Overview
- Police renewed their public appeal on June 10, 2026 and reiterated the department’s $250,000 reward for information tied to six San Francisco homicides from 1974–1975.
- Investigators say the killings were carried out by a single attacker dubbed the 'Doodler' who is believed to have sketched men at gay bars then lured them to isolated spots and stabbed them multiple times.
- Two survivors of separate attacks at the Fox Plaza Apartments helped create a composite sketch that led an East Bay psychiatrist to name a man who was later interviewed and labeled a person of interest.
- Cold-case obstacles include the passage of decades, limited forensic links, uncertainty about whether the Fox Plaza attacks and the Ocean Beach murders are the same case, and the possibility the suspect left the Bay Area or is now deceased.
- The SFPD Homicide Cold Case Unit remains active and is urging anyone with information to contact the department’s tip lines so investigators can try to connect evidence and bring closure to victims’ families.