Gary Ridgway, 76, otherwise known as the Green River Killer, was booked into King County Jail in September 2024, but not many details were released regarding why. After unsealing documents this month, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office let the public know more.
Ridgway, who is serving 49 consecutive life sentences for murder, with 48 guilty pleas in 2003 and his 49th plea and sentencing in 2011, was booked into the King County Correctional Facility in Seattle on Sept. 9, 2024, after a transfer from the state prison in Walla Walla. King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office spokesperson Casey McNerthney said he then left the jail to go back to Walla Walla on Sept. 13, 2024.
According to McNerthney, Ridgway was back in King County because, pursuant to the terms of Ridgway’s plea agreement, he routinely met with King County Sheriff’s Office detectives to provide information on investigations of unsolved homicide cases. McNerthney said that during an interview before his transport, Ridgway agreed to take King County Sheriff’s detectives to locations in King County where he deposited remains of victims who have not yet been recovered.
Previous efforts to find these locations based on the verbal descriptions given by Ridgway had not been successful, but Ridgway indicated that he believed he could find these locations in person, McNerthney said.
The King County Sheriff’s Office organized a team of detectives to transport Ridgway to locations where he believes he left remains of victims not yet recovered. Given Ridgway’s age and health, it was anticipated that the process would take several days, which is why investigators selected the timeframe of Sept. 9 to Sept. 13, McNerthney said.
According to McNerthney, the transport order and the reason for the order were sealed by the court to protect the sheriff’s deputies and state Department of Corrections staff escorting Ridgway around King County and to protect the ongoing investigation. McNerthney said on March 7, a judge signed an order to unseal the transport order and the separate document from September outlining the reason for the request to seal the transport.
“Every time that Gary Ridgway’s name is in the news, we know it is incredibly difficult and traumatizing for the families of his many victims,” King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion said. “Those victims and the people who loved them are not forgotten, and that’s who we are focused on today.”
According to the King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson, the investigation into the remains is an open and active case, so they cannot share or provide any additional information at this time.
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