Maybe use the exact date it was received by the pert chart, or include a copy of the pert chart

The pert chat indicates this letter was received in July, 1971 by the SF Chron. I never noticed that date before. Is it possible we could find a story or article from the week before in which a Woman named April went missing, or died? It seems as if the person that mailed it used a method similar to the Donna Lass ‘around in the snow’.

Why only a week before?

This is the relevant info from me. Remember Lass vanished in September 1970, and the Pines card probably hinting at her disappearance came in March 1971, so six months later.

The results of my prior FOIA request to SFPD are below – basically SFPD did not object to release but said they could not find it. One reason they mentioned is that it COULD be the case they sent it to another agency. Long time back I did requests for this to both Cal DOJ and FBI. Each said they could not find it. But I do think it likely SFPD sent it to the FBI.

Maybe a new request could work. You might get a different person doing the searching and/or they might look in a new area. It is worth a try.

If this "Woods" card is real, what victim might it be referring to? Who died 6 months to 12 months earlier?

This what we know:

July 13, 1971

Letters pasted on picture

"NEAR MONTICELLO SHOUGHT VICTIMS 21…IN THE WOODS DIES APRIL"

"VICTIMS" More than one victim? A couple perhaps? Were any couples murdered in this time frame? What about Hood and Garcia?

Possible Victims? "Woods" Card was sent July 13, 1971.

Robin Graham, November 15, 1970 – Morf and others have noted she was a victim of a "car trouble" ruse attack, like Bates and Kathleen Johns. Could be a LA Zodiac victim.

Carol Hilburn, November 13, 1970 – Listed by Graysmith as a possible Zodiac victim, like Betty Cloer she was last seen at a bar and probably killed by the same man who killed Cloer – the recently convicted Phillip Arthur Thompson.

March 13, 1970, Marie Anstey – debate over whether she was murdered, murder made to look like accident or real accidental death.

March 7 or 8, 1970, Nurse Judith Hakari – Possible Zodiac crime.

NEW INFO: The body of Hakari was found in the WOODS in Placer County, CA in APRIL. Consider this in light of the line "IN THE WOODS DIES APRIL…"

THEORIES AND SPECULATION:

It seems Zodiac sent the Pines card as a clue to the murder of Lass, and perhaps an indication of where her body was buried, or where a clue was buried.

Could the Woods card ALSO be a reference to Lass? The card sent to the sister of Lass had pictures of WOODS on it, a Pine Tree forest, and called her "ST. Donna, Guardian of the Pines". But the rest of the Woods card (what little we know) refers to Monticello. Unlikely Lass would be buried there, as the Pines card suggests (to me anyway) that Lass is buried at the Forest Hills condo project in Incline Village. But "Monticello" means "little mountain" – could that be a reference to FOREST HILLS or the little mountains around the Incline Village condo?

If the Woods card is hinting at another victim, who could it be? Anyone missing named April, or Woods?

Based on the very little we know, I have some interest in Robin Graham. She has been mentioned as a possible Zodiac victim by Howard Davis, Morf and others. Her abduction date of November 15, 1970 is almost 8 months to the day before the July 13, 1971 Woods card is sent. In fact, given the postmark of July 13, 1971 (don’t know what city sent from) it might very well have arrived at the SF Chronicle on July 15, 1971.

"IN THE WOODS DIES APRIL" – A "Robin" lives (and dies) in the WOODS, and April is the start of Spring, and many mention the "songs of birds" as the sign the Spring is here. The cry of the robin signaling Spring, or April.

OK, I don’t know, just brainstorming possible ideas, a bit of a stretch at this point, but I do see some possible association between a victim named "ROBIN" and WOODS and APRIL.

"NEAR MONTICELLO SHOUGHT VICTIMS 21…IN THE WOODS DIES APRIL"

"VICTIMS" More than one victim? A couple perhaps? Were any couples murdered in this time frame?

What about Hood and Garcia? They were attacked and killed June 21, 1970, one year and 21 days before this Woods card is sent, while they were on a blanket at a beach, much like Domingos and Edwards in Santa Barbara 1963 and Hartnell and Shepherd 1969. Like Domingos and Ewards, and many ONS victims, they were found UNDER the blanket.

MORF: Her case (Hakari) does sound very similar to Lass AK. Her car being found at her apartment, etc., interesting.

AK Wilks: Yes thats true.

In both cases, we have a nurse who is last seen alive at work, her car is found at her apartment, perhaps indicating that in both cases the victim nurse was trailed from work and abducted in the parking lot of her apartment.

Lake Tahoe, Nevada (Lass) location) is across the state line and basically parallel to Sacramento, California (Hakari location). Police indicated they thought the cases might be linked.

