A New Zodiac Killer Theory Claims To Solve The Case But The FBI Says It's Still 'Open'
A new report claims to know the identity of the serial killer.
Do police know who the Zodiac Killer is or not?
The true-crime community is on an emotional rollercoaster ride this week after a new report claimed to know the identity of the serial killer who terrorized San Francisco in the late 1960s.
The FBI, however, did not acknowledge the claim.
The man known as the "Zodiac Killer" is believed to have killed at least five people between 1968 and 1969, and sent police and local newspapers coded messages about the crimes. He disappeared after that and codebreakers have been trying to identify him through his messages ever since.
The Zodiac has become one of the most well-known serial killers in history, and the mystery has inspired plenty of shows, books and movies (including that one with Jake Gyllenhaal).
But a team that calls themselves "The Case Breakers" says the killer might be a man who allegedly killed a woman in Riverside County in 1966.
The team of over 40 people including journalists and private investigators claimed to have cracked the case on Monday, although the man they name died in 2018, they say.
The new theory is based on a few things, including the killer's coded messages, some facial scars in photos and bits of paint left on a watch near the murder scene in 1966. They explain their full theory in a news release, although they also admit that the case would be stronger with DNA testing on hairs found at the crime scene.
In response to the claims, the FBI confirmed the investigation is still open.
"The Zodiac Killer case remains open. We have no new information to share at the moment," the agency said in a statement to CNN.
"At this time we are not identifying potential suspects for this open investigation," the San Francisco Police Department told Narcity.
Mark Ruffalo, who was in the 2007 movie Zodiac, tweeted that he's not ready to accept this new theory.
"'I've been down this road before. They made a movie about it," he wrote. "Maybe…maybe not. Every few years someone says they figured [it] out. Let's hope they got the guy."
Sen. Ted Cruz also seems hopeful that the killer has been identified. "Thank God!" he tweeted in response to news of the claim on Thursday.
"Ted Cruz as the Zodiac Killer" has been a tongue-in-cheek joke for years, going back to 2013. Cruz will occasionally play into it, like he did with a Zodiac cipher post on Halloween in 2018.
But with police and the FBI not acknowledging the claims, this might be just another Zodiac Killer puzzle that doesn't have a simple answer.