>> building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions, this is abc 7 news. >> we're so scared. i don't blame them. he never got caught. i did people in your area. i don't blame them at all. ama: it remains one of san francisco's was notorious cold case murders. investigators think they're close. the doodler was a serial killer who targeted gay men in the 1970's but was never caught. good evening and thank dan: you for joining us. dan:now san francisco police believe a six victim maybe linked to the letter. if increased reward my to $200,000. we have more on this case why investigators think the doodler is still alive. reporter: today, 48 years

lead -- police found the googler's first victim. he would target gay men and take them to secluded places. a park, a beach. how he has never been identified or arrested speaks of how things work in the 70's. these are two sketches of a man who for the past 40 years san francisco police have called the doodler. he frequented gay bars in the castro, including this one, the cinch saloon. still around today, investigators say in the 70's, when the doodler's hunting grounds. >> he would pick a guide the bar. sketching. he was a good artist. reporter: kevin fagan from the chronicle told me that was the doodler's pickup line. and hopefully say he managed to bore and kill gay men including

27-year-old we found jay's sister melissa who lives in the north bay. >> the fact people are even interested in it now means we are getting closer. for years, it went unnoticed. a lot of families have been terribly damaged. reporter: many of your are asking how have i not heard of the doodler? number one, in the 70's, investigators were laser focused on other notorious cases such as the zodiac killer. the zebra killings and patty hearst. number two, let's say sfpd was not a friendly. this community didn't trust police. he tells us what tells us what a gay man in the 70's.

>> the police were not going to get any kind of justice. they had proven that our lives are not valuable. reporter: now a sixth victim, warren andrews is believed to be linked to the doodler after investigators found new evidence. he was found beaten at land's end in april 1975 and later died of his injuries. >>'s got some considered magical in these old cases. reporter: investigators said they know the -- they believe they know the identity of the doodler. the sketch on the right shows what he may look like today in his 70's and living in the east bay. dion: this person was bob -- brought in before. they just couldn't pin anything on him. what was dna back then, nothing. what they collected were fingerprints and maybe saliva.

there was lots of blood on the scene, mainly from the victims but that was more than 45 years ago. the doodler was very careful. except that two of his victims survived. that's is how we have those sketches. one was a diplomat and the other was a well-known actor at the time. both very traumatized, with alive, both not wanting to be associated with gay murders. lots to unload. dion: we appreciate the blast of the past. a colorado man is been formally charged with murder and another at cold case. 76 rolled work person at was in court today and waived his right to have his preliminary hearing held in the next 10 days. his charged with sexually assaulting and killing a 15-year-old in 1978. marissa was visiting from new

york when she went to golden gate park and never returned. her body was found the next morning. he was linked to the case last year after a dna hit in a geology database. dan: a new poll of san francisco voters shows what voters are most concerned about. it highlights the overwhelming support for more funding for the police department. reporter: homelessness is the number one issue people care about in san francisco according to a poll by emc research conducted between january 4 and nine of this year. the poll surveyed 500 voters. san francisco business leaders asked emc to conduct the poll. bernstein says the poll was conducted in english and chinese with steps taken to make sure it was a representative sample. >> geography, age, pretty registration. reporter: the number two concerns of car and house break-ins all by the availability of housing.

while discussing the 2021 crime set -- crime stats, mayor said a number of police officers are out due to covid. in addition to a 20% reduction of officers over the past couple of years. it is why she is asking for supplemental funding to help. when >> you are in need of help from live enforcement, the police should be expected to show up. reporter: 74% of those polled support and increase in funding for the police department. 50% strongly and 40% somewhat. the mayors supplementaltaltal need would meet the need of eight supervisors. >> eight votes is a pretty high bar to jump over. on the other hand, i'm not sure how my supervisors want to say no to more police at this time. >> i hope is that the board will approve the supplemental in the police department will be able

to continue the great work they have done for san francisco, especially during this pandemic. reporter: as soon as the budget committee will take up issue is in 30 days. dion: a new year's eve shooting in concord. the victim has died from his injuries. police say they have made an arrest is in the case. investigators say the crime started as a robbery inside sun valley mall. the person shot was reportedly trying to help the robbery victim. please have not released the identity of the victim or the person arrested. dan: new video shows a frightening scene at a senior living facility in pleasant hill. the fire broke out at the folkestone senior homes, a man had to be rescued from his balcony. he told the woman that his tv exploded. fire officials say the cause was electrical in nature and started in some wiring. man was taken to the hospital for minor burns and smoke inhalation.

