Episode 803: The Green River Killer - Gary Ridgway (Part 1)

Hey weirdos. I'm Elena. I'm Ash. And. this is Morbid. [music]. [music]. >> Hia. Hello. Um, this is going to be a. four-part series. I'm just going to tell. you right off the bat. >> Funny. Elena has showed up for work this. week. Yeah, it's going to be a four-part.

series cuz we are finally covering the. Green River Killer, Gary Ridgeway, >> which is one we've been just I don't. know. We weren't waiting for any. particular time to do it. It just is. such a. >> a giant case that people ask for this. one a lot. >> 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. >> Wow. He is not anymore. Samuel Little is. 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, >> yeah, >> this is rough. It's pretty graphic. I'm. not going to get crazy with it. >> with the details. Yeah. >> 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. Um, some. of the victims are younger, like 15, 16. >> Oh, that's so sad.

>> It's just really sad. So, >> I just wanted to put that out there. >> All right. >> Um, and now that I've talked about that, I don't feel super comfortable doing any. business right now. >> I was going to say we don't really need. to. >> So, I think we should just get right. into it. >> Yeah, let's do that. >> So, this started off in the early8s. So, in the spring of 1982, 16-year-old Wendy Caulfield was. struggling at home and at school. Uh, her mother, Virginia, said she had a way. of running into trouble. She was real.

mischievous. I don't think she was what. you'd call real trouble. >> A year earlier, Wendy's parents had. divorced and she and her mother moved. from the family farm that Wendy grew up. on into subsidized housing. >> Oh, that's like a really big. >> change. >> Well, and also like it's tough anytime. your parents get divorced, but when. you're 15, 16, that's rough. and she's. lived in this one place her whole life. >> and like a farm. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. So, the only thing Virginia could. afford was subsidized housing at the. time. She's a single mom now. >> Uh the disruption definitely proved.

significant for Wendy. Uh she started. drinking at school, hanging out with an. older crowd, getting involved with some. trouble. Soon after, Wendy would. disappear for days at a time, but. Virginia never considered her a runaway. cuz Wendy always came back, >> right? Uh, in late winter 1988, Wendy. was arrested for stealing lunch tickets. from a local middle school intending to. sell them. >> Oh. >> The theft resulted in her being sent to. a juvenile detention facility for 2. months. >> Jesus. >> I know. >> That feels like a big leap.

>> It's wild. So Wendy had only been home. for a short time when in late May she. was arrested again. This time for. stealing food stamps from a neighbor. >> Oh, that's really sad. >> And Virginia said she was trying to help. me. She thought, >> yeah, >> it's just really sad. like this. I don't. think this is a a kid intending to do. things to piss people off or just to be. >> trying to get by. >> She's trying to help her mom and she. thinks she's doing the right thing. >> That's really really sad. >> And she's just a little lost. So, the. second offense prompted the court to. remove Wendy from her mother's care and.

place her in a foster home and nearby. university place. >> cuz that always helps us. The facility. Wendy was placed in was supposed to have. strict rules and a non-negotiable. curfew, but it seems that the curfew was. rarely imposed. >> On July 8th, Wendy left the foster home. planning to visit her grandmother who. lived a few miles away, but she never. made it there. >> And by the next day, Wendy was reported. missing. Now, a week later, on July. 15th, two boys were riding their bikes. along the banks of the Green River uh.

and stopped to rest on Peek Bridge. Looking over the side of the bridge, they spotted something in the water. tangled up in the brushes, the brush and. like the branches, all that stuff. >> Looking closer, they realized that the. thing in the water was in fact the nude. body of a young woman. >> Oh. >> And they noticed that she had pants tied. tightly around her neck. >> Jesus. >> Terrified, of course, they ran to the. nearest phone and called the police. Now, the discovery was reported to the. no local papers which described the. victim as quote about 25 years old, 5'4,

and she weighed about 140 lb. The girl. had no identification on her, and the. clothing was not distinct enough to. really provide any leads. So, detectives. asked the press to publish photographs. of her tattoos in the hopes that someone. would recognize them and come forward to. identify her. It took several days, but. eventually a local tattoo artist did. recognize them as the tattoos he'd given. his former girlfriend, Wendy Caulfields. >> Oh man. And he told them, "I believe she. lives with her mother." Then to correct.

the earlier press descriptions, he. added, "She's only 16,". >> which is so sad. >> Yeah. [sighs]. >> Detectives didn't have a lot to work. with here. It seemed unlikely Wendy had. been killed where her body was found. Uh. her killer had probably placed her body. in the river and it was carried down. river until it got hung up on some. branches. That meant that she could have. been killed as much as a mile from where. she was found and there was no. indication where it could have been. The. only other evidence were flexcks of. unusual industrial spray paint on the.

pants tied around her neck. >> Oh. >> But they didn't seem to point to. anything, so they were just kind of set. aside. According to the medical. examiner, the cause of death was. strangulation. And it appeared Wendy had. been sexually assaulted, but her body. had been in the water for nearly a week. at this point. >> And if any evidence was there, it was. washed away. >> Yeah. >> The investigation into the disappearance. and death of Wendy quickly went cold. There were no leads, no evidence. Detectives really had nowhere to go in. this case. Wendy was, according to them,

a frequent runaway who struggled with. substance abuse and had allegedly. been engaging in some form of sex work. on and off. >> Okay. >> Which surely had obviously put her into. some dangerous situations with some. dangerous men. >> Mhm. >> It was a tragic story, but it was one. that detectives in the Tacoma region had. come to know all too well. Unfortunately, >> Wendy was one of the countless young. women on the streets who disappeared. only to turn up dead a few days later.

