Misplaced bones resurface, 1983 victim linked to Green River Killer

By Dan Tilkin KATU News and KATU.com Staff Published: Dec 15, 2009 at 12:29 PM PST Last Updated: Jan 30, 2010 at 4:40 PM PST
Misplaced bones resurface, 1983 victim linked to Green River Killer »Play Video
Angela Girdner, date unknown.

HILLSBORO, Ore. - A 16-year-old Portland girl who disappeared in 1983 has been identified as a likely victim of Green River Killer Gary Ridgway, who is serving a life sentence after he admitted killing 48 women.

The Green River Task Force had previously identified four sets of remains that were found in Oregon as victims of Ridgway, one of the most notorious serial killers in the Pacific Northwest. However, one set of remains - a body found in April 1985 near a Tualatin golf course - was never identified. Those remains were discovered near those of another young woman, Tammie Liles. Liles was later identified as one of Ridgway's victims.

Police say they have now identified the remains as those of Angela Girdner, who was reported as a runaway by her parents in May of 1983.

"The bones got misplaced for a period of time by the Medical Examiner," said Sgt. David Thompson with the Washington County Sheriff's Office. "They resurfaced this year and we requested they do more work on them.  We asked them to recheck dental records, and they came up with a match to Angela Girdner."

"Because of the close proximity of Tammie's and Angela's remains to the remains of Shirley and Denise, the location where their bodies were disposed of, and the time frame of the murders, detectives believe that Gary Ridgway is responsible for their deaths," investigators said in a written statement. "He has denied any involvement in the deaths of Angela Girdner or Tammie Liles."

Shirley Shirell and Denise Bush were two of the 48 women that Ridgway pleaded guilty to killing.

Investigators are revisiting the murders of Angela Girdner and Tammy Liles and are asking anyone with information about either victim during the years 1983, 1984 or 1985 to call the Washington County Sheriff's Office at (503) 846-2500.

 

Could Ridgway Be Prosecuted in Oregon?

Ridgway told King County Detectives that he killed all of his victims in the Seattle area, and dumped some remains in Oregon. However, Thompson said there is no evidence that Girdner ever spent time in the Seattle area. 

If Girdner was killed in Oregon, Thompson said Ridgway could be prosecuted for her death in Washington County, Ore. The question is - could he face the death penalty if convicted in Oregon? Only if detectives can prove that Girdner was killed after Oregon brought the death penalty back in 1984.

Ridgway Is Serving a Life Sentence

As part of a plea bargain in November of 2003 with King County Prosecutors, Ridgway (pictured at right during court proceedings) was spared the death penalty and received a sentence of life imprisonment without parole.

"I wanted to kill as many women as I thought were prostitutes as I possibly could," he said in a statement that was read aloud in court by a prosecutor during the 2003 hearing. He also said: "I killed so many women I have a hard time keeping them straight."

In exchange for prosecutors not seeking the death penalty, Ridgway worked with investigators to recover the remains of some victims.

Ridgway's Crime Spree

The Green River Killer's murderous frenzy began in the Seattle area in 1982, targeting mainly runaways and prostitutes. The first victims turned up in the Green River, giving the killer his name. Other bodies were found near ravines, airports and freeways.

The killing seemed to stop as suddenly as it started, with prosecutors believing the last victim had disappeared in 1984. But one killing Ridgway admitted to was in 1990, and another was in 1998. In many cases, the killer had sex with his victim and then strangled her.

Ridgway said in his statement that he killed all the women in King County, mostly near his home or in his truck not far from where he had picked them up.

