The Green River Killer: Gary Ridgway

[Valasca]

Was Angela Marie Girdner a victim of Green River Killer?
The remains of an Oregon teenager missing for more than 25 years were recently identified by authorities, and police are looking into whether she might have been a victim of Gary Ridgway, known as the "Green River Killer."

Police believe Ridgway could be responsible for the death of Angela Marie Girdner because her body was found within a mile of the remains of two other women that Ridgway admitted killing, the county sheriff's office said. Those bodies were found in Washington County, Oregon, near Portland. The bodies of Ridgway's other 46 victims were found in the Seattle, Washington, area.

The most prolific known serial killer in U.S. history, Ridgway is serving 48 consecutive life sentences. He has denied involvement in Girdner's death, as well as that of Tammie Liles, whose remains were found near Girdner's.

Girdner was 16 when she was reported missing by her parents in May 1983, authorities said. She was a straight-A student at her Catholic high school "until she met the wrong people," they said.

Girdner rode a bus from her home in Portland to Beaverton to school, and her parents believe she met people on the bus line "who turned her life upside down with drugs and eventually prostitution. "

The last time Girdner's parents heard from her was in July 1983, police said: "She called and told her mother that she was OK, but did not say where she was at that time."




Ridgway, now 60, was arrested in 2001 in King County for the murders of five women. He later admitted he was the "Green River Killer" and pleaded guilty to murdering 48 women, including Shirell and Bush.

"Ridgway claimed that he killed [Shirell and Bush] in King County and later transported the bodies to Oregon," Washington County authorities said. "Shirley, Denise and Tammie were all reported missing from the Seattle area. Angela was reported missing from the Portland area, and detectives have not received any information that she was in the Seattle area prior to her death."


Although Ridgway has denied responsibility, detectives are reviewing the cases and re-examining evidence collected over the years, police said. Anyone with information about either Girdner or Liles during 1983, 1984 and 1985 is asked to contact the Washington County Sheriff's Office.

The Green River case takes its name from a river south of Seattle where Ridgway began dumping his victims in 1982. Most of the women were prostitutes. Ridgway has said he targeted prostitutes "because I thought I could kill as many as I wanted without getting caught." He said he killed because he hated prostitutes and didn't want to pay them for sex, and claimed he killed so many women he had a hard time keeping them straight.http://www.cnn. com/2009/ CRIME/12/ 16/green. river.killer/ index.html

[Abroad]

Sounds likely that he did it. I cannot imagine becoming so inured to the act of killing that one has trouble keeping the victims straight. It really is the antithesis of personal with a serial killer like that. Makes my blood freeze. :dong:

[Pazuzu]

A lot of times they like having the control of NOT giving closure to the families...it's the only way they can exert control over people from prison; it doesn't necessarily mean he doesn't really remember.

Also, the pacific NW is a hotbed for serial killer activity...maybe he really didn't do it?

Having said all that Gary Ridgeway is one sadistic son of a bitch and he probably did.

[Aslan]

Agreed
also, for anyone who doesn't know


Girdner rode a bus from her home in Portland to Beaverton to school

Beaverton is maybe a 15 minute drive from Portland. 30 max on PTA. Just so folks don't get the impression she had to change buses a bunch or travel a long way.

[Mystica43229]

ENUMCLAW - He terrorized the community for two decades and murdered dozens of women. Green River killer Gary Ridgway is locked up for his crimes. Earlier this week, we told you about a Tacoma man who believes some of the serial killer's victims have yet to be found, and that's why on Saturday he launched his own search.

In the thick wooded area about 5 miles east of Enumclaw, Rob Fitzgerald and his cadaver dog "Wendy" are retracing the steps of Green River killer Gary Ridgway.

"So, it was an area that would have fit that profile, it would have been OK for him to put a body here and get back to it for access, because, he did revisit them," said Fitzgerald.

For the last year Rob has studied this terrain and Ridgway's method of murder. He believes Ridgway dumped as many as 10 bodies somewhere in these woods in East King County in the 80's and 90's.

