DNA forensic genealogy testing helped to identify the bones found in 1985 as a victim of the Green River in King County, Washington.
The King County Sheriff’s Office said that on Dec. 30, 1985, City of Auburn employees were called about a car that went over an embankment in the 2000 block of Mt. View Southwest. Possible human remains were found and the Green River Task Force was called in to investigate. During a search-and-rescue effort, a second set of human remains were found. Both victims were not identified other than as Bones 16 and Bones 17.
The sheriff’s office said Gary Ridgway led investigators to the Green River location in 2002. Ridgway was the Green River Killer, according to KIRO.
He reportedly admitted to placing the victims there. In 2003, he pleaded guilty to their murders, the sheriff’s office said.
The identity of Bones 16 was identified in 2012 as Sandra Majors, the sheriff’s office said.
A new DNA profile was created on Bones 17 with an advancement in DNA technology. According to KIRO, Bones 17 was identified as Lori Anne Razpotnik.
Razpotnik was 15 years old and lived with her family in Lewis County in 1982, according to the sheriff’s office. During that year, she ran away from home. Her family never saw her again.
Razpotnik’s mother provided King County detectives with a DNA sample once they contacted her and the University of North Texas was able to confirm that the remains belonged to Razpotnik through a DNA comparison, the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff’s office said, that one set of remains are left to be identified, Bones 20, according to KIRO. Those remains were found in August 2003.
Ridgway remains incarcerated at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla, according to the Washington State Department of Corrections, the news outlet reported. Ridgway is 74 years old.
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