Darlene Ferrin was a loving mother, wife, daughter, and sister. She was a very popular woman who worked at a local diner as a waitress where she had “many fans”. She was a young adult who enjoyed having fun, which included having a good time with her friends. Mike Mageau was one of those individuals she deemed a friend.

On the night of the 4th of July in 1969, Darlene picked up Mageau and traveled to an isolated parking lot at Blue Rock Springs Park to talk. This lot was empty until a car of teenagers pulled next to them to yell and scream and immediately drove off after. Darlene and Mageau were left alone again, but that change when a man pulled up behind them to exit his vehicle carrying a high-powered flashlight in his hand. They thought this man could have been a police officer; so, they reached to retrieve their IDs, but they were wrong. The man they thought as someone who protects, and serves was actually a stranger that used a 9mm automatic pistol to shoot them several times. Mageau was shot first and then Darlene. She was shot five times and then an additional two times after the perpetrator returned to their car after Mageau screamed in pain.

A 911 call was made about gunshots at Blue Rock Springs Park. Once the authorities arrived, they found Darlene behind the steering wheel of her Corvair and Mageau partially lying on the ground. They were taken to the hospital, but Darlene was pronounced dead on arrival. About 45 minutes after the attack, the Vallejo Police Department was contacted by the perpetrator who spoke with the dispatcher “claiming responsibility” for the current shooting, stated the weapon that was used, and claimed responsibility for the murders at Lake Hermon Road.

On the 31st of July, letters were sent to newspapers that held details of the attack of Darlene, Mageau, Jensen, and Faraday. There were ciphers included in these letters; if they were solved, then the identity of the killer would be revealed.

The authorities investigated the idea that someone Darlene knew may have killed her. Two men were considered suspects “early on”. Several leads were investigated, but the identity of her killer was never discovered. It is only later that everyone learned that the killer was the Zodiac.

More than 50 years have passed, and we still do not know the true identity of the Zodiac killer, but you can help change that. Darlene’s case is still open and is being investigated by the Vallejo Police Department. If you have any information about her case, please reach out to VPD at (800) 488-9383. If you would like to submit an anonymous tip, then please contact Solano Crime Stoppers at (707) 644-7867.