Rob has invested $10,000 of his own money and put together a search team with a Law Enforcement background to scour a 40 mile long area along State Route 410 to Greenwater. He wants to bring the victim's families some closure.

"It gave him plenty of room to stop. No one would notice what he was doing here, you can see there's cars, makes no big deal," said Fitzgerald.

Gary Ridgway escaped the death penalty 7 years ago when he confessed to killing 48 women. But, Cops always believed he murdered more victims he didn't fess up to.

Rob thinks with "Wendy's" trained nose and new high tech equipment that Cops didn't have two decades ago, he'll find human remains that went undiscovered.

"This is a soil density meter and what it does it can tell if the soil has ever been dug. You scan a huge area we set up a grid with ropes, and if there's ever been a grave dug on it it'll show up as a hot spot on there," said Fitzgerald.

Rob's team is working alone the King County Sheriff's Office is not involved in this search. That's why Rob wants to make sure what he turns over to the Cops is legitimate.

"This is called a comparative skeleton we use it for bone comparisons. So, we have every bone in the human body, so, if we find a bone there's lots of animal bones in the woods this gives us a way to compare it to an actual human bone," said Fitzgerald.

Rob and his team didn't make any major discoveries on Saturday, but, they have plenty of time to do so. They'll be searching the wooded area east of Enumclaw for the rest of the summer.

http://www.q13fox.com/news/kcpq-061210-greenriverkillersearch,0,6695323.story

[Aslan]

Didn't he tell the cops where the bodies were to save his own stupid self?
Crap, lemme

okay yeah, looked it up. Keep squinting, asshole
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4d/Gary_Ridgway.jpg/180px-Gary_Ridgway.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Ridgway

[Mystica43229]

Didn't he tell the cops where the bodies were to save his own stupid self?
Crap, lemme

okay yeah, looked it up. Keep squinting, asshole
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4d/Gary_Ridgway.jpg/180px-Gary_Ridgway.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Ridgway

He probably didn't tell them every one of his victims. I'm sure there are more out there.

[Aslan]

Wouldn't someone with a life sentence (without parole) for even 1 of the murders want to brag about all he did? It's not like (unfortunately) he's facing the death penalty and has a reason to try and bargain.

[Mystica43229]

http://media.komonews.com/images/100622_gary_ridgway2.jpg

http://images.bimedia.net/images/100622_angela_girdner.jpg


SEATTLE -- A detective in Oregon is out to prove Gary Ridgway killed at least two women there.
If it's true, Ridgway's plea deal that allowed him to escape the death penalty in Washington state wouldn't protect him.

Oregon detectives have released the names of two men they want to talk to. They hope the men can tie Ridgway to the murder of an Oregon girl.

"It's been a long time. It's been an awful long time," said Randy Girdner, whose daughter was murdered decades ago.

But now, Randy and Reta Girdner have some answers. The remains of their daughter, Angela Girdner, have been found at an Oregon medical examiner's office, where they'd gotten lost nearly 25 years ago.

"This is one of the worst things that can happen to a parent...is the torture of continually looking for your daughter," said Randy Girdner.

The Girdners now have their daughter's bones, but not her killer. They're convinced it's the Green River Killer, or Gary Ridgway.

Angela Girdner's remains were found in 1985 along a road in Tualitin, Oregon, and not far from the remains of Denise Bush and Shirley Sherill, who are both victims of Ridgway.

In 2003, Ridgway confessed to killing Bush, Sherill and 46 others in a deal to avoid the death penalty. He even guided the Green River Killer Task Force into Oregon to the place where he'd dumped their bones.

But Ridgway never confessed to killing Angela Girdner. Washington County Det. Ray Marcom is convinced Ridgway refuses, because his plea bargain only protects him from the death penalty in Washington state. If Angela Girdner died in Oregon, Ridgway could face the death penalty there.

"I believe she died in Oregon," Marcom said. "I have not found any evidence to show that she was ever in Washington state."

Marcom says one man - Charles William Wakefield, III - could be crucial to tying Ridgway to Angela Girdner's death. Wakefield was just 18 when the victim met him in 1983.

