Possibly MAJOR Ross Sullivan writing find in yearbook

[Paul_Averly]

well folks. Here you go. After hours and hours of hard work and research, my alphabet is finally complete. Only missing 4-5 letters. I really had to truncate the file to post here so hopefully it''ll read ok. I can email it out if anyone wants. I havent tilted or rotated any of the letters except where noted. If you find any mistakes please let me know.

Ham you have outdone yourself. This was excellent. It's unbelievably accurate. Who else could it have been? How can anyone explain this away?

Oh they will try to explain this away. But the "writing" is on the wall as far as Z being an unknown goes.

Great work Ham!!!!!!!!!!

[AK Wilks]

Well, to my eye, and in my opinion, some things like the unique squiggly line on the Z, match so exactly, it seems possible that someone simply copied the squiggly Z on the Bates letter and put it into this yearbook.

If there's absolutely nothing even approaching a chain of custody, or even a reasonable set of facts as to where the yearbook came from, and absolutely no evidence to show that Ross Sullivan is the actual writer, I would question the value of the writing. But that's just my opinion. I'll leave this post to those who want to discuss it more.

Again, I think you need to show some account of where this your book came from, who it came from and what evidence is available that Ross Sullivan did the writing. Otherwise there's nothing to say that this isn't a hoax, and since some of the writing seems an exact match, that's what I'm inclined to consider. There must be some story as how the yearbook came into his possession and some reason he believes Ross Sullivan as the writer.

Without any account of where it came from, who it came from, some version of the chain of custody and some evidence to show the Ross Sullivan is the writer, it would have absolutely zero evidentiary value to the police or in a court of law. Or to me. So I will leave this thread to those who want to examine it more.

[Paul_Averly]

Well, to my eye, and in my opinion, some things like the unique squiggly line on the Z, match so exactly, it seems possible that someone simply copied the squiggly Z on the Bates letter and put it into this yearbook.

If there's absolutely nothing even approaching a chain of custody, or even a reasonable set of facts as to where the yearbook came from, and absolutely no evidence to show that Ross Sullivan is the actual writer, I would question the value of the writing. But that's just my opinion. I'll leave this post to those who want to discuss it more.

I agree to a point.

I would say that as long as the writing was in that book before say 2014 when Ross became a well known suspect, it would be good enough.
It seems like the ink would be much fresher looking if it was a fake made in the past year.

*HAM, I in no way think you forged this.

[AK Wilks]

Well perhaps he can just relate the story of how he came into the possession of this yearbook, and what is the reason he thinks Ross Sullivan is the writer.

Does Ed Knox give a statement that he was friends with Sullivan and that Sullivan indeed signed his yearbook? How did Ham come in possession of the book from Knox?

This book is from 1959. I'd like to see some of the other writing in it. The part in red believed to be signed by Sullivan, is bright, very legible and not faded at all. It does not, IMO, look anything like 60 year old writing. I looked at my yearbooks from 75 - 79 era, so just 40 years ago, and most of the writing is far less bright, much more faded and in some cases not even very legible. Of course writing will vary based on the ink used, force of application, how the book was stored, etc. I guess for me, and I think for police, you have to put weight only in writing you can definitely prove came from the POI.

[Ham Friend]

Well perhaps he can just relate the story of how he came into the possession of this yearbook, and what is the reason he thinks Ross Sullivan is the writer.

Yes sir, no problem! I guess I should first start by saying I am in the hobby of true crime collecting; specifically yearbooks. After reading up on Sullivan my thoughts were something like "holy crap, this dude did it." So naturally I did some yb digging and came across a Glendale High School Stylus '58 and '59 for pretty cheap($40). It was not advertised as a "Ross Sullivan signed yearbook" or anything like that. It seemed obvious the seller had no clue what they had as the price tag was so low. Yes, $40 is considered fairly cheap for an original yearbook. These books were purchased by me on a website called Abebooks.com. Judging by the writing in the books, it seems they were owned by the Knox bros. '58 was owned by older brother Al knox and '59 was owned by younger brother Eddie. Eddie was a sophomore at the time and Ross a senior. Eddie was a member of the HAM radio club and is pictured twice in the yearbook. My guess is that either one or both of the brothers passed and a relative decided to clean out and sell some of their stuff. Im not certain though. When I spotted the signature/passage I knew I had something so I saved everything; the box they came in, the receipts, everything. It appears the name of the seller using Abe Books was S.C. Sumner. It's a book store in Venice, Florida. I suppose I could try to contact them about it. I am going to go ahead and shoot a video of the yearbook. I hope that helps somewhat. I've said it once and I'll say it again; im 100% on board with sending this thing off to the right people for analysis and authentication. I have ZERO doubts about its legitimacy. I want everybody else, people such as yourself, to be comfortable with this too- trust me. I am talking to a detective in Vallejo and am more than willing to send it off. There aren't start/stop points all over it, it doesn't look deliberate or slowly written, seems to match much of the other ink in the book, etc. Im not sure if you saw his signature that I posted alongside the sig on his ss form but its a dead ringer. Im here to cooperate, fellas!

[Ham Friend]

Well perhaps he can just relate the story of how he came into the possession of this yearbook, and what is the reason he thinks Ross Sullivan is the writer.

Does Ed Knox give a statement that he was friends with Sullivan and that Sullivan indeed signed his yearbook? How did Ham come in possession of the book from Knox?

This book is from 1959. I'd like to see some of the other writing in it. The part in red believed to be signed by Sullivan, is bright, very legible and not faded at all. It does not, IMO, look anything like 60 year old writing. I looked at my yearbooks from 75 - 79 era, so just 40 years ago, and most of the writing is far less bright, much more faded and in some cases not even very legible. Of course writing will vary based on the ink used, force of application, how the book was stored, etc. I guess for me, and I think for police, you have to put weight only in writing you can definitely prove came from the POI.

I'll do you one better. Here is Richard Chase's fathers yearbook from 1939. 1939!! You know who Chase is? Vampire of Sacramento? Doesnt matter... Anyway, check out some of the ink in here. Looks good for 80 year old ink, eh? Most of these things sit untouched in a closet for decades. No air can get to it, yada yada.

[Ham Friend]

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[Ham Friend]

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[CuriousCat]

Well, to my eye, and in my opinion, some things like the unique squiggly line on the Z, match so exactly, it seems possible that someone simply copied the squiggly Z on the Bates letter and put it into this yearbook.

That's not a Z in the yearbook. It's an H turned sideways.

[Ham Friend]

Heres an entry from the school Ted Bundy went to in '65: