Beginning in 1982, women who lived a high risk lifestyle, including prostitutes and underage runaways, began disappearing from Seattle, Washington outside of truck stops and dive bars along Highway 99. These bodies would later be found (at first) along the Green River in wooded areas, showing major signs of strangulation and rape, but in heavily littered and contaminated areas. When the bodies started appearing, the King County Sheriff’s Office started up the Green River Task Force, hoping to discover the person responsible.

After many, many bodies began showing up, members of this Task Force began speaking to psychologists and criminologists in order to get any kind of insight into the motives behind these killings, as typically, that can help lead to the person doing the killing. These killings became very similar to the notorious murders of Ted Bundy… But why does that matter?

In 1984, police were running out of ideas  trying to find this killer and put an end to these brutal actions being done to these young women, so they went right to a person who might know exactly what is going on in this killer’s mind: Ted Bundy. Bundy had been imprisoned for the past six years for murder, rape, burglary, and necrophilia and was, at the time, awaiting his electrocution, which would come three years later. While this first hand knowledge that Bundy had was horribly disgusting, it was incredibly valuable to this police force in order to try and find the killer. He became an important asset in solving this case. During one interview session, Bundy suggested that the killer was most likely revisiting his dump sites to engage in sexual intercourse with the bodies. He advised the investigators that in case they find a fresh grave, stake it out and wait for the killer to return.

Because of Ted Bundy’s suggestions, police examined the, thought to be, contaminated bodies for semen samples, and sure enough, found DNA matching a man named Gary Ridgway, which gave police enough evidence to file an arrest warrant, that unfortunately would not be until 2001, 20 years after these crimes were committed. On November 30, 2001, Ridgway at 52 years old, was at the Kenworth Truck factory, where he worked as a spray painter, when police arrived to arrest him.

Image result for arrest of Gary Ridgway
For a brief look into Ridgway’s history, at age 18, while in high school, Ridgway joined the Navy. After graduation, he married his high school girlfriend, Claudia Barrows, and was sent to Vietnam, where he served onboard a supply ship and saw combat. During his time in the military, Ridgway began spending a lot of time with prostitutes and contracted Gonorrhea for the second time. This angered him, but he continued to have unprotected sex with prostitutes. Meanwhile, his wife Claudia, alone and 19-years-old, began dating again, and the marriage quickly ended within a year.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Ridgway is believed to have murdered at least 71 women (according to Ridgway, in an interview with Sheriff Reichert 2001) near Seattle and Tacoma, Washington. His court statements later reported that he had killed so many, he lost count. A majority of the murders occurred between 1982 to 1984. By the time his trial was over on December 18, 2003, Gary Ridgway had confessed to more confirmed murders than any other serial killer in America, claiming that murdering young women was his “career,” making him the worst serial killer in American history. Ridgway was sentenced to 49 life sentences to be served consecutively. An additional ten years was added to each sentence for tampering with evidence, adding 480 years to his 48 life sentences.
Thanks to profiling, and even learning from previous serial killers, Gary Ridgway was able to be found and arrested, bringing justice to the families and the victims, whose lives were so abruptly and unfairly ended. The listed victims of the Green River killings include Wendy Lee Coffield (16) / Gisele Ann Lovvorn (19) / Debra Lynn Bonner (23) / Marcia Fay Chapman (31) / Opal Charmaine Mills (16) / Terry Rene Milligan (16) / Mary Bridget Meehan (18) / Debra Lorraine Estes (15) / Linda Jane Rule (16) / Denise Darcel Bush (23) / Shawnda Leea Summers (16) / Shirley Marie Sherrill (18) / Colleen Renee Brockman (15) / Alma Ann Smith (18) / Delores LaVerne Williams (17) / Gail Lynn Mathews (23) / Andrea M. Childers (19) / Sandra Kay Gabbert (17) / Kimi-Kai Pitsor (16) / Marie M. Malvar (18) / Carol Ann Christensen (21) / Martina Theresa Authorlee (18) / Cheryl Lee Wims (18) / Yvonne Shelly Antosh (19) / Carrie A. Rois (15) / Constance Elizabeth Naon (19) / Kelly Marie Ware (22) / Tina Marie Thompson (21) / April Dawn Buttram (16) / Debbie May Abernathy (26) / Tracy Ann Winston (19) / Maureen Sue Feeney (19) / Mary Sue Bello (25) / Pammy Avent (15) / Delise Louise Plager (22) / Kimberly L. Nelson (21) / Lisa Yates (19) / Mary Exzetta West (16) / Cindy Anne Smith (17) / Patricia Michelle Barczak (19) / Roberta Joseph Hayes (21) / Marta Reeves (36) / Patricia Yellowrobe (38) / Rebecca Marrero (20) / Unidentified White Female (12-17) / Unidentified White Female (17-19) / Unidentified Black Female (18-27) / Unidentified White Female (14-18)