It was pretty awful. >> It's so sad that that was just a regular. >> regular. They had no way of knowing this. murder wasn't similar to the other. stories they had seen. No way of knowing. it was the start of something so much. bigger and so much more terrifying. Yeah. Now, on August 12th, one month. after Wendy's body was discovered in the. river, PD and J Meat Company employee. Frank Leonard stepped out behind the. slaughter house to take a break and. smoke a cigar. Decades before this, that. that slaughter house had been built high.

on the banks of the Green River where. all the blood and slop from the birch. butchering process would just be dumped. into the river and taken away by the. current. >> Oh, that seems fine. >> Yeah. >> Yeah, that seems environmentally sound. >> Yeah, for sure. Luckily, that process of. removal had ceased more than 20 years. earlier, so the river was clean and. beautiful again. But like that's what. that was built for. That afternoon, Lonard looked out over the river as he. spoke to Cigar. And just below the. slaughterhouse, there was like this. movement in the current and it had.

caused the water to swirl and foam up. around a section of gravel and weeds. So, it just caught his eye cuz it was. something weird. It seems strange to. Frank that such little movement of the. water would cause so much chaos to churn. up the water in that in that way. >> So staring at a little longer, he was. like, "Wait, am I what am I looking at. right now?" And then he realized he was. looking at a pale object, perhaps a dead. animal. >> Oh. >> So he was curious. So he walked down the. little path that led from the slaughter. house down to the banks of the river to.

get a better look. and he had taken one. step into the shallow water at the bank. when he finally saw the outline of a. woman's body come into view. Oh. >> The woman was face down. Her hair was. floating on the surface of the water. above her, and there was no doubt to. Frank that this woman was very obviously. dead. Frank ran back up the bank to the. slaughter house and called the police to. report the discovery. Then he hung up. and set about running around the factory. telling everyone what he had found cuz. he was like, "Ah, like. >> I mean, that's horrifying." By the time.

officers arrived at the scene, nearly. every man working at the factory was. crowding around the scene to see the. body, which is like. >> maybe they don't do that. >> Like I know humans are curious, but like. that could compromise a scene. >> Yeah. >> Now, King County Major Crimes Detective. David Riker was the first detective on. the scene with just seven years on the. force. Riker was already a pretty. hardened detective. >> I was going to say in California in the. 80s. Well, and he had literal scars to. prove it. Several years earlier, he was.

stabbed in the neck multiple times by a. suspect after he had broke into a home. to rescue a woman trapped inside. >> The [ __ ] Stabbed in the neck, first of. all, just even once is crazy. Multiple. times. Damn. >> And he was saving a woman in a house. Like broke into a house. Yeah. >> Holy [ __ ]. >> So basically, it was gonna take a lot to. rattle David Riker. >> Yeah. after being stabbed in the neck, you couldn't tell me [ __ ]. >> But that afternoon by the river, he said. he was deeply rattled by what he saw.

>> Um it was the body of 21-year-old. Deborah Lynn Bonner floating face down. in the river. And when he arrived, he. could see Deborah's hand sticking up out. of the water. And he said as although as. though it was waving or reaching out for. help. Oh. Now, the last time anyone had. seen Deborah was on July 25th when she. left her room at the Three Bears Motel, telling her friends she was hoping to. quote catch some dates. It seemed likely. that Deborah had met a client nearby who. had sexually assaulted and strangled.

her, then dumped her body nude into the. river. The discovery of Deborah Lyn. Bonner's body reminded Riker of the. discovery of Wendy Cawfield's body. >> one month earlier. >> Yep. Now, after identifying the victim, Riker got to the address of Deborah's. parents and made the unfortunate. notification. The Bonners were. devastated by the news of Deborah's. death. Uh, the last time they'd seen her. was 3 weeks earlier, uh, not long before. she had told her friend she was going. out to make some money. They told the. detective that if someone had murdered.

their daughter, it was probably her. boyfriend, Martin. >> Oh, wow. >> Who they described as a petty thief with. convictions for assault and drug. possession. The lead about Deborah's. boyfriend seemed solid, but Riker had. barely had any time to follow up when. just 3 days later, another report of a. woman's body had been called into the. sheriff's office. And this time, it was. more than one victim. Oh. In the late. morning of August 15th, now a man who'd. been quote treasure hunting in a rubber.

raft on the Green River was shocked when. he came upon the horrific sight of two. women half submerged in the shallow. water along the banks. Their bodies were. tangled up in the grass and overgrowth. Not wanting to abandon the scene cuz he. was like, "I don't know what's going to. happen here.". >> Yeah. >> The treasure hunter managed to flag down. some pedestrians along the shore and. asked them to call for police. Um, and. Major Dick Kraky later said, "In a way, I knew it was something big. I had the. same feeling I had when I was a. lieutenant and my boss, Nick Mackey,

called me out to Isqua because they. found Bundy's victims." He told me to. put on a tie and sport coat and meet him. out there. This time, I put on my tie. and sport coat and went out to the Green. River. >> By the time Kasky arrived at the river, David Riker was already there along with. rookie patrol officer Sue Peters. Riker. and Peters could clearly see two bodies. floating side by side along the banks. The first woman looked to be in her late. 20s or early 30s, while the other one. appeared to be in her late teens or.

early 20s. Both women were nude, and. Riker immediately instructed the. assembled officers to start combing the. riverbank, looking for any indication of. how these people had come to be in the. water. while he was interviewing the. rafter who discovered the bodies, the. treasure hunter. >> Other than the people who responded to. his cries for help, he said he'd only. seen one other person that morning. >> Okay. >> Not long after he went out on his raft, he said he spotted a young man on the. shore. >> Not a young man. >> The rafter waved at this man and shouted.

