Oak Shores Day Use Area is a free public recreation site managed by the Bureau of Reclamation on the western shore of Lake Berryessa. Nestled in the blue oak woodlands east of Napa Valley, the area provides beach access, swimming, shoreline fishing, picnicking, and wildlife viewing opportunities. Oak Shores and Smittle Creek are two separate but nearby day-use areas at Lake Berryessa, connected by scenic trails, including the 2.6 mile Smittle Creek Trail, offering hiking, and lake access; you can drive between them or hike the trails, enjoying oak woodlands and creek views. This is an unmaintained single track path that travels along the western edge of Lake Berryessa. One (or parts) of these trails could have been used by the Zodiac Killer after possibly encountering the three Pacific Union College girls from Angwin, before the attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard on September 27th 1969. He could have trawled the hillsides and trails looking for more potential victims, until he reached the location of Bryan and Cecelia just under a mile south.
After the suspicious man had been observed by the three girls for about 55 minutes, he apparently returned to his vehicle at about 4:25 pm, which was not in the parking lot at 4:30 pm when they decided to drive home. My initial belief was that the three girls were at a beach area of Smittle Creek slightly north of Coyote Beach, but now have concluded they were 450 meters south at Coyote Beach itself, which the excellent work of Gorillatrain on Discord highlighted several months earlier. The girls stated that they "parked their vehicle at a location two miles north of the A & W Root Beer stand on Knoxville Road" (located at 5100 Knoxville Road). The Coyote Beach parking lot is exactly 2 miles north of the A & W Root Beer stand (1.8 miles by crow), and is a recreation spot in the Smittle Creek area.
After the suspicious man had been observed by the three girls for about 55 minutes, he apparently returned to his vehicle at about 4:25 pm, which was not in the parking lot at 4:30 pm when they decided to drive home. My initial belief was that the three girls were at a beach area of Smittle Creek slightly north of Coyote Beach, but now have concluded they were 450 meters south at Coyote Beach itself, which the excellent work of Gorillatrain on Discord highlighted several months earlier. The girls stated that they "parked their vehicle at a location two miles north of the A & W Root Beer stand on Knoxville Road" (located at 5100 Knoxville Road). The Coyote Beach parking lot is exactly 2 miles north of the A & W Root Beer stand (1.8 miles by crow), and is a recreation spot in the Smittle Creek area.
Obviously one of the major factors for shifting their encounter marginally south, is the girls mentioned a parking lot area in the police report, which wasn't conveniently situated near the location of the beach I had previously identified at Smittle Creek. More importantly, one of the girls stated that she saw "the subject go into the parking lot to the south. Subject went past their vehicle and backed up so their rear bumpers were nearly touching". Below I have shown the likely parking lot with north and south sections. The road leading from Knoxville Road to the parking lot joins the parking lot on its south edge, which is what the girl said when recollecting that the man entered the "parking lot to the south". The man then probably took the right turn into the parking lot and passed their vehicle, before reversing as she described. The journey to the beach (by the cluster of trees) is just over 760 feet. One of the girls noticed the man watching them from the edge of the trees about 40 or 50 feet away. Another stated that he was standing on the bank about 45 yards away (135 feet). From the red circle below to the front of the beach is 135 feet. After the encounter the man walked back up the hill. That area is sloped upwards from right to left. They stated that from the man's vantage point when he was initially in his vehicle, it was very doubtful he could observe them on the beach. Of course, I cannot say for sure the exact location they were sunbathing, but this stretch of beach ticks all the boxes,
CLICK IMAGE ABOVE TO ENTER GOOGLE MAPS
CLICK IMAGE TO VIEW ON GOOGLE MAPS Gorillatrain has identified an area where he believes Dr. Rayfield and his son spotted the man on the hillside later that day (6:30 pm). If correct, the man would have been just 1,000 feet from the northern edge of the Coyote Beach parking lot, where his car was parked about 2 hours earlier (4:25 pm). According to a friend of Zodiac researcher, Dion Walker, the location of Dr. Rayfield's vehicle on September 27th 1969 at 6:30 pm, remembered by David Rayfield in later years, places it at the location shown in the image on the left.
