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RIDGWAY Gary Leon

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Not to be confused with The Riverman.
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Biography[]

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Find sources: "Gary Ridgway" – news · books · scholar · JSTOR

Gary Leon Ridgway was born on February 8, 1949, in Salt lake City Utah, making him a member of the Baby Boomers generation. He was born as the second son of  Mary and Thomas Ridgeway, who ended with three sons in total. It is said that his childhood was rife with troubles, as he was a bed wetter born to a domineering mother. When he wet the bed, she would wash his genitals. Ridgeway is said to have a low IQ, and dyslexia which made for poor performance in school.

His childhood years, due to his mother's actions, confused him to the point that he teetered  between having sexual feelings for his mother and wanting to kill her. He wet the bed, and each time until he was 13, she would inappropriately was his genitals. His first attempt at murder happened when he was only 16, where he stabbed a 6 year old boy. He was unsuccessful. He did go on to graduate high school in 1969, but not without being held back a year for his grades.

After graduation he married his high school girlfriend, Claudia Kraig. Ridgeway, then joined the Navy on a supply ship, where he did see some combat in Vietnam. While away in Vietnam, he managed to catch gonorrhea from prostitutes there. His first marriage fell apart within the first year due to his infidelity and probably the strain of him being away.

After leaving the Navy, Ridgeway made his home in the Seattle area of Washington. He remarried , and worked for a truck factory. He married a total of 3 times, and infidelity was a problem on both sides of the marriages. During his time with his second wife, and throughout the rest of his killing days, he had become extremely religious, including going door to door to spread the word.  He also had a son with his second wife. People that knew him would describe him as very religious and his wives have described his sexual appetite as insatiable. He was also recorded to have an extremely low IQ,   

Ridgway's  killings began in 1983 and continued on throughout the 1990's. His victims were mostly prostitutes and runaways, both making him an opportunistic killer, and a smart enough one to know that missing runaways and sex workers cases were rarely taken seriously by law enforcement. He earned the name the Green River Killer due to the location of his dump sites, along the Green River in Washington. He would troll for victims along the Pacific Highway that ran along the South.

Another thing about Gary Ridgway is that he practiced in necrophilia and would often revisit his victims to have sex. He admitted that having sex with his dead victims was not really ideal but did so to alleviate the stress of needing a new victim. Unlike Ted Bundy, who would rather have sex with his dead victims, Ridgeway used it as a means to evade getting caught, as those nights did not produce new victims.

He would get his victims to trust him enough to have sex, and once the act was underway he would grab them from behind and strangle them. One of the reasons he is considered one  of America's prolific serial killers is that by the time he was caught in 2001, he was suspected of killing upwards of 70 victims, and his time between kills ranged between three victims going missing in just one day, to three years apart. He was originally convicted of 48 murders, with a 49th added later. He was said to have indicated that there were enough victims for him to lose count of the number. He point that he teetered  between having sexual feelings for his mother and wanting to kill her. He wet the bed, and each time until he was 13, she would inappropriately was his genitals. His first attempt at murder happened when he was only 16, where he stabbed a 6 year old boy. He was unsuccessful. He did go on to graduate high school in 1969, but not without being held back a year for his grades.

Victims[]

Confirmed victims[]

# Name Age Disappeared Body Found Cause of Death
1 Wendy Coffield 16 July 8, 1982 July 15, 1982
2 Gisele Lovvorn 17 July 17, 1982 September 25, 1982
3 Debra Bonner 23 July 25, 1982 August 12, 1982
4 Marcia Chapman 31 August 1, 1982 August 15, 1982
5 Cynthia Hinds 17 August 11, 1982 August 15, 1982
6 Opal Mills 16 August 12, 1982 August 15, 1982
7 Terry Milligan 16 August 29, 1982 April 1, 1984
8 Mary Meehan 18 September 15, 1982 November 13, 1983
9 Debra Estes 15 September 20, 1982 May 30, 1988
10 Linda Rule 16 September 26, 1982 January 31, 1983
11 Denise Bush 23 October 8, 1982 June 12, 1985
12 Shawnda Summers 16 October 9, 1982 August 11, 1983
13 Shirley Sherrill 18 October 20–22, 1982 June 14, 1985
14 Rebecca "Becky" Marrero 20 December 3, 1982 December 21, 2010
15 Colleen Brockman 15 December 24, 1982 May 26, 1984
16 Sandra Major 20 December 24, 1982 December 30, 1985 Strangulation
17 Wendy Stephens 14 c. Spring 1983[note 1] March 21, 1984 Strangulation
18 Alma Smith 18 March 3, 1983 April 2, 1984
19 Delores Williams 17 March 8–14, 1983 March 31, 1984
20 Lori Anne Razpotnik[2] 15 1983 (Died spring or summer) January 2, 1986
21 Gail Mathews 23 April 10, 1983 September 18, 1983 Strangulation
22 Andrea Childers 19 April 14, 1983 October 11, 1989
23 Sandra Gabbert 17 April 17, 1983 April 1, 1984
24 Kimi-Kai Pitsor 16 April 17, 1983 December 15, 1983
25 Marie Malvar 18 April 30, 1983 September 26, 2003
26 Carol Christensen 21 May 3, 1983 May 8, 1983
27 Martina Authorlee 18 May 22, 1983 November 14, 1984
28 Cheryl Wims 18 May 23, 1983 March 22, 1984
29 Yvonne "Shelly" Antosh 19 May 31, 1983 October 15, 1983
30 Carrie Rois 15 May 31-June 13, 1983 March 10, 1985
31 Constance Naon 19 June 8, 1983 October 27, 1983
32 Tammie Liles[3] 16 June 9, 1983 April 23 1985
33 Kelly Ware 22 July 18, 1983 October 29, 1983
34 Tina Thompson 21 July 25, 1983 April 20, 1984
35 April Buttram 16 August 18, 1983 August 30, 2003
36 Debbie Abernathy 26 September 5, 1983 March 31, 1984
37 Tracy Winston 19 September 12, 1983 March 27, 1986
38 Maureen Feeney 19 September 28, 1983 May 2, 1986
39 Mary Bello 25 October 11, 1983 October 12, 1984
40 Pammy Avent 15 October 26, 1983 August 16, 2003
41 Delise Plager 22 October 30, 1983 February 14, 1984
42 Kimberly Nelson 21 November 1, 1983 June 14, 1986
43 Lisa Yates 19 December 23, 1983 March 13, 1984
44 Mary West 16 February 6, 1984 September 8, 1985
45 Cindy Smith 17 March 21, 1984 June 27, 1987
46 Patricia Barczak 19 October 17, 1986 February 3, 1993
47 Roberta Hayes 21 February 7, 1987 September 11, 1991
48 Marta Reeves 36 March 5, 1990 September 20, 1990
49 Patricia Yellowrobe 38 January 1998 August 6, 1998

