The Lost and the Found

http://insidious-whispers.tumblr.co...n-river-killer-gary-ridgway-may-have-had-over

In March 1984, Jane Doe B-10 was discovered west of a ball field in Seattle, Washington. The victim was between 12 and 18 years old, likely 15, and Ridgway said he thought he may have picked her up in the Riverton area sometime before May of 1983.

https://www.denverpost.com/2021/01/25/wendy-stephens-denver-green-river-killer-gary-ridgway-dna-evidence/

14-year-old Denver girl identified Monday believed to be youngest victim of notorious Pacific Northwest serial killer

A 14-year-old Denver girl whose remains were discovered in 1984 in Washington is believed to be the youngest victim of a notorious Pacific Northwest serial killer after DNA evidence positively identified her Monday, according to an announcement from Washington’s King County Sheriff’s Office.

Wendy Stephens ran away from her Denver home in 1983, the news release said. In 1984, her remains were found in SeaTac.

Stephens’ remains were found in a wooded area next to a baseball field in what is now the suburb of SeaTac on March 21, 1984. She had been strangled a year or more earlier, investigators said.

In 2003, Gary Ridgway, Washington’s Green River killer, pleaded guilty to murdering 48 women. Four women remained unidentified at the time of his plea.

The King County Sheriff’s Office — along with forensic anthropologist Katherine Taylor, the DNA Doe Project and other scientists — positively identified one of these four victims as Stephens.

“Today’s development is a testament to the tireless efforts of detectives, scientists and other professionals who employed the latest in emerging DNA and genealogical technologies in Wendy’s disappearance,” Monday’s news release read. “Cases once thought unsolvable are now within reach thanks to this pioneering work … It is our hope today’s development brings those who love Wendy one step closer to healing.”

Stephens’ family requested privacy and declined to speak with reporters, said Sgt. Tim Meyer, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office.

Ridgway preyed on victims in the Seattle area, many of them young women in vulnerable positions, including sex workers and runaways, mostly from 1982 to 1984. Though he had long been a suspect, his role was unconfirmed for nearly two decades before advances in DNA technology allowed detectives to identify him as the Green River Killer in 2001 from a saliva sample they had procured in 1987.

Ridgway claimed to have killed dozens more women than he was charged with — so many he said he lost count. He pleaded guilty in a deal to avoid the death penalty after agreeing to help investigators find additional remains. He is now 71, spending the rest of his life at the Washington State Penitentiary.