One of the interesting parts of the East Area Rapist’s MO was that he 
seemingly made many, many “hang-up” phone calls to victims, usually in the weeks before an attack, but sometimes afterward as well. These were quite commonplace, but as folks who haven’t read my book are learning, there were quite a few instances where he actually spoke with victims, potential victims, or even Law Enforcement. I’ve provided a complete listing of known phone calls where the East Area Rapist / Golden State Killer actually spoke at this link: https://www.coldcase-earons.com/phonecalls.php
Again, info is given only about the phone calls where the offender spoke. Only the calls or phone events where the caller was believed to be the rapist are included. There are some instances where a strange phone call was received, but it’s not thought to be the offender. On the other side of the coin, while all of these calls are believed to be genuine, there’s a chance that some of them might be coincidence or pranks.
There are a few very notable ones, particularly because they occurred during “quiet” periods where the offender wasn’t attacking. Because of these phone calls, we can start to determine whether the offender was incarcerated or not at certain times (most likely he wasn’t), and even where he lived due to the locations of the victims during the time period that he called them. Here are a few of the notable phone calls:
January 15th, 1979
Victim #42 received a call that she identified as the EAR. This call occurred over a month after her attack.
Caller: “Do you want fuck?”
This call is important because not only did it occur during an EAR quiet period, but this attack is connected by DNA. It helps bring the other EAR phone escapades into the fold.
October 21st, 1982
Victim #24 received a call from a voice that she identified as the EAR’s.
Caller: “Hi, it’s me again. Remember me? I’m going to come over and fuck you again. You’re going to suck my cock again.”
Sometime between 1990 and 1992
Victim #7 received a phone call, and she recognized the voice on the other end as the voice of the rapist. The caller whispered harshly into the phone, saying “You know who this is” or “Do you know who this is?” The victim was on the line with him for about a minute. There was the sound of children and maybe a woman in the background, which could’ve potentially come from a television or some other source.
April 6th, 2001
Victim #14 received a phone call from a man who whispered “Remember when we played?” She positively identified the man as the voice of the East Area Rapist. This phone call came just two days after the breaking news that the East Area Rapist crimes had been tied by DNA to the murders in Southern California. This phone call occurred 25 years after the attack.
Keep in mind that the offender’s last known murder was in 1986, which makes the last few particularly creepy. The 1982 call is important, because the offender hadn’t killed for over a year, and it was thought that he might’ve been incarcerated. Being able to track the victim down (the call occurred at her workplace) meant that most likely, he was a free man and had stopped killing of his own volition.
The 2001 call didn’t happen too long ago and makes it a little too close for comfort, though there’s something positive to be said for the idea that the offender could still be alive and could still face justice for his crimes.