Holt ever visit South Lake Tahoe prior to moving there? As a 22-year-old man he may have vacationed there in September 1970 (or many times) - and liked the location so much - he decided to up sticks after his stint at the University of California in Berkeley and move 140 miles northeast (by crow) to South Lake Tahoe. Just because he didn't move there until 1974, doesn't mean he had never visited there previously. But was he there on September 6th 1970? The last seen locations of Brynn Rainey and Carol Andersen are tantalizingly close to the apartment of Donna Lass, so could the intelligent and articulate Joseph Stephen Holt have befriended Donna Lass several years earlier?
FURTHER READING: ANOTHER SINISTER PHONE CALL TO THE SAHARA IN 1977
Thanks to Canadian filmmaker Andrew Gray (Druzer) from the Citizen Detective YouTube channel, who inspired this article.
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