Possibly MAJOR Ross Sullivan writing find in yearbook

[MMSox]

Hair can get darker and curly when you let it grow past a very short cut. Just ask my brother. He’s got dark blonde hair and if he lets it grow, it gets very curly and very dark brown. Could’ve been the same for Ross. All it takes it not getting a haircut. Also, some frames can hide weight much better than others. Ross seemed to have one. The other thing I have a problem with is taking eyewitness descriptions as gold. They’re often pretty unreliable and Zodiac’s are all over the map. Short with a widow’s peak, long and curly hair, short and skinny, 6” and solid, average and had a belly, etc. The two sketches don’t even look alike, at all. The only hope to figure this out is dna and/or prints.

[monarch]

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I found something regarding Ross' hair color in Dave Peterson's files from "The Hunt For The Zodiac Killer"

Wow, 'curly reddish brown' that sounds like the best we have to go on. Any idea what document this is?

It's a screenshot of Dave Peterson's files from the TV show "The Hunt For The zodiac Killer"

I can't remember which episode I took that screenshot from.

[monarch]

Peterson has had some inconsistent and incorrect information before. I'd like to know where he got the description from, what is the source, it just doesn't match any of the photos we have of Ross Sullivan.

Ross Sullivan's hair is not what I would describe is curly, and none of the pictures depict a reddish brown hair or any type of brown hair. The majority of commentators in here believe, as I do, that most of the pictures depict blonde hair, some of the photographs showing light blonde, some perhaps showing regular blonde.

When Peterson notes the info about Sullivan weighing at least 250 lb, he does not contrast that to the descriptions of Officer Fouke, Mageau and John's that Zodiac weighed 160 - 180 lbs. Rather he goes to what he sees as the most matching and incriminating information, that the supposed study of the depth of footprints revealed that Zodiac could weigh as much as 220 lbs (which is still not 250 - 300 lbs).

I can't speak at all to the validity and accuracy of using the depth of footprints to estimate a person's weight, I've never seen that used in any actual court case and I've never read any actual science to back that up.

I would certainly put much more emphasis on actual witness descriptions of a person's weight, Mageau who saw him up close, John's who sat in the car with him, and most of all two police officers who saw him at a fairly close distance. Those two civilians and two police officers put the height and weight of zodiac at 5'8"- 5'10", and 160 - 180 lbs. That is very inconsistent with Ross Sullivan at 6' 2"and 250 - 300 lbs.

Given with what he did with that information, trying to put it in the most incriminating light, it might be wise to remember that some reports of zodiac hair color involved brown hair, possibly brown hair with the reddish tint, which is what I believe it states on the SFPD wanted poster.

So he puts in a totally unsourced statement, and the statement contradicting known facts, that Sullivan has curly reddish brown hair. Sullivan's Selective Service card stated his hair color was blonde, meaning either he and / or the draft board described it as blonde in color. That matches every known picture of Sullivan, which shows hair color ranging from light blonde to regular blonde, to maybe a slightly sandy blonde. All the known photos show hair that is too short to be described as curly, and it's somewhere on the range of blonde, none of them show brown hair of any type.

Ham Friend I would say the photo display that you put together is more persuasive to me that perhaps the man getting makeup in the photograph is in fact Ross Sullivan. The photos show more similarity in face structure then I noticed previously.

But those same photos reinforce to me even more that Sullivan had light blonde to regular blonde hair, short not curly. If that is indeed Sullivan in the chair getting a fake black mustache applied, that black hair is simply not his, As it does not match, at all, any photograph of Sullivan.

AK wrote: "Ross Sullivan's hair is not what I would describe is curly"
How would you know ? In all the photos we have of Ross he's sporting a crew cut !

AK wrote: "none of the pictures depict a reddish brown hair or any type of brown hair"
How can you tell ? all the photos we have are poor quality BLACK & WHITE photos !

Dave Peterson seems to be very specific in his description "curly reddish brown" I doubt he just pulled that out of thin air, also
someone on this board posted a photo of Ross' brother and he has reddish brown hair.

[monarch]

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Photo of Ross' brother.

[doranchak]

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I found something regarding Ross' hair color in Dave Peterson's files from "The Hunt For The Zodiac Killer"

Wow, 'curly reddish brown' that sounds like the best we have to go on. Any idea what document this is?

It's a screenshot of Dave Peterson's files from the TV show "The Hunt For The zodiac Killer"

I can't remember which episode I took that screenshot from.

Here's the full letter, from March 3, 1977, to Capt. Leroy Gren (RPD) from Peterson:

[Tahoe27]

Thanks doranchak!

This hair thing is really silly. In 1959, he was "blond". It's official.

We can go back and forth on what MAY have happened with his hair 10 years later, but at the time of these photos, he was a kid with blond hair.

[morf13]

That is an unbelievable assertion that Ross was properly ruled out with prints by LE. The evidence would suggest the complete opposite. His name was not in the FBI files with all the other suspects whos prints were checked. Vallejo PD also has no record of Ross ever being a suspect.

The FBI do not automatically get details about every suspect checked out by other law enforcement agencies.

Ross Sullivan may not have been considered a viable suspect to Riverside PD, however after Napa County SD learned of the Bates murder, Sullivan was a name for them to check out. Did they access his prints? Or rule him out in some other way? All I know is I met with Undersheriff Dick Lonergan back in 1998, and according to him, all Riverside subjects had been cleared in the Berryessa attack through various ways.

As of 2014, or thereabouts, Napa did not have Ross's name in their suspect pool. They did give me the name of one interesting Riverside guy that was a Zodiac suspect, he was a military guy. I tried like hell to figure out any kind of northern CA connection for him but couldn't find any

[Paul_Averly]

This hair thing is really silly. In 1959, he was "blond". It's official.

It is? Then why do we see him next to women with blonde hair and his is much darker?

[Tahoe27]

Because that is how black and white photographs work with different shades of blond hair. The paperwork filled out was quite descriptive...hair included.

[morf13]

Because that is how black and white photographs work with different shades of blond hair. The paperwork filled out was quite descriptive...hair included.

How can any of us really tell accurately what color anybody's hair is in a black & white photo. Remember, people can fill out whatever they want on a document, driver's license, etc. Doesn't mean it's accurate. Either way, what difference does it make if Ross's hair was brown, blonde, or red, or a combo of them? If it's to compare to the hair in Cheri's hand that's fine, but if it was to compare to Zodiac's in SF, it's mentioned in the description that the hair color may have been either or and the light may have been changing it