a greeting because this guy is just. >> he's treasure hunting. >> He's treasure hunting. >> Yeah. >> He's yelled a greeting and he said the. man waved back politely, then walked. back to his pickup truck and drove away. Spooky. So that was that. Now, after. interviewing the witness, Reikert began. walking the banks himself to see if he. could make out any trail left by the. killer. After walking about two dozen. feet down the river, the weeds and grass. became really tall and thickly settled, but he didn't want to miss any evidence.

and he was like doing his [ __ ] job. >> Hell yeah. We love a seasoned detective. >> We love when they are like, I will not. rest. >> Yes. So he got down on his hands and. knees to push through the grass. >> Hell yeah. >> Cuz he said if anything was on the. ground, he was going to find it. >> Good. I mean, you have four dead bodies. now. Women. >> This is when he came face to face with. the body of a third woman. >> No. >> Yes. Three women found in the same spot. >> Holy [ __ ] dude. The young woman on the. ground looked to be really a girl. She.

looked to be in her mid to late teens. And unlike the two bodies in the river, she was still partially dressed. Her. shirt and bra had been pulled up to. expose her chest, and her pants were. tied tightly around her neck. It. occurred to Riker that the killer had. probably intended to place this third. young woman in the water treasure. hunter, [clears throat]. >> but he'd either been spooked by the. sound of nearby activity or become too. tired to carry her the rest of the way, so just dropped her in the weeds and.

left the scene. Now, in the days after this, the three. new victims would be identified as. 31-year-old Marshia Chapman, 17-year-old. S Cynthia Hines, and 16-year-old Opal. Mills. >> My god, just like think of who you were. at 16 years old, and 17 years old. >> At the end, >> that's awful. And even 31, like. >> literally, >> you're still a young person. >> There didn't appear to be any connection. between the young women at first, though. They were all either suspected.

or known to have engaged in sex work in. recent months. Now remember suspected. because that's not always the truth. >> The [laughter] case. Yeah. >> Um they just everyone presumed that's. how they might have met their killers or. killer. >> Well, and sadly like it probably made. some people feel better cuz they didn't. think it would happen to them. >> Was dead. >> Mhm. >> And I only mention this their jobs now. because it does become an important part. of the story. That's the only reason. >> Okay. Because at the time of the. discoveries, the Tacoma region was.

experiencing a rise in sex worker. arrests and complaints from residents. By the summer of 1982, the quote. unquote, and this is what one reporter. called it, the flourishing prostitution. business, >> Jesus Christ, >> had become so significant that the. sheriff's department developed a task. force to address what, you know, the. problem. Stricter enforcement of the laws and. more severe penalties had cut down on. the number of women who openly conducted. business on the streets. But out of. sight did not mean out of business.

>> And unfortunately, these stiffer. penalties and increased risks of. punishment meant that most sex workers. were unlikely to report assaults or. other victimization to the police. >> because then they're worried about. getting in trouble themselves, >> putting them in more danger, >> right? and it made them far less likely. to cooperate with investigators when. crimes were committed against others in. their community. >> So, it was kind of similar with these. latest victims as Riker and the other. investigators attempted to find out more. about their lives and p piece together. their final days. As the first and.

oldest of the three new victims to be. identified, detectives had some success. digging into Marcia Chapman's history, if only because she had lived more years. than the others, and some of them had. been documented with some arrests. >> More established like timeline. >> At the time of her death, Marca had been. living on the Seaac strip with her three. children, >> ages 11, 9, and three. >> Oh my god, that's awful. >> On August 1st, Marca left her apartment. and told her children she would be back. soon. when she hadn't returned the next.

day, she was reported missing. >> Oh, those poor babies. >> Like the previous victims, Chapman had. been sexually assaulted. Um, this is. really graphic. I just need to point. that out. >> Okay. >> Uh, she had been sexually assaulted, but. it appeared um they called the rape. almost symbolic. um rather than biological. because upon examination, the medical. examiner discovered that the killer had. shoved several small stones inside of. her. >> Oh. quote, "So tightly that they had to. be surgically removed.".

>> What the [ __ ]. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> What the [ __ ] is wrong with this guy? >> To Riker and the other detectives in. Major Crimes, this was a significant. twist that suggested the killer might. not have been able to achieve erection. or had perhaps they had to consider even. be another woman. >> Wow. >> Yeah, >> that's wild. >> I know. The next victim identified was. 17-year-old Cynthia Hines, the other. body found in the water. Uh Hines was.

also a sex worker, and according to. those who knew her, she had always felt. safe working the strip because she had. what she referred to as a protector, but. he was really nothing more than a pimp. >> Yeah. Uh when detectives interviewed. him, he said he had last seen Cynthia on. August 11th uh near the Pacific Highway. on-ramp just off the strip. He told. detectives he watched her get into a. black Jeep, but he didn't think to write. down the license plate or get a good. look at the driver. >> What a great protector.

>> To Riker's surprise, 16-year-old Opel. Mills, the third victim discovered in. the grass that day, had no history of. sex work. That's why I made sure. >> to point that out that you suspected, >> right? >> Uh and didn't match the profile of the. others whatsoever. Opel lived with her. family on the outskirts of Kent and had. disappeared just 3 days before her body. was discovered. According to her mother, Opel left for work on the morning of. August 12th and called later that. afternoon from a pay phone, which is the. last time she heard from her. Kathy.

Mills told the detective that Opel was. excited because she was going to make. money painting houses with her friend. Cookie. >> Oh, and Cookie, stop it. I know Kathy. didn't know it at the time, but Opel's. friend Cookie was Cynthia Hines. >> Oh, >> so there is a connection. >> Okay. >> The detectives learned that for most of. her life, Opel had been something akin. to a tomboy at first. Okay. >> And it was only it she spent a lot of. time with her older brother and his. friends, like doing that kind of stuff.

