San Francisco police are again trying to raise the profile of the so-called Doodler killings in the mid-1970s, in which six men, all likely led there for clandestine gay hookups, were murdered on and around Ocean Beach and Lands End.

The 1970s was a chaotic and violent decade in San Francisco as it was in many other cities. The most famous serial killer of the era was, of course, the Zodiac Killer, and the suspect in those murders could very well be dead by now. There were also the less well known Zebra Killings in 1973 and 1974, in which four Black men were convicted of targeting and shooting random white people on the streets of the city, leaving 14 dead and 8 wounded, including former Mayor Art Agnos.

But even less well known were the Doodler murders of 1974 and '75, which targeted gay (often closeted) men, and the suspect was believed to be a young African American man who would allegedly lure victims by sketching portraits of them in bars. A Chronicle podcast five years ago, created by now retired crime reporter Kevin Fagan, raised the profile of the case, again locally, but it remains unsolved.

The SFPD put out a news release Wednesday morning in which it does not mention the name "Doodler," and makes no mention of the many well known details in the case. The release simply says the department is seeking the public's help in "solving six homicides that occurred between January 24, 1974, and June 1975."

The release includes photos of all six of the victims: Gerald Cavanaugh, Jae Stevens, Fred Capin, Harald Gullberg, John Bates, and Warren Andrews. As Fagan reported in the podcast, Andrews was not originally thought to be a victim because, unlike the others, he was bludgeoned with a rock rather than stabbed. But he was found at Lands End just about week before another victim, Gullberg, was found dead about a mile away.'

The SFPD says, "Investigators believed all the victims were targeted because they were gay, white adult males, and the victims met the suspect shortly before they were killed in isolated coastal locations."

There is evidence that two violent attacks on gay men that occurred in the same period, in July 1975, at the Fox Plaza apartment complex, were committed by the Doodler, however those victims survived and gave descriptions to police.

The SFPD mentions these, saying they identified a suspect in those cases and he remains a person of interest in the Doodler killings, but they've yet to connect the final dots. The department also mentions that the suspect "may have traveled by car from the Bay Area through the southeastern United States," and there is an implication that more murders may be linked to the killer in other states.

In 2023, the department put out an updated sketch artist's rendering of what the Doodler might look like 50 years on.

The person of interest is reportedly still residing in the Bay Area, but his name was never given on the podcast.

The SFPD is offering a $250,000 reward, the maximum offered in cold cases, for information leading to the positive identification of the suspect.

It's unclear why the department issued this new notice this week, other than this month marks the 51st anniversary of the last known killings by the Doodler.

Anyone with information in the case is asked to call the Homicide Cold Case Unit at 415-553-1450. Anonymous tips can also be called in to the SFPD tip line at 415-575-4444, or you can text a tip to TIP411 and begin the message with "SFPD."

Previously: The Chronicle Launches Podcast on a Mostly Forgotten SF Serial Killer of Gay Men, 'The Doodler'