The Murder of Deana Hooper, July 1974
Deana and an older girl, Tonna, were adopted from an orphanage in Hong Kong by their (white) foster father Dean Hooper in 1966; because of this, Deana and Tonna regarded each other as sisters. Deana, her adoptive parents, her older sister, and a brother lived together in Sonoma.
Eventually her sister became married and moved to Vallejo, Solano County, CA. Deana lived in Yountville at the time with her family.
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| Photo from the March 13, 1975 edition of the Vallejo Times-Herald. Edited by me for clarity. |
At the time of her death, Deana, 18, was staying with her older sister, Mrs Tonna Albright, who lived at 901 Georgia St in Vallejo. According to the missing person's report filed by Tonna on July 15, 1974, on Monday, July 11th, she and Deana had attended a party at the Enlisted Men's Club on Mare Island, and when it came time to go home, Tonna couldn't find Deana. That was the last time she was seen.
When Deana did not return home following the party, Tonna called their father, Dean Hooper. He came to Mare Island and spoke to Harold Thatcher, a criminal investigator at the naval shipyard, and asked about his missing daughter. However, Deana could not be found at the time.
Discovery
On the afternoon of Tuesday, March 11, 1975, Dr Keith R Heisch — a 44-year-old chiropractor who lived at 538 Bonita Court in Oakland — was flying kites with his 9-year-old son in the general area of the Azevado Ranch in/near Vallejo. At one point when Heisch went to go retrieve his fallen kite, he discovered skeletal remains of a young woman, which were identified as being Deana's the next day.
Deana's skeleton was found in high weeds 40 ft east of the nearest roadway, in an open field at Columbus Parkway and St John's Mine Rd, bordering Blue Rock Springs Park. An investigator at the time stated that he believed Deana's body had been in the field undetected, "since last July 12 [1974]." The skeleton was nearly overgrown by surrounding vegetation.
A red long-sleeved buttoned blouse made out of synthetic material had been pulled over Deana's head. She was found face-down, and her arms were stretched out straight above her head, "as if she might have been dragged back" from St John's Mine Rd just 40 ft away. On her right hand she wore a red ruby-colored birthstone ring. Her black denim slacks, with one leg turned inside out, were near the body. One brown open-toed sandal was found 14 ft from the body. No identification, purse, or weapon was found nearby.
One investigator at the time said that the scene, "certainly looks like a sex crime." There appeared to be no injury to the skull, and cause of death was not apparent. According to one clipping, "Investigators said the assault could have occurred at the site where the body was found."
The first clue to the body's identity came from Harold Thacker, who remembered speaking to Deana's father, Dean Hooper, shortly after Deana's disappearance. Deana's sister Tonna was then called in, and she said she recognized the clothing and sandal as Deana's, and identified the ring on the body's right hand as the one worn by Deana when she disappeared. Positive identification was then made through dental records.
It seems that Deana's murder has never been solved. After her identification, she has only been mentioned once in the papers, in a "This Day in History" section of the Napa Valley Register in March 2000. There have been no further official updates regarding the status of her case since the time of initial reporting.
Possible Connections
People online have mentioned the similarity between Deana's case and that of Diane Gerrish, who was also last seen at an enlisted men's club. Furthermore, Elaine Lehtinen, who disappeared in June 1976, worked at the Mare Island naval base in Vallejo.
The majority of online speculation regarding Deana's case has been regarding connections to the Zodiac Killer.
Five years before Deana's death, on July 31, 1969, the Zodiac had sent to the SF Chronicle, "Dear Editor This is the murderer of the 2 teenagers last Christmass [sic] at Lake Herman + the girl on the 4th of July near the golf course in Vallejo." Online users have pointed out the similarities between that description — the latter of which refers to the murder of Darlene Ferrin — and the death of Deana Hooper: the Mare Island Golf Club in Vallejo, stands near the enlisted men's club where Deana was last seen exactly one week after July 4, 1974.
Furthermore, the second confirmed Zodiac attack — which resulted in the injury of Michael Mageau and the death of Darlene Ferrin — occurred in the parking lot of Blue Rock Springs Park. Deana Hooper's body was found in an open field very close to that same park.
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| The distance from the location of Deana's body on the side of St John's Mine Rd (upper left, blue icon) to the location of the Zodiac's attack on Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau at Blue Rock Springs Park (lower right, maroon icon) is about 0.9 miles. Created by me using Google Maps. |
Further Online Speculation
In 2018, someone under the name Sarah Shannon commented the following on the ZodiacCiphers site's article on Deana:
"My name is Sarah and in fact I knew Deana Hooper. Her and I spent time together the summer just before she disappeared. Deana was older than I but we hung out as friends. I spent one afternoon at her house where I had noticed the ruby birthstone ring she wore. I admired it very much so she gave me a beautiful sterling ring. She was nice to me .But one day she tried to get me to hitchhike with her,the car had stopped and she jumped in. I absolutely refused to get into the car,eventually she got out and continued to walk with me to Glen Ellen from Jack London Village where her brother owned a restaurant. She was very upset with me that now she had to walk. I learned from her that she would runaway from her parents regularly and hitchhike to Vallejo to see her sister whom she loved dearly and wanted to live with. Sadly she disappeared soon after I met her. Her brother had told our family that her purse was found on a street corner in Vallejo a couple of weeks after she disappeared. Her body wasn’t found [until] March of the following year. This has haunted me for all my life in that she almost talked me into getting in that car. Believe me when I say I never ever hitchhiked. But I far as I knew she was not a prostitute."
When I first posted about Deana's case to Reddit, user VT_Squire commented the following:
"Hi, I'm a local to Vallejo and extremely familiar with the Zodiac case.
I've always known Azevedo Ranch to be the former Farm area immediately east of Columbus Parkway a couple miles SOUTH of Blue Rock Springs, nearest to the intersection of Columbus and Springs road. (there's a little condo village there now). However, if the body was found NORTH of the park ("as if she might have been dragged back" from John's Mine Rd just 40ft away) then a name that recently came up may be relevant. Former Vallejo Police Officer Charles Lindsay. His name shows up in January of 1972, when a woman named Marjorie Lynn Lubbers, or Marjorie Smith, is found dead at Lindsey's home located on St. John's Mine Rd. off Columbus Parkway.
That said, Chuck essentially has an alibi for the Zodiac murders, but here's a thread on him anyway. Charles 'Chuck' Wayne Lindsey: Revisited, Part 3. (Compelling suspect or weirdo cop?) : r/ZodiacKiller "
On that same Reddit post, user talllongblackhair commented the following:
Has the possibility of her being a victim of the Santa Rosa Hitchhiker killer been explored? She definitely fits the profile and MO.
Sources
Vacaville Reporter 3/12/75
SF Examiner 3/12/75
Sacramento Bee 3/12/75, 3/13/75
Napa Valley Register 3/12/75, 3/14/75, 3/15/75
ZK Site forum, with clippings [shorter Tapatalk Zodiac forum version]
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