Snake River Unsolved

05/21/2026

Lance Voss is not the Zodiac killer.

Recently, there's been talk of Lance Voss as a suspect in the Zodiac Killer case. This is mostly location and proximity based because Voss lived in San Jose, California in 1968 and 1969 when the Zodiac murders took place combined with the existing suspicion that Voss committed murders locally in the Lewis Clark Valley.

A popular saying among some Serial Killer Theorists is "you can't rule it out," but that's just not true. We absolutely can, and should, rule it out and we can do that by looking at the available evidence.

One of the biggest reasons to rule it out is that Lance Voss does not match any of the witness descriptions. Instead, Voss is almost the exact opposite of every detail as described by witnesses.

All the witnesses described the Zodiac man a bit differently, but they agreed on some points generally. They all describe him as an age 30s to mid 40s heavier white man with a round face and of average height.

From https://zodiackillerfacts.com/Descriptions.htm:

"Michael Mageau described the suspect at the Blue Rock Springs Park shooting as a “WMA, short, possible 5’8”, was real heavy set, beefy build... not blubbery fat, but real beefy, possibly 195 to 200 [lbs] or maybe even larger... short curly hair, light brown almost blond... with a large face.”

Bryan Hartnell stated that the attacker had brown hair and when asked to explain he said, “‘Cause I saw it from where the goggles fit... I looked so closely to find out. And when he turned you know they kind of flittered... I could see his hair. It looked kinda greasy.” Bryan told me, “I remember when I was first talked to, I mean, I had the guy being a walrus, you know... He had one of those Sears-type of jackets, you know, those can be either lined or unlined, and if it’s lined, a person could be thin, if it’s unlined the person would be heavy... I mean, he’s not obese.”

Witnesses at the Stine scene provided this description: “White Male Adult, in his early forties, 5'8", heavy build, reddish-blond ‘crew cut’ hair, wearing eyeglasses, dark brown trousers, dark (navy blue or black) ‘Parka' jacket, dark shoes.” This description was subsequently adjusted for the SFPD composite sketch which published this description: WMA 35-45 years old, 5'8" Reddish brown hair, Crewcut, Heavy Rim Glasses, Navy blue or black jacket.

Officer Don Fouke offered variations of his descriptions, including: In 1969: “The suspect that was observed by officer Fouke was a WMA 35-45 Yrs about five-foot, ten inches, 180-200 pounds. Medium heavy build- Barrel chested- Medium complexion- Light-colored hair possibly greying in rear (May have been lighting that caused this effect.) Crew cut- wearing glasses- Dressed in dark blue waist length zipper type jacket (Navy or royal blue) Elastic cuffs and waist band zipped part way up. Brown wool pants pleated type baggy in rear (Rust brown) May have been wearing low cut shoes. Subject at no time appeared to be in a hurry walking with a shuffling lope, Slightly bent forward. The subject’s general appearance- Welsh ancestry.” And again in 1989: “The individual I saw that night was a white male adult, approximately 35-45 years of age, five feet ten inches tall, 180-210 pounds.”

The suspect at the Stine scene was said to have brown or blond hair, possibly with a red tint. A small reddish brown hair was discovered behind a stamp used by the Zodiac, indicating that this description may be accurate."

Contrary to these descriptions, Lance Voss was younger in years and looks than the described Zodiac man. Voss would have been around 20-22 during 1968 and 1969 as he was born in late 1947, putting him at around 8 to 15 years younger than the youngest age in the ranges given by witnesses.

Voss was also not heavy set or beefy. He did not have a round face. To the contrary, Voss has always been described and appeared in photos as slender or thin.

Lance Voss was also abnormally tall. More than 6 feet tall. Some sources put him at 6 ft 5in. Far too tall for any of the witness descriptions.

Voss was so tall and thin that the Snake River Killer Podcast reported that during his time in the military Voss' shipmates called him "Ichabod Crane" after the tall thin character of the same name. Voss' physical appearance is more Slender Man than Zodiac killer.

