Green River Killer's unexpected transfer to King County jail shocks victims' families

questions are growing about why one of the most notorious serial killers in US history was suddenly booked into the King County jail today G Ridgeway who is better known as the Green River Killer is normally locked up at the State penitentiary in Walla wallala now for the first time in 20 years he's in a Seattle jail cell Ryan Sims has been following the story since it broke today Ryan authorities are staying tight lipped about why he's Suddenly at the King County Jail yeah very much so all the King County Sheriff's Office would tell us and was willing to say is that they're still investigating possible links between crimes and Gary Ridgeway but still questions adding up fast for the first time in two decades the Green River Killer is back here in Washington's West Side it just sent a wave of nausea through me among those reacting to this news Donna Hurley whose 15-year-old daughter Lori was killed by Gary Ridgeway all the way back in 1985 my heart goes out to those Detectives and those families who were waiting on this parasite Donna says she had no idea Ridgeway had even left the state Penn in walawala until Kom news called her and told her about it I guess at one time thought maybe he had killed upwards of 70 80 people how many remains have been found authorities have often wondered that same thing in a quick statement to KO the King County Sheriff's Office said it continues to investigate cases with ridgeway's possible involvement well his reason for being in King County has hasn't been released at least not yet Donna thinks that there is a possibility that he is working with authorities to unearth victims who have never been found or identified we were the hostages he could come up at any time and say oh I can tell you where there's one more body or five more bodies Ridgeway is currently serving 49 consecutive life sentences for murder each one representing the people he killed during his Killing Spree from the early ' 80s through the late 90s if people think they don't carry this in their hearts every day they're wrong it's affected a lot of lives a lot of lives over a lot of time talking about the people he murdered it was only this past January January 2024 when one of his victims was identified 40 years after she went missing coming to you live from Seattle tonight Ryan Sims comoo news good evening and welcome to Arc Seattle at 10 I am Preston Phillips tonight one of the most notorious serial killers ever known has been moved to the King County Jail Gary Ridgeway who is more commonly known as the Green River Killer is back in Seattle for the first time in 20 years Ridgeway is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole at the State penitentiary in Walla Wala for the murders of 49 women we talked with the mother of one of his victims tonight about this move this miserable piece of humanity has used the remains of their loved ones to save his own life tonight we're still working to learn why he was moved to the King County Jail Ryan Sims joining us now he's been covering this story all afternoon and evening Ryan the news of Ridgeway being moved here to Seattle was a shock to so many people including the victims of his the families of his victims and especially to them Preston I mean you got to consider this that for decades and it really was decades they went without any answers at all and many of them it took 20 30 years for the DNA evidence to come through for them to even know what had happened to their loved ones that their loved ones were truly dead and also to find out that their loved ones uh their fate they met their fate under the hands of a serial killer like that one like the Green River Killer and so it has taken so much emotional bandwidth to process all of that and you can imagine today we spoke to uh the woman that you heard kind of leading into this piece uh she had no idea any of this until we called her and you can you heard the shock in her face when when I spoke to her over the phone she was hoping to finally put all this behind her you know her own daughter went missing 1983 her bones were discovered 1985 yet it wasn't until last December we're talking about December of 2023 that DNA evidence finally identified those bones allowed her to retrieve her daughter's remains to bury her daughter and to concretely know that her daughter did die at the hands of Gary Ridgeway she long suspected it but everything was confirmed in December so finally in December just a few months ago after 40 years she's finally able to get this closure well you can imagine her shocked today when a news crew calls her and tells her that you know by the way this guy that was convicted of killing your daughter he's now been transferred across the St State we don't know why or anything because authorities are not saying anything uh she expressed dismay at that and and disappointment now she told us that she hopes it is for a good cause and that the reason why this is all happening is that he in some way has agreed to cooperate or is somewhat working with authorities on maybe identifying victims who are still out there who are still out there who have never been found or never been identify so that's the hope and so far that seems like a likely scenario given the little that we've been told by the sheriff's office they say that they are still working to uh connect Ridgeway to existing cases uh where he may be involved and so uh again he is out here for the first time in 21 years but talking about that mother uh that we've been uh speaking about again it it's quite the thing to know that um you know she said that she finally had closure and after all that time now again today she finds out that this has happened it seems like according to families uh who have gone through the unthinkable having their loved one die