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

[BDHOLLAND]

Have to admit I got into Donna's case via the Zodiac crimes, but I think the problem with linking Donna's disappearance to the Zodiac Bay Area attacks is that we [That is, the public at large] are 50 years on and we're still doing a re-tread of the same information, because nothing else has revealed itself during that time. Most importantly, all the ink that's been spilt hasn't brought Donna home, and so I would argue the case for looking at her disappearance independently of the Big Z, to see if we can glean new insights. Let's find Donna!
PS A Round in the Snow @ Incline Mountain Golf Course...it's on the map, but maybe Golfers Pass, hmm?

The reason why I am sort of confident in the solve I put up in that link (excuse the pun) is because investigators were trying to do this before in a very similar way.

It was one potential avenue of interest for them. Even in modern times attempts have been done again using that same sort of Zodiac clues to where she might be.

I think they had the general idea right but it has always been subjective that the Zodiac was doing real codes after the Z408 solve by the Hardens. Now that the Z340 has been solved by Oranchak and the group of talent involved I think we are indeed dealing with a personality type that needs to fell self-validate by doing legit puzzles.

I don't think he was that smart with math, makes mistakes, doesn't get farther than a few chapters in on some code book and so would sort of do something childish after the Z408. That is why I think this single word theme 'golf' has better explanatory power for all the elements that stand out in those more simplistic card puzzles. By adding just that single detail of golf back into what investigators were doing searching Lake Tahoe for Donna Lass I think that would have at least have been something that could be more concentrated area to look at.

Clearly though because of the length of time involved (half century ago) you would need forensics and technology that I can't even begin to imagine along with a credible reason to spend public funds on what could be me just making a connection that isn't a real one. That is quite possible also.

I hope you enjoy the site and at least its something new and I don't have to be right about everything. Maybe some things. I would be happy with that. Even happy if its all wrong. I just like to try. I don't want to derail this thread though. It is about Donna Lass. Not that other nothing burger of a criminal.

 

[FOXINBOX]

There is a whole layer of the Suspicious Circumstances map that is devoted to the The Zodiac and The Peak Through the Pines card - golfing references arrived at independently. But the factual links [sorry, I couldn't help borrowing the pun] show that the original advert was created in Riverside, 2.5 miles away from the place where Cheri Bates was murdered, and the original drawing was made in Santa Barbara 1.6 miles from the Cottage Hospital where Donna was working in 1968 I reckon that eventually, the links will lead to someone with connections to all the crimes. Whether he [Or she] will be the Zodiac, who knows. But the crimes don't happen in their own bubble. The Bus Bomb letter might have links to the car-bomb crimes in Lake Tahoe [Citizen_Sleuth has done a lot of research into this].

It is great to get a different point of view and I was very interested in your list of victims BD - a lot to get me thinking about. Keep posting!

 

[BDHOLLAND]

There is a whole layer of the Suspicious Circumstances map that is devoted to the The Zodiac and The Peak Through the Pines card - golfing references arrived at independently. But the factual links [sorry, I couldn't help borrowing the pun] show that the original advert was created in Riverside, 2.5 miles away from the place where Cheri Bates was murdered, and the original drawing was made in Santa Barbara 1.6 miles from the Cottage Hospital where Donna was working in 1968 I reckon that eventually, the links will lead to someone with connections to all the crimes. Whether he [Or she] will be the Zodiac, who knows. But the crimes don't happen in their own bubble. The Bus Bomb letter might have links to the car-bomb crimes in Lake Tahoe [Citizen_Sleuth has done a lot of research into this].

It is great to get a different point of view and I was very interested in your list of victims BD - a lot to get me thinking about. Keep posting!

That's very interesting.

I also believe that there is a possibility that the key-ring from the 1990 Eureka card could have been produced North of Lake Tahoe but only a chance and is my own research.

I have heard about those two missing men before. When I think of people being in a despondent state before they go missing and if there is a body of water nearby, that there is a good chance the answer to that is a drowning. This is especially true if alcohol is involved. Water is a dangerous place for humans to be. It is almost the first place officials look when they put together search teams for missing people who are near water.

When I was researching the Northern California Dog poisoner in Santa Rosa (they used strychnine which was also used to kill Carolyn Davis) I learned from a rather attentive sleuth that CJB's mother died by strychnine poisoning (ruled a suicide; so sad). Anyway, there was also bomb threats to Santa Rosa. Not only that but it seems one bomb threat phoned into the Santa Rosa Police Department had inside knowledge and was likely the Zodiac.