Any suspect can change their weight, use makeup or masks, wear wigs, or shave their heads to look different and avoid being recognized. However, one feature a suspect cannot change is above average height. Platform shoes can help people look taller, but there is no opposite device to make yourself appear shorter.

In the Zodiac case, none of the witnesses described a very tall and slender younger man as the killer. None. All the witness reported seeing a heavy or beefy man of average height, with a roundish face, between 30 to 45.

The only real similarities Zodiac and Voss are that they both are white and men. No doubt some Theorists could create a through line based on these two descriptors, but that doesn't actually mean that similarity is evidence....it could just be apophenia.

So, in 68-69 Lance Voss was a young, slender, very tall man. And the person witnesses described as Zodiac was a middle aged or a little younger, heavy set or beefy, with a round face, and who stood at an average height, probably around 5 ft 8in to 5ft 10in.

Witness descriptions in general can differ from the actual offender and may be wrong. That is not in dispute. Witnesses can and do get things wrong.

But to consider Lance Voss a serious suspect, you would need to totally and completely ignore all the witness descriptions from each and every witness. Maybe one or two witnesses can get a detail or two wrong. One witness might remember the person wrong. But it is very unlikely that all the witnesses in this case are each separately so completely wrong about who they saw that they would all consistently describe someone who is the opposite of the real killer in nearly every described characteristic. It's preposterous.

This is the actual evidence in the Zodiac case, where real people related what they saw to the police. This isn't some fictional story where we get to write in details to shift the case narrative towards or away from someone with a plot device. We can't just play with the meanings of words to shift the case towards an ending with our favorite suspect. This is not fan fiction.

This is actual history and actual fact and the ending—the identity of the criminal—was set in the late 60s. Set into history with blood and pain and violence. We cannot just write someone into guilt with words and clever connections.

This is not a choose your own adventure story. These are real people's lives. And throwing out ridiculous theories and suspects does a disservice to the case and is insulting to the real victims who lived through and died by these real details.

Lance Voss has never been a serious suspect in the Zodiac case, he has only been suggested by people who do not know the facts and evidence. The people who suggest Voss are not trying to solve anything based on facts and evidence. They're trying to create a serial killer story based on words and feelings.

Zodiac Killer FACTS - The EYEWITNESS DESCRIPTIONS and/or IDENTIFICATIONS

05/20/2026

Hopefully since the Snake River Killer Podcast is back to making episodes they will correct some of the misinformation they've put out thus far.

For example there is no "Scorpion Lounge" in Moscow, Idaho, and there never has been.

There was, however, a "Capricorn Ballroom" where Kristin David worked. It was in the building owned by the Fraternal Order of Eagles and burnt down in the late 90s. The building was rebuilt, though, and the current Eagles Lodge is at the same location on North Main Street.

No amount of good intentions in attempting to solve crimes or disappearances can overcome bad and wrong information. It's like trying to get to a destination on bad directions alone. The only way you're going to get there is pure random chance and luck. And after this long, luck has probably run out, so it's better to rely on good information.

04/16/2026

04/12/2026

That's child killer Westley Allen Dodd on the right in this photo, at work at a restaurant in the Lewiston Orchards in 1984. Dodd moved to Lewiston after leaving the military but before becoming known and eventually executed as a child killer in Washington state. Around the time of this photo Dodd had been arrested and prosecuted in Lewiston for molesting young boys.

Many people talk about the 60s/70s/80s in the Lewis Clark Valley as some pleasantly safe idyllic picket fenced oasis where bad things never happened, but that's just not the reality. The reality is crime happened frequently, even violent crime, and people like Westley Allen Dodd could be your neighbor or your coworker.

10/14/2025

Continuing on the topic of the funeral home arrest....
in reviewing the relevant sections of Cold Valley, it seems during the conversation between Detective Jackie Nichols and Helen Accinelli, when discussing who was inside the funeral home, they say, "she was the only deceased person in the building" and "she was the only one laid out that night" referring to Antoinette Anino, who has died by drowning days earlier.

But living people are never discussed or mentioned. It is implied the building was empty except for the deceased Antoinette and whoever lived in the upstairs connected living quarters.

But were there living people inside the funeral home?

