Found Deceased CA - Donna Lass, 25, South Lake Tahoe, 6 Sept 1970

[STANDREID]

A bit over-sensationalized from an odd website, but interesting nonetheless.

[h=1]The 6 Creepiest Unexplained Phone Calls[/h]

[h=2]#4. The Zodiac Killer May Have Called in Sick for One of His Victims[/h]

In 1970, 25-year-old Donna Lass worked as a nurse at the first aid station of a casino in South Lake Tahoe, California, where her duties presumably included treating gamblers who had their hands smashed by Robert De Niro. One day, Lass' boss and landlord both received calls from an unidentified man who claimed she was dealing with an illness in the family and would be out of town for a while.

Read more: http://www.cracked.com/article_2179...-creepiest-anonymous-calls.html#ixzz3RE5gdAXl
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Thanks for that link. Some interesting cases there although I don't think that Wallace was wrongly convicted.

 

[Lavender Moon]

Bumping for Donna Lass

 

[Markybug]

Bump for donna

 

[Pettibon Junction]

There's a lot of people who believe Donna disappeared of her own accord. There's some substance to that. Tahoe is a resort town, a place that attracts seasonal workers or folks just passing through. However, one thing's certain: she didn't make those phone calls herself. Voluntary disappearance or not, at least one other person was complicit and whoever that person was, he was a man who knew Donna and who was most likely known to her also.

Unfortunately, this case often gets derailed by speculation about the Zodiac Killer, all due to the "Pines" card. In considering the confirmed Zodiac murders (of which there are only four), the killer gave no indication of knowing his victims or even wanting to. At Blue Rock Springs, he opened fire without a word. At Lake Berryessa, he bound his victims under the pretense of robbery before stabbing them with a long-bladed knife and for all the time he spent with them, he asked zero personal questions of Bryan and Cecilia. God only knows what he talked to Paul Stine about.

Zodiac trolled outdoor places for certain types of people. Donna's disappearance was far more intimate, focused on a very particular person and taking place behind closed doors. (Whoever was involved may have been in her home prior to her disappearance.) This was most certainly NOT a Zodiac crime, may not have been a crime at all, but if we want to find Donna, we need to look long and hard at the men in her life: were there any male coworkers who abruptly quit their jobs around the time Donna vanished? Neighbors who moved out shortly after? Friends who later distanced themselves from a shared social circle? Perhaps a married man who was reported missing by his family?

It's difficult, over 40 years later, but to figure out what happened to Donna, a back-to-the-drawing-board approach is probably required.

 

[LinasK]

There's a lot of people who believe Donna disappeared of her own accord. There's some substance to that. Tahoe is a resort town, a place that attracts seasonal workers or folks just passing through. However, one thing's certain: she didn't make those phone calls herself. Voluntary disappearance or not, at least one other person was complicit and whoever that person was, he was a man who knew Donna and who was most likely known to her also.

Unfortunately, this case often gets derailed by speculation about the Zodiac Killer, all due to the "Pines" card. In considering the confirmed Zodiac murders (of which there are only four), the killer gave no indication of knowing his victims or even wanting to. At Blue Rock Springs, he opened fire without a word. At Lake Berryessa, he bound his victims under the pretense of robbery before stabbing them with a long-bladed knife and for all the time he spent with them, he asked zero personal questions of Bryan and Cecilia. God only knows what he talked to Paul Stine about.

Zodiac trolled outdoor places for certain types of people. Donna's disappearance was far more intimate, focused on a very particular person and taking place behind closed doors. (Whoever was involved may have been in her home prior to her disappearance.) This was most certainly NOT a Zodiac crime, may not have been a crime at all, but if we want to find Donna, we need to look long and hard at the men in her life: were there any male coworkers who abruptly quit their jobs around the time Donna vanished? Neighbors who moved out shortly after? Friends who later distanced themselves from a shared social circle? Perhaps a married man who was reported missing by his family?

It's difficult, over 40 years later, but to figure out what happened to Donna, a back-to-the-drawing-board approach is probably required.

I think Philip Garrido the pig who kidnapped, assaulted, and held Jaycee Dugard hostage for years is just as likely of a suspect. He was active in S.Lake Tahoe in 1970.

