The remains of the last-known victim of the Green River Killer have been identified as a Washington State teen – though investigators say there may still be other unsolved cases linked to the infamous murderer.
The partial remains were identified as belonging to Tammie Liles, of Everett, the King’s County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) announced.
“With this identification, there are no other unidentified remains associated with the Green River Case,” the sheriff’s office said.
The incomplete set of bones and teeth were first discovered in 2003, when serial killer Gary Ridgway – known as the Green River Killer – led detectives to a spot where he claimed to have left a victim’s body, the KCSO explained.
Because no immediate identification could be made, authorities labeled the remains “Bones 20.”
In fall 2022, however, KCSO contracted the Texas-based Othram lab to build a DNA profile off the remains using forensic genetics genealogy testing, the statement read.
In August 2023, the lab tentatively identified the remains as Liles – a finding that was later confirmed using a DNA sample from the late teen’s mother, who is still living.
“The King County Sheriff’s Office is immensely grateful for the work of Othram Forensic Sequencing Laboratory, The University of North Texas, the King County Medical Examiner’s Office, and all others who worked on helping to identify Tammie Liles,” King County Sheriff Patricia Cole-Tindall said of the finding.
Liles was just 16 years old when she vanished from downtown Seattle in June 1983, the Seattle Times reported.
She was later identified through dental records as one of two unidentified women whose remains were found near Tigard, Oregon, in 1985.
She had been considered one of Ridgway’s potential victims since 1988, the KCSO noted.
Liles’ family does not wish to speak to the media, Cole-Tindall explained.
“We appreciate your support in granting the family the privacy they seek during this time,” she told the media.
Ridgway, now 74, strangled dozens of vulnerable women and girls in the Seattle area throughout the 1980s and 90s, CBS News said.
He was a prime suspect for the Green River killings – named after the waterway where the first victims were found – for several years before he was linked to the crime spree through DNA in 2001, according to the outlet.
He eventually pleaded guilty to 49 counts of first-degree murder – including for the death of the then-unidentified woman known as Bones 20.
Ridgway is currently in prison for life without the possibility of parole at the Washington State Penitentiary.
Just one month ago, authorities identified the second-to-last remaining unidentified Green River victim as 15-year-old Lori Anne Rotzpotnik, CBS noted.
“It’s an immense feeling of satisfaction that in this case, that started in the early 80s, we are able to identify all of Gary Ridgway’s victims. All 49 of them,” KCSO spokesperson Eric White told the Seattle Times.
But there may still be other unknown victims waiting to be identified, Dave Reichert with the sheriff’s office, told KIRO-TV.
“Ridgway said that he killed 65 to 70 young women and little girls and so far he’s plead guilty to 49 and we’ve closed 51 cases,” Reichert explained.
“So as I said there are other unsolved cases out there that may or may not be connected to Ridgway but there are parents still out there looking for answers about the death and murder of their daughter,” he added.