Task force victims list[]

Ridgway is suspected of — but not charged with — murdering the remaining six victims of the original list attributed to the Green River Killer. In each case, either Ridgway did not confess to the victim's death, or authorities have not been able to corroborate their suspicion with reliable evidence.

Name Age Disappeared Body Found Cause of Death
Amina Agisheff 35 July 7, 1982 April 18, 1984
Kase Lee (née Woods) 16 August 28, 1982 Undiscovered
Kelly McGinniss 18 June 28, 1983 Undiscovered
Angela Girdner 16 July 1983 April 22, 1985
Patricia "Patty" Osborn 19 October 20, 1983[4][5] Undiscovered

Suspected victims[]

Name Age Disappeared Body Found Cause of Death
"Michelle" Unknown December 1980 Undiscovered
Kristi Vorak 13 October 31, 1982 Undiscovered
Linda Jackson[note 2] 20 May 3, 1983 Undiscovered
Patricia Leblanc 15 August 12, 1983 Undiscovered
Rose Marie Kurran[note 3] 16 August 26, 1987 August 31, 1987
Darci Warde 16 April 24, 1990 Undiscovered
Deborah Wims 31 October 25, 1990 Undiscovered
Cora McGuirk 22 July 12, 1991 Undiscovered

Timeline[]

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Bibliography[]

Literature[]

  • Keppel, Robert (2004). The Riverman: Ted Bundy and I Hunt for the Green River Killer,. ISBN 0-7434-6395-1 Updated after the arrest and confession of Gary Ridgway.
  • Rule, Ann (2005). Green River, Running Red: The Real Story of the Green River Killer - America's Deadliest Serial Murderer, Pocket Star. ISBN 978-0743460507
  • Prothero, Mark (2007). Defending Gary: Unraveling the Mind of the Green River Killer, Jossey-Bass. ISBN 978-0787995485

Articles[]

Documentaries[]

Television[]

YouTube Documentaries[]

Podcasts[]

In popular culture[]

Film adaptations[]

Music[]

  • The grunge band Green River was named in reference to the murders. As well, the title track of their 1985 debut EP Come On Down discusses the murders from Ridgway's point of view.
  • The 1998 song "I Wanna Know What Love Is" by Kathleen Hanna references the murders through the broader lens of police brutality.
  • The 2001 album, "Master of Brutality" by Japanese doom metal band Church of Misery also featured a song, "Green River" inspired by the murders.
  • The 2002 song "Deep Red Bells" by Neko Case was inspired by her own life growing up as a teenager near the metropolis during the time of the murders.
  • The industrial / power electronics project called Deathpile made an album about the Green River Killer in 2003 titled "G.R.".

Related Articles[]

See also[]

  • Jame Gumb, a fictional character from Silence of The Lambs, was partially based on Gary Rigdway. Gumb, like "The Green River Killer" (still unidentified at the time of the novel's writing), dumped women's bodies in rivers and inserted foreign objects into their corpses.

Links[]

Notes[]

  1. ↑ Stephens was reported missing in early 1983. Investigators believe her remains had lain undiscovered for one year or more prior to their March 1984 discovery.[1]
  2. ↑ Also known by WyLynda L. Wells
  3. ↑ Kurran's name is alternatively spelled as "Curran" in the media.[6]

References[]

  1. ↑ Johnson, Gene (January 25, 2021). "Genetic Genealogy Helps ID Victim of Green River Killer". NBC Los Angeles.
  2. ↑ Stephen M. Lepore (December 20, 2023). Remains tied to prolific serial killer who left 50 dead in the Northwest are identified as missing Lori Anne Razpotnik nearly 40 years after her bones were discovered by a driver that accidentally crashed down an embankment. Daily Mail.
  3. ↑ Helena Wegner (January 23, 2024). DNA identifies ‘last known remains’ of victims of notorious Green River Killer, cops say. The News Tribune.
  4. ↑ Good, Meaghan. "Patricia Anne Osborn". The Charley Project.
  5. ↑ "NamUs MP #14132: Patricia Anne Osborn". National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (March 5, 2012).
  6. ↑ Guillen, Tomas; Carlton Smith (September 18, 1987). "Could killer strike again? Probably yes — despite 46 murders, little has changed" (Archived). The Seattle Times.
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