And but recently, like getting to be. like 15, 16, she was starting to like. >> kind of figure out what she liked. And. she was starting to get into like more. like typical teenage girl stuff. Yeah. >> And when she wasn't with her brother, cuz they had a really close. relationship, or in school, Opel could. typically be found in Seattle's Church. of God in Christ Church, where her. family regularly attended services um. sometimes several times a week. >> Wow. >> To the detectives, Opel Mills was. clearly a curious outlier among the.

victims, right? >> But the press made no such distinction. >> Nice. In one article published just a. few days after the bodies were. discovered, a school official a school. official told a reporter that quote, "Op's pimp picked her up from school the. day she went missing.". >> What the [ __ ] is wrong with people? >> You want to know who that pimp was? Who. picked her up from school? >> Was it her brother? >> It was her brother. Just making sure. that she got home from school safe. >> That's nice. >> But that's cool. Like don't don't bother. looking into that. That's fine.

>> The press man sometimes. >> in the 80s it's like [ __ ] I was going. to say back then it was so [ __ ]. bleak. >> At a press conference the day after the. bodies were discovered, representatives. from various law enforcement agencies. saw no reason to keep their suspicions. from the public. Uh Dick Kraky told. reporters there's probably one suspect. at this time. Basically confirming the. speculation in the press that the. murders of the five women found in the. river were committed by the same person. and there was a serial killer. >> Yeah. They also made sure the public was.

aware the victims were all assumed or. confirmed sex workers, but one of them. wasn't. >> Now, in 1982, the murders committed by. Ted Bundy were still fresh in the minds. of people living in the Pacific. Northwest. >> Oh, yeah. >> And the recent discovery of five. victims, presumably murdered by the same. person, sent a wave of terror through. the residents of Tacoma. I can't imagine. >> they thought they were done with that. >> living in this area at this time. That. must have been so [ __ ] scary.

>> Yeah. >> To demonstrate that they were taking the. case seriously and applying what they'd. learned from the Bundy case, uh, Kraky. assembled a 25 person task force to. conduct what he assured the press was. quote the department's largest murder. investigation since the Ted slangs in. the mid1 1970s. >> Wow. Because the bodies had been in the. water anywhere from 1 to 3 weeks, >> it was impossible for the medical. examiner to figure out exactly when the. women or young girls were killed. >> Um, but based on the last time each of.

the victim was seen victims was seen. alive, the timeline revealed a killer. who was claiming victims with. >> alarming frequency. Yeah. I mean, to. find three bodies at one scene, >> the three victims who were found on. August 15th, for example, were all seen. within 2 weeks of their bodies being. discovered. >> Wow. >> That's crazy. >> This uh this reminds me a lot of the. Long Island serial killer. It's very. similar circumstances. >> Well, now we can cuz it's solved. >> Yeah. And you know who does a really.

great job with um Alexis Linkletter just. wrote a book. >> Um you should go pre-order it. Let's go. see what it's cuz I did. [laughter]. >> And uh I she's done years of in like. research on this case. She's been at all. the court hearings. Like she's like. boots on the ground. Like I would trust. her on this case for sure. Not the Green. River killer, the uh Lisk killer. It's. called Between the Devil and the Tide. A. true story of obsession, power, and the.

Gilgo Beach serial killer. >> Yes. So again, Between the Devil and the. Tide by Alexis Linkletter. If you go to. her uh Instagram, it's just Alexis. Linkletter. The uh pre-order link is. available. >> Yeah, I would definitely trust her with. that case for sure. So, just a little. shout out for Alexis. >> There you go. >> Cuz that's pretty badass. >> Yeah, she's a little bit Alexis. >> A little bit Alexis. She's a lot of. Alexis, [laughter] I think. But yeah, so. that Well, that's one we'll definitely. cover at some point. But. >> hearing this, it just reminded me of it. >> Yeah, it does. It's it's it's got a.

similar vibe to. >> a similar scene in in some ways. Yeah, I. think so, too. >> Mhm. >> But no matter how you looked at this, five victims in one month was an. alarming number of victims in a pretty. relatively short amount of time. >> Yeah. >> Now, despite that alarm, the rest of. August passed without any new victims. And some in the press and law. enforcement. >> were starting to wonder. They were like, "Did the danger pass?" Which I think was. like kind of like pre presumptive. >> Yeah. I was just going to [laughter] say. >> I was like I like I understand you want.

that to be the case but I'd be like stay. alert stay stay ready. >> too preemptive. >> Even in 1982 the public had a vague. awareness that some killers were. drifters who found a victim or two while. passing through a state or town then. moved on. So it was possible that that. was what happened in SeaTac. Now, in the. weeks that followed, the members of the. task force were consumed with the flood. of tips coming into the hotline, and. they were sorting the information. gathered by the friends and families of. the victims at that point. And in fact,

they were too busy with their own five. victims that it never really occurred to. them to look at the open missing. person's cases that had come into the. department around the time that these. bodies had shown up to see if the. profiles match their victims. >> Okay? Like most law enforcement agencies. around the country at the time, the. Tacoma Police Department didn't always. approach missing person's cases as. seriously as they probably could have or. should have. >> And I'm sure especially young girls who. were known to be or suspected to be sex. workers.

>> Well, and also especially the missing if. the missing person was an adult. >> Yeah. >> They really let it go. >> They were just like, "Yeah, they wanted. to be missing." There was a generally. accepted belief among the officers that. when an adult went missing, they. probably done it on purpose and. disappearing on purpose wasn't. necessarily illegal. >> All right. >> As for teenager, that was a little more. complicated, though not taken much more. seriously, to be honest. They probably. just ran away. They'll come back. >> According to author Carlton Smith, uh, quote, "Often when detectives took a. missing report involving a teenager.

seriously, the teenager, when simply. located, simply refused to go home. and. to look for a missing teenager with a. record of prostitution arrests was an. even larger waste of time. Many police. officers felt this way. That's a quote, by the way. >> At the time, there were an estimated 600. teenagers living on the streets of King. County. >> Oh, that's so sad. >> Isn't that horrifying? >> 600. >> All of whom could have been considered. missing persons and many of them. supported themselves through sex work.