The publicly available police report mentioned "witnesses," plural, as in more than one.

It was around 5 am, certainly a living person inside the building would not be impossible.

And apparently before Cold Valley aired it was publicly stated by the Lewis Clark Valley Serial Killer page that there were 2 people in the building, 1 living and 1 deceased.

Generally, even at 5 am when the sun is coming up, living people like to have the lights on at work. Lights which would be visible to those outside the building.

So, if this is true, and nothing in any media or report contradicts or disputes it, Voss' parking lot shortcut account starts to sound more and more reasonable.

Because if he wanted time "alone" with Antionette Anino as the theorists have stated, with "alone" explicitly defined as necrophilia, why attempt to do it at a time when living people were also in the building?

For that matter, 5 am in June on the West Coast is nearing straight up daylight. Actual daylight would have been around 5:45 am that day, so the sun would have already been coming up at around 5 am.

Also the area surrounding the funeral home seems to be mostly a business district boardering on a residential area. At around 5 am there almost definitely would have been people around outside, going to work, getting ready for the day. 5 am seems like an especially bad time to attempt to break into a funeral home to mess with a co**se.

Even worse if there was a live human inside. But even if there wasn't yet, and funeral homes do operate at all hours because people do not wait for the business day to begin to die, surely breaking in a 5 am to spend some time inside with a co**se would be cutting it extremely close to the time employees would be expected to arrive?

Unfortunately we don't know for sure, and are left with only more questions regarding the presence of a living person inside the funeral home.

Another question though, is if there were no living people inside the funeral home, why did the Lewis Clark Valley Serial Killer page say there was a living person? Where did they get that information? And why is it different than what is implied in Cold Valley? The Lewis Clark Valley Serial Killer page specifies that the person is "one live young lady" so not the father of Helen Accinelli.

Also note the language of the arrest report, "trying to get into" and "from the area he was walking (back of the chapel) a screen was removed from the window."

The stories told by serial killer theorists tell us that Voss was caught in the act cutting into the screen with the knife. This account differs from this police report in that in the police report the knife is "on his hip" not in his hand cutting into a screen.

Legally, it would be important to document a witnessed attempt to physically break into the building. The way this report is written "a screen was removed" there is a gap between the screen removal and Voss. It does not say "Voss cut into a screen" or even that "Voss removed a screen" but rather "a screen was removed."

This discrepancy is the difference between evidence of trespassing and evidence of burglary. This is because breaking and entering or attempting to enter
is usually an element of the crime of burglary, along with the intent to commit a crime within the structure. The way the report reads, those elements are not present.

Unfortunately the report shared around publicly does not include photos of the building, which would be very helpful in evaluating the claims made by theorists regarding this event. An event that became substantially more sensational upon it's inclusion in a nationally aired television program.

Because in Confluence, a Lewiston Detective stated regarding the funeral home arrest, "he had been seen by a witness looking into a mortuary, through a window, and he had a camera and a knife on him."

This account is much closer to the police report, and far different from the Cold Valley account that Voss cut into a screen.

It would seem that this arrest, like many of the events in these cases, has become distorted through tellings, retellings, and media, like a game of telephone. And these aren't even all the issues surrounding this arrest, there is still more to discuss in the future.

10/14/2025

As part of the lore surrounding these cases we learn Lance Voss was arrested in 1972 in the parking lot of a funeral home in Willow Glen, San Jose, California, at around 5 am on Monday June 5, when someone reported a prowler.

That fact seems to be true however theorists have added facts and information that would probably meet the legal definition of defamation if persued in court.

Ultimately Voss was convicted of misdemeanor trespassing. But from this piece of information theorists have extrapolated that Voss is some sort of necrophile due to, as in every other case associated with Voss, mere proximity.

On Cold Valley, Asotin County Detective Jackie Nichols travels to the Willow Glen Funeral home to investigate (40 some years after the Lewiston Police learned of the incident).

