Maybe Seagull or Foreigner may be able to clarify if WAYNE F. LASS born in 1936, living in Sioux Falls SD in 1940, was in fact related to Donna & Mary(Mary living in Sioux Falls when she got that xmas card).

Amazing if it turns out Donna had a relative living in Vallejo.

Please tell me the "Wayne" who drove the ambulance in "Valentino’s" book wasn’t Wayne Lass. lol

Please tell me the "Wayne" who drove the ambulance in "Valentino’s" book wasn’t Wayne Lass. lol

No,wrong Wayne,that was Wayne Messier.

Morf–in that article….Donna’s Mother’s name was "Frances".

Many times family names people after others.

Thats her then.

In 1940 census, they were not living in Sioux Falls. Not sure where they were living in 1944 when Donna was born.

Donna’s siblings were, Mary, Joan,Patricia, and Marjorie,Raymond & Gene. Parents were Frances & James. For what its worth, Donna was youngest, and Raymond & Gene were ALOT older than Donna, by 15-25 years or so

The Francis Lass who Wayne was the son of, is a man. Francis for a male, Frances for a female. And that is borne out looking at Francis’s census record.

Violet and Charles are siblings of Francis. Kate and Anthony are Francis’s parents.

1940 United States Federal Census about Francis Lass
Name: Francis Lass
Age: 37
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1903
Gender: Male
Race: White
Birthplace: South Dakota
Marital Status: Widowed
Relation to Head of House: Head
Home in 1940: Sioux Falls, Minnehaha, South Dakota
Map of Home in 1940: View Map
Street: Menlo Avenue
House Number: 714
Farm: NO
Inferred Residence in 1935: Sioux Falls, Minnehaha, South Dakota
Residence in 1935: Same House
Sheet Number: 9B
Number of Household in Order of Visitation: 154
Occupation: Shipping Clerk
House Owned or Rented: Owned
Value of Home or Monthly Rental if Rented: 3000
Attended School or College: No
Highest Grade Completed: Elementary school, 6th grade
Hours Worked Week Prior to Census: 40
Class of Worker: Wage or salary worker in private work
Weeks Worked in 1939: 52
Income: 988
Income Other Sources: No
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members:
Name Age
Francis Lass 37
Wayne Lass 3
Kate Lass 63
Anthony Lass 71
Charles Lass 29
Violet Lass 22

Been doing some digging, and I think that in some way (even if distant), Donna Lass was related to Wayne F. Lass of Vallejo.

Wayne’s Father was, Francis Peter Lass born in Clinton, Iowa in 1900. By 1940, he was living in Sioux Falls, SD.

Wayne’s father was Anthony Lass born 1868 in Iowa.

Donna’s Dad was born in 1897 in Union, SD, BUT, his Father was Peter J. Lass born 1867 in Sugar Muskogee, Iowa.

In 1940 for the census, Wayne & his parents were living in Sioux Falls,SD, after having a Family background in Iowa. In the 1940 census, Donna’s Family was living 7 hours away in another part of SD, but eventually, Donna’s Family wound up in Sioux Falls,SD, and Donna’s Father died in Worthing,SD in 1973, close to Sioux Falls,SD.

Both Donna’s Family, and Wayne’s have a past in Iowa, and then made their way to Sioux Falls,SD.

Now, the million dollar question is, how closely related were Donna & Wayne, and did they know each other?

This may be total coincidence, but I find it odd that the Zodiac, whom is operating in Vallejo,(where Wayne lived) is connected to Donna’s case,and it turns out, they are both quite possibly, related despite both having backgrounds in another state (SD).

This could be a very important clue if they are indeed related,and especially if they knew each other. For example, what if Zodiac knew Wayne, and knew Donna,or knew of her thru Wayne?

I guess at this stage, it’s all too murky.

Morf–in that article….Donna’s Mother’s name was "Frances".

Many times family names people after others.

Thats her then.

In 1940 census, they were not living in Sioux Falls. Not sure where they were living in 1944 when Donna was born.

Donna’s siblings were, Mary, Joan,Patricia, and Marjorie,Raymond & Gene. Parents were Frances & James. For what its worth, Donna was youngest, and Raymond & Gene were ALOT older than Donna, by 15-25 years or so

The Francis Lass who Wayne was the son of, is a man. Francis for a male, Frances for a female. And that is borne out looking at Francis’s census record.

Violet and Charles are siblings of Francis. Kate and Anthony are Francis’s parents.

