Could They Have Caught the Green River Killer Sooner?

The Green River killer or as we now know as Gary Ridgway was a serial killer in one of the most notorious unsolved mysteries in US history. From roughly 1982 to about 1998 he claimed to have murdered almost 90 women, or at least that’s what he confessed to when he was finally caught in 2001 as he was leaving his place of employment. Over the years the police investigated Gary Ridgway 3 times and all 3 times came back with nothing, searched his home, work, and truck and managed to find nothing that led them to believe that he was the killer. Except for one detective with a very strong will and some strong instincts. He was the one of refused to give up when everyone else wanted to, because of there lack of leads and lack of evidence.

I believe that if the whole police force was as hard headed and determined as that one brave detective was than they would have caught him along time ago. Gary was convicted in 2003 of murdering 49 women between the ages of 16 and 30, and a possible suspect in the cases of 7 other murders in the area. He was sentenced in 2003 to life in prison. Gary had a very hard life growing up, he was still a bed wetter at the age of 14 and his mother was rather harsh on him about it. He didn’t have many friends, his dad wasn’t around. He had a very low IQ at only 82. All these things are believed to be what has led him to do what he did to these women.