>> Yeah. I mean, they're young people. like. what else are they going to do? >> In a practical sense, it would have been. impossible to investigate that many. runaways. So, investigators typically. prioritize the reports made by parents. or family members. Because of this, when. cab driver James Tindal, reported that. his friend, 17-year-old Jazelle. Lavourne, had gone missing, the report. was filed, and then it got little. attention from investigators. >> That's unbelievable. Now, Tindal had met. Jazelle a couple years earlier, not long.

after she'd run away from home in. Northridge, California. Uh, he later. claimed that he and Jazelle had fallen. in love and moved to Los Angeles before. finally settling in Seattle earlier that. year. Not long after getting there, he. found work driving a cab, and Jazelle. supplemented their income with sex work. >> Mhm. On July 17th, just one week after. Wendy Co Caulfield was murdered, Jazelle. left their apartment headed in the. direction of the strip to make some. money, but she never came back. >> Okay. >> When Jiselle didn't meet uh Tindal at.

his cab stand later that night as they. had planned, he was concerned, but his. concern didn't turn into real alarm. until he returned to the apartment and. he was like, "All of her belongings are. still here. Like, this is strange.". Not wanting to panic though, he called. around to a few hospitals to see if she. checked in. And when he had no luck. there, he decided to wait a bit and see. if she returned home. >> Well, and you have to imagine too, like. not wanting to panic and also not. wanting to get her into trouble. >> Yeah, there's a lot of pieces here, right? >> But when he still hadn't heard from her.

the next day, he went to the police. department and filed a report. Now, if. detectives had looked at the timeline, they would have noticed that the five. victims disappeared roughly one week. apart from one another. Jesus. >> With a week-l long gap between Wendy and. Deborah Bonner. >> It was in that week that Jazelle. Lavourne disappeared. That's the missing. week. >> Just a week is crazy. >> Every week. >> Every week. >> That's like you don't run into that a. lot. >> No. With everything going on at the. time, detectives didn't have much time.

for a missing person's report, especially according to them, especially. a sex worker with an arrest record. >> Oh, nice. >> Because they're not an actual person. >> No, no one cares about that. Tindal. tried to explain that it was not in. Jazelle's personality to just disappear. And he even tried to give them a list of. her usual clients, but they weren't. interested and simply insisted she'd. turn up. >> And they said maybe. >> Yes. Let's not think about the five. other girls that you have. >> But unfortunately, the officers that he. spoke to turned out to be right. She did.

turn up. On September 25th, a young man. riding his dirt bike on an abandoned. road near the airport found Jiselle's. body hidden in the underbrush. She was. completely nude, except for the pair of. men's socks tied tightly around her. neck. >> Sounds familiar. By the time she was. discovered, decomposition had made. identification nearly impossible. They. were only able to confirm that this was. Jazelle due to a small tattoo of a bird. on her chest, which was strangely still. visible despite the changes to her. remains. That's interesting. Because of.

the decomposition and exposure to. animals and the elements, the medical. examiner was unable to determine when. Jiselle had been killed. But he estimated that she had likely. been there for about 4 to 6 weeks, which. would put her death squarely between. when missing. >> Opera. Yep. >> With six victims now and no suspects, the public expected a strong response. from law enforcement. But after more. than 2 months, they were no closer to. identifying a motive or a killer.

Speaking on behalf of the Green River. Task Force, Pat Ferguson more or less. admitted that in a press conference. following the discovery of Jiselle's. body, uh he said, "The detectives have. speculated on many theories. Maybe the. killer was a sexual psychopath killing. for the sake of killing. Or maybe it was. some sort of pimp war with the men who. lived off these women protecting their. territory." saying like maybe these men. are killing other pimps women to like. protect their. >> I feel like that's kind of a stretch. >> Without evidence or any strong leads,

there was simply no way to know who was. responsible or why. >> Yeah. >> And little did investigators know while. the task force was just trying to pursue. every small lead that came their way, the killer was back out on the streets. looking for another victim. And on. September 26th, he found her. Like many. of the other victims, 16-year-old Linda. Rule came from a difficult background. She dropped out of school before. finishing junior high and started. hanging out with a slightly older crowd. of kids. A year before before she went.

missing, Linda's parents divorced and. she moved with her mother and sister to. a motel room in the city. In the months. that followed, there was a lot of. tension between Linda and her mother. There were a lot of arguments. By the. fall of 1982, their relationship had. kind of deteriorated and Linda decided. she didn't want to live in the motel. anymore. So, she and her boyfriend, a. 24year-old man named Bobby. She's 16, by. the way. >> Yeah. Bobby, what the [ __ ] are you. doing? >> They began sharing a room at a nearby. Aurora Motel. Although she was happy to.

be, you know, in another environment, neither Linda nor Bobby had stable. employment and money was scarce, so she. turned to sex work to support them. On. the afternoon of September 26th, Linda, dressed in uh pinstriped jeans and a. nylon jacket, told Bobby she was going. out to shop for clothes at the Kmart at. the nearby Northgate Mall. Then she was. going to try to make some money. When. she didn't come home that night, Bobby. at first said, "I assume she'd been. arrested.". >> Mhm. >> Uh that's what he told Detective Bob. Holt. He said it was daytime and she.

would have been working on Aurora in the. afternoon. >> Mhm. Days later, Bobby had called around. to the jails and hospitals looking for. Linda, and he checked the places he. thought she might have gone, and no one. had seen or heard from her since she. left the motel on the 26th. >> Yeah. >> Bobby kept detailed notes of where he. looked and who he spoke to, which he. handed over to the police when he filed. the report, >> but it wasn't much help. >> To the extent that the Seattle police. looked for her at all, there was no. trace of her. So, as fall passed into.