 

[hoshizora]

Wow LinasK I have never considered Garrido as a suspect for Lass but I think he should be looked at for it. If I'm not mistaken Jaycee wasn't his first victim and he had raped or had attempted to rape and murder women before.

Also going back to sandy's post, I think it's interesting the log she was signing had a pen mark across it as if she was grabbed.

 

[kemo]

Lass has been linked to Zodiac because of "Pines" postcard and to Garrido because of his ties to Lake Tahoe but, realistically, this abduction was very different from any of their other crimes.

The efforts her abductor took to delay the realization that she was missing and the fact that her body was dispose of so that it would never be found (assuming that she was murdered) are both very consistent with the perpetrator being someone she knew and someone who thought he would be considered a suspect.

Very little is known about the investigation before her name came up during the Zodiac investigation. There was a very similar abduction in Sacramento in March of that year. Nancy Hakari was a nurse who as abducted from the parking lot of her apt coming home from work late at night. There were no known phone calls and the body, although somewhat well hidden was found (in a forested area between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe. There were a few other unsolved murders of young women in the Sacramento area but none are as similar as these two.

There were a lot of young women who appeared to be victims of sexual predators in Northern California during the 1970's. There were some Serial killers who were caught but I suspect there were several who appear to have "stopped". Investigative techniques have improved and there much better communications between law enforcement agencies. These types of crime are much less common now but there are many from that era that might still be solved.

 

[Richard]

Bumping Donna's thread up.

 

[Sailor Haumea]

Hiya,

A few things:

1. As someone who's a Zodiac sleuth...Z likely had nothing to do with this disappearance. It's generally accepted that the "Peek through the Pines" card was a forgery by Det. Dave Toschi to keep focus on the Zodiac Killer. This isn't his MO. He typically operated in one of two ways:

A. Targeting couples outside at night.

B. Disabling cars of women, then offering them a ride. The only instance that I've seen that I believe was possibly his doing were Kathleen Johns. And she escaped.

Nancy Bennallack and Richard Radetich MIGHT be exceptions, IF he was their killer. But they're fluke incidents.

2. Lawrence Kane was crazy, yes. He literally was diagnosed as being incapable of controlling his urges, IIRC. He probably wasn't Zodiac. But was he a serial killer? Perhaps. Something seems off about him. Maybe he killed Lass. Who knows?

The bottom line - Zodiac had nothing to do with the disappearance of Donna Lass.

 

[stellarrose]

Graysmith was wrong.

 

[Sailor Haumea]

Graysmith was wrong.

Graysmith was never right.

He just makes up new "truths".

 

[egrablestock]

I believe The Potts solution deserves serous consideration as there may be a chance it reveals her location. The Potts solution was made in 2009 . It was made with the idea that maybe there was solution on top of the 340 that told about other areas below in the 340 cipher. The solution is-here in the middle and 11 spaces down is a clue to guess id. 11 spaces down and in the middle is exactly those symbols-ID. There are 4 repeating symbols where guess ID is -with the same letters for the solution used.With the solution you have the start of the word Tahoe. Potts took a second look at an old solution after the the book about Earl Vanbest came out. Since he already had possible solutions of a date of birth of 7-14 and a location of Wilmore KY he looked to see if could apply them to EVB. This is no different to what he did before he ever heard of EVB. EVB in fact was born there and has that birthday. Those numbers 7-14 were found many places before the book. Taking a second look he realized when he used the seventh letter of the alphabet for a symbol he placed it in the 7th column. There was only one g used. The letter n was used to represent a symbol in the 14th column. You then had the start of the name tahoe with the HOE where the same symbols go in to different directions in a L shape. He also since realized instructions seem to be built into the code. Though details may be wrong I believe for the most part his solutions are correct . With the rest of his solutions he gets Donna lass as being 12 miles from Incline Village. BTW the part from the ad for Incline Village was from an ad with the contact info being po box 714. If there is a connection to the Red Mask comic I would consider looking in a cave or mineshaft

 

[Richard]

