I saw this post a while ago and I can’t help think of Ross. I know his cause of death was listed as natural and I can’t stand conspiracy theories, but right away I thought of Ross. Is it possible his death was covered up and that’s why his family will not help? AGAIN THIS IS JUST A THEORY. I AM NOT TRYING TO LIST IT AS FACT. Sorry the post is so big. I don’t know how to resize the photos to post on here.

Why would the police cover it up?

If Ross was Z and they caught him (and possibly killed him), is there any plausible reason why they would not come out and officially close the case?

What you often see in these "he was actually caught but they covered it up" scenarios is a high profile perpetrator of some kind (e.g. the Prince Albert theory in the Ripper case). Ross doesn’t fit that bill at all.

Why would the police cover it up?

If Ross was Z and they caught him (and possibly killed him), is there any plausible reason why they would not come out and officially close the case?

Nope… Well not that I can think of, but per this person (and not saying it’s true) Z was killed and obviously if that’s true then it was covered up. Maybe they just strongly believe the person was but couldn’t prove it and worried about the community outcry. Who knows. I just thought it was interesting.

I don’t know much about the period of time or the exact nature of the care facility he was in, but it may not have required a call. Most long term and nursing care facilities are set up to handle death and have procedures in place. Not to say it might not be interesting, just commenting. But to add to the mystique, I have wondered if it was a suicide, or such. His John, whom was responsible I believe for arrangements, certainly rushed to cremation. Kinda makes you wonder if he, too, didn’t suspect something.

I don’t think cremation was rushed. When an autopsy is complete, one would take the next step and I don’t know why he’d be left laying around. I’ve had family who was cremated and it was a quick process. I don’t think his brother was up to anything.

2177 17th Ave. Santa Cruz, the address listed as Ross’s home address on his death certificate is an assisted care facility. Though their website does not have a history page I would guess that the address has always been some type of care facility. It’s called Paradise Villa now and I will look to see if I can find how long it’s been in business at that address and anything else I can learn about it.

http://www.paradisevillaelderlycare.com/

As a care facility it is probably use to residents dying and may not have called for emergency services when discovering Ross had passed. They may have called the coroner’s office directly.

Ophion, the Santa Cruz paper did not publish on Saturdays, Oct. 1 was a Saturday in 1977.

Thanks, Seagull. That explains why I couldn’t find a paper for that date. I think normally funeral details are only printed in the paper when the family sends the info to print. Ross’ brother probably didn’t send anything to them. Or maybe the funeral homes send the info to the papers, I’m not sure how that works. An autopsy could have taken a while and I would assume there was one since Ross wasn’t all that old when he died.

I think Paradise Villa is a house turned into a care facility, like a board and care type of place. My work has a couple of funeral homes that are clients in Santa Cruz, maybe I can ask a funeral director if they are familiar with the facility.

I paid to have a researcher look for obituaries or service announcement of Ross’s death, there were none.

I think Ross was dead when he was found by Jon, so there would be no need for emergency response.

I’ve found that ‘zodiac was killed in Santa Cruz’ story interesting but Ross was not killed, he died. I also find any theory of police covering up that they killed Z, hard to swallow

Zodiac killed in Santa Cruz story??? I’m not familiar with that. Yeah on his death certificate is doesn’t say time of death, it says time found at so more than likely he died in his sleep that night. It still weird me out on how little can be found out about the guy even with the help of a PI. But I guess if you’re a serial killer, and I’m not saying that Ross was, then that is a benefit.

I wonder if there’s some kind of record of Ross collecting disability or social security or anything. If he was allowed to live at a care facility at such a young age then he must not have been healthy enough to have a job but would have needed some source of income. I would imagine he held dead end minimum wage jobs up until he became too unhealthy to work.

I wonder if there’s some kind of record of Ross collecting disability or social security or anything. If he was allowed to live at a care facility at such a young age then he must not have been healthy enough to have a job but would have needed some source of income. I would imagine he held dead end minimum wage jobs up until he became too unhealthy to work.

Death certificate had his occupation as "dishwasher" I think.

I wonder if there’s some kind of record of Ross collecting disability or social security or anything. If he was allowed to live at a care facility at such a young age then he must not have been healthy enough to have a job but would have needed some source of income. I would imagine he held dead end minimum wage jobs up until he became too unhealthy to work.

Death certificate had his occupation as "dishwasher" I think.

Yeah but it says "last known employment" or something along those lines. It could have been years since he was last employed.

I think Ross was dead when he was found by Jon, so there would be no need for emergency response.

Morf I sincerely doubt that Jon found Ross dead at 7AM, Jon didn’t even live in Santa Cruz. Where it says on the death certificate "Informant" it means that the informant is the person who supplied the vital information for the death certificate of the deceased. The vital information would be DOB, parents names, place of birth etc. Most likely Jon was listed as next of kin at the care facility where he died.

If you doubt me, look at the death certificates of the victims, the informants were the parents or spouse and they certainly were not the ones who found their loved one dead.

What did the PI tell you about where Ross died?

I think Ross was dead when he was found by Jon, so there would be no need for emergency response.

Morf I sincerely doubt that Jon found Ross dead at 7AM, Jon didn’t even live in Santa Cruz. Where it says on the death certificate "Informant" it means that the informant is the person who supplied the vital information for the death certificate of the deceased. The vital information would be DOB, parents names, place of birth etc. Most likely Jon was listed as next of kin at the care facility where he died.

If you doubt me, look at the death certificates of the victims, the informants were the parents or spouse and they certainly were not the ones who found their loved one dead.

What did the PI tell you about where Ross died?

Good catch. I never even noticed that it said "informant." So it was probably a nurse at the home that found him. So they would have contacted the coroner right away and he was either taken to the coroner’s office or directly to the funeral home if there was no autopsy done.