winter, the Green River task force. toiled away in this huge open office at. the major crimes unit located at the. back of the King County uh courthouse. where the Bundy task force had worked. the previous decade. >> Oh, wow. >> Run primarily by Dave Riker and former. sex crimes detective FA Brooks. The. group fielded endless streams of calls. from anxious parents with missing. children and the other leads from. concerned citizens, which typically went. nowhere. Mhm. >> Since the discovery of Jazelle Vaughn's.

body in late September, the killer. looked like they had gone a little. silent and months passed without any new. victims. Then on January 31st, 1983, a. call came from the construction site at. the Northgate Hospital. A pipe fitter. had been clearing an area next to the. hospital when he discovered the mostly. skeletal remains of what he thought to. be a child. >> Oh. With no soft tissue remaining, the. medical examiner could provide very. little information other than to say the.

remains were those of a young woman in. her teens or early 20s. The victim's. teeth, though, were far more useful, and. within a few days, the coroner's office. was able to identify the remains as. Linda Rule. Now, at the time, the. Seattle Police Department's homicide. unit was well aware that a serial killer. had been killing sex workers and dumping. their remains in the Green River. But. with the exception of how she'd made. money, it didn't seem to investigators. that Linda was a Green River case. >> Okay. >> She hadn't been left near the river. The.

location where she was found was. actually quite a distance from where the. other victims were found. >> And I guess Detective Halter told. reporters, "Technically, we're not. calling this a murder. We don't have. enough to go on for that, but the. results are the same. She's dead and we. don't know why or how.". >> Yeah. >> Which I get. They only found skeletal. remains. She could have died of. exposure. She could have died of. something else. >> They can't definitively say she was. killed without having that. >> Like it obviously seems that way, but.

like they can't be like that. >> In fact, it would be some time before. investigators would actually identify. Linda as one of the Green River Killer. victims. Really? Yeah. >> We'll get there. >> Not today, though. Despite having. successfully profiled, caught, and. repeatedly interviewed killers like Ted. Bundy, criminal psychologists working in. the early 1980s still knew like. relatively little about the pathologies. and behaviors of serial killers. It was. kind of new. >> Mhm. >> But in the fall of 1982, the task force.

with the help of the FBI's behavioral. analysis unit. >> Hey, >> I want Mind Hunter to come back. The. stupidest cancellation. There was like a rumor going around that. it was going to come out. A season 3 was. going to come out. >> What's up with that? >> Where did that go? >> I have no idea. If you're listening, you. know something. Can you tell us? >> Please bring it back. That [ __ ] show. ruled. >> Bring back my show. >> Exactly. So with the task force got the. help of the FBI's behavioral analysis.

unit and they put together a profile of. the killer which they shared with the. press. King County police spokesman uh. Frank Kenny said, "It didn't give us any. suspects, but it told us we were. probably going in the right direction. It confirms our original suspicions that. one person probably is responsible for. all the deaths." That fall, the FBI's. profile led detectives to make their. first arrest. >> Oh, >> didn't stick. But first, >> you say that's early on. >> I was like, and that's it. >> I was like, I heard this is four parts. Interesting that we have an arrest in.

part one. Uh, they arrested 44year-old. Melvin Foster, an unemployed cab driver. living with his father in Seattle. >> Okay. >> On paper, he checked a lot of the boxes. on the profile. He was familiar with the. area. He had a job that put him in. contact with sex workers, including the. victims. >> He was also known to associate with the. local sex workers and the unhoused. community. And most importantly, he. managed to insert himself into the. investigation by offering to act as an. informant. >> Okay. Although he denied any involvement.

in the murders, Foster failed a. polygraph exam, >> which bumped him up the position to. primary suspect at the time. Okay, >> which I get. >> Hot dog, trench coat. But okay, >> but there's a lot more. There's other. things. >> there. I was going to say that's not. alone. >> Although Melvin Foster looked like a. strong suspect in the context of the FBI. profile, there were several things about. him that made it unlikely. For one, in. March 1982, Foster had sustained an. injury where he tore tore a bunch of. cartilage in his knee. >> So, it would have been difficult, if not.

impossible, to carry the weight of a. body other than his own. >> Yeah. >> There was also the fact that around the. time that people began appearing in the. river, Foster's car was broken down, so. he wouldn't have been able to transport. the bodies to the dump sites. Mhm. >> A few months later, Melvin Foster was. officially ruled out as a suspect. And. by January, the task force was just. right back where they started. >> Oh man. >> Seven victims, no suspects. Even more. curious was the fact that as suddenly as. the victims had started appearing, it.

looks like it stopped. >> again. >> So it seemed. While the medical examiner. had been unable to identify an exact. time of death for the last victim, Linda. Rule, >> it was likely that she had been killed. around the same time she went missing in. late September. But since the discovery. of her body in January, 4 months had. passed without a sign of the Green River. killer. It wasn't until May 1983 that. the task force was notified of their. next victim. But this one wasn't like. the others. This one's really upsetting.

Just letting you know. They're all. upsetting, but the way the way this. particular woman is found is very. upsetting. >> 22-year-old. Carolyn Christensen was a mother of five. young children, >> living out by the Pacific Highway South. She was unemployed and struggling to. make ends meet. For months, she had. desperately been searching for work, but. as far as anyone knew, she had never. engaged in sex work, which made her an. outlier. >> Mhm. The last anyone had heard from her, Caroline was ecstatic because after.

months of searching, she had finally. landed a job waiting tables at the bar. uh barn door tavern near the highway, which was also just a few blocks from. the trailer park where she lived. >> Mhm. >> She had only worked a day or two at the. barn door when she disappeared on May. 3rd. When Caroline didn't come home. after a night at work, her mother became. anxious and the next day she was. reported missing. Five days later, a. family discovered Caroline's body while. they were mushroom hunting in Maple. Valley.

