September 1973

VR #003: Prowler

September 3rd, 1973 | W Kaweah Ave

This incident is missing one or more key pieces of the VR's MO and may not be related.

A fifteen-year-old girl was in her bedroom when she heard a noise at her window. She opened her blinds to see a man in her flower bed, peeping in at her. He took off as soon as he was spotted.

Suspect Description: White male, mid twenties, with light blonde hair. He had a round face that was "very smooth." He had short blonde hair.

VR #004: Prowler

September 10th, 1973 | W Kaweah Ave

This incident is missing one or more key pieces of the VR's MO and may not be related.

The fifteen-year-old girl's mother who had an encounter with the prowler. Late in the evening, she walked from her residence to the curb, where her car was parked. As she did, she heard a noise near her fence. She peered over at the source of the noise and saw a man leaving her backyard. He ran at a slow pace away from the houses and toward the curb. As he started making his way westbound he noticed the woman, looked startled for a moment, and then turned to face her home and shouted "Catch you later, Sandy!" She felt that he was speaking to an imaginary accomplice.

Suspect Description: White male, twenty to thirty years old, 5'10" or 5'11", medium build, with a round face and short, blonde hair.

VR #005: Prowler

September 1973 | W Feemster Ave

This incident is missing one or more key pieces of the VR's MO and may not be related.

Sixteen-year-old girl spotted a prowler outside her bedroom window.

VR #006: Prowler

September 1973 | W Feemster Ave

This incident is missing one or more key pieces of the VR's MO and may not be related.

The same sixteen-year-old girl was peeped at again. Her boyfriend confronted the man, who took off running. The prowler said "Looks like this guy's got us here, Ben!" when he was caught. He and the boyfriend talked for a while, but the confrontation ended when the boyfriend felt that the prowler was reaching for a gun.

This incident, the prowlings at this address, and an incident at the one next door may not be related to the Visalia Ransacker. In fact, over three years after this occurred, the Visalia Police Department, with cooperation from these two witnesses and the woman next door who experienced prowling activity, felt that they'd identified the man responsible, and this man was cleared of other some of the other crimes.

However, an investigator we spoke with feels that this incident is still in play. The investigator also cited information from a statement by the officer who came face to face with the Ransacker in December 1975 as saying that the peeper that was identified looks very similar to the Ransacker, but it was two different men. Later on, the house next-door to this residence was burglarized by someone who was definitely the Visalia Ransacker (on August 23rd, 1975) - a fact that some investigators feel makes this incident and some of the related ones more likely to be genuine Ransacker events.

However, because it's a murky issue, we typically don't include this incident when we're collating information for our VR research.

Suspect Description: White male, 5'10", in his mid twenties, about 185 lbs, with a large/heavy frame. His hair was a light, sandy blonde and described as greasy or stringy. His skin was very pale, and his face was unusually round and very smooth, like a baby's face. Despite the age estimate, the boyfriend felt that the subject didn't grow facial hair. His eyes were "squinty" and his lower lip protruded a bit. He had a "pug nose." His ears were described as small and fat. His lower half was pronounced, with large legs and thighs. His shoulders were described as rounded and sloping. Both his arms and legs seemed stocky and a little short for his frame. He ran at a medium pace, and was described as having an awkward gait. He wore a brown jacket with tight cuffs.