no other injuries were reported. >> could be much worse. a quick fire attack, a lot of resources and a lot of people able to self evacuate made the difference here today. dan: officials say the fire was contained to the one unit. some others were damaged because of water and smoke. dion: now to the latest on the coronavirus. today we learned covid restrictions will soon be changing in some parts of the bait -- bay area san francisco announcing mask easing rules. in the north bay where schools can again hold assemblies and sporting events with spectators. reporter: starting february 1, it is mask off for some settings in san francisco. mayor breed tweeting the city is reinstating exemption but was in place under state law before the omicron surge. that means you can take your mask off when you hit the gym for workout. this time you must show proof you're fully back and boosted. jim owners say bravo.

some say they don't have the staff to check vaccination cards. >> it a step in the right direction to move forward in a maskless environment. it provides additional challenges to implement. reporter: some office settings, workers were vaxxed and boosted can remove their masks, too. across the bridge in ring county, masks stay on for now. some school rules are being relaxed. the public health department says marine county schools no longer have limits on those who contend assemblies and sporting events. for those events 500 or more, everyone must be fully vaccinated. >> some students go to school because of sports, that is their driver. it is good for our community. reporter: the rules are changing because cases of omicron are decreasing in marine in san

francisco. in most public settings like schools, bars and restaurants, you gotta keep wearing your mask. dan: the vaccine mandate or open public school students is being -- oakland public school students is being delayed. the school board put off the requirement until august. it was scheduled to take effect on monday. the report by nonprofit news site the oakland side says nearly 3000 vaccinated and nonexempt students would have been affected if the requirement began next week. dion: sonoma county is clarifying its recent health order that limited indoor public events to 50 people. as of today, the maximum of 50 only applies to the number of spectators at an indoor event. the staff, media, players or performers are not included in the total. health order was put into place two weeks ago and is set to expire up every 10. dan: still ahead, digging for

his street, the team of scuba divers searching for undiscovered shipwrecks from the transatlantic slave trade. dion: marking international call clusters of dust remembrance day. what one my name is douglas. i'm a writer/director and i'm still working. in the kind of work that i do, you are surrounded by people who are all younger than you. i had to get help somewhere along the line to stay competitive. i discovered prevagen. i started taking it and after a period of time, my memory improved. it was a game-changer for me. prevagen. healthier brain. better life.

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dan: today is international holocaust remembrance day. people around the world are marking it, including your in the area. dion: zach quenches has more on the message some in the jewish community hope people will take away from today. reporter: international holocaust remembrance state marked on the anniversary of the liberation of the auschwitz concentration camp in 1945. today it is being a member to berlin, romania, across the u.s. and in the bay area. the whole cost center hosted a

virtual event with a local holocaust survivor speaking of his incredible experience. >> i'm last generation of survivors. hopefully, i wanted to make sure the story of survivors will survive. reporter: in the south bay, the rabbi is also marking the day. we first met him in december after a fire or through the congregation and is only been in for three months. officials determined it was not hate crime. the damage was devastating. the rabbi said just as his people did during and after the holocaust, they are pushing through with resilience and optimism. >> a little bit of light dispels a lot of darkness. hiller tried to kill us. we're going to add more light, we are going to make the world a better place. our community has been doing. that community has helped them raise more than $650,000. >> we are going to build

something beautiful for community. we are going to rise from the ashes. reporter: this international holocaust remembrance day, rabbi says there are two aspects everyone takes away. >> never forgetting what happened in the past. seeing never again. -- saying never again. more important, what are the actions we are taking out of this? how are we making a difference? dan: preparations prepara sunday's nfc championship game when the niners take on the rams in l.a.. after the brakes, chris alvarez will be here to

dion: the 49ers nfc championship prep continues against the familiar phone in the nfc rival l.a. rams. dan: chris alvarez is live. no shortage of storylines

heading into sunday's game. chris: it's like i've nothing to talk about it all. niners and rams, one when away from the super bowl. there's that six-game winning streak the niners are on. how about the potential faithful take over at sophia. all the red we are going to see is in l.a.. also, jimmy garappalo, he's been a story since april. jimmy's play at times has been questioned by media and fans. make no mistake, is beloved by his teammates and coaches. someone tweeting check is percentage, pure winter. adding crazy how the media doesn't talk about how much the team loves jimmy garappalo. sayssayssayssays this team. earlier today, kyle shanahan spoke about how the team is rallying around him. >> it shows with her guys think of them. it also shows where guys put on

social media. they feel they need to stick up for him. i'm glad there. what they say is the truth. jimmy is one of the main reasons we are here. is done in unbelievable job, people don't give him enough credit. >> kind of have a spotlight on you just based on the players who played the position before you. there's a lot of people we try to consistently bring out the spotlight. jimmy has stood firm and continued to throw darts left and right. i appreciate that from him. chris: this is going to be so much fun. for more practice day tomorrow. the team is going to have saturday in the game on sunday. much more coverage coming up with larry. i will be here later in sports at 6:00. dan: we have a special live streaming event had of sunday at's game the trip to the super bowl on the line. tomorrow at 2:00, join chris alvarez as he teams up with