Timeline of Events

  • July 15, 1982 - Body of Wendy Lee Coffield, 16, Puyallup, found floating in the Green River south of Seattle.
  • Aug. 12, 1982 - Body of Debra Bonner, 23, found in Green River.
  • Aug. 13-15, 1982 - Bodies of Cynthia Hinds, 17, Opal Mills, 16, and Marcia Chapman, 31, found in or near Green River.
  • Aug. 16, 1982 - King County police establish a task force on the killings.
  • Aug. 20, 1982 - Police announce arrest of a "potential suspect" in slayings but he is later released.
  • April 27, 1983 - Green River killer becomes target of largest murder investigation in the country. Sheriff Vern Thomas estimates cost for 1983 at $2 million.
  • April 30, 1983 - Marie M. Malvar, 18, disappears. Boyfriend follows pickup suspected in the disappearance; pickup is identified as Ridgway's. Des Moines police respond and Ridgway denies any contact with Malvar.
  • May 3, 1983 - Carol Christensen, 21, disappears from Pacific Highway South, south of Seattle.
  • May 8, 1983 - Body of Christensen found in wooded area in Maple Valley southeast of Seattle.
  • Nov. 20, 1983 - Police say the same man killed 11 young women found murdered in south King County since summer 1982.
  • April 2, 1984 - Discovery of five more sets of skeletal remains could bring total victims to more than 30. Official number of victims is 20.
  • April 20, 1984 - Remains of Amina Agisheff, 36, found near North Bend. She was last seen in Seattle in 1982. Another set of remains found.
  • Dec. 9, 1984 - Death toll rises to 42 - 28 identified bodies and 14 other women missing.
  • April 8, 1987 - Police search home and vehicles of Kent-area man. Two witnesses say man was seen with at least two of the victims, now thought to number 46. Police take "bodily samples" from the man but there is insufficient evidence to arrest him. The man was Gary Ridgway.
  • May 30, 1988 - Body of Debra Estes, 15, found in Federal Way, last seen on Sept. 20, 1982.
  • Sept. 20, 1990 - Body of Marta Reeves found along Washington 410 near Enumclaw southeast of Seattle. She is not listed among Green River victims at first.
  • July 1991 - Green River task force reduced to one investigator. No killer has been found despite years of investigative work.
  • Aug. 6, 1998 - Wrecking crew finds body of Patricia Ann Yellow Robe, 38, Seattle. Death certificate says she died of accidental drug and alcohol overdose, but investigators later tell relatives she was among the Green River killer's victims.
  • Nov. 2, 1999 - New DNA process used to identify remains found near Green River in 1986 as Tracy Ann Winston, 19, last seen near Northgate in Seattle in 1983.
  • February 2000 - State crime lab begins using sophisticated new DNA testing method.
  • March 2001 - Crime lab begins using new process to test Green River killer evidence.
  • Nov. 30, 2001 - Gary Leon Ridgway, a married man from Auburn who painted trucks for Kenworth Truck Co. in Renton, arrested in connection with four slayings. Ridgway's DNA is linked to three victims. Ridgway is jailed without bail.
  • Dec. 5, 2001 - King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng files aggravated first-degree murder charges against Ridgway in deaths of Marcia Chapman, Cynthia Hinds, Opal Mills and Carol Christensen.
  • Dec. 18, 2001 - Ridgway pleads innocent to those four murder counts.
  • Sept. 22, 2002 - Prosecutors recommend a March 2004 trial date for Ridgway. More than 375,000 documents received by defense from prosecutors in past few months.
  • Oct. 5-6, 2002 - Crews search wetland in Kent for more remains, nothing found.
  • Oct. 18, 2002 - Trial date set for March 16, 2004.
  • March 27, 2003 - Ridgway charged with three more counts of aggravated first-degree murder in deaths of Wendy Lee Coffield, Debra Estes and Debra Bonner. A total of 49 women are listed as victims of the serial killer.
  • April 3, 2003 - Ridgway pleads innocent to Coffield, Estes and Bonner murder counts.
  • May 13, 2003 - Trial date delayed to July 14, 2004.
  • Mid-June 2003 - Ridgway secretly transferred out of King County Jail to an undisclosed location in custody of sheriff's office.
  • Aug. 16, 2003 - Detectives and search crews find human skeletal remains in a wooded area near Washington 410 east of Enumclaw. Authorities will not confirm reports that Ridgway is cooperating with investigators in hopes of avoiding the death penalty.
  • Aug. 18, 2003 - Remains found near Enumclaw identified as Pammy Annette Avent, 16, Seattle, who disappeared in October 1983.
  • Aug. 21-23, 2003 - Detectives find human bones in wooded area in Kent.
  • Aug. 30 and Sept. 2, 2003 - Detectives find human bones in wooded area near Snoqualmie, in east King County.
  • Sept. 4, 2003 - Task force searches site near North Bend, nothing found.
  • Sept. 6, 2003 - Task force searches three locations east of Enumclaw, nothing found.
  • Sept. 26, 2003 - Remains found near Snoqualmie identified as April Dawn Buttram, 17, last seen in 1983.
  • Sept. 28-29, 2003 - Skeletal remains, including skull, found in wooded area near Auburn.
  • Oct. 1, 2003 - Bones found near Auburn identified as Marie M. Malvar, 18, who disappeared April 30, 1983.
  • Nov. 5, 2003 - Ridgway pleads guilty to 48 counts of aggravated first-degree murder.
  • Dec. 15, 2009 - Police in Washington County, Ore., confirm a teenage runaway who was last seen in 1983 was a victim of the Green River Killer.