The police report stated that they "went down to the beach when David noticed a white male subject walking in the area, described as 5'10", heavy build, wearing dark trousers, a dark shirt with red in it, long sleeves. The subject was walking alongside the hill area about halfway between the road and the lake". David stated the subject was about 100 yards away. The parking location of the Rayfield's vehicle shown in the accompanying image is 8/10ths of a mile from the Karmann Ghia of Bryan Hartnell, as described in the police report. They made no mention of leaving their vehicle in a parking lot, or directly referred to Coyote Beach, so the location depicted on the map is a distinct probability. There is a convenient turnout 250 feet from the red Google marker.
The recollection of David Rayfield was given many decades after the events at Lake Berryessa, which must be taken into account, but the location he identified does match the police report and this area of Smittle Creek - an area that both Gorillatrain and I have previously calculated to be the location of the Rayfield sighting based on measurements and descriptions given by investigators.
The police report stated that they "went down to the beach when David noticed a white male subject walking in the area, described as 5'10", heavy build, wearing dark trousers, a dark shirt with red in it, long sleeves. The subject was walking alongside the hill area about halfway between the road and the lake". David stated the subject was about 100 yards away. The parking location of the Rayfield's vehicle shown in the accompanying image is 8/10ths of a mile from the Karmann Ghia of Bryan Hartnell, as described in the police report. They made no mention of leaving their vehicle in a parking lot, or directly referred to Coyote Beach, so the location depicted on the map is a distinct probability. There is a convenient turnout 250 feet from the red Google marker.
The recollection of David Rayfield was given many decades after the events at Lake Berryessa, which must be taken into account, but the location he identified does match the police report and this area of Smittle Creek - an area that both Gorillatrain and I have previously calculated to be the location of the Rayfield sighting based on measurements and descriptions given by investigators.
In a revised Lake Berryessa timeline we have the possibility of the Zodiac Killer signing 6:30 on the car door of Bryan Hartnell at approximately 6:07 pm. The journey time walking 0.8 miles north from the car of Bryan Hartnell to the Coyote Beach area, traversing the hillsides, would take approximately 25 minutes. This would place the Zodiac Killer passing the location of Dr. Rayfield and David at about 6:32 pm, almost matching the estimate of 6:30 pm given by the Rayfields. There is a turnout and small roadway just beyond the Rayfield's location shown above.
We have the accounts of the Rayfields and the three girls placing "a man they deemed worthy enough to report to police", possibly within 1,000 feet of one another, either side of the brutal stabbing of Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard on September 27th 1969. Everything occurring in a three hour window, from the 3:30 pm time the three girls first noticed the suspicious man, to the David Rayfield observations at 6:30 pm. Not forgetting that one of the girls described a white belt around his back, and thought that it may have been a tee shirt hanging out. Many have considered this observation significant, because the Zodiac Killer when he later approached Bryan Hartnell & Cecelia Shepard at around 6:00 pm, had some cut lengths of white clothesline cord seated in the rear of his trousers.
Of course, there is no way to know for certain whether the Zodiac Killer walked to the area where he stabbed both Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard, or drove to this location, but this doesn't change the fact we have two sightings of a man in virtually the same location, that necessitated five people to contact the police and recount what they saw that day. And is it reasonable to conclude that the Zodiac Killer drove to Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969 and immediately found his victims at the first attempt at 6:00 pm? Or was he likely scouring the shores of Lake Berryessa for several hours until a suitable and safe opportunity arose? I will let you decide.
We have the accounts of the Rayfields and the three girls placing "a man they deemed worthy enough to report to police", possibly within 1,000 feet of one another, either side of the brutal stabbing of Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard on September 27th 1969. Everything occurring in a three hour window, from the 3:30 pm time the three girls first noticed the suspicious man, to the David Rayfield observations at 6:30 pm. Not forgetting that one of the girls described a white belt around his back, and thought that it may have been a tee shirt hanging out. Many have considered this observation significant, because the Zodiac Killer when he later approached Bryan Hartnell & Cecelia Shepard at around 6:00 pm, had some cut lengths of white clothesline cord seated in the rear of his trousers.
Of course, there is no way to know for certain whether the Zodiac Killer walked to the area where he stabbed both Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard, or drove to this location, but this doesn't change the fact we have two sightings of a man in virtually the same location, that necessitated five people to contact the police and recount what they saw that day. And is it reasonable to conclude that the Zodiac Killer drove to Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969 and immediately found his victims at the first attempt at 6:00 pm? Or was he likely scouring the shores of Lake Berryessa for several hours until a suitable and safe opportunity arose? I will let you decide.
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