 

[FOXINBOX]

That's very interesting.
When I think of people being in a despondent state before they go missing and if there is a body of water nearby, that there is a good chance the answer to that is a drowning. This is especially true if alcohol is involved. Water is a dangerous place for humans to be. It is almost the first place officials look when they put together search teams for missing people who are near water.

I totally agree. Large bodies [sorry, pun unavoidable] of water are frequently associated with disappearances or suicides. Absolutely. But I doubt that either man drowned in Tahoe without the aid of Concrete Boots. It's a very well traversed lake and bodies surface due to post mortem gases. Charles's car was found some distance away in mining country, [Although I can account for that] and Richard's car was at his home address, which he'd surely have used had he driven to any of the surrounding lakes. It is possible that they could have hiked, then taken a vessel out into the water, but by the nature of suicide, they could not have returned it. Also, suicide is very rarely hidden. What would be the purpose?

Strychnine. A horrible, horrible death, but I have no insight to offer here, except to say those killings should probably form their own cluster. Poison has to be administered, so the killer can't be far away. I know nothing about America's poison laws. but here in the UK, if strychnine was used, it would likely be smuggled from the Sub-Continent where it can be obtained legally. Also Zodiac, in the first two attacks could not be further removed from the victims. The Big Z did not touch, move, pose or interact in any way with their victims. All four Bay Area attacks seem to be administered as some form of mission or punishment, and the murders were committed in a theatrical and public way, so I'm thinking bombs, yes, poison, no.

 

[BDHOLLAND]

I totally agree. Large bodies [sorry, pun unavoidable] of water are frequently associated with disappearances or suicides. Absolutely. But I doubt that either man drowned in Tahoe without the aid of Concrete Boots. It's a very well traversed lake and bodies surface due to post mortem gases. Charles's car was found some distance away in mining country, [Although I can account for that] and Richard's car was at his home address, which he'd surely have used had he driven to any of the surrounding lakes. It is possible that they could have hiked, then taken a vessel out into the water, but by the nature of suicide, they could not have returned it. Also, suicide is very rarely hidden. What would be the purpose?

If alcohol is involved, as it is many times in these cases, then the lowering of inhibitions can cause some depressed people to make sudden choices and just throw themselves in. Sometimes they wash up, other times divers retrieve them and many times the bodies get carried by currents into deeper waters and never seen again. It's difficult because water is difficult to work in, not to mention dangerous for even experts. Saman Kunam, the Thai ex-navy diver, lost his life in the daring mission to save those soccer team boys stuck in a cave in 2018. You are right though, there are things pointing away from suicide for those cases.

Strychnine. A horrible, horrible death, but I have no insight to offer here, except to say those killings should probably form their own cluster. Poison has to be administered, so the killer can't be far away. I know nothing about America's poison laws. but here in the UK, if strychnine was used, it would likely be smuggled from the Sub-Continent where it can be obtained legally. Also Zodiac, in the first two attacks could not be further removed from the victims. The Big Z did not touch, move, pose or interact in any way with their victims. All four Bay Area attacks seem to be administered as some form of mission or punishment, and the murders were committed in a theatrical and public way, so I'm thinking bombs, yes, poison, no.

Yes Strychnine is a horrible death and to even think it a choice way to go for suicide is unfathomable. However if you go through the newspapers you will find lots of articles where suicides involve strychnine, especially back then. So it doesn't appear to be a suspicious thing. I can only think the people who took it did not fully understand the implications of the suffering they would endure before death. It's not like how Hollywood probably portrayed romanticized suicides with it.

The strychnine used to kill those dogs was a controlled substance at the time. It was administered by a government agency upon application for it and the only requests they got for it at the time was to poison gofers on golf courses. I cover that one on my website.

If you look at the Zodiac canonical cases and the non-canonical ones I believe you may find a pattern in how bodies are positioned where he did interact with them. He appears to leave them face down. Both targets at Lake Berryessa were put onto their fronts lying down. Stine was found face down before paramedics flipped him over. CJB was found face down. I think this is a theme that we may find more with the non-canonical cases. I suspect it is caused by training and is subconscious. The way he took control of his targets at Lake Berryessa, having them go onto their knees, going rear, having them face down, speaks to training in getting compliance and subduing targets. He hog tied them. I believe tying was also involved in some of the SRHM crimes.

I think this may be the evolution of Zodiac which is just a phase. Like VR/EAR/ONS. VR being the CJB attack for example and other early non-canonicals, EAR being the Zodiac phase and ONS being the SRHM phase. I think the capture of DeAngelo and his background helped me to see that in the Zodiac also. I find it telling that he did not want to claim responsibility for the SRHMs but could have if it wasn't him. I read the excellent book "Lost Coast Highway" by Gray George on the SRHM crimes. Many of the bodies were dumped. Just thrown over the side of a clearing. At least one of them was still alive. These cases are very evil. I use that word sparingly in criminology, but for these crimes I can think of no other word that describes it.