kurtz in the boat from los angeles sister station for 49ers versus rams nfc championship special. that is tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. wherever you stream abc 7. dion: we don't know the outcome of the game, one is for certain. dan: the weather? dion: better than green bay. [laughter] dan: that is true. sandhya: they're not going to freeze down south. i want to show you that forecast for the niners as they take on the packers, rams pregame 68 degrees. write skies sunday at kickoff 64. really mild, the finals we are looking at cooling, 58 degrees. when the niners take on the rams, the bright skies, hopefully a bright ending for our niners. want to show you some stunning views from our tower cameras.

it certainly wasit certainly war hit the beach. temperatures in places like gilroy in the 70's. many in the 60's today, well above average. live doppler 7 showing you the lack of follow-up tonight. temperatures,atures,atures,at t. compared to twice hours ago we are ahead by a few degrees. not so ahead of the game is the drought. new change, the second consecutive week we are still where we were. as we look at the bay area, we are still in the severe category. at least we do have some hope that february, since it is one of our wet months, we may get rain. average in santa rosa just over 5.5 inches. only .61 inch so far this month. same with san francisco. san jose has had no measurable

rain. moderate air quality the next three days. we still have that stagnant air. it is nice. if you are getting way, bay area air ports, low to upper 60's tomorrow. hawaii is going to be warm. chicago looking at snow showers and certainly cold. los angeles, 73 degrees. from our emeryville camera, increasing high clouds overnight. full nights, mild days to the weekend. temperatures will drop closer to average next week. morning temperatures with a high cloud cover keeping you insulated, i don't think it is going to get a school. fog may be limited because of the fog cover. mid-30's stopper 40's tomorrow afternoon, filtered sunshine, mild day. we will go blow to mid-60's for most of you. if you upper 60's around ukiah and cloverdale. rainfall, that system off the coast is going into southern california.

the next one we were hopeful, is not going to make it. try all the way through february 5, then things will hopefully change. the accuweather forecast, or clouds, minor changes going into the weekend. next week i think temperatures are going to drop most average by monday. it is going to start to feel more like winter as opposed to spring. dan: thank you. after the break, diving for history and a chance at healing. we'll tell you about a new series that follows a group of black scuba divers across the glob

dion: finally tonight, if you're in the market for new podcast, you will want to check out 'into the depths' from nacchio. dan: the six part podcasts follows tara roberts as she scooped -- scuba dives around the world looking for ships from the transatlantic should trade. there's so trade. dion: our race and culture reporter has a first look. reporter: get ready to embark, 'into the depths', deep into the

atlantic oceans. >> following a group of black scuba divers around the world as a search for an help document slave shipwrecks. reporter: national geographic reporter takes you on journey of discovery. >> i felt powerful underwater. i had raised my hand and said i am going to take on ending this history, which means giving voice to these people who haven't had voice before. reporter: the six part series, featured on the march issue of national geographic magazine teacher across the globe from mozambique to costa rica and beyond. she joins a group of divers, archaeologists and historians uncovering the stories of the 1.8 million kidnapped african souls lost at sea, rarely acknowledged. >> i've seen actual evidence from that experience over 200 years ago.

that is crazy and beautiful. >> what did you learn about yourself? >> encountering these shipwrecks was healing, was an opportunity for closure. reporter: it is estimated nearly 1000 ships carrying enslaved persons wrecked in the atlantic but fewer than 10 have been discovered. >> so much of our history is not told fully. i hope people are curious and want to find out more. dion: it sounds fascinating. the first episode of 'into the depths' is live now. you can find it where break you listen to podcasts. you can learn more about it on net --nat next newscast starts in 30 minutes at 6:00. minutes at 6:00.

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[click] put together. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. tonight, breaking news as we come on the air. three police officers shot in houston. the chaos erupting late today. the images coming in now. surveillance showing the shootout unfolding in the middle of the street. officers seen jumping from their vehicles, the suspect on the run. we do have news on the manhunt tonight. and the conditions of the wounded officers. what we're now learning. pierre thomas with late reporting. president biden and justice stephen breyer making it official. justice breyer will retire, and president biden and what he said today about the person he will nominate to the court. the first black woman to serve on the high court. and what justice breyer said about the deep divides in this country and his optimism about the country's future. in his own words tonight. mary bruce at the white house tonight, rachel scott on the hill. millions of americans