Last known remains associated with the Green River Killer have been identified

Researchers have identified the last known remains linked to the Green River Killer, one of the most prolific serial killers in American history, completing a decades-long effort to identify each of the 49 women and girls he was convicted of.

The remains were named Bones 20 when they were found in 2003 because researchers were unable to confirm their identities. DNA testing recently helped investigators confirm that they belonged to Tammie Liles, who was 16 when she disappeared from Seattle in 1983 and was identified as a victim in 1988 after a separate set of remains were traced to her, the King County Sheriff's Office said Monday. .

Now all 49 victims have been found and identified, said Sgt. Eric White, spokesman for the Sheriff's Office.

Gary Ridgway, known as the Green River Killer, terrorized King County throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Some of the victims' bodies were dumped in the river south of Seattle, which gave the case its name.

In 2003, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing 48 people. In 2011, he pleaded guilty to his 49th murder. He eventually confessed to 71 murders, and some investigators believe he killed more people.

Mr. Ridgway, 74, is serving a life sentence at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla.

He led investigators to Ms. Liles' remains in 2003 near Kent-Des Moines Road in the Seattle area, where investigators found several bones and some teeth, but no skull or large bones. They took a DNA sample and uploaded it to a national law enforcement database of missing people and unidentified remains, but could not find a match and labeled her as Bones 20.

Ms. Liles was originally identified as a victim in 1988 from a separate, incomplete set of remains found at a golf course near Tigard, Oregon, in 1985, the Sheriff's Office said. At the time, her brother, Jason Liles, told the newspaper Seattle Post Intelligence that his family buried her in a baby coffin because not all parts of her body could be found.

Twenty years later, the Sheriff's Office contracted Othram, a Texas laboratory that specializes in DNA forensics, to help identify Bones 20. The company built a new DNA profile based on the bones, which could help link Bones 20 to Mrs. Lelies in 2023.

“I was very excited that we were able to put a name to these bones in this case that lasted more than 40 years,” said Sgt. White said, adding that he was relieved officials were able to give the victim's family members “some closure” on their loss.

“It's not a good thing to lose a child, regardless of age,” he said. “I would have to assume it was a traumatic experience to hear the words of the detectives.”

Ms. Liles' family could not immediately be reached late Monday.