1940 United States Federal Census about Francis Lass
Name: Francis Lass
Age: 37
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1903
Gender: Male
Race: White
Birthplace: South Dakota
Marital Status: Widowed
Relation to Head of House: Head
Home in 1940: Sioux Falls, Minnehaha, South Dakota
Map of Home in 1940: View Map
Street: Menlo Avenue
House Number: 714
Farm: NO
Inferred Residence in 1935: Sioux Falls, Minnehaha, South Dakota
Residence in 1935: Same House
Sheet Number: 9B
Number of Household in Order of Visitation: 154
Occupation: Shipping Clerk
House Owned or Rented: Owned
Value of Home or Monthly Rental if Rented: 3000
Attended School or College: No
Highest Grade Completed: Elementary school, 6th grade
Hours Worked Week Prior to Census: 40
Class of Worker: Wage or salary worker in private work
Weeks Worked in 1939: 52
Income: 988
Income Other Sources: No
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members:
Name Age
Francis Lass 37
Wayne Lass 3
Kate Lass 63
Anthony Lass 71
Charles Lass 29
Violet Lass 22

Wait Seagull, you just made my head spin literally…. Wait, What??

Okay,so did you see a link between Donna & Wayne?

Wayne’s father was Francis Lass. Anthony Lass was his grandfather. There may be a relationship there to Donna but if so it goes back pretty far.

Wayne’s father was Francis Lass. Anthony Lass was his grandfather. There may be a relationship there to Donna but if so it goes back pretty far.

Still, that’s pretty odd that one of Donna’s relatives is living in Vallejo where Z is operating, and then she too possibly becomes a Z victim, despite the fact she has no obvious ties to Vallejo, and then her Sister back home in SD gets a Xmas card,possibly from Z.

Okay, I studied this until my head hurt. Yes, Donna Lass and Wayne Lass were related.

According to the 1880 Census Peter and Regina Lass among other children had sons named Peter, born 1868, and Anthony, born 1870.

Peter Lass, the one that was born in 1868, had a son named James who was Donna Lass’s father.

Anthony Lass had a son named Francis who was Wayne Lass’s father.

That is the simplest way I can write it out. Donna and Wayne had the same great-grandfather.

Very interesting indeed. Now I always thought Donna was originally from S. Dak also?

Donna was from South Dakota and so was Wayne Lass. Wayne ended up in Vallejo and was married to a woman named Donna. He died in 1999 and is buried in Vallejo.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cg … =25079919&

Wow, thanks for this Seagull! I studied it alot too, and my head was spinning looking thru those trees.

Okay, so now you have proven they are related, and since they are both related, we know they both had relatives in Los Angeles (one of which died in 1966),and possibly one in Riverside in the 1960’s. Does this mean anything? Who knows, but I just find it hard to ignore that Donna had a Family member in Vallejo where Z was active, and that she herself became a possible Z victim.
Now this makes me want to know more about that xmas card mailed to Donna’s Sister.Was it mailed to Mary because somebody had her address (the sender being a Family member?),or did they know her address from the Donna’s story in the newspaper? And finally,did Donna Lass & Wayne Lass know each other, and if so, how well?
Not trying to say Wayne was zodiac or had anything to do with Donna vanishing, but it’s possible if he and Donna knew each other, then that essentially ties Donna to Vallejo,and possibly to Z,whomever he was.

It’s cool to see that after 40+ years of the Z mystery, things like this come out of the wood work, just when you think there are no more surprises.

Those are all valid questions Morf and I can’t answer a single one of them! I can only speak to my experience regarding how much of my extended family I personally knew and who I had only heard about. I did not know either of my grandfather’s brothers, I know they had brothers but that was about it. My family was not particularly close, did not do family reunions and such. Immediate family only.

That said there are plenty of families that do big family reunions. Maybe in a place like South Dakota it was more the norm for things like that and Donna and Wayne did have an opportunity to meet. I guess that Mary, Donna’s sister, would be the person to ask about that.

Yes. Good stuff.

I too have family I heard about my whole life from my Grandmother, but never met. Even locally.

Still…weird.

Was this the same Wayne mentioned as having lived in SF too? I wonder if he and Donna lived in SF at the same time too?

Sure hope I hear from Donna’s friend about this! Like you said morf…not that it means anything, but it’s still interesting. I wonder if the Donna from Vallejo would know anything. I might just ask her!