Pat Tan - Possible Zodiac Victim?

On April 19, 1970 a beautiful, young, Eurasian girl was found hanging from a tree near Bootjack Camp. After some investigation the girl's name was discovered - Pat Tan. She was found on Mt. Tamalpais in Northern California, not far from Bolinas Lagoon. See Map. Think of Zodiac and Mt. Diablo (Devil's Mt.). From Mt. Tamalpais, on a clear day, one can see Mt. Diablo. These two mountains overlook the Bay area.

The girl's last name, Tan, is similar to the mountain's popular name "Tam." Think of Donner Pass and Donna Lass and "poet" Zodiac. Now, do we have Pat Tan and Mt. Tam?

The Zodiac imperative of water or its symbol is there (of course there are streams and lakes on Mt. Tam) or water somewhere in the name. It seems "Tam" means either "coast" or "bay". Both meanings can imply water. "Pais" (Pat?) means mountain. The Indians of that area thought the mountain was sacred.

There was a Pan Toll Station (Pat Tan) leading to Bootjack Camp at this State Park. Zodiac was connected to three other parks: Blue Rock Springs, Lake Berryessa and the Presidio area with Julius Kahn Park.

The sharp investigator that found out the girl's identity was Marin County coroner / investigator Keith Craig. Craig found a key in Ms. Tan's pocket and traced it to a Greyhound bus terminal locker in the area. In that locker he found an address book with phone numbers. One of those numbers was to the University of Chicago. There was a professor there that had met Tan in 1966. Tan had been  living in San Francisco since March 22, 1970 (the day Kathleen Johns was abducted).

 When she was found she was wearing a military field jacket, (A military theme can also be found in the name Bootjack Camp.) three sweaters, (like Mageau), blue jeans, and sandals. She was hanging by a rope and an electric cord from a tree branch on a steep hill. Officials thought the girl had committed suicide! Well that double clove hitch knot would have been very difficult for her to tie and hang herself from. Oh yes - they also found leaves in her long hair.

It should be noted that Pat Tan spent some time in Los Angeles. She lived with a friend (according to the autopsy report) very close to where Doreen Gaul was murdered, possibly by Bruce Davis. Tan was in California at the same time Davis was.

One is reminded of Zodiac's chilling remarks - ". . . I shall change the way the collecting of slaves. I shall no longer announce to anyone when I commit my murders, they shall look like routine robberies, killings of anger, & a few fake accidents,  (Suicides?) etc. . . ." Zodiac said "By rope" in his 10/27/70 Halloween card. Rope was used in the 1963 murders and also at Lake Berryessa. In his sick torture letter he writes of hanging his slaves, ". . . others will hang by their thumbs & burn in the sun".

Was Pat Tan, found on Mt. Tam, one of Zodiac's "etceteras"?

The Marin Coroner's office probably still has the address book of Tan's containing names (no surnames) and phone numbers. This would be a good project for a local resident to see if any of those names look familiar!

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The Water Connection

Water held a very important place in the symbolic teachings of Celtic / Druid lore. Charles Manson studied these subjects and in at least one taped interview affirmed Druidism. Manson instructed the Family that, whenever possible, they were to conduct their "activities" near water or it's symbolic representation. As Manson went so went Bruce Davis - both believed alike.

Cheri Jo Bates was killed at Riverside City College in Riverside, California. The killer's car was parked on Riverside Drive. In a typed letter the killer indicated that Bates was not the first.

Go back to 1963 and a couple was killed in Santa Barbara near water. This case is unsolved. In 1964 the unsolved Seaside Honeymoon Murders in San Diego were committed right next to the ocean. In Zodiac's 1968 attack, the couple was murdered on Lake Herman Road, very near the lake itself. In 1969 Zodiac attacked a couple at Blue Rock Springs. He may have left the area using Lake Herman Rd. The killer made his phone call from the intersection of Tuolumne and Springs Road. In September of that year he attacked another couple at Lake Berryessa and made a phone call from near the Napa Car Wash. Came October and Zodiac murdered a cab driver in San Francisco on Washington St. very near to a fire hydrant. At least one suspected Zodiac killing took place in Lake County. Donna Lass (a possible Zodiac victim) disappeared from near Lake Tahoe.

On at least one occasion the killer appeared in Navy-like clothing. Zodiac was also interested in astrology and when the attack dates and times are astrologically charted the three water signs and their associated planets figure prominently.

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