I believe The Potts solution deserves serous consideration as there may be a chance it reveals her location. The Potts solution was made in 2009 . It was made with the idea that maybe there was solution on top of the 340 that told about other areas below in the 340 cipher. The solution is-here in the middle and 11 spaces down is a clue to guess id. 11 spaces down and in the middle is exactly those symbols-ID. There are 4 repeating symbols where guess ID is -with the same letters for the solution used.With the solution you have the start of the word Tahoe. Potts took a second look at an old solution after the the book about Earl Vanbest came out. Since he already had possible solutions of a date of birth of 7-14 and a location of Wilmore KY he looked to see if could apply them to EVB. This is no different to what he did before he ever heard of EVB. EVB in fact was born there and has that birthday. Those numbers 7-14 were found many places before the book. Taking a second look he realized when he used the seventh letter of the alphabet for a symbol he placed it in the 7th column. There was only one g used. The letter n was used to represent a symbol in the 14th column. You then had the start of the name tahoe with the HOE where the same symbols go in to different directions in a L shape. He also since realized instructions seem to be built into the code. Though details may be wrong I believe for the most part his solutions are correct . With the rest of his solutions he gets Donna lass as being 12 miles from Incline Village. BTW the part from the ad for Incline Village was from an ad with the contact info being po box 714. If there is a connection to the Red Mask comic I would consider looking in a cave or mineshaft

Fascinating theory and cryptology.

Although there are many compelling reasons to conclude that Zodiac (whoever he was) did not abduct/murder Donna Lass, it cannot be denied that she is part of the Zodiac story and case file.

Some have concluded or theorized that Zodiac laid claim to murders that he did not commit, but used them in his writings to try to bolster his "count" and in so doing, make himself seem more of a terror and more uncatchable in his taunts of police investigators.

There are some factors which could loosely connect the Zodiac to Donna Lass. She worked at Letterman Hospital, which was very near to where Zodiac walked following his murder of the cab driver, Paul Stine. Was he familiar with that area? Could he have known Donna before she moved to Tahoe?

The fact that Zodiac was cunning, and someone who took pains to plan his attacks, and then write about them with great care and detail, might possibly be correlated to the obvious care taken by the suspect in Donna's disappearance.

Regarding the book about Earl Van Best, it is an interesting read, but I was disappointed in it and unconvinced by total lack of corroborating physical evidence. The author writes about his birth father (whom he never knew personally) and bases his conclusions on statements of persons who did know him regarding his likes, dislikes, habits, travels, etc.

 

[UncoolNegated]

I was looking at this case today. I came across it in reverse: I was looking at NamUs #UP12137 and tried to find the closest match among NamUs MPs. I settled on Donna Lass but the connections aren't great (dates are acceptable, hair color is acceptable, age is acceptable, height is acceptable, weight is acceptable).

I don't think Donna Lass was disappeared by the Zodiac. I found a classified ad that I thought some that are interested in the Zodiac theory might find interesting but it's probably just a red herring in my view. Looks to be written by someone who knew Lass that was reaching out to the Zodiac. From the August 17th, 1972 San Francisco Examiner.

 

[Richard]

It is possible that Donna Lass met a fate other than at the hands of Zodiac, but the fact that Zodiac (or someone pretending to be him) sent a post card hinting at his involvement in the case tends to link it to the Zodiac story and legend.

As an example, of how many consider her case to be linked to Zodiac, simply search this forum for her name and "Zodiac" to see all the posts that come up on the screen.

That said, it should not be taken as "fact" that Zodiac killed her. There are many other possibilities to consider outside of any Zodiac connection.

Donna has been missing now for 48 years.

 

[Lavender Moon]

Bumping for Donna Lass. What a mystery!

 

[Markybug]

Bumping for Donna Lass. What a mystery!

Unlikely to be solved now ?

 

[Lavender Moon]

Well....you never know. I believe in miracles.

 

[Markybug]

Scary that someone can be plucked out of life and never be seen or heard of again !

 

[Lavender Moon]

Scary that someone can be plucked out of life and never be seen or heard of again !

Scary that someone can be plucked out of life and never be seen or heard of again !

I know, isn't it scary? Here we are, discussing her decades later with few clues as to her fate.