The problem is we only have a few of the words from this letter, and we don’t have the picture.

With all the words and the picture, we might be able to quickly identify who the victim was, just as with the Pines card and Lass.

Morf, remember the Pines card was sent 6 months and 16 days AFTER the abduction of Donna Lass.

So with this card of July 13, 1971, that points to perhaps an abduction/murder around January of 1971 to March of 1971? And nothing says Zodiac would wait exactly 6 months again. My thought is he waited awhile to insure nothing came out to connect him to the crime – no witnesses, no sketches, no reports of fingerprints found or license plates spotted. He waited 6 months after he took Lass, and feeling he was in the clear, sent the Pines card.

So I personally have considered crimes from January 1970 to June 1971.

We don’t know if the "April" he refers to is the victims name, or the month of her abduction or discovery. Hakari was abducted in March 1970, but her body was found in APRIL, IN THE WOODS. That seems a pretty strong tie-in…except the near year and a half time period, and what then is the meaning of "MONTICELLO"? The word "APRIL" also makes me think of spring, and the ROBINS return and songs are associated with spring. A clue to victim ROBIN Graham? Perhaps, but it is a bit of a stretch, a little bit of a leap in logic and word association.

What does MONTICELLO mean? Does it mean a victim was dumped at the Monticello near Lake Berryessa, as Sandy Betts noted?

Is there another Monticello in California, or on the west coast?

Could it be a clue to its Italian translation, "Little Mountain"? If so, where is the "Little Mountain"?

Or is it a clue to Thomas Jefferson, a city or county named Jefferson?

UPDATE [November 2011]

No major news to report.

The "good news" is that the SFPD is NOT objecting to the release of the letter. The "bad news" is they can’t find it.

Bottom line is they say they are looking for it but cannot find it. At least they have not found it yet.

FRUSTRATING!

Can this case ever be solved? I don’t know.

MORF, SANDY, ZAMANTHA AND OTHERS:

You may wish to ask Kevin Fagan of the SF Chronicle if they have a copy of this 7/13/71 "April … Woods" letter. It was sent to them. And Inspector Jones himself has never even seen this letter. So if Kevin at the SF Chronicle can find a copy, he would be helping the police and the public to see this letter. And this letter is an authentic real Zodiac letter, and may have clues to the identity of the Zodiac and a victim not mentioned or investigated before.

These are some of my requests and the responses:

This was my request in May 2011:

The following request is made under the California Constitution Sunshine Amendment Article I, Section 3(b) which states in part that "the writings of public officials and agencies shall be open to public scrutiny", and the The California Public Records Act (California Government Code §§ 6250 through 6276.48), which requires disclosure of government records.

I hereby request these documents which are in the records of the San Francisco Police Department in the case of the "Zodiac Killer".

Letter from the "Zodiac" (and envelope if it exists) sent to SF Chronicle, dated 7/13/71 (or perhaps 7/12/71). Described as:

Letters pasted on picture

Contains words:

"NEAR MONTICELLO SHOUGHT VICTIMS 21…IN THE WOODS DIES APRIL"

I am requesting a copy of this letter and its envelope, and any documents pertaining to analysis or examination of the letter.

Thank you.

MAY 2011

The Legal Division of the San Francisco Police Department is in receipt of your request for the letter from the "Zodiac" (and envelope if it exists). I contacted the Homicide Detail and was informed that Inspector Kevin Jones is managing the information on the Zodiac investigation and that you should contact Inspector Jones directly. His email address is posted above. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Maureen Conefrey

Legal Division – SFPD

JULY 2011

I have not yet received the requested record, the Zodiac letter of approximately July 13, 1971, mentioning "In the woods dies April" and "Monticello", from either you or Inspector Jones.

Can you advise me if the SFPD will comply with the Public Records Act and send this document or if there is an objection? I do know Inpsector Jones is very busy, and I can be patient, and I also think it is the responsibility of the legal department to fufill my request, not him.

Any information you can provide is helpful.

Releasing this document will be one more clue to the identity of the Zodiac, and may help to identify a suspect.

Thank you both.
AK Wilks

Dear Mr. Wilks:

I am attaching the response I received from Lt. Sainez of the Homicide Detail regarding your request:
"Hello Maureen,

I spoke with Inspector Jones regarding this request. He is processing it, however, he has to look through many boxes of documents related to this case to determine:

1) If we have the document (some documents were given to other agencies).

2) Determine why it has not been released yet (there may be a specific reason it has been withheld).
He will research this and forward his findings to you. He does not have a timeline to when this will be completed.

