In 2011, he pleaded guilty to a 49th murder, that of Rebecca Marrero. He received an additional 480 years in prison for tampering with evidence, charges that stemmed from the disposal of each of the dead. The killer, named for the river in and near which many of his victims’ bodies were found, was sentenced to 48 life sentences without the possibility of parole for the murders. Ridgway continued killing until at least 1998, when his final known victim was slain. Read more about the case here: /QuMjmbGOaG- DNA Doe Project January 25, 2021īeginning as early as the summer of 1982, he targeted prostitutes and runaways he picked up on the streets in and around Seattle. Our deepest condolences go out to the family.
We thank our volunteer researchers and all our donors who made this identification possible. DNA proved that her body had been found in 1985 in a cemetery with two other Ridgway victims, CNN reported.ĭDP has made an identification in the case of Bones 10.
#GREEN RIVER SERIAL KILLER VICTIMS MOVIE#
Sandra Denise Major, 20, was identified in June 2012 after a family member, who watched a movie about Ridgway, asked authorities to look into whether Major, who was last known to be in the Seattle area, might have been one of his victims. At one point, he claimed there had been as many as 70 or more victims but said he had lost count.īesides Stephens, one more of the four unidentified victims has since been Ridgway’s sentencing. Ridgway claimed to have killed many more victims than those who have been found or identified.
#GREEN RIVER SERIAL KILLER VICTIMS FULL#
His 2003 plea deal allowed him to avoid the death penalty by promising his full cooperation with authorities. Stephens was one of four victims who remained unidentified when Ridgway, a suspect in the long-unsolved Green River murders, was arrested in 2001 and later pleaded guilty to 48 counts of aggravated first-degree murder. “It is our hope today’s development brings those who love Wendy one step closer to healing.”Ī spokesman for the department told the AP that Stephens’ family, seeking privacy as they grieve, had declined to speak to reporters. “Cases once thought unsolvable are now within reach thanks to such pioneering work,” the news release said, according to KIRO. In a news release from the sheriff’s office, investigators praised the technology that helped bring Stephens’ family answers about her fate. Her DNA was subsequently matched directly to that of her mother and father.
Investigators then learned that Stephens had been reported missing in 1983. Using birth records, Census data and other information publicly available, they found where the two families met - with Stephens’ parents. (King County Sheriff's Office)Ĭairenn Binder of the nonprofit DNA Doe Project said the team working the case entered the unidentified victim’s DNA information into a geneaology website, which gave back several of the girl’s distant cousins from both her mother’s and father’s side of the family, the AP reported. Ridgway, now 71, is serving life in prison for a total of 49 murders. Gary Ridgway Gary Leon Ridgway is pictured in mugshots taken in 1982, left, and in 2001, at the time of his arrest for Green River Killer serial murders that plagued the Seattle area in the '80s and '90s. “Every person needs their name,” Taylor said in a statement obtained by the new station.
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