Portland teen ID'd as likely victim of Green River Killer
HILLSBORO, Ore. -- A 16-year-old Portland girl who disappeared in 1983 has been identified as a likely victim of the Green River Killer.
Washington County sheriff officials told KATU News the remains of Angela Girdner were recently identified. Her body was found in April of 1985 near a golf course in Tualatin, Ore., along with the body of Tammie Liles.
Liles was previously identified as one of Gary Ridgway's victims, but the identiy of the other body remained unknown until this fall.
"The bones got misplaced for a period of time by the Medical Examiner," said Sgt. David Thompson with the Washington County Sheriff's Office. "They resurfaced this year and we requested they do more work on them. We asked them to recheck dental records, and they came up with a match to Angela Girdner."
Girdner was reported as a runaway by her parents in May of 1983.
Ridgway told King County detectives that he killed all of his victims in King County and dumped some remains in Oregon. However, Thompson says there is no evidence that Girdner ever spent time in the Seattle area.
If Girdner was killed in Oregon, Thompson said Ridgway could be prosecuted for her death in Washington County, Oregon.
"Because of the close proximity of Tammie's and Angela's remains to the remains of Shirley and Denise, the location where their bodies were disposed of, and the time frame of the murders, detectives believe that Gary Ridgway is responsible for their deaths," investigators said in a written statement. "He has denied any involvement in the deaths of Angela Girdner or Tammie Liles."
Gary Ridgway, the Green River serial killer, pleaded guilty in 2003 to killing 48 women and offered to help investigators locate remains that had been missing for two decades.
He struck a plea bargain that spared him from execution for those killings and was sentenced to life in prison without parole for one of the most baffling and disturbing serial killer cases the nation has ever seen.
"I wanted to kill as many women as I thought were prostitutes as I possibly could," he said in a statement that was read aloud in court by a prosecutor during the 2003 hearing. He also said: "I killed so many women I have a hard time keeping them straight."
In exchange for prosecutors not seeking the death penalty, Ridgway worked with investigators to recover the remains of some victims.
The Green River Killer's murderous frenzy began in the Seattle area 1982, targeting mainly runaways and prostitutes. The first victims turned up in the Green River, giving the killer his name. Other bodies were found near ravines, airports and freeways.
The killing seemed to stop as suddenly as it started, with prosecutors believing the last victim had disappeared in 1984. But one killing Ridgway admitted to was in 1990, and another was in 1998.
In many cases, the killer had sex with his victim and then strangled her.
Ridgway said in his statement that he killed all the women in King County, mostly near his home or in his truck not far from where he had picked them up.
Washington County sheriff officials told KATU News the remains of Angela Girdner were recently identified. Her body was found in April of 1985 near a golf course in Tualatin, Ore., along with the body of Tammie Liles.
Liles was previously identified as one of Gary Ridgway's victims, but the identiy of the other body remained unknown until this fall.
"The bones got misplaced for a period of time by the Medical Examiner," said Sgt. David Thompson with the Washington County Sheriff's Office. "They resurfaced this year and we requested they do more work on them. We asked them to recheck dental records, and they came up with a match to Angela Girdner."
Girdner was reported as a runaway by her parents in May of 1983.
Ridgway told King County detectives that he killed all of his victims in King County and dumped some remains in Oregon. However, Thompson says there is no evidence that Girdner ever spent time in the Seattle area.
If Girdner was killed in Oregon, Thompson said Ridgway could be prosecuted for her death in Washington County, Oregon.
"Because of the close proximity of Tammie's and Angela's remains to the remains of Shirley and Denise, the location where their bodies were disposed of, and the time frame of the murders, detectives believe that Gary Ridgway is responsible for their deaths," investigators said in a written statement. "He has denied any involvement in the deaths of Angela Girdner or Tammie Liles."
Gary Ridgway, the Green River serial killer, pleaded guilty in 2003 to killing 48 women and offered to help investigators locate remains that had been missing for two decades.
He struck a plea bargain that spared him from execution for those killings and was sentenced to life in prison without parole for one of the most baffling and disturbing serial killer cases the nation has ever seen.
"I wanted to kill as many women as I thought were prostitutes as I possibly could," he said in a statement that was read aloud in court by a prosecutor during the 2003 hearing. He also said: "I killed so many women I have a hard time keeping them straight."
In exchange for prosecutors not seeking the death penalty, Ridgway worked with investigators to recover the remains of some victims.
The Green River Killer's murderous frenzy began in the Seattle area 1982, targeting mainly runaways and prostitutes. The first victims turned up in the Green River, giving the killer his name. Other bodies were found near ravines, airports and freeways.
The killing seemed to stop as suddenly as it started, with prosecutors believing the last victim had disappeared in 1984. But one killing Ridgway admitted to was in 1990, and another was in 1998.
In many cases, the killer had sex with his victim and then strangled her.
Ridgway said in his statement that he killed all the women in King County, mostly near his home or in his truck not far from where he had picked them up.