During the show, Detective Nichols speaks with someone at the Willow Glen Funeral Home about the incident regarding Voss. In the show, and in subsequent discussions regarding the cases, we are told Detective Nichols spoke with the daughter of the owner of the funeral home. This person told Detective Nichols her father was living at the funeral home at the time and told her (but apparently not the responding police officer because this information is conspicuously absent from the police report) that Voss stated when he was caught that he "just wanted to get in to see his girlfriend one last time."

From this, everyone has assumed "my father" referred to the funeral home owner, Bob Accinelli.

It didn't.

It is unknown why this quote from Voss only came to light over forty years later on a national television program instead of through investigatatory channels or tips from witnesses, but surely it wouldn't be for dramatic effect or in order to sensationalize the case in service of garnering views.

Curiously, though, the revealer of this quote was not listed in credits of Cold Valley along with everyone else featured in the show.

Certainly an oversight to be sure, but it took a little searching to find that she is NOT in fact the daughter of the funeral home owner. Helen Accinelli is actually the 2nd wife of the owner. And was not married to Bob Accinelli, the actual owner, at the time of Voss' arrest. According to records they were married the next year in 1973.

Phone book records place Helen Accinelli's father Joseph and his wife also named Helen at the Willow Glen Funeral Home in 1970 and 1971, but a listing for 1972 is unable to be found. His obituary from 1976 lists him as being "at rest" in Oceanside, where his wife is also listed as residing. So there is somewhat of a hole in the evidence as to 1972.

Now this doesn't mean the father did not live there at the time, but it does cast some doubt on the story told to us, and the research and verification skills of the Asotin County Sheriff and their detective. Jackie Nichols and basically every other theorist has repeated the story as told by the daughter of the owner of the funeral home, simply because she stated her dad told her the story—which is unable to now be verified as her father has long since passed on.

The point, however, is that shouldn't Jackie Nichols have known to whom she was speaking? This is a murder investigation after all, and this information has been treated as a tip and used to insinuate guilt. Does the Asotin County Sheriff not verify facts or even know who is giving them information? This is not the first time some questionable gaps in research and information have come to light, an easily verified ending time of The Fog also eluded the police in these cases.

And if Jackie Nichols and Cold Valley did know Helen was the wife of the owner, not the daughter, and the man she was speaking of was not the owner, why did they not make that fact clear in the show or in subsequent discussions of the event? And why not add Helen Accinelli in the credits?

And why didn't anyone related the investigations in the valley seek out information about the arrest and the related details prior to 2017 or 2018? Seems like an awful lot of time to wait to get more information. An awful lot of time for memories to fade.

Another piece of information related to this incident is the address on the document itself. There is a grainy copy floating around that people claim is the arrest document. This document is hard to read and has some redactions. Requests have been made to the relevant departments to verify this document, and when the results are received they will also be discussed here, as these issues are not the only issues with the theorists versions of events related to this arrest, but for now these two issues are enough.

The Snake River Killer Podcast in Episode 10, accuses Lance Voss of lying about his address using this hard to read document as evidence. The podcast claims the document states Voss' address as 833 Big Basin Way in Saratoga, California. How they got this address number is anyone's guess, when the number is incredibly hard to read and is written in very small hand in small boxes, but it may be they interpreted some writing over the word "Saratoga" as the house number? One figure does kind of look like an 8 but there is a writing just before that, still over the Saratoga, and the figures after it are such that 3 is basically a random guess.

The show goes on to suggest that because Voss lied about his address and because when they searched for 833 Big Basin Way the resulting location was near a YMCA camp in present day. 833 does not exist on Big Basin Way, the addresses are mostly 5 digits, until you get a small town outside Saratoga, so it is unclear why the map located 833 in the middle of nowhere on the highway, so it is unlikely even if Lance Voss made up an address it would be in any way related to the YWCA camp. And again, landscapes and towns change, they consulted a present day google map, not a representation of 1972, which may look far different.

But of course because everything is nefarious when you're a serial killer websleuth theorist, the podcast implies this placement could be "significant" probably because of the Diane Taylor case and the YWCA.

But this 833 ignores evidence the podcast, and it's contributors, should have already had and considered in relation to the address issue.