 

[FOXINBOX]

If you look at the Zodiac canonical cases and the non-canonical ones I believe you may find a pattern in how bodies are positioned where he did interact with them. He appears to leave them face down. Both targets at Lake Berryessa were put onto their fronts lying down. Stine was found face down before paramedics flipped him over. CJB was found face down. I think this is a theme that we may find more with the non-canonical cases. I suspect it is caused by training and is subconscious. The way he took control of his targets at Lake Berryessa, having them go onto their knees, going rear, having them face down, speaks to training in getting compliance and subduing targets. He hog tied them. I believe tying was also involved in some of the SRHM crimes.

At the risk of giving you blood pressure, DB, Fox's view is mostly the opposite to this, and there's a boring amount of explanation on another thread that you probably don't need to read.

Zodiac - a 2 man job?​

I don't believe the Berryessa attack was made by the same person as the other three attacks in the true Zodiac canon. To me, it's not an evolution or a devolution, it's a completely different psychology. Killers, they change their MO, not their motivation. So for me, The Santa Rosa Hitchhikers, that's a travelling/roaming lust-driven serial killer, quite possibly from another state, not the rage-fuelled punishment-motivation of the Bates murder or the Berryessa attack, nor are they the business-like, indifferent Zodiac of Lake Herman and Blue Rock Springs, very much the type that the FBI describes as a "Comfort Killer", killing to maintain a lifestyle, protect a reputation, an identity, a secret, or so forth.

People have wondered why the murders apparently stopped. Possibly the answer is simply that the Zodiac didn't need to kill anyone else. But of course he may just have moved up the US-50 to Tahoe and beyond...

Hope I haven't hospitalised anyone, it's just a point of view.

 

[FOXINBOX]

Link didn't work so here is the post

Like you I believe the Zodiac was more than one person. In fact, I see every reason to believe there was more than one.
I'm keener on motivation, modus operandi and victimology than I am on clues [not saying they're irrelevant], so I'd like to talk about the Berryessa killing. Yes, it has undeniable similarities with the murder of Cheri Bates and possibly the Lompoc murders, but we're talking about the Zodiac Cluster here and Berryessa differs from the other 3 attacks in at least 5 ways
1) It takes place in broad daylight
2) It is the only attack where Zodiac is masked
3) It is the only attack where ligatures are used.
4) The weapon is a knife, not a gun, so Z is up close and personal.

And then I read Ranger White's account...
5) The killing of Cecelia exhibits attributes of sadism and control entirely absent from the other attacks. It appears she died fully conscious and in agony, but it is quite possible that she would have survived had the location not been so remote. Her wounds were meant to inflict maximum pain, and not necessarily kill her. I cannot rule out that her killer had some degree of medical knowledge, and also think it likely they had some sort of practice at inflicting this kind of injury.

I am as convinced as I could be - from 50 years and half a world away - that the person who committed the Berryessa crime is not the one who committed the other three attacks.

I'll add
6) There was extended verbal interchange. Compare with the "Hit and Run" approach of the first 2 attacks...

 

[BDHOLLAND]

At the risk of giving you blood pressure, DB, Fox's view is mostly the opposite to this, and there's a boring amount of explanation on another thread that you probably don't need to read.

Zodiac - a 2 man job?​

I don't believe the Berryessa attack was made by the same person as the other three attacks in the true Zodiac canon. To me, it's not an evolution or a devolution, it's a completely different psychology. Killers, they change their MO, not their motivation. So for me, The Santa Rosa Hitchhikers, that's a travelling/roaming lust-driven serial killer, quite possibly from another state, not the rage-fuelled punishment-motivation of the Bates murder or the Berryessa attack, nor are they the business-like, indifferent Zodiac of Lake Herman and Blue Rock Springs, very much the type that the FBI describes as a "Comfort Killer", killing to maintain a lifestyle, protect a reputation, an identity, a secret, or so forth.

People have wondered why the murders apparently stopped. Possibly the answer is simply that the Zodiac didn't need to kill anyone else. But of course he may just have moved up the US-50 to Tahoe and beyond...

Hope I haven't hospitalised anyone, it's just a point of view.

The Zodiac's emotional need (signature) is to write letters taunting law enforcement with puzzles to his identity. That is one way we link the crimes. It is one of the reasons why the newly re-discovered Oceanside murder of taxi driver Ray Davis is so compelling as a Zodiac crime (Zodiac phoned LE saying you'll never guess who did it). At Lake Berryessa there was writing on the car door. It seems this is an authentic communication. One set of wingwalker prints. Then the follow up call shortly after.

