Investigators identify ‘Bones 20,’ last known remains of Washington’s Green River killer case

KING COUNTY, Wash. (TCD) — Using forensic genetic genealogy, the last known remains in the Green River killer case have been identified.

According to Othram, authorities discovered the remains of two unidentified women, both suspected victims of convicted killer Gary Ridgway, near the Tualatin Golf Course in Tigard, Oregon, in April 1985.

The King County Sheriff’s Office said investigators also found the remains of two other women in June 1985 off Bull Mountain Road near Tigard.

The victims located in June 1985, later identified as Denise Bush and Shirley Sherrill, were last seen in the Seattle area in October 1982 and had been on the Green River Missing Person list.

In 1988, investigators used dental records to name one of the unidentified victims found in April 1985 as Tammy Liles. They later identified the other woman as Angela Girdner.

According to the sheriff’s office, in 2002 and 2003, officials interviewed Ridgway regarding the deaths, and he confessed to killing Bush and Sherrill in King County and moving their bones to the Tigard location. King County detectives reportedly found Bush’s remains in both Washington and Oregon, corroborating Ridgway’s claims.

Ridgway led investigators to the area where he said he initially dumped Sherrill’s body, but they didn’t find anything to confirm his statements, according to the sheriff’s office. He denied responsibility for the deaths of Liles and Girdner.

In 2003, Ridgway reportedly brought investigators to an area on Kent-Des Moines Road, where authorities found several bones and teeth, but they didn’t locate a skull or most of the major bones. Officials submitted the remains to the University of North Texas to create a DNA profile, and they uploaded it into a national database of missing people and unidentified remains. According to the sheriff’s office, the remains were labeled as “Bones 20.”

Ridgway pleaded guilty to killing Bones 20, Bush, Sherrill, and 45 other victims in November 2003, and a judge sentenced him to life in prison. The sheriff’s office noted Ridgway would eventually go on to plead guilty to killing a 49th victim.

In the fall of 2022, the King County Sheriff’s Office contracted Othram to help identify Bones 20. Othram scientists extracted DNA from the remains to create a DNA profile. In August 2023, the company positively identified Bones 20 as Liles, the first victim found in 1985.

Sheriff’s office detectives contacted Liles’ mother, obtained a DNA sample from her, and submitted it to the University of North Texas for comparison testing. Although Liles had already been identified as one of Ridgway’s victims in 1988, forensic testing confirmed the remains marked Bones 20 to be hers.

According to Othram, as of Jan. 22, there are no more remaining unidentified remains in connection with the Green River killer case.

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