Lieutenant Hector Sainez
San Francisco Police Dept.
Homicide Detail

OCTOBER 2011

I realize we have just passed the 42nd anniversary of the murder of Paul Stine.

I was hoping for news on the release of the "In the woods dies April…" letter sent by the Zodiac.
My hope is that since this is the only known confirmed Zodiac letter never released to the public, it may contain clues to the identity of the Zodiac. By releasing the public, the Zodiac research community and/or a family member or friend of the Zodiac or a victim may recognize words, phrases or other information.
I can think of no reason why this letter should not be released. I am in touch with Kevin Fagan of the SF Chronicle, and other print, web and TV media, to get the letter maximum exposure when released.

Any news is appreciated. Thanks to all for your continuing work on this and other cases. Thank you.

AK Wilks

Mr. Wilks,

I have been informed by Inspector Jones, that he is still in the process of trying to locate the letter described below. Once Inspector Jones has completed his search, the Department will notify you as to whether or not the "letter" has been located.

Thank you.
Maureen Conefrey

Legal Division

UPDATE 2015 – They never did find it. It may be that they sent it to Cal DOJ and/or FBI for analysis.

I did a search for all females named April who died in 1971 in California. There were 16 results, 13 of those were children born between 1964 and 1971. The remaining 3 were born in 1914, 1934 and 1939.

April L Betonio, born 11 Apr 1914, in Michigan, died 10 Jun 1971, in San Joaquin County

April J Overly, born 17 Apr 1934, in Mexico, died 14 Feb 1971, in San Diego County

April D Gottier, born 18 Jun 1939, in California, died 21 Aug 1971, in San Diego County. (After postmark on letter)

I looked through the Doe Network and the Charley Project for the years 1970 and 1971 for any females named April that are missing from any state in the US. There were none.

This April, who may have died in the woods, has not shown up in the California death index nor is she listed as missing. I realize that not all missing persons are listed at the missing persons websites and/or she may never have been reported as missing for a variety of reasons.

Why only a week before?

I forgot that the Lass mailing came much later, maybe a week is not enough, maybe 6 months is better

I looked through the Doe Network and the Charley Project for the years 1970 and 1971 for any females named April that are missing from any state in the US. There were none.

This April, who may have died in the woods, has not shown up in the California death index nor is she listed as missing. I realize that not all missing persons are listed at the missing persons websites and/or she may never have been reported as missing for a variety of reasons.

Could have saved you a bit of legwork, sorry I did the same thing a few months back

Did you see my post on females named April who died in 1971?

If we can’t even find a female named April who died or was reported missing near the pertinent time why do you think this letter holds any importance? I understand the so called "Lass Card" because Donna went missing but it really seems to me that the April card is a red herring.

It may mean "In the woods…. dies …April". The SF Chronicle may have interpreted it differently, after all it may have been pasted separately . Not a person, a month. ie three months earlier. I bet it is a victim found in woodland or a missing person abducted near woodland and situated by Lake Berryessa, in view of the sunken town.

I have considered that April may pertain to a month or the spring season but it is a time of rebirth after winter, at least here in the northern hemisphere. It’s damned esoteric, if that is what the writer was going for he succeeded! It doesn’t make any sense to me.

Did you see my post on females named April who died in 1971?

If we can’t even find a female named April who died or was reported missing near the pertinent time why do you think this letter holds any importance? I understand the so called "Lass Card" because Donna went missing but it really seems to me that the April card is a red herring.

Maybe a girl with middle name April?

I’m thinking about this a bit more. Zodiac never wrote about any of his victims naming them. It was "the girl", "the boy" or "the woeman", why would he suddenly use a name?

I did a search for all females named April who died in 1971 in California. There were 16 results, 13 of those were children born between 1964 and 1971. The remaining 3 were born in 1914, 1934 and 1939.

April L Betonio, born 11 Apr 1914, in Michigan, died 10 Jun 1971, in San Joaquin County

April J Overly, born 17 Apr 1934, in Mexico, died 14 Feb 1971, in San Diego County

April D Gottier, born 18 Jun 1939, in California, died 21 Aug 1971, in San Diego County. (After postmark on letter)

Another one, April J. Gardiner died 7/9/71 4 days before this letter, in Los Angeles. She was only 7, so unless foul play was involved…..

What if April was in another state? Or…what if the letters is a pending threat against a woman named April?

I’m thinking about this a bit more. Zodiac never wrote about any of his victims naming them. It was "the girl", "the boy" or "the woeman", why would he suddenly use a name?

You’re right..unless, Z was the Bates letter writer, and he did mention Cheri’s last name