>> Oh. >> About 20 miles from the strip where the. other victims worked. >> When they came upon the body, Caroline. was in a halfsitting position, but had. fallen onto her back. Her hands were. folded across her chest, and there was a. small pile of ground sausage placed at. top them. >> On top of her hands? >> Yep. across her throat. The killer had. placed two gutted and cleaned trouts, and an empty wine bottle had been placed. on its side across her stomach.

>> What the [ __ ]. >> And maybe most disturbing, whoever. killed her had placed a brown paper bag. over her head. >> Oh. Oh my god. Picturing this visual is. diabolical. I mean, this is like really. [ __ ] up. And just like what does that. all mean? >> That's the thing. Like what is going on? >> It makes me think of the body that's. discovered in True Detective. >> That's what I immediately thought of. >> And with all the like symbols, >> all the [ __ ] around it like.

>> Yeah. >> Oh my god. And this poor woman is a. mother of five who just got promising. >> that she had just got a job to help her. kids. >> and days into that job. >> This little [ __ ] Go look up Gary. [ __ ] Ridgeway. Everybody go. look. >> I actually don't think I have looked for. a long time. >> Nasty little [ __ ]. >> And he he's disgusting. He's such a. disgusting little [ __ ]. >> for real.

>> But it makes sense that Caroline was not. immediately identified as one of his. victims. She wasn't a sex worker. She. wasn't found in or near the river. And. most importantly, the scene had clearly. been staged. >> Yeah. >> While the others had had just been. dumped, you know. >> Yeah, that that is weird. According to. the medical examiner, Caroline had been. sexually assaulted, and it appeared her. killer had made at least some attempt to. redress her before leaving her body in. the woods. Her bra had been put on. inside out, and her shoes had been put.

on, but not laced. The way that the scene was staged to. suggest some sort of ritual certainly. set her apart from the other victims, but it kind of s it definitely suggested. that they were dealing with a sexual. psychopath. Yeah, >> this was not the act of a person who. killed impulsively or in the heat of the. moment. >> No, >> this took planning. This took. intentionality. Among the more. interesting aspects was the fact that. while Carolyn's body hadn't been found. in or near the water, according to the.

medical examiner, quote, "The faint. washerwoman wrinkles in the hands and. soles of the feet suggests that the body. might have been immersed for some time.". >> That's strange. Like you know how when. you're in water for too long you get the. wrinkles hands. That's what she had. >> So he like soaked her in a tub or like. washed her down or something. >> It was that last aspect though that led. investigators to suspect that despite. the more obvious aspects of the scene.

and the ritualistic nature of the. killing in this setting, >> Caroline was very likely a victim of the. Green River killer. >> Were there other victims later on? Obviously, I know you're going to tell. me, but like found like this like staged. to this degree. >> You'll have to see. >> Okay. Now, if the killer had been trying. to throw detectives off with the. staging, which was what they did think, they were like, maybe he went so far the. other way so we wouldn't even consider. him. >> Yeah. >> He hadn't been very thoughtful in his. approach because while it may not have.

looked like a Green River killer victim. upon first look, a simple check into the. evidence in the victim's background. proved otherwise. Not only did Caroline. Christensen live and work in the area. where the other victims had been picked. up, but the detectives were able to. trace the paper bag to a grocery store. not far from the killer's usual hunting. grounds. >> Oh, that wasn't smart. >> Which also was like good detective work. >> Yeah. Yeah, that was really good. detective work. >> As for how she wound up with the killer, that would remain a mystery for years to.

come. But since Caroline had no car and. was known to walk everywhere, including. the several miles to her new job, it was. likely that the killer had simply pulled. over on the evening of May 3rd and. offered her a ride to work. >> Yeah. >> How sad is that? And she's just like. trying to get to work on time. >> that she. work every day. >> So that was probably just a welcome. like, "Oh my gosh, absolutely. >> You're going to help me." Like. >> that's so sad. And of course this kind. of stuff gets. >> well when you think like the California.

the8s you're 22 years old you don't. think anything of accepting a ride. really. >> Yeah. Nobody was thinking about it. >> Now the disappearance and eventual. discovery of Caroline Christensen's body. put an end to the misplaced hope that. the Green River killer had moved on or. just stopped killing. In fact, it was. only after the killer was arrested that. the breaks in activity would be. explained. >> There there wasn't. >> Okay. In the meantime, investigators. chocked it up to the fact that winter in. Washington was very, very cold and there.

were far fewer sex workers on the. streets than there would be in more. warmer months. >> Oh, I said California earlier. My bad. >> Oh, yeah. I And I agreed with you, honestly. Um, you're near California, so. >> yeah, you know, >> but with the onset of spring and the. promise of warmer weather, the. detectives on the task force knew the. woman who worked the strip in the. surrounding area were going to be back. on the streets in much larger numbers. Even with the knowledge that a dangerous. predator stalked those same streets, some of them didn't have a choice. >> Yeah. One of the more frustrating parts.

of tracking the Green River killer. wasn't just the frequency with which the. victims were showing up, but the fact. that the discoveries of remains were. often very out of order. Oh, >> okay. >> Like a woman might appear in one month. and her or disappear in one month and. then her remains might not be discovered. until several months later, right? >> And in the meantime, the killer might. have claimed several more victims. Um, and that was the case uh with. 18-year-old Shondaanda Leah Summers. The. last time anyone saw Shondaa was.

sometime around o uh October 7th, though. no one could really be sure. She had. left her mother and brothers in San. Diego several months earlier and come. out to live with her father in Seattle. where she had a boyfriend. When. Shondaanda was arrested one night on a. prostitution charge, her father was so. angry that he refused to bail her out of. jail. So, she spent the night in jail. After that night, she refused to return. home and instead took off with her. boyfriend. >> Well, she was also probably scared to go. home cuz her dad was mad. >> Yeah. By October 1982, Shondo was.

supporting herself and said boyfriend. through sex work. Uh he should have got. a job. >> Yeah, he definitely should have. >> Despite having multiple close contacts. in Seattle, nearly a month would pass. before anyone reported Shondaanda. missing. >> That's weird. >> And when they finally did, no one seemed. to be able to recall any detail about. the last time they'd seen her. In fact, according to Carlton Smith, the details. of the entire situation were so murky. that, quote, "The Seattle Police. Department refused to take any report.". >> Her father, Steve Summers, insisted.

she'd run off with her boyfriend and. would eventually come back. Her. boyfriend insisted she'd run off with. some new guy and claimed he hadn't seen. her. The truth was, no one had seen. Shondaanda Summers for at least a month. because by the time they got around to. reporting her missing, she was already. long dead. That's so sad. On August. 11th, 1983, nearly a year after. Shondaanda went missing, a couple on a. date to pick apples behind some. abandoned houses near the strip,

stumbled across a badly decomposed body. in some underbrush by the apple trees. Oh my god. Not far from where Jazelle. Levor's body had been discovered the. previous year. This body was in such an. advanced state of decay that. identification was impossible. But among. the dental records of missing women the. task force had collected um there was a. match for Sha Summers. >> As with many of the other victims, this. again advanced state of decomposition. made it impossible to also figure out a.

cause of death. >> Right. >> And there were no obvious breaks or. fractures to indicate what injury she. may have sustained. Under normal. circumstances, the medical examiner. would have closely analyzed the tiny. neck bones for signs of strangulation. >> I was just going to ask about the hyoid. bone. >> Yeah. But by the time Shondaanda's. remains were discovered, animals had. scattered several of her tiny bones. around the area. >> Um although they couldn't say with. certainty that Shondaanda was a Green. River victim, she certainly fit the. profile. So she was added to the list as.

victim number nine. >> when she's so close like to the area. >> What the task force didn't know at the. time was that Shondaanda was in fact. victim number 12. Oh, >> but the order in which the women were. killed would remain something of a. mystery for some time. >> 12 women and we are in part one. >> Yeah. All the task force investigators. knew was that the killer hadn't stopped. and as 1983 came to a close that would. become abundantly clear.

And we are going to end part one on that. because that's a lot of victims. It sure. is. >> for part one and I want everyone to sit. with that. >> Yeah, >> because we have a lot more coming up. which is pretty unbelievable to think. about. >> Also, Gary Ridgeway is like a little. rat. >> He is a literal rat. >> He looks like a rat. >> Like he's disgusting.

>> Ew. How what a tragic case. I've never I. know about like this case and you know. some of the details, but I I don't know. that I've ever listened to full coverage. on this and it's so sad. >> Well, he in case you're wondering and. you haven't looked it up or anything, I. think he was um convicted in the end of. murdering 49. young women and girls. 49 convicted. And then he later confessed he admitted. to 65.

Yeah. Oh my god. How do you How did he. get away with that for so long? >> And he got away with it for a long time. It was early 80s into the '9s. He's He. goes for a long time. >> Like almost a decade. >> Yeah. >> Wow. And then when you find out who he. is, you're like, how the [ __ ] did this. little turd get away from it from. everybody? >> Wow. That's unbelievable. >> It's a It's a horrific case. It really. is. He is a. >> He's one of the most evil men the world.

has seen. And he looks like it, too. >> He does. He's so [ __ ] gross. >> For that to be the last face you ever. see is so horrific. >> Um, there's really no great way to. transition, but we always have to give. you a little bit of a palette cleanser. at the end. >> So, we can leave you with a little bit. of something. >> So, let's give you a little fun fact. And I, you know, I didn't even realize. that this one would be so necessary. >> The average person living in Sweden eats. about 22 lbs of chocolate per year. >> That's pretty awesome. I'd like to live.

my life that way. >> I was going to say Sweden knows what. they're doing. >> They really do. I think they eat the. most candy in the world. >> Good for them. >> Isn't that pretty great? >> Have you guys ever had Swedish candy? >> Swedish candy. They know what the [ __ ]. they're doing. >> Get yourself some and do that. Just type. in Swedish candy. >> Yeah. >> And you will find what it is. >> I'm telling you, go get some. >> gummy c I am a sucker for gummy candy. Like I love gummy bears. I love. [clears throat] those squashies that we. just recently discovered.

>> So, >> Swedish candy, there's these one this. one type that's like a little log like. kind of roll and it has like sometimes. it has like creamy kind of stuff in the. middle. It sounds weird. I know. >> it sounds gross, >> but it's got like gummy on the outside. It's one of the yummiest things I've. ever eaten in my. >> Actually, one of one of you guys sent us. Swedish candy one time and it was really. [ __ ] cool of you. >> And I think it was called like sweetish. candy. >> Yes. Is that what it was? Yeah. Good. [ __ ] memory, dude. >> I wonder if we've mentioned this before. If we haven't, I'm sorry because that.

[ __ ] was the coolest thing ever. >> You kept us fed. >> And if Go find sweetish candy. >> Sweetish. >> It was the [ __ ]. >> It was hella sweet and delicious. Oh, I. want [ __ ] candy now. >> Yeah, we're going to order some. >> I actually just bought squashy, so some. All right. Well, we hope you keep. listening. >> and we hope you keep it weird. you know, not to keep it as weird as. [ __ ] everything we talked about. today.

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