November 30, 2001

4:46 PM

BREAKING NEWS: Police Make Arrest In Green River Murder Case The biggest unsolved serial killing spree in the NW now has a suspect in custody.
posted by crankydoodle (14 comments total)

Whoa...I went to jr. high school with one of his victims. I hope they finally got the bastard!
posted by black8 at 4:50 PM on November 30, 2001

black8, which victim? I went to high school (Nathan Hale) with Cynthia Hinds. She was in my 9th grade gym class. I didn't know her well, but we knew each other enough to say hello. I have one strong memory of her -- one day in class, she was a little hyper, and she kept singing "Philadelphia Freedom," over and over. The gym teacher didn't seem to appreciate it.

I never had any more classes with her, and next saw her in the newspaper, two years later, after they pulled her body out of the Green River.

I can't believe that after all this time, they finally have a likely suspect. I hope this is the right guy, and I hope he gets convicted. Those women deserve justice.
posted by litlnemo at 5:24 PM on November 30, 2001

Tomas Guillen, co-author of "The Search for the Green River Killer," just told KING-TV that he knows Ridgway well from his investigation, but that Ridgway was not named in the book because Ridgway was a "hot" suspect.
posted by Carol Anne at 5:25 PM on November 30, 2001

Amazing. I hope they are right and this is the bastard they're after.

For those not native to the Northwestern US, the Green River Killer has been nearly legendary as an unsolved serial killer case (50 women victims) - the case has been open and in the local news off an on for nearly twenty years.
posted by kokogiak at 5:38 PM on November 30, 2001

I'm amazed that it took them this long to identify matching DNA samples from three of the victims! If Ridgway was a "hot" suspect, why didn't they have his DNA on file years ago? Something doesn't quite add up here...
posted by shinybeast at 5:47 PM on November 30, 2001

shinybeast: King County Sheriff Dave Reichert said that Ridgway's DNA was on file. When arrested for solicitation of prostitution in 1982, Ridgway consented to chew on a piece of gauze which was saved. But DNA testing procedures weren't sophisticated enough to identify Ridgway until very recently. At the time of the killings, DNA tests could only reveal blood type. Over the years, forensic DNA testing has developed considerably.
posted by Carol Anne at 6:12 PM on November 30, 2001

Here's some good background info on the Green River Killer for anyone interested.

According to The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers (© 2000 Michael Newton, p. 84) "the Green River Killer may have taken his show on the road, with authorities from neighboring Snohomish Country, Washington, to San Diego, California, and Kansas City hinting at possible 'Green River' involvement in their own greusome series of prostitute murders." The article said Ridgeway had a job at a trucking company so that could fit.

I hope they got the right guy. It will be great to close this case.
posted by jennyb at 6:38 PM on November 30, 2001

Kimi Kai Pitsor...we weren't great pals, but she sat next to me at our 9th grade graduation from McClure. I moved out of state for a couple of years after that. Hearing that she was murdered was really freaky.
posted by black8 at 6:42 PM on November 30, 2001

Carol Anne, thanks for the forensics timeline. Interesting stuff!
posted by shinybeast at 7:20 PM on November 30, 2001

This is pretty crazy. Just last night, Vancouver Sun columnist Vaughn Palmer was on KCTS Connects comparing this case to the murders and disappearances of several dozen women (many of them prostitutes) here in British Columbia.
posted by youthbc1 at 11:05 PM on November 30, 2001

So apparently his work buddies used to call him "GR Gary" -- Green River Gary. Source : komo4 news, in Seattle.
posted by jragon at 11:08 PM on November 30, 2001

Sunday Seattle Times--THE GREEN RIVER KILLINGS--The King County Sheriff's Office reiterates that 'We have not caught the Green River killer,' but it does believe the suspect is responsible for some of the 49 deaths. Detectives have 10,000 pieces of evidence they must again wade through.
posted by Carol Anne at 11:48 AM on December 2, 2001

What!?

Ah man... something happened.

Here's the rest of the post:

"A couple of years ago, mtDNA testing was made more available, and I pushed the investigators to test my mother so we could identify remains... they said it was in the Fed's hands. Problem was, the Feds were sitting on it as their small labs were being taxed with demand. A letter to my senator (who was at the time part of the FBI oversight committee) didn't yield much, but after some waiting the tests were completed. It was a dead end, but it was good to close at least one of the myriad wounds."
posted by silusGROK at 10:05 AM on December 3, 2001