"She was friendly, and fell in love at the age of 15 to find out that the fellow she fell in love with was a pimp," said mother Reta Girdner.

Investigators say Wakefield pulled Angela Girdner into prostitution.

"I can't talk about why, but I believe he's in this area," said Marcom, who is convinced Wakefield can help retrace Angela Girdner's steps, and possibly finger Ridgway as the man who picked her up.

"It seems like all the evidence and everything is right down the line with what he's done before," said Randy Girdner. "Yeah, I'm convinced."

Ridgway's lawyers are convinced he told investigators all he knows, and that he has no other victims. Still, investigators in Oregon are pressing on, looking to fill in the blanks that Gary Ridgway can't, or won't.

http://www.komonews.com/news/problemsolvers/96941084.html

I'm sure there are more bodies of the women he killed around here.

[Valasca]

The King County Sheriff’s Office recently received good news on its efforts to identify the remains of eight individuals who have been long termed “John/Jane Doe” homicide victims, Cindi West, KCSO spokeswoman, said March 19.

Some of those cases are local.

The Bode Technology Group, working under a National Institute of Justice Grant, was able to obtain full DNA profiles on the remains of seven of eight sets of remains sent to them, and a strong partial profile on the eighth set of remains, West said.

The remains in some cases have gone to several prior labs without profiles being developed. New DNA technology and testing led Bode Tech to the DNA profiles. In conjunction with the grant, the profiles will now go to the University of North Texas for review and uploading into the National DNA database.

Detectives hope that once the profiles are uploaded, they will be matched up to missing person cases that have had DNA profiles submitted to DNA database.

West said family members of missing persons often provide DNA samples to be used in “building” a DNA profile that would represent a missing family member.

Other times, a toothbrush, comb or other personal item left behind by the victim can be used to form a DNA profile for a victim.



The cases involved are:

Case number: 69-014372 “Tolt Hill 1969 Jane Doe” murder victim.

The victim was found June 5, 1969, one mile west of the Tolt River Bridge in eastern King County, near Carnation, on a dirt road that is now 290th Avenue Northeast.

The medical examiner’s office described the woman as Caucasian, 23 to 25 years old, 5 feet 1 inch to 5 feet 2 inches tall, 105-115 pounds, with dark hair. She died from a few weeks to as long as six months before she was found.



Case number: 83-198246

Case moniker: “North Bend male”

Location: one mile south of 42003 S.E. 166 St.

Date of recovery: Oct. 12, 1983

Facts: Male skeletal remains. Victim died from a gunshot wound to the head.



Case number: 88-260904 “Cascade Tunnel Man”

This man died in an apparent accident in King County on Nov. 2, 1988, after falling from a train in the tunnel through Stevens Pass. He was possibly living in the Wenatchee area in fall 1988.



Case number: 91-280335

Case moniker: “Snoqualmie River skull”

Date of recovery: Sept. 5, 1991

Facts: Partial female skull and vertebra remains. Estimated age at time of recovery, 29.



Case number: 06-353095

Case moniker: “Tolt Hill female 2006”

Location: 2110 290 Ave. N.E., Carnation (Tolt Hill Road)

Date of recovery: Nov. 25, 2006

Facts: Top portion of skull found in horse pasture. The remains are very old, and may be a related victim to the “Tolt Hill 1969 Jane Doe” homicide, whose unidentified body was recovered three blocks away in 1969.



Case number: 84-054800 (ME 84-0346): Green River killer Homicides: “Bones 10”

Found March 21, 1984, at a Little League field in Burien. Gary Ridgway has pleaded guilty to this murder. The victim’s remains have never been identified.



Case number: 85-260579 (ME 85-1462): Green River killer Homicides: “Bones 16”

Found Dec. 30, 1985, near Mountain View Cemetery in Auburn. Gary Ridgway has pleaded guilty to this murder. The victim’s remains have never been identified.



Case number: 03-263862 (ME 03-1139): Green River killer Homicides: “Bones 20”

Found Aug. 21, 2003, at 24000 block of Kent-Des Moines Road in Kent.

