If Kathleen Johns story of abduction is to be believed as recounted by Robert Graysmith in his 1986 Zodiac book, then it's extremely likely Kathleen Johns wasn't taken on a 2 to 3 hour journey around the outskirts of Tracy, California. If Robert Graysmith was detailing her recollections of March 22nd and 23rd 1970 even remotely accurately, it is evident that Kathleen Johns was driven to either the city of Livermore or Pleasanton in Alameda County. This location would 16 to 22 miles west of the location she believed her abductor had taken her. A location familiar to the Zodiac community because this was the area where the Zodiac Killer mailed the Los Angeles letter on March 13th 1971.
In the Robert Graysmith book she described passing the Arco Service Station at Chrisman Road. It recounted the events like so: Then the stranger drove her away from her car - but not to the ARCO station. "When he missed it, I really didn't think much about it. I didn't say anything. When he passed the next exit, it dawned on me something wasn't right. As long as he wasn't talking, neither was I. We went several more exits before he got off, and then I just didn't say anything. He was doing the driving". The man started down a deserted, rocky farm road. Nothing was said for a long time. The man started to pull over to the roadside and then speeded up. He repeated this several times. Kathleen thought he was going to make a pass at her. She was the one to break the silence "Do you always go around helping people on the road like this" she said sarcastically. "When I get through with them they don't need any help" said the man, his tone changing as he looked off at the dark woods in the distance.
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Kathleen Johns The journey time from South Bird Road (where her vehicle was abandoned) to Pleasanton is approximately 50 to 55 minutes. Throw in the "slow drives" up some winding farm roads and the journey time back to Highway 132, and we have effectively swallowed up the 2 to 3 hours that she claimed the journey had taken. Let us review her account to Robert Graysmith.
She explicitly stated that they passed the ARCO exit at Chrisman Road, continuing onwards. California State Route 132 switches into the 82-mile Interstate 580 and heads northwest on the south side of Tracy, California. To circle around the outskirts of Tracy (where Kathleen Johns thought the man drove), the correct departure point would have been the following exit after the ARCO station at Chrisman Road. This would have been north on Corrall Hollow Road. But according to the Robert Graysmith book, Kathleen Johns stated that after missing the first exit after Chrisman Road "we went several more exits before he got off". Even if the man had exited Interstate 580 two exits after Chrisman Road, this would have him exiting up Patterson Pass Road, about 4 miles to the west of Tracy. The third exit after Chrisman Road would have the "abductor" exiting on Grant Line Road about 6 miles shy of Livermore. The fourth exit would be Carroll Road and Altamont Pass Road in Ulmar, Livermore, just a few miles from the city center. Livermore to Pleasanton (center to center) is 6 miles. The fourth exit would have been three exits after "he passed the next exit", described by Kathleen as several. Judging by the time elapsed and the description of "several more exits", it is highly likely that Kathleen Johns was approaching Livermore and Pleasanton via Interstate 580, rather than exiting the highway at Tracy. The woods she described in the distance may have been Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park.
Irrespective of the whole story making little sense, Kathleen Johns was effectively describing the natural route she would have taken to visit her sick mother in Petaluma, California. She would have taken Interstate 580 to the north side of the Bay Area. If the outward bound journey had taken Kathleen Johns past several exits, close to Livermore or Pleasanton - then approaching three hours later - she was extremely fortunate to escape into a vineyard just a few hundred meters from her stricken 1957 Chevrolet station wagon, back on Highway 132. It was effectively a journey to nowhere.
She explicitly stated that they passed the ARCO exit at Chrisman Road, continuing onwards. California State Route 132 switches into the 82-mile Interstate 580 and heads northwest on the south side of Tracy, California. To circle around the outskirts of Tracy (where Kathleen Johns thought the man drove), the correct departure point would have been the following exit after the ARCO station at Chrisman Road. This would have been north on Corrall Hollow Road. But according to the Robert Graysmith book, Kathleen Johns stated that after missing the first exit after Chrisman Road "we went several more exits before he got off". Even if the man had exited Interstate 580 two exits after Chrisman Road, this would have him exiting up Patterson Pass Road, about 4 miles to the west of Tracy. The third exit after Chrisman Road would have the "abductor" exiting on Grant Line Road about 6 miles shy of Livermore. The fourth exit would be Carroll Road and Altamont Pass Road in Ulmar, Livermore, just a few miles from the city center. Livermore to Pleasanton (center to center) is 6 miles. The fourth exit would have been three exits after "he passed the next exit", described by Kathleen as several. Judging by the time elapsed and the description of "several more exits", it is highly likely that Kathleen Johns was approaching Livermore and Pleasanton via Interstate 580, rather than exiting the highway at Tracy. The woods she described in the distance may have been Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park.
Irrespective of the whole story making little sense, Kathleen Johns was effectively describing the natural route she would have taken to visit her sick mother in Petaluma, California. She would have taken Interstate 580 to the north side of the Bay Area. If the outward bound journey had taken Kathleen Johns past several exits, close to Livermore or Pleasanton - then approaching three hours later - she was extremely fortunate to escape into a vineyard just a few hundred meters from her stricken 1957 Chevrolet station wagon, back on Highway 132. It was effectively a journey to nowhere.