As reported by the Lewis Clark Valley Serial Killer page here on Facebook, who is run by a contributing member of the podcast, Voss lived on Big Basin Way when he acquired a real estate license in California in early 1974. That address number was 14425. It is not a stretch to believe he could have lived at this same address 2 years prior.

Also of note, Lance Voss rescued a victim from a car fire, on Big Basin Way, at the curve at 24150 in 1970. At the time Voss is listed as living on Brookglen Drive, but the event shows he was familiar with Big Basin Way and would have known the numbering scheme did not generally involve 3 digit numbers.

Also should be noted is the fact that Voss himself did not write the ticket, the police officer did, and mistakes do happen. As always, we should never imply malice where incompetence is sufficient. Especially when the object of discussion is not even legible.

The podcast most likely assumed Voss himself did not live at Big Basin Way because a phone book lists him as living on Cadillac Drive in 1972. But that ignores that phone books are not always accurate due to their timing and that people move around. Certainly, they are not gospel and do not dictate the past. This is why we cannot be sure who did, or did not, live at the Willow Glen Funeral Home in 1972.

But regardless of the reason, the podcast either ignored or left out relevant and available information to come to its conclusion that something weird and criminal was going on with the address. Perhaps not on purpose, but the intent doesn't really matter, and the failure helped them make their sluethy point and make it to the wide world of the general public.

As mentioned above, these 2 issues of fact are not the only issues with the arrest story and accusations told to us by these theorists. There is still quite a bit of problematic material to cover when it comes to this trespassing incident and the accusations and insinuations that have been made with it as their foundation. Not the least of which is dragging an innocent girl into the story, discussing her death, life, body, and possible sexual events like it is all a malleable piece to clay to be molded into whatever piece of evidence best fits a serial killer narrative....but because this is so long we will leave that for a future post.

10/09/2025

Some proponents of the serial killer theory, including some members of law enforcement, have suggested Lance Voss' opposition to the Lower Granite Dam drawdown as evidence that Voss had hid a body in the Lower Granite Reservoir.

For reference, Lower Granite Dam is a dam on the Snake River located between Pullman, Washington and Pomeroy, Washington. Behind it sits Lower Granite Reservoir.

But in listening to the Snake River Killer podcast and other media productions on these unsolved cases in and around the Lewis Clark Valley, there seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding of what Lower Granite Reservoir actually is and where it sits.

The Snake River Killer podcast seemed to believe they could simply "search the reservoir" as if it were a lake or similar to the reservoir behind Dworshak Dam on the Clearwater
River near Orofino, Idaho.

Also statements from the Asotin County Sheriff detective and others on the podcast seemed to imply or outright state no one from the Lewis Clark Valley, such as Voss, would be affected by or care about a drawdown unless they utilized the river for business or recreational persuits like fishing or boating. The podcast discussed the Lower Granite Reservoir as if it were totally unconnected to the Lewis Clark Valley and existed only near Lower Granite Dam.

But, Lower Granite Reservoir, or Lower Granite Lake as it is usually called, is the entirety of the Snake River from Lower Granite Dam to the Confluence of the Snake and Clearwater Rivers, a full 39 miles of the Snake River.

Lower Granite Dam is a run of the river dam, it does not create a storage reservoir like Dworshak Dam does. Instead, it raises the water levels of the existing body of water, in this case the Snake River.

The podcast states that the drawdown never happened, so Voss avoided the possibility of the body or bodies he had hidden the reservoir being found, but this is false.

In March of 1992, the Army Corps of Engineers did drawdown the water level behind Lower Granite and Little Goose Dams. It was a test drawdown that lowered the water level behind the dams were lowered to their minimum operating levels. It was a 2 week test with water levels lowered 2 feet per day and then further lowered 8 feet for a total of 36 feet.

The effects on the Snake River in the Lewis Clark Valley were drastic and restored the river to its natural state before the dams were installed in the 1960s-70s. Holbrook Island was once again visible, as was miles of muck usually at the bottom of the river.

Many items such as guns were found during the drawdown, but as far as information is available no evidence or bodies related to these cases.

