Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders - Geographic profiling, address near Zodiac crime, LE confirms case is not "cold."

[iveHearditBothWays]

I did the geographic profiling using the formula from this site: Rossmo's formula and validated the results with similar code in Python on my desktop. The code creates a grid with different colors signifying higher or lower possibility of the area being significant.

STEPS

1. I placed the results from the code (heat map) over Google Earth images of both Santa Rosa and San Francisco.

2. I looked at both hot zones to see what landmarks, businesses, and people I could find in common, including known suspects.

3. I used scanned images of 1970s white pages, familysearch.org, and other online sources.

4. I submitted 2 FOIA requests (both denied). 1. Is Leonard Lakes DNA in CODIS?; 2. To get a copy of an FBI report from 1975 - pic included

5. I researched other crimes in the area both before and after the Hitchhiker murders. Too much info to list here. For example, Nancy Feusi (THE MURDER OF NANCY FEUSI) was found near where serial killer Herman Hobbs left bodies too. See jpg

6. It's my belief that more than one person was involved. Several victims were seen with multiple men, Lori Kursa, Angela Thomas. Witnesses reported hearing suspicious vehicles near a third victim, Wendy Allen.

7. In Santa Rosa, the hot zone is near where Lori Kursa and Jane Doe's bodies were found and where Lori was seen with 2 men forcibly taking her to a van where a third man was driving.

PEOPLE OF INTEREST WITH TIES TO THE AREA


Leonard Lake 1945 – 1985

• Grew up in San Francisco
• Discharged from Marines in 1971
• Stayed in mental hospital after discharge – schizoid personality disorder
• Attended one semester at San Jose U, murders started in early 1972
• Lived in hippie commune that was “just outside of SF” after that
• Married in 1975 – murders stopped in 1974
• Had family in both San Francisco and Sonoma County
• Committed suicide when arrested in 1985 for shoplifting. Unclear if his DNA is in CODIS. My FOIA request was denied
• Lake was into “natural living,” obsessed with the afterlife, took part in a Nature fares.
• There was a symbol made of wood left near a victim – see photo

Lance Jeffrey Voss

• Had a cousin in the San Francisco
• Was part of a racing club in the area at the time
• I believe I found an address for him in San Francisco. The listing is under “L J Voss.” It appears in the 1972 and 1973 whitepages. I gave this to the cold case investigator. This address is near (two blocks) where Paul Stine was murdered by Zodiac. This is likely just a coincidence.
• Lewis-Clark Valley murders
• 1972 mortuary break-in, San Jose, 1972
• Tall, white male with bushy hair

Grim Reapers / Sommerhalders

• The Grim Reapers were a motorcycle gang in California at the time
• Johnny Lee and others were convicted of murders in late 60s. One took place on Calistoga Rd, where SRHM victims were left
• Richard “Blue” Sommerhalder was Johnny Lee’s half brother
• Richard was convicted of murdering three women in 1974 in Santa Cruz. He was linked to another murder on 4/7/2025. Richard fits the description of tall, white male with “aftro style” hair.
• Johnny Lee Sr. owned several gas stations and residential addresses in Cotati - just south of Santa Rosa. One victim had “machine shop oil” on her.

Richard Manalli - had several addresses in San Francisco and Sonoma County which show up all over the map. I believe he's been already ruled out thru DNA though. I could be wrong.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

I gave the above information to the Sonoma County Cold Case unit. This was their response:

"
Good morning [my name],



Thank you for your email regarding the Santa Rosa Hitchhiker murders.



I am actively working these cases and I am very familiar with both Leonard Lake and Lance Jeffery Voss. Since these are open cases, I cannot share the details of our investigation but be assured we are doing everything possible to identify the person(s) responsible for these horrible crimes.



Respectfully,

Cold Case Unit"