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Introduction:


 




Serial killers always make interesting research. Their crimes, methods, and bizarre thought behaviors never cease to amaze us. Sadly, the most interesting cases are typically the ones that baffle authorities and allow the killer to ply his trade unhindered, upping his body count as the days tick by.


 




The name of this case is derived from the Green River, a river that begins in Washington State and empties into the Puget Sound in Seattle. Near the river is the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, built in 1942. As with any international airport, the area around it quickly grew as businesses sprouted to cater to the many travelers who crossed through its gates. One major throughway that runs near the airport is Aurora Avenue.  Just off the Pacific Coast Highway, Aurora Avenue is known casually as the Sea-Tac Strip. This hustle and bustle Strip is a haven of dingy clubs, seedy motels, and of course, many prostitutes. On any given night, hundreds of prostitutes could be seen hanging around the street corners propositioning passerbys as they drove by. When a customer was found and a transaction initiated, they could simply take their tricks to one of the nearby motels or one of the many vacant buildings or empty side streets.


 




The Killings Begin


 




Our story begins on July 15, 1982 when two boys riding their bicycles noticed something in the water that caught their eye. Riding alongside the Peck Bridge near Kent, Washington, the boys found the body of a young woman floating in the Green River.  Kent County police were notified and arrived on the scene to find a 16 year old girl, later identified as Wendy Lee Coffield, with a pair of jeans wrapped tightly around her neck. She had been raped and strangled to death. Wendy, a local prostitute who had been missing for 8 days from a nearby foster home, would soon gain the unfortunate legacy of being the first official victim of the soon-to-be infamous Green River Killer.


 




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A few weeks later, on August 12, 1982, a worker at a meat packing company, just south of the Peck Bridge, was gassing up his truck when he noticed what he thought was a dead animal floating in the river water. The foam that was circulating around the body is what first drew his attention. He walked over to the body and discovered a young woman, floating dead in the water. Police identified her as 23 year old Deborah Lynn Bonner. Deborah, another known local prostitute, had been missing for over a week.