It was not unusual for citizens of the valley to be opposed to the drawdown prior to the test taking place, even if those opposed did not physically use the higher river level for recreational or economic purposes. The lowered Snake River changed the entire character of the area. That fact should be clear from photos of the test drawdown.

It would be interesting to know what efforts, if any, were made by local police during this 2 week opportunity to search the bottom of the Snake up close for any of the area's missing persons.

This piece of information illustrates the lack of depth in the current investigation, by both law enforcement and sleuths. There are foundational facts missing or misunderstood in the current public narrative regarding these local unsolved cases.

We cannot find the truth with false or wrong information. It just won't happen. False, wrong, and misleading information is a public roadblock to finding the true events of the past. It is also a shield to the guilty. If we are all looking in the wrong direction, we are not looking at the true person, or people, at fault.

Pictures from Port of Lewiston: https://portoflewiston.com/our-port/media-room/photo-gallery/1992-drawdown-gallery/

10/08/2025

Previous discussions of unsolved cases in the LC Valley have involved the September 12, 1982 ABC Sunday Night Movie "The Fog" and the apparent confusion over what time it ended.

If you'll remember this was the show Lance Voss is said to have told police he was watching at the Red Baron Pizza Haus the night Kristina Nelson, Jacqueline Miller, and Steven Pearsall were last seen on September 12, 1982.

In many of the media productions regarding these cases, the police and others have alleged Lance Voss lied when he said The Fog, which began at 9 pm, ended at 11 pm. This ending time of The Fog is important because it is said to also be the time Lance Voss stated he left the Red Baron and headed back to the Civic Theater.

Because the local Lewiston Morning Tribune TV schedule from September 12, 1982 left the 11 pm ABC station time slot empty, police and others believed The Fog ran a full 3 hours from 9 pm to midnight instead of 2 from 9 to 11 pm—despite the fact that The Fog has a run time of 1 hour 29 minutes and would require substantial commercials or editing or both to run either once or twice in a three hour time slot.

However that 11 pm time slot was empty due to an error, and not because The Fog was a three hour show.

Lewiston, Idaho does not have its own ABC affiliate, it has historically gotten its over the air television channels, with one local CBS exception, from Spokane broadcasts. The Spokane TV Guide showed news airing at 11 pm directly after The Fog. So did every other ABC affiliate that showed The Fog that Sunday night.

It is unknown why police in the Valley did not check with KXLY, the Spokane ABC affiliate, directly to find out what time The Fog ended, or why they did not check the Spokane TV Guide. After over four decades this small detail should be settled.

Luckily the internet is full of old and obscure media relics from days gone by.

Below you can see the intro sequence from the ABC Sunday Night Movie, "The Fog," complete with a preview of the local news, which according to the preview aired at 11 pm. This particular video is from Sacramento, California, which is in the same Pacific Time Zone as Lewiston, Idaho and Spokane, Washington, so all would have aired The Fog at the same time.

As a side note, some serial killer theorists have discussed the way in which the police said Lance Voss described this airing of The Fog as being suspicious. They say he alternated between describing The Fog as a TV show and a movie, not knowing exactly what to call it.

This is because The Fog itself is a movie, based on a Stephen King novel. The Fog originally was shown in theaters as full length feature film. A regular movie. But the ABC Sunday Night Movie was a recurring television program aired weekly by ABC with its own style, slogans, and marketing. A television show which presented a different movie each week. So a kind of both a tv show and a movie.

It is concerning that this ending time of the movie is still a question after over forty years, when the evidence that provides an answer has been available for since night the movie aired. All the police had to do was verify the Lewiston TV listings with KXLY or compared them to the Spokane listings and they would have discovered the error.

That the time line in all the cases is so questionable and incomplete is also concerning.

Along with a lot of other issues regarding these cases.

Even if you believe Lance Voss is guilty and would like to see him convicted, these issues should concern you. These questions and inconsistencies will be used as ammunition against any case the police might bring by a defense attorney, whether they bring charges against Lance Voss or someone else.

ABC Sunday Night Movie The Fog Intro With 11:00 News Teaser, West Coast & Pacific Time