Ridgway's killings started in July 1982, when young runaways and prostitutes began disappearing. That is when the first five bodies were found floating in the Green River, the first victim was 16-year-old Wendy Lee Cofield teenage runaway, then Deborah Bonner and then more. The body count kept growing and hit double digits in a short amount of time. The majority of the murders Ridgeway committed were between 1982 and 1984.By that time, Seattle’s residents became custom to looking over their shoulders, fearing for their lives, knowing that there is a dangerous killer on the loose. The endless reports of women and young girls disappearing continued, with the police unable to catch the killer. Ridgeway had their skeletal remains collected and placed in wooded areas along the Green River and around Sea-Tac Airport. Most of the victims were prostitutes or young runaways who worked or hitchhiked along an area of Pac Highway. For Ridgeway, this area proved to be a great hunting ground. Most of the victim’s bodies had been left nude, sometimes with their fingernails clipped and the crime scenes littered with gum or cigarette butts. …show more content…
They took hair and saliva samples from Ridgeway that later were subjected to DNA analysis, providing the much-needed evidence for his arrest warrant. On November 30, 2001, Gary Ridgeway was arrested while at work. He was charged with suspicion of murdering four women almost 20 years ago, Marcia Chapman, Opal Mills, Cinthia Hinds and Carol Ann Christensen. Three more victims were added to the list shortly after paint samples were matched against the paint Ridgeway was using at work. The police had finally caught the Green River Killer. The interviews with Ridgeways ex-wives and old girlfriends lead to some disturbing facts about Ridgeway and his appetite for sex in outdoors. Especially in different areas where he used to dump the bodies of his