Bryan Hartnell was not supposed to live (I want to report a murder, no... a double murder). The knife tore the outer lining of his heart causing fluids to leak. So the Zodiac's costume requires an explanation. One explanation is that because Mageau survived and gave a description, the Zodiac hid his face behind a costume. Another reason for the daylight attack (Zodiac wore sunglasses so it was planned daytime) is that stake-outs were already underway at night near lover's lanes to catch him. Since Bryan spoiled his new m.o., by surviving and reporting it, the Zodiac couldn't use it as a ruse again.

The way I look at the copycat hypothesis (aside from the problem of the handwriting on the car door) is why not copycat then instead of changing things up?

Stine as a target seems to be a compensation for the last two males surviving and to firmly prove he is the letter writer by sending in bloody shirt pieces. However the Zodiac on a downward spiral (best time to catch serial killers) makes many mistakes. He is seen, leaves prints and is nearly caught by law enforcement walking away. His composite hits the papers only after he sends in the mailing. For some serial killers that's nothing to worry about and they just keep on going. For the Zodiac it seems it gave him a big enough fright to send a shirt piece to Melvin Belli with a letter asking to be helped. Probably deep in his depressive phase. I think the shock was probably enough to make him stop killing (for a time) and to just focus on his emotional need to communicate using past homicides and new threats to keep his thrill going.

With the SRHM crimes I use to believe they were all sexual homicides. However when I came out the other end of "Lost Coast Highway" by Gray George, it seems not all the crimes had evidence for that.

BTW, my own research led me to believe that the Zodiac being two people is very possible however they would have to be cooperating to explain all the evidence. I don't see them as being independent killers. I don't think that can explain all the evidence.

As for your point 6). Yes he was likely taken aback by Hartnell (smarter than your average bear and certainly smarter than the Zodiac). If you read the transcript he even laughed at one point talking to Hartnell. The Zodiac needs to communicate and I think he found something here he always wanted to do. To communicate with his targets and get things off his chest so to speak. It is another reason he selected Stine (cabbie chat and in the end telling him who you really are at gunpoint). I also think this could be another reason behind the SRHM abductions. To take them somewhere and tell them who he is, what he is done, get all that off his chest and then eliminate the witness

 

[FOXINBOX]

I think we are going to have to agree to disagree on this one DB. I really can't see the guy having a chat to get things off his chest. It would be in total contrast to all violent criminals, except perhaps a "Boyfriend" rapist, who has a distorted perception of his relationship with the victim, and Berryessa is all about control [We do agree on that]

I'm not offering a copycat hypothesis, honest. I'm offering an hypothesis where Zodiac is not one killer, where there's no copycat, just different killers and one guy taking advantage of them to promote himself, a police force that sees an opportunity for publicity and a public that thrives on true crime stories [Inc. Foxy, I suppose] to produce one big Clustering Illusion.

All this is a long way from the disappearance of Donna Lass...and we are no nearer a solution.

 

[Richard]

Donna Ann Lass, 25, Missing since 6 September 1970

LINK:

Donna Ann Lass (1944-1970) - Find a Grave...

 

[Richard]

Donna Lass, age 25, Missing since 6 September 1970

Donna Ann Lass disappeared at the age of 25 at Lake Tahoe, California and was one of the possible victims of the famous Zodiac Killer. She was last seen at approximately 2:00 a.m. on September 6, 1970. Since that time, no trace of Donna Lass has been found. Some officials were reported to have suspected that Ted Bundy was connected to Donna's disappearance; but, Ted Bundy was reported to have never been asked about the case.

Donna was the daughter of James and Frances (Kukar) Lass. During high school, her activities included F.H.A. and singing in mixed chorus. During her senior interview, she stated that her plans were "to go college or be a nurse." She was one the fifty-two members of the graduating class of 1962 at Beresford High School in Beresford, South Dakota.

In May of 1970, Donna moved from California to Nevada. She was employed as a nurse at the Sahara Tahoe in South Lake Tahoe, California. Her last entry in the nurse's log book was at 1:50 a.m. Her car was found parked at her apartment complex. The following day, an unknown male placed telephone calls to Donna's landlord and employer to inform them that Donna Lass would not be returning because of a family emergency. On March 22, 1971, the "San Francisco Chronicle" received a postcard from a person claiming to be the Zodiac Killer, implying that Donna Lass was a murder victim.

Donna was listed as a survivor in the 1973 obituary of her father; but, she was listed as deceased in the 1982 obituary of her mother.



