More than 40 years after a serial killer dubbed the "Doodler" terrorized San Francisco's gay community, police released a sketch Wednesday of what the man might look like today and announced a $100,000 reward for details leading to his capture.
Police believe the killer stabbed at least five men to death between early 1974 and late 1975.
He became known as the "Doodler" after a victim who survived an attack told police the man was doodling while they talked at a late-night diner and said he was a cartoonist.
San Francisco Police Department Commander Greg McEachern, left, and Inspector Dan Cunningham, who run the SFPD's cold case unit, stand at a news conference after releasing a pair of sketches, Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019, showing what a serial killer might look like now in a cold case involving at least five stabbing deaths of gay men in the mid-1970s in San Francisco. The killer was dubbed the "Doodler" after he told a person who later became a victim and survived that he was a cartoonist. It's one of several cases being re-examined after the capture last year of the "Golden State Killer" through DNA analysis. (AP PhotoJocelyn Gecker)
At a news conference, police released a pair of images that showed a 1975 sketch of a suspect and an "age-progression" showing what he might look like now.
"In the 1970s, this was gripping the gay community and San Francisco," police Commander Greg McEachern told the news conference, saying authorities were releasing the new sketch in hopes of bringing justice to victims of the "horrendous homicides."
It's one of several cold cases, particularly serial crimes, being re-examined after the capture last year of the notorious "Golden State Killer" through DNA analysis, McEachern said.
Police described the killer as an African-American male, about 5 feet, 11 inches tall with a lanky build who was likely in his early 20s during the attacks.
At the time, a witness was able to give investigators a description of the attacker, leading to a man being detained in 1976 but never charged.
McEachern said police have interviewed the man since returning to the case and he remains a person of interest. His name was not released and authorities declined to say if he resembled the man in the sketches.
The killer targeted white men he met at after-hours gay clubs and restaurants in San Francisco. He usually sketched them before having sex and stabbing them.
The bodies of four men were found along the beach. Another stabbing victim was found in Golden Gate Park.
"Even now, the story gives me chills," said prominent gay activist Cleve Jones, who recalls how the string of killings terrified the gay community. "Imagine, you're out at a club having a drink, and someone hands you a sketch they've done of you. I can't think of a more disarming ploy to gain someone's trust."
An Associated Press story from 1977 quotes police as saying the suspect at the time could not be charged because three survivors, including a "well-known entertainer" and a diplomat were reluctant to "come out of the closet" to testify against him.
AP interviewed gay rights advocate Harvey Milk at the time about the victims' refusal to testify.
"I can understand their position," Milk said. "I respect the pressure society has put on them."
The interview with AP came just over a year before Milk, the first openly gay man elected to public office in the U.S., was assassinated.
Police on Wednesday also announced a reward of $100,000 for information leading to the arrest of the killer and released audio of an anonymous call made to police on Jan. 27, 1974, reporting a body found near Ocean Beach in San Francisco.
Responding officers discovered the body of 50-year-old Gerald Cavanaugh, the first of the killer's five known victims.
Police are seeking information on the identity of the caller, who declined to give his name.
"I believe there might be a dead person," the caller said. "But I didn't want to get too close to him because you never know what could happen."
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The investigation into the Brown University mass shooting has dragged on for more than four days with no named suspect, motive, weapon or even a clear image of the assailant's face that might help bring them to justice.
Investigators have been hobbled by the lack of clear eyewitness accounts of the shooter and few, if any, cameras in the wing of the building where the attack happened. Despite these difficulties, frustration was mounting Wednesday over the lack of progress in the investigation into the attack that killed two students and wounded nine others.
Here are some answers to questions about the attack and investigation:
The attack plunged the Ivy League school's campus into chaos, and there was initial confusion in the immediate aftermath. This includes President Donald Trump, who announced Saturday night that the shooter was in custody but retracted that statement 20 minutes later. Then, authorities announced early Sunday that they had detained a person of interest, but they released the person hours later after determining he didn't do it.
Police officials insist the man's detention didn't stop them from continuing to investigate other leads before his release.
Authorities have since released several security videos of a person they think might have carried out the attack. They show the individual standing, walking and even running along the streets, but their face is masked or turned away in all of them.
The state attorney general said the wing of the building where the attack happened has few “if any” cameras, and investigators believe the shooter entered and left through a door that faces a residential street bordering campus. The building is on the edge of campus, which might explain why the cameras Brown does have didn’t capture footage of the person.
Separately, Providence police on Wednesday released a new photo of a different individual who they said was in “proximity of the person of interest” and asked the public to help identify that person so they could speak with them.
On Wednesday, Providence’s police chief, Col. Oscar Perez, said student witnesses’ accounts of the shooter match the masked person that authorities are seeking. They have stopped short of calling them a suspect, referring to them, too, as a person of interest — stressing that they believe the person was casing the area ahead of the attack.
Very little, aside from what we see of them in the footage. Investigators have described the person as being about 5 feet, 8 inches (173 centimeters) tall and stocky.
We still don't know. Although police said this week that they believe Brown was targeted and that the videos suggest the masked person was casing the building, no one has taken credit for the attack and investigators apparently still hadn't identified a suspect as of Wednesday.
Police once again stressed Wednesday that they haven't found any evidence that a specific person was being targeted in the attack.
Police say they still don't know. The finals study session was for a “Principles of Economics” course that attracts hundreds of students each semester, but police are still tracking down how many may have been in the room.
Paxson said the university has two security systems. One is activated at a time of emergency and sent out text messages, phone calls and emails that, in this shooting, reached 20,000 people. The other system features three sirens across campus, but Paxson said that would not be activated in an active shooter situation. Brown’s website says the sirens can be used when there is an active shooter, but Paxson said it “depends on the circumstances” and the location of the shooter.
The two students who were killed and the nine others injured were studying for a final in a first-floor classroom in an older section of the engineering building when the shooter walked in and opened fire.
The students who were killed were 19-year-old sophomore Ella Cook and 18-year-old freshman MukhammadAziz Umurzokov. Cook, whose funeral is Monday, was active in her Alabama church and served as vice president of the Brown College Republicans. Umurzokov’s family immigrated to the U.S. from Uzbekistan when he was a child, and he aspired to be a doctor.
As for the wounded, one remained hospitalized in critical condition Wednesday and five were in stable condition, officials said. The other three were discharged.
Whittle reported from Portland, Maine. Contributing were Associated Press reporters Kimberlee Kruesi, Amanda Swinhart, Robert F. Bukaty, Matt O'Brien and Jennifer McDermott in Providence; Michael Casey in Boston; Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas; Kathy McCormack and Holly Ramer in Concord, New Hampshire; Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; and Alanna Durkin Richer, Mike Balsamo and Eric Tucker in Washington.
This combo image made with photos provided by the FBI and the Providence, Rhode Island, Police Department shows a person of interest in the shooting that occurred at Brown University in Providence, R.I., Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. (FBI/Providence Police Department via AP)
A memorial of flowers and signs lay outside the Barus and Holley engineering building at Brown University, on Hope Street in Providence, R.I., on Tuesday, Dec 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt OBrien)
A Brown University student leaves campus, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, after all classes, exams and papers were canceled for the rest of the Fall 2025 semester following the school shooting, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
