The Green River Killer aka Gary Ridgway is often considered one of America’s most prolific serial killers. Born on February 18, 1949, to Mary and Thomas Ridgway, Gary’s childhood like most criminals was ravaged by domestic issues and complications. His first known criminal activity was stabbing a 6-year-old when he was 16.
On record, Ridgway was convicted of 49 murders. However, it is suspected that he might have taken the lives of more than 90 individuals. He was arrested on November 30, 2001, and is still alive. He is currently 74 years old.
Where is the Green River Killer now?
The Green River Killer is currently serving life imprisonment without the possibility of parole at Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla, Washington. People are not too aware of his current whereabouts, however, in 2021, A&E published a story revealing some information. A reporter named John McCoy took a tour of the prison and learned that the inmates’ health wasn’t very good.
McCoy said “I had a tour of the Washington State Penitentiary with the superintendent in March 2019. During the tour, I was told that Ridgway was in poor health and kept in close confinement. My recollection is that he declines media requests.”
John McCoy was a reporter for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and also wrote a book titled Concrete Mama: Prison Profiles from Walla Walla.
Gary Ridgway’s victims were mostly sex workers and women who were in vulnerable situations. Some of them were also runaways. He used to strangle his prey and even engaged in necrophilia with their corpses. Since the remains of some of his victims were found in Green River, Washington, the press gave him the nickname, The Green River Killer.
He committed his gruesome crimes from the year 1982 to 1998. It is also believed that his last murder took place in the year 2001.
