DNA identifies ‘last known remains’ of victims of notorious Green River Killer, cops say
The “last known remains” of victims killed by serial killer Gary Ridgway have been identified as a 16-year-old girl, Washington authorities said.
Tammie Liles disappeared in 1983, and she was identified as a victim of Ridgway in 1988, three years after some of her remains were found in Oregon, according to KUOW.
More of her remains were found in August 2003 in Washington, but they were left unidentified and labeled as Bones #20 for over 20 years — until recent DNA testing, the King County Sheriff’s Office said in a Jan. 22 news release.
In November 2003, Ridgway pleaded guilty to the killings of 48 women from around King County between 1982 and 1998, including Bones #20, and later sentenced. He was also sentenced on an additional aggravated murder charge in 2011, authorities said.
Ridgway is accused of killing women and dumping their bodies in or near the Green River.
Liles’ remains found in 1985
Some of Liles’ remains were first discovered in 1985 near the Tualatin Golf Course near Tigard, Oregon, deputies said, and identified through dental records. She was identified as a victim of Ridgway in 1988.
Investigators asked Ridgway about Liles’ remains and “at that time denied responsibility for the murders of Liles and the other unidentified female found near her, who was later identified as Angela Girdner,” authorities said.
In June 2003, Ridgway led authorities to a site on the Kent-Des Moines Road in King County, Washington. He said he had left a body there, deputies said.
Investigators said they found bones and teeth, but the skull was missing along with other major bones.
These remains were sent to the University of North Texas where a DNA profile was created and then submitted to a DNA database of missing people, deputies said.
An identification was never made, and the remains were labeled Bones #20.
Forensic genetic genealogy helps solve case
In 2022, investigators reopened the case around Bones #20 and contacted Othram, a lab in The Woodlands, Texas, that specializes in forensic genetic genealogy.
Othram used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing and created a DNA profile from the remains. Bones #20 was “tentatively identified” as Liles in August 2023, deputies said.
Investigators contacted her mother and had her submit a DNA sample, which confirmed the remains found in 2003 belonged to Liles.
Now there is a “great sense of relief and accomplishment for our major crimes detectives that have been working on this for decades,” King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Eric White told KUOW.
DNA testing was also used recently to identify the remains of 15-year-old Lori Anne Razpotnik decades after she went missing in 1982, McClatchy News reported in December.
Ridgway is serving 49 consecutive life sentences at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla. He was not given the death penalty because he agreed to plead guilty and give information to any future cases in King County, authorities said.
This story was originally published January 23, 2024 at 11:58 AM with the headline "DNA identifies ‘last known remains’ of victims of notorious Green River Killer, cops say."
