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Gary Ridgway may have begun his spree as the Green River Killer in the 1970s -- years earlier than thought, a veteran investigator said Monday.
That could mean Ridgway has even more victims.
King County investigator Tom Jensen said that if the woman known in court papers as Jane Doe "B20" was killed in the 1970s, "it could open up a whole new range of people" Ridgway might have killed.
Green River investigators are now asking for the public's help in identifying the woman, one of four Ridgway has admitted killing but whose remains so far have remained unidentified. Ridgway pleaded guilty in November 2003 to killing 48 women.
Scientists concluded that the woman's body was dumped at the site 10 to 30 years ago -- but they believe it much more likely, Jensen said, that her remains had been there for close to 30 years, making her a victim in the 1970s.
Jensen said that from Ridgway's recollections and other evidence, investigators believe that the woman was 16 to 26 years old when she was killed, that she was Caucasian or of mixed race, had a thin or medium build and had shoulder-length light brown hair but few other distinguishing features.
Jensen also said he believed that the unidentified woman may not have been a prostitute -- a deviation from Ridgway's pattern that could explain why he's been reluctant to explain more about the killing.
Yet during his hours of interviews with detectives in 2003, Ridgway admitted that it was "very possible" he had killed women in the 1970s while living in Maple Valley with his second wife, according to King County prosecutors.
"Even after rigorous interrogation and a review of potentially relevant cases," prosecutors wrote, "Ridgway's first homicide(s) remain unknown."
In a video recording of an interview detectives conducted with Ridgway on Sept. 2, 2003, Ridgway said he believed he killed the woman investigators are now trying to identify in 1982 or 1983. But he also told investigators he could have killed her in the 1970s.
He killed her, he said, after picking her up somewhere on Pacific Highway South, then bringing her home.
He said he then brought her the next day to a spot near the Kent-Des Moines Road, just east of Military Road South, and buried her, naked, after digging a makeshift grave with a shovel. Ridgway said he believed she was 16 to 20 years old.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/235791_greenriver09.html
That could mean Ridgway has even more victims.
King County investigator Tom Jensen said that if the woman known in court papers as Jane Doe "B20" was killed in the 1970s, "it could open up a whole new range of people" Ridgway might have killed.
Green River investigators are now asking for the public's help in identifying the woman, one of four Ridgway has admitted killing but whose remains so far have remained unidentified. Ridgway pleaded guilty in November 2003 to killing 48 women.
Scientists concluded that the woman's body was dumped at the site 10 to 30 years ago -- but they believe it much more likely, Jensen said, that her remains had been there for close to 30 years, making her a victim in the 1970s.
Jensen said that from Ridgway's recollections and other evidence, investigators believe that the woman was 16 to 26 years old when she was killed, that she was Caucasian or of mixed race, had a thin or medium build and had shoulder-length light brown hair but few other distinguishing features.
Jensen also said he believed that the unidentified woman may not have been a prostitute -- a deviation from Ridgway's pattern that could explain why he's been reluctant to explain more about the killing.
Yet during his hours of interviews with detectives in 2003, Ridgway admitted that it was "very possible" he had killed women in the 1970s while living in Maple Valley with his second wife, according to King County prosecutors.
"Even after rigorous interrogation and a review of potentially relevant cases," prosecutors wrote, "Ridgway's first homicide(s) remain unknown."
In a video recording of an interview detectives conducted with Ridgway on Sept. 2, 2003, Ridgway said he believed he killed the woman investigators are now trying to identify in 1982 or 1983. But he also told investigators he could have killed her in the 1970s.
He killed her, he said, after picking her up somewhere on Pacific Highway South, then bringing her home.
He said he then brought her the next day to a spot near the Kent-Des Moines Road, just east of Military Road South, and buried her, naked, after digging a makeshift grave with a shovel. Ridgway said he believed she was 16 to 20 years old.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/235791_greenriver09.html