Gary Ridgway led detectives to these remains, and has pleaded guilty to this murder. The victim’s remains have never been identified.

http://snovalleystar.com/2012/03/21/detectives-obtain-dna-profiles-on-eight-sets-of-remains

[Abroad]

He was possibly living in the Wenatchee area in fall 1988.

I read things like that and I wonder why they think that might be the case......



I have a couple of T-shirts that I should try not to be found wearing, since it would throw the investigators trying to find out about me completely off-track.

[Valasca]

After Sandra Major, 20, climbed into a truck in North Seattle almost 30 years ago, she was never heard from again.

Some members of her family in upstate New York assumed she had met the same fate as dozens of prostitutes who worked in the Seattle area in the early 1980s: death at the hands of Green River killer Gary Ridgway, according to the King County sheriff's office.

But it wasn't until April that Major's cousin, after seeing a Lifetime channel movie about Ridgway, called the sheriff's office. At the end of the show there was a plea for anyone with information about Ridgway's unidentified victims to call.

It was the first time anyone from the missing woman's family had reached out to law enforcement, said sheriff's Det. Tom Jensen.

"He knew his cousin had come out here in '82. He said she was involved in prostitution and she disappeared," said Jensen, a longtime member of the Green River Task Force.

That phone call led to the announcement Monday that a woman's remains found in 1985 in Auburn were those of Major, ending another mystery tied to one of the most prolific serial killers in the U.S.

A friend of Major's had reported her missing to Seattle police on Dec. 24, 1982, several days after she was seen getting into a truck. Police never forwarded the report to Green River detectives, and it's unclear whether the missing-person case was investigated.

After the call from Major's cousin, police in Rochester, N.Y., collected DNA samples from the missing woman's two brothers and sister, authorities said. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children asked the University of Texas Center for Human Identification to speed up the testing, stated the sheriff's office.

"I just always had a feeling from the beginning. She fit the physical description of the victim. The circumstances were right. I felt like this is it. This has got to be her," Jensen said.

Since their discovery in 1985, Major's remains have been referred to as Jane Doe B16, or bones 16. It was the 16th set of unidentified remains found, authorities said. Three sets of remains are still unidentified.

Major's remains were found down a steep embankment on the outskirts of Mountain View Cemetery in Auburn on Dec. 30, 1985, according to court filings in Ridgway's case.

After Ridgway's arrest in 2001, then-King County prosecutor Norm Maleng agreed he wouldn't seek the death penalty against him in exchange for his co-operation in finding the remains of dozens of victims. Ultimately, Ridgway admitted to nearly 70 slayings, but at the time prosecutors said they had evidence linking him to only 48 cases.

When questioned in 2003 as part of his plea agreement, Ridgway "claimed that he could not recall any specifics" about Major or another set of remains found nearby. Ridgway told investigators that he killed one of the victims, then killed a 16-year-old girl identified as Kimi-Kai Pitsor and then killed another woman.

The three sets of remains were found around the cemetery; Ridgway pleaded guilty to all three killings. Until now, Pitsor was the only one of the three who had been identified.

The third victim's remains found near Mountain View Cemetery haven't been identified. She is believed to be a Caucasian female in her teens, court filings said.

Mystery still surrounds three Ridgway victims, whose remains have been found but never identified. Ridgway implied that the three were killed in spring or summer 1983.

According to the sheriff's office, the remains belonged to:

• A white female, possibly as young as 12; found March 21, 1984, in the Burien area off Des Moines Memorial Drive South.

• A white female, between 14 and 17; found Jan. 2, 1986, near Mountain View Cemetery in Auburn.

• A white female, between 16 and 20; found July 2003 in a wooded area along Kent-Des Moines Road.

Also in 2003, Ridgway claimed to have killed three other women — Kelly Kay McGinness, 18, Kassee Lee, 16, and Patricia Osborn, 19 — whose remains have never been found. He wasn't charged in their slayings because of insufficient evidence.

Ridgway is serving a sentence of life with-out parole at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla.


Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/Serial+killer+Gary+Ridgway+serving+life+sentence/6811141/story.html#ixzz1yNnquwtF

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-06-19/green-river-killer-victim/55681098/1