LINK:

Donna Ann Lass (1944-1970) - Find a Grave...

Donna Ann Lass disappeared at the age of 25 at Lake Tahoe, California and was one of the possible victims of the famous Zodiac Killer. She was last seen at approximately 2:00 a.m. on September 6, 1970. Since that time, no trace of Donna Lass has been found. Some officials were reported to...

www.findagrave.com

 

[LouLou74]

Donna was a Roman Catholic & attended mass @ the open air chapel of St-Mary-in-the Pines which used to be in the grounds of St Theresa's @ 1041 Lyons

Is this a clue regarding the "In-the pines" postcard?

 

[Pennysmom1]

9/2/2020

50th anniversary of the disappearance of Donna Ann Lass from South Lake Tahoe

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - It was 1:15 a.m. on the morning of September 6, 1970 when nurse Donna Ann Lass was working in the first aid room of the Sahara Tahoe Hotel & Casino in Stateline, Nevada. She made a log entry just before her last patient entered the room 15 minutes later, one-half hour...

southtahoenow.com

Yet to be published memoir possibly IDs Zodiac killer: Says he killed Tahoe woman, hung remains in tree

The Tahoe Daily Tribune obtained a bootleg copy of a yet to be published memoir called “Catching Zodiac” by Peabody Award-winning TV journalist Dale Julin that possibly unmasks the killer

www.theunion.com

June 5, 2023

An Amateur Sleuth Heads to the Sierra in Search of the Zodiac Killer’s Tracks

Fayçal Ziraoui flew to California from France, believing that the serial killer may have left a rock formation near a desolate lake.

www.nytimes.com

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/zodiac-killer-identity-sierra-rock-formation-18138246.php

 

[Richard]

Missing for 53 years...

Donna Ann Lass, age 25
Missing since 6 September 1970

 

[Caring1]

Identified.

December 27, 2023

Human remains found in Placer County decades ago have been identified as a missing woman from South Lake Tahoe.

On Wednesday, the Placer County Sheriff's Office announced that the remains were identified as Donna Lass, in a case originating from the South Lake Tahoe area back in 1971.

Human Remains Identified After Being Found in Placer County Decades Ago

The case was connected to human remains found in 1986 in Placer County.

www.2news.com

 

[atomicsciencegal]

Welcome home, Donna.
Is there a thread for the Placer County doe?

 

[Caring1]

Welcome home, Donna.
Is there a thread for the Placer County doe?

I believe this is the JD thread, skull found in Placer Co. August 1986 near I-80 and Hwy 20.

Identified! - CA - Placer County, WhtFem 15/20-27, 1487UFCA, UP17570, Skull in drainage ditch, Aug'86 - Donna Lass

Don't think she has a thread but please merge if she does. Unfortunately very little to go off of, she will probably have to to be identified by DNA. I can't find any articles on her either. Unidentified Female Namus UP17570 D.B.F: August 5, 1986 Estimated PMI: ~3 years Estimated year of...

www.websleuths.com

 

[atomicsciencegal]

I believe this is the JD thread, skull found in Placer Co. August 1986 near I-80 and Hwy 20.

Identified! - CA - Placer County, WhtFem 15/20-27, 1487UFCA, UP17570, Skull in drainage ditch, Aug'86 - Donna Lass

Don't think she has a thread but please merge if she does. Unfortunately very little to go off of, she will probably have to to be identified by DNA. I can't find any articles on her either. Unidentified Female Namus UP17570 D.B.F: August 5, 1986 Estimated PMI: ~3 years Estimated year of...

www.websleuths.com

Thank you so much for finding that, @Caring1 .

 

[John/Jane Doe]

Placer County Sheriff’s Office closes 1971 cold case of possible Zodiac Killer victim

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. The Placer County Sheriff’s Office announced that an identification has been made in a case originating from the South Lake Tahoe area back in 1971. In 1971, Donna Lass was reported...

www.tahoedailytribune.com

 

[imstilla.grandma]

*Cross posting:

While the investigation went nowhere at the time, the Placer County Sheriff's Office did find a skull off Highway 20 near Interstate 80 more than a decade later. However, detectives at the time couldn't identify that person.

The skull was preserved and, in recent years, was re-examined by Placer County's new cold case team.

With advancements in DNA technology at their disposal, the skull found in 1986 had DNA that matched with a member of Lass' family. The remains were then positively identified as that of Donna Lass

Detectives identify remains of 1971 South Lake Tahoe missing person cold case

A breakthrough has been made in a South Lake Tahoe missing person cold case from the early 1970s.

www.cbsnews.com