Many newspaper articles and Zodiac researchers over the years have speculated that the "around in the snow" phrase pasted upside down onto the Pines card (along with the punch-hole in the top right corner) was a clue to the burial or disposal site of Donna Lass. But the way the card is viewed it appears incorrect from the standpoint of the Clair Tappaan Lodge "Sierra Club", which sits close to Donner Pass Road and Interstate 80. The only two things on the postcard that appear specific are the punch-hole and "Sierra Club", which sit alongside each other.
The Zodiac Killer made a conscious decision to paste the wording "around in the snow" upside down, so one would like to think this has a purpose, in the form of a clue. Maybe if we had righted the postcard by inverting it through 180 degrees, the burial or deposition site of Donna would have become clearer. In other words, turn the postcard upside down to reveal where the killer placed the body. This now places the punch-hole west of the pasted "Sierra Club".
Let us imagine that the murderer of Donna Lass (whether Zodiiac or not) was the creator of the Pines card. Why would the person who created this postcard place "Sierra Club" on the postcard if it had no meaning or specificity? One would like to think it had a purpose. If the murderer had passed the "lake tahoe areas" on the west side of the lake, he may have opted to take the Donner Pass Road, rather than a major route such as Interstate 80 with Donna Lass (either dead or alive) inside his vehicle. This route would have taken him directly past the signage for the Clair Tappaan Lodge Sierra Club en route to the Camp Spaulding area, to either murder the young nurse, or dispose of her remains. If we assume (like many have) that the punch-hole in the Pines postcard was her burial site or the location of her remains, then it would be important for the murderer to provide us with something relative to this location on the postcard, so we could work out her final resting place. The Sierra Club of Clair Tappaan Lodge may have been his choice. But why not any other landmark or place name en route to the Camp Spaulding area?
Most are fairly confident that the designer of the Pines postcard acquired the "Forest Pines at Incline" advertisement from either the San Francisco Chronicle or San Francisco Examiner newspaper on March 19th 1971, because these have used a capital "P" in "Peek". If the Pines card creator was also the murderer - and he knew the route he took the day he drove Donna Lass to the Camp Spaulding area - then the only way he can give us a clue to Donna's location, is to search the newspapers for something relevant to the route he traveled. So, I further examined the San Francisco Examiner on March 19th 1971, that the killer may have read.
The Zodiac Killer made a conscious decision to paste the wording "around in the snow" upside down, so one would like to think this has a purpose, in the form of a clue. Maybe if we had righted the postcard by inverting it through 180 degrees, the burial or deposition site of Donna would have become clearer. In other words, turn the postcard upside down to reveal where the killer placed the body. This now places the punch-hole west of the pasted "Sierra Club".
Let us imagine that the murderer of Donna Lass (whether Zodiiac or not) was the creator of the Pines card. Why would the person who created this postcard place "Sierra Club" on the postcard if it had no meaning or specificity? One would like to think it had a purpose. If the murderer had passed the "lake tahoe areas" on the west side of the lake, he may have opted to take the Donner Pass Road, rather than a major route such as Interstate 80 with Donna Lass (either dead or alive) inside his vehicle. This route would have taken him directly past the signage for the Clair Tappaan Lodge Sierra Club en route to the Camp Spaulding area, to either murder the young nurse, or dispose of her remains. If we assume (like many have) that the punch-hole in the Pines postcard was her burial site or the location of her remains, then it would be important for the murderer to provide us with something relative to this location on the postcard, so we could work out her final resting place. The Sierra Club of Clair Tappaan Lodge may have been his choice. But why not any other landmark or place name en route to the Camp Spaulding area?
Most are fairly confident that the designer of the Pines postcard acquired the "Forest Pines at Incline" advertisement from either the San Francisco Chronicle or San Francisco Examiner newspaper on March 19th 1971, because these have used a capital "P" in "Peek". If the Pines card creator was also the murderer - and he knew the route he took the day he drove Donna Lass to the Camp Spaulding area - then the only way he can give us a clue to Donna's location, is to search the newspapers for something relevant to the route he traveled. So, I further examined the San Francisco Examiner on March 19th 1971, that the killer may have read.
The San Francisco Examiner newspaper of March 19th 1971 (3 days before the Pines card was mailed) carried the Forest Pines advertisement on page 15. Six pages earlier, on page 9 of the March 19th 1971 newspaper, there was an article entitled "Sierra Club Backs Park Tax Boost" about the San Francisco Bay Chapter of the Sierra Club (using the correct font).
Based upon the measurements of the San Francisco Examiner's pages, I calculated that the "Sierra Club" headline measured about 1.65 inches in width, which was the same as the "Sierra Club" pasted on the Pines postcard. If the murderer had been reading this newspaper through its main pages on March 19th 1971, he could easily have chosen to cut out the "Sierra Club" on page 9 to represent the Clair Tappaan Lodge that he drove past en route to the Camp Spaulding area, The mention of "Sierra Club" in the newspaper may have been the closest thing he could find to represent something about the route he traveled that day. It would also provide the viewer of the Pines postcard with something relative to his burial or deposition site.
The distance between the pasted "Sierra Club" and the center of the punch-hole is 2.39 inches, so using the standard width of a US postcard (5.8 inches) and the Mount Diablo map scale of 6.4 miles to the inch, I was able to calculate that the distance in miles between the pasted "Sierra Club" and the center of the punch-hole was 15.3 miles. When I measured the distance on Google maps between Clair Tappaan Lodge and Camp Spaulding, it was exactly the same - 15.3 miles by crow. If my interpretation of the Pines postcard is correct, its designer was the killer of Donna Lass. If my interpretation is wrong, then we are back to square one.
Based upon the measurements of the San Francisco Examiner's pages, I calculated that the "Sierra Club" headline measured about 1.65 inches in width, which was the same as the "Sierra Club" pasted on the Pines postcard. If the murderer had been reading this newspaper through its main pages on March 19th 1971, he could easily have chosen to cut out the "Sierra Club" on page 9 to represent the Clair Tappaan Lodge that he drove past en route to the Camp Spaulding area, The mention of "Sierra Club" in the newspaper may have been the closest thing he could find to represent something about the route he traveled that day. It would also provide the viewer of the Pines postcard with something relative to his burial or deposition site.
The distance between the pasted "Sierra Club" and the center of the punch-hole is 2.39 inches, so using the standard width of a US postcard (5.8 inches) and the Mount Diablo map scale of 6.4 miles to the inch, I was able to calculate that the distance in miles between the pasted "Sierra Club" and the center of the punch-hole was 15.3 miles. When I measured the distance on Google maps between Clair Tappaan Lodge and Camp Spaulding, it was exactly the same - 15.3 miles by crow. If my interpretation of the Pines postcard is correct, its designer was the killer of Donna Lass. If my interpretation is wrong, then we are back to square one.
