Right..December 1970 and 940 ZIP code. Date appears to be 22 or 27, but hard to read.

QT

..the Guardian of the Pines.

If the card is authentic, I still wonder who had knowledge about Mrs. Pilkers’ address? The card was sent from California to South Dakota..so guess it must have been someone who had knowledge about Mrs. Pilkers living circumstances..

QT

yes good point..you would think they had some knowledge of the family.
on a side note to this card i find how he does his ‘F’ intriguing. it may have been common in the time writing with a cup curl. That dude who shot himself. Joseph Newton Chandler iii he had that same cup curl on top of his Ys. and i thought a Z suspect cant recall who, thought it may have been gyke but i cant find it.

yes good point..you would think they had some knowledge of the family.
on a side note to this card i find how he does his ‘F’ intriguing. it may have been common in the time writing with a cup curl. That dude who shot himself. Joseph Newton Chandler iii he had that same cup curl on top of his Ys. and i thought a Z suspect cant recall who, thought it may have been gyke but i cant find it.

And in fact, the writer of the card must

a.) have known that Mrs. Pilker lived in South Dakota
b.) that she lived in Sioux Falls
c.) that she lived in South Grange (correct?)
d.) that her house number was 1609
e.) that her name was Mrs. Pilker
f.) that her first name was Mary

I guess if I’d ask my friends for my address, most wouldn’t know..

Besides that: Officially there is no connection between Donna Lass and her assailant. Except he had forced her to tell her mother’s address (or even let her write the Christmas Card..). So either he had met her sister (changed) e.g. when she had visited her (e.g. at Paradise Motel) or he had forced Donna to tell the address. Third possibility: The card was from someone joking on Mrs. Pilker, someone who had known both, her living town as well as her address.

My preference is that he had met Donna on earlier locations together with her mother at Lake Tahoe. This again would imply that Mrs. Pilker had made acquaintance with the killer of her sister (changed).

QT

Mary Pilker’s name and address appeared in the Sioux Falls newspaper on October 9, 1970. I looked for and could not find that this same information appeared in a California newspaper prior to December 1970 when this card was sent. However not all newspapers are archived for us to be able to look this stuff up after so many years.

In general newspapers will put in an address of someone who is local to the publication but if the story is syndicated quite often that information is omitted because it has no relevance to the readership of newspapers out of the local area. This is not carved in stone but does seem to be the practice of most newspapers.

‘When the Pilkers visited her during the middle of August’

Is her sister still alive? Obviously the assailant might have observed Donna Lass for about two weeks..

https://www.mylife.com/mary-pilker/e670235203620
http://articles.latimes.com/2000/sep/03/local/me-14718

QT
(ok sister not mother)

Last I heard the sister is still alive but has dementia.

Last I heard the sister is still alive but has dementia.

Still the nephew available..? Should be the son of Mary, I guess.

Thanks for clarification..very impressive in-depth knowledge, Seagull.

Donna Lass was born in or around 1945, her sister in or around 1930. Thus the nephew most likely would’ve been born in or around 1950, thus only 5-10 years younger than Donna Lass would be. That’d place him at the age of 63-67 years or younger.

QT

I’m not sure about the nephew, he was Mary’s nephew not son. Donna came from a large family, I believe there were eight brothers and sisters.

I’m not sure about the nephew, he was Mary’s nephew not son. Donna came from a large family, I believe there were eight brothers and sisters.

http://articles.latimes.com/2000/sep/03/local/me-14718
‘Donna’s sister and nephew’ thus could have been son or nephew, at least according to this article, for what its worth.

If it’s him

https://www.spokeo.com/Donald-Pilker

he would’ve been six years old only..

QT

Unfortunately, while I see nothing but 1970 on that postmark, that stamp wasn’t released until 1974…so the information could have been found from the Tahoe papers.

The nephew wasn’t Mary’s son, as Seagull mentioned.

There is a ‘Postal Service CA’ in the stamp:

viewtopic.php?f=35&t=862&start=20

QT

There is a ‘Postal Service CA’ in the stamp:

viewtopic.php?f=35&t=862&start=20

QT

I know…I’ll have to re-post my photos. It sure seemed clear they read 1970…that is why I made the post. That stamp was not created until 1974 though. I looked further into it. Odd, but it is what it is.

EDIT: Re-posted here: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=862&p=17029#p17029

The Stamp: https://www.mysticstamp.com/Products/Un … /1551/USA/

I assert the card hadn’t been sent earlier than 1974

QT