Washington authorities have identified the last known remains tied to the ‘Green River Killer’
By Joe Sutton and Aya Elamroussi, CNN
(CNN) — Investigators in Washington state have identified the last known set of human remains connected to the so-called “Green River Killer” as those of a woman who was determined to be a victim more than 30 years ago, officials said Monday.
Tammie Liles’ partial remains were found in King County in 2003 and were labeled by authorities as “Bones 20” because authorities could not confirm the identity at the time, the King County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
In 2022, the sheriff’s office began working with Texas-based forensic lab Othram on the case. The following year, the lab built a DNA profile and reached a preliminary identification of the remains as those of Liles, the sheriff’s office said.
Detectives collected a DNA sample from Liles’ mother, which was a positive match.
“With this identification, there are no other unidentified remains associated with the Green River Case,” the sheriff’s office said in the news release.
Liles was last seen in June 1983 working as a prostitute in the Seattle area. Her family reported her missing in March 1988, and a separate set of remains was identified as hers using dental records.
Liles is one of dozens of victims of the serial killer Gary Ridgway, known as the “Green River Killer.” The moniker came from a river south of Seattle where he began dumping his victims in 1982.
Authorities spent years investigating his killings. It wasn’t until November 2001 that Ridgway was arrested after DNA evidence linked him to some of the earliest victims in the string of unsolved killings in the Seattle area.
Ridgway pleaded guilty to 48 counts of aggravated murder in 2003, making him one of the most prolific serial killers in US history. He pleaded guilty to a 49th murder charge in 2011.
All but two of his victims’ bodies were found near Seattle. The others were found in Oregon.
Last month, King County authorities announced they identified the remains of Lori Anne Razpotnik, another of his victims. Razpotnik’s family had last seen her alive in 1982, before she ran away from her family’s home in Lewis County, south of Seattle. Her remains were referred to as “Bones 17” when they were found in 1985.
Ridgway, 74, is being held at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla.
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