The Green River Killer - Gary Ridgway (Part 1)
7/6/202652 min
In the summer of 1982, it became obvious that a serial killer was operating in the Tacoma area and dumping his victims in the waters of the Green River. In time, The Green River Killer, as the press soon dubbed him, would claim a staggering number of victims to become the most prolific serial killer in American history, a title he would hold until relatively recently.
References
Associated Press. 1985. "Bones found near Portland were from woman on Green River list." Daily Herald (Everett, WA), June 15: 1.
—. 1985. "Green River case is tough, but not impossible: expert." Daily Herald (Everett, WA), September 18: 13.
—. 1984. "Woman is identified as 27th Green River victim." Daily Herald (Everett, WA), October 16: 21.
—. 1986. "Green River: 35th victim is identified." Daily Herald (Evertt, WA), May 5: 6.
—. 1985. "County welcomes FBI help in Green River case." Kitsap Sun (Bremerton, WA), September 13: 23.
—. 2001. "Green River suspect arrested ." Kitsap Sun (Bremerton, WA), December 1: 1.
—. 1985. "Detectives doubt Green River killer has moved to Portland." Longview Daily News (Longview, WA), Janaury 1: 9.
—. 1989. "Green River tas force could fold within a year." News Tribune (Tacoma, WA), December 9: 16.
—. 1983. "'Green River Killer' may have slain 19 women." Spokane Chronicle, November 12: 1.
CNN. 2003. . December 19. Accessed June 19, 2026. https://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/12/18/green.river.sentencing/.
—. 2003. Green River Killer Gary Ridgway's statement to the court. November 5. Accessed June 17, 2026. https://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/11/05/ridgway.statement/index.html.
Cronin, Teresa. 1982. "Prostitution problem waning." News Tribune (Tacoma, WA), July 15: A4.
—. 1984. "Slain daughter should be alive, her mother says." News Tribune (Tacoma, WA), July 1: 37.
Daily Herald. 1990. "Green River case stuck, sheriff says." Daily Herald (Everett, WA), July 21: 11.
Dardarian, Suki. 1982. "Slayings of five women linked, police believe." Daily Herald (Everett, WA), August 16: 2.
Gildenhar, Jan. 1983. "As the death toll rises, police seek new leads." News Tribune (Spokan, WA), November 6: 14.
Gillespie, Elizabeth. 2005. "Hiker finds skull of Green River killer victim." News Tribune (Tacoma, WA), November 23: 13.
Gutman, David. 2024. "DNA testing, onbituary helped identify victim of Green River killer." Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA), January 7: 5.
Harden, Mark. 1985. "With no new murders in a year, Green River trail grows cold." Daily Herald (Everett, WA), January 6: 31.
Ho, Vanessa, Hector Castro, and Tracy Johnson. 2001. A father led police to Ridgway in 1983. December 6. Accessed June 11, 2026. https://www.seattlepi.com/seattlenews/article/a-father-led-police-to-ridgway-in-1983-1073920.php.
Hunter, Steve. 2024. Reichert shares details of Green River Killer case with Kent students. April 25. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://www.kentreporter.com/2024/04/25/reichert-shares-details-of-green-river-killer-case-with-kent-students/.
—. 2024. Reichert shares details of Green River Killer case with Kent students. April 25. Accessed June 19, 2026. https://www.kentreporter.com/2024/04/25/reichert-shares-details-of-green-river-killer-case-with-kent-students/.
Johnson, Gene. 2003. "Everett father's words draw tears." Daily Herald (Everett, WA), December 19: 1.
McCarthy, Terry, and Nathan Thronburgh. 2002. "River of death." Time, June 3.
News Tribune. 1983. "A killer is loose, does anyone care?" News Tribune (Tacoma, WA), November 9: 22.
—. 1982. "Local prostitute among dead." News Tribune (Tacoma, WA), August 17: 1.
—. 1982. "Police have Green River killer's mental profile." News Tribune (Tacoma, WA), September 21: 4.
Rule, Ann. 2005. Green River, Running Red: The Real Story of the Green River Killer--America's Deadliest Serial Murderer. New York, NY: Pocket Books.
Smith, Carlton, and Thomas Guillen. 1991. The Search for the Green River Killer. New York, NY: Onyx.
State of Washington v Gary Leon Ridgway. 2001. 01-01-10270-9 SEA (Superior Court of Washington for King County).
Sullivan, Jennifer. 2012. "Another Green River victim ID'd." Longview Daily News, June 20: 3.
Suttle, Gestin. 1993. "Skull found near Auburn identified as Bellevue woman, 19." News Tribune (Tacoma, WA), February 5: 20.
Walter, Jess. 1990. "Possible suspects listed in killings." Spokane Chronicle, June 22: 3.
Wilson, Duff. 2003. Profiler can't recall why he said letter wasn't from Green River killer. November 26. Accessed June 11, 2026. https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/20031126/greenriver26m/profiler-cant-recall-why-he-said-letter-wasnt-from-green-river-killer.
Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)
Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)
Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley
Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally
Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsAlaina Urquhart· Host0:00
Hey weirdos, I'm Alayna.
Ash Kelley· Host0:01
I'm Ash.
Alaina Urquhart· Host0:02
And this is Morbid.
Ash Kelley· Host0:04
[gentle music] Hiya.
Alaina Urquhart· Host0:17
Hello. Um, this is gonna be a four-part series. I'm just gonna tell you right off the bat.
Ash Kelley· Host0:23
Oh, honey. Alayna has showed- Yeah ... up for work this week.
Alaina Urquhart· Host0:28
Yeah, it's gonna be a four-part series 'cause we are finally covering the Green River Killer- Ooh ... Gary Ridgway, which is one we've been just, I don't know- Shitting on ... we weren't waiting for any particular time to do it, it just is such a, a giant case that we just- People ask for this one- Yeah ...
Ash Kelley· Host0:44
a lot.
Alaina Urquhart· Host0:45
So this is four because he is a wildly prolific serial killer. He was thought for, I mean, he was for a long time the most prolific serial killer in the United States.
Ash Kelley· Host0:55
Wow.
Alaina Urquhart· Host0:55
He is not anymore. Samuel Little is.
Ash Kelley· Host1:00
Oh, yeah.
Alaina Urquhart· Host1:00
I think he killed 93 people that they know of. Um, but yeah, he's... This is a rough one, and I want to tell you right off the bat.
Ash Kelley· Host1:08
Yeah.
Alaina Urquhart· Host1:09
This is rough. It's pretty graphic. I'm not gonna get crazy with it.
Ash Kelley· Host1:14
With the details, yeah.
Alaina Urquhart· Host1:15
But even just brushing over what's happening is very awful and upsetting, so I just want everybody to know that. There is rape involved in this.
Ash Kelley· Host1:24
Mm.
Alaina Urquhart· Host1:24
Um, some of the victims are younger, like 15, 16.
Ash Kelley· Host1:28
Oh, that's so sad.