Gary Ridgway

Investigators in the Green River serial murder case have unearthed human remains this summer at three new sites, and are searching numerous other areas during a surge of renewed activity in the 20-year-old investigation. The searches began in July, shortly after Green River murder suspect Gary Leon Ridgway was moved from the King County Jail to an undisclosed location.

The Green River killer, Gary Leon Ridgway, wiped tears from his eyes Thursday as he apologized for killing 48 women and causing "so much pain to so many families." But his emotion did not deter the judge from sentencing the former truck painter to life in prison without the possibility of parole. "I'm sorry for killing all those ladies," said Ridgway, reading a hand-written statement.

The Green River killer, Gary Leon Ridgway, wiped tears from his eyes Thursday as he apologized for killing 48 women and causing "so much pain to so many families." But his emotion did not deter the judge from sentencing the former truck painter to life in prison without the possibility of parole. "I'm sorry for killing all those ladies," said Ridgway, reading a hand-written statement.

Serial killer Gary Leon Ridgway, who pleaded guilty to 48 counts of murder, has finished leading investigators to sites where he left his victims and will be formally sentenced Dec. 18 to life in prison without parole, authorities said. Ridgway's plea Nov. 5 in a two-decade killing spree that targeted runaways and prostitutes put more murders on his record than that of any serial killer in U.S. history.

Serial killer Gary Leon Ridgway, who pleaded guilty to 48 counts of murder, has finished leading investigators to sites where he left his victims and will be formally sentenced Dec. 18 to life in prison without parole, authorities said. Ridgway's plea Nov. 5 in a two-decade killing spree that targeted runaways and prostitutes put more murders on his record than that of any serial killer in U.S. history.

More than 70 investigators combed through four residences previously occupied by Gary Leon Ridgway, held in connection with a series of murders known as the Green River slayings. A King County sheriff's spokesman said that once the homes have been searched, a new task force would likely be convened to probe the slayings of 49 women from 1982-84, long the nation's worst unsolved serial killing case. Ridgway is being held without bail for investigation in the deaths of four of the women.

Following an arrest in the nation's worst unsolved serial killings case, the King County sheriff is proposing a regional task force to investigate the deaths of more than 90 women. Sheriff Dave Reichert has approached sheriffs in neighboring Pierce and Snohomish counties about jointly investigating more than 40 area deaths since the last of the 49 official victims in the Green River killings case went missing in March 1984, sheriff's spokesman John Urquhart said Tuesday.

They still haven't met face to face, but the parallel worlds of Dave Reichert and Gary Ridgway go back to 1984. Reichert was the first detective assigned to what would become known as the Green River killings: the murders of at least 49 women, mostly prostitutes or runaways, their bodies usually dumped in the river or in the woods. Ridgway was a truck painter living in a Seattle suburb who was an early suspect in the case, though investigators won't say why.

A swab of saliva recently tested after 14 years in storage gave police their first big break in one of the nation's worst unsolved serial murder cases, as they arrested a truck painter Friday in four of the killings. Gary Ridgway, 52, was arrested in connection with four of the notorious Green River murders, a string of 49 killings of young women in the Pacific Northwest in the early 1980s.

Gary Leon Ridgway, an unassuming 54-year-old truck painter who admitted that he was the Green River killer, pleaded guilty Wednesday to 48 murders over a span of two decades in what he said was a crusade to kill as many prostitutes as he could without getting caught. Ridgway appeared in a courtroom packed with quietly weeping relatives of victims. He confessed to more murders than any serial killer in U.S. history -- and prosecutors hinted that Ridgway's victim list could grow.

Gary Leon Ridgway, an unassuming 54-year-old truck painter who admitted that he was the Green River killer, pleaded guilty Wednesday to 48 murders over a span of two decades in what he said was a crusade to kill as many prostitutes as he could without getting caught. Ridgway appeared in a courtroom packed with quietly weeping relatives of victims. He confessed to more murders than any serial killer in U.S. history -- and prosecutors hinted that Ridgway's victim list could grow.

Investigators in the Green River serial murder case have unearthed human remains this summer at three new sites, and are searching numerous other areas during a surge of renewed activity in the 20-year-old investigation. The searches began in July, shortly after Green River murder suspect Gary Leon Ridgway was moved from the King County Jail to an undisclosed location.

Following an arrest in the nation's worst unsolved serial killings case, the King County sheriff is proposing a regional task force to investigate the deaths of more than 90 women. Sheriff Dave Reichert has approached sheriffs in neighboring Pierce and Snohomish counties about jointly investigating more than 40 area deaths since the last of the 49 official victims in the Green River killings case went missing in March 1984, sheriff's spokesman John Urquhart said Tuesday.

More than 70 investigators combed through four residences previously occupied by Gary Leon Ridgway, held in connection with a series of murders known as the Green River slayings. A King County sheriff's spokesman said that once the homes have been searched, a new task force would likely be convened to probe the slayings of 49 women from 1982-84, long the nation's worst unsolved serial killing case. Ridgway is being held without bail for investigation in the deaths of four of the women.

They still haven't met face to face, but the parallel worlds of Dave Reichert and Gary Ridgway go back to 1984. Reichert was the first detective assigned to what would become known as the Green River killings: the murders of at least 49 women, mostly prostitutes or runaways, their bodies usually dumped in the river or in the woods. Ridgway was a truck painter living in a Seattle suburb who was an early suspect in the case, though investigators won't say why.

A swab of saliva recently tested after 14 years in storage gave police their first big break in one of the nation's worst unsolved serial murder cases, as they arrested a truck painter Friday in four of the killings. Gary Ridgway, 52, was arrested in connection with four of the notorious Green River murders, a string of 49 killings of young women in the Pacific Northwest in the early 1980s.

Gary Ridgway pleaded not guilty in a Seattle court to three additional murder charges, nearly a year and a half after he was accused in four of the 49 Green River serial killings. The latest aggravated first-degree murder charges were filed last week after prosecutors alleged that microscopic paint dust found on the clothing of three women tied him to the slayings. If convicted, Ridgway, 54, would face either life in prison or the death penalty.

Investigators have identified bones found at a muddy site east of Seattle as those of a teenage girl who disappeared in 1983, a possible victim of the Green River serial killer. Experts matched DNA from the bones with samples obtained in 1998 from the family of April Dawn Buttram, the King County Sheriff's Office said. Detectives believe that at least 49 women may have been victims of the Green River killer. The first bodies were found in or near the river.