Grew up in the Wash-Cherry neighborhood thanks for the forum

[CuriousCat]

Marie, for what it's worth I believe there's a section in Graysmith's book where detectives heard from neighbors that say they saw a stocky figure hustling into JK.

I'd have to look to be sure, but I believe it's mentioned in some newspaper reports at the time.

[Druzer]

Marie, for what it's worth I believe there's a section in Graysmith's book where detectives heard from neighbors that say they saw a stocky figure hustling into JK.

I'd have to look to be sure, but I believe it's mentioned in some newspaper reports at the time.

Hi, there is an Oct 12 newspaper article posted on the first page of this thread that mentions the sighting of someone running into the park.

[Xcaliber]

Knowing JK and the Presidio pretty well, it's logical to me that he fled there. It would be the logical (and only) place to get out of sight for someone who knew, or had scouted the area. Yes it would be hard to hide in the woods for an extended period of time, but the woods would provide cover for someone on the move. The most logical route would be to then exit the Broadway gate while the police and MPs are scouring the Presidio.

[CuriousCat]

Hi, there is an Oct 12 newspaper article posted on the first page of this thread that mentions the sighting of someone running into the park.

Ok, thanks Druzer. I'm sure I saw that, I'm getting old and forgetful.

And speaking of newspapers, I couldn't help but notice this in the link I posted. This happened a week before Stine's murder...

We had just finished interviewing the tearful father of 15-year-old Geoffrey Zachariah, a San Francisco boy who had disappeared the previous Saturday. Geoff was last seen swimming fully clothed in the Pacific Ocean.

He and another 15-year-old had gone to Haight Street that afternoon to “look at the hippies.” According to Geoff’s friend, a little boy about 10 years old offered them each a chocolate Necco Wafer as they walked into Golden Gate Park, hinting it had been dipped in LSD. He apparently was telling the truth. Both boys ate them and soon began hallucinating. They ended up hours later, still disoriented, at a grim amusement park called Playland at the Beach.

Dozens of witnesses said they saw Geoffrey Zachariah run across the sand into the cold, heavy surf and begin swimming out to sea until they watched him disappear in a wave. He surely drowned, but his devastated father was holding out hope.

This report is from 2013, but I couldn't help but notice a connection to the "Exorcist" letter between that event and the Mikado line...

He plunged himself into the billowy wave and an echo arose from the suicide's grave, titwillow, titwillow, titwillow.

The Exorcist letter came 5 years after the event. I'm sure it's nothing, but it stood out.

[CuriousCat]

Knowing JK and the Presidio pretty well, it's logical to me that he fled there. It would be the logical (and only) place to get out of sight for someone who knew, or had scouted the area. Yes it would be hard to hide in the woods for an extended period of time, but the woods would provide cover for someone on the move. The most logical route would be to then exit the Broadway gate while the police and MPs are scouring the Presidio.

Would that jibe with what Zodiac said in the letter, that the dogs were about two blocks west of where he was?

[Xcaliber]

Yes, that would be exactly consistent. It sounds like the canine units were initially concentrating their search between Julius Kahn playground and the Arguello Street gate.

Obviously there are no 'blocks' inside the Presidio so he was estimating, but if you hypothetically projected the cross-streets into the Presidio, that would mean the canine units were initially searching as far east as Spruce Street.

Further east, you then had Locust, Laurel and Walnut. Locust and Laurel projected into the Presidio would be open space (the Little League field) but by the time you got to the equivalent of Walnut Street you were in the woods.

So unless he was making it up, he was probably in the beginning of those woods, in line with Walnut Street, keeping his eye on the canine and police activity about 3 blocks to the west.

And it sounds like he was also cautious to go too far east until he felt the coast was clear, if police motorcycles were rushing into the Presidio through the Presidio Avenue gate.

So for a while he was pinned between JK and Presidio Boulevard.

My thought is if the first police priority was securing the main Presidio exit points they would have caught him that night.

[Xcaliber]

(Actually as I look at Richard's map, you're in the woods sooner - between Locust and Laurel.)

[CuriousCat]

Thanks Xcaliber. Good thread, and good to have someone else who really knows the area.

[charliemartin]

Xcaliber,
I posted on another page after your original post and don't see it over here. Haven't read all the posts on this thread so this may be out of context. I am a native San Franciscan also. Born 1953 sixteen years old in 68. I also knew Lindsey from Lick- Wilmerding High School. You must have gone to Town school. I had never seen his name on these boards until awhile back when someone from LE mentioned it. I remember him telling some of us about this right after it happened. Did you perhaps go to Lick also? Hope this gets posted here and is not repetitious from other page. I lived in the Sunnyside area over by City College. Glad to hear from you.

charliemartin

[Xcaliber]

Charlie thanks, I did see your post and responded on the other page. I knew a lot of kids in the neighborhood from elementary school but had lost track of most of them by then. JK was the common ground. Heard about the teenage witnesses for years, but didn't know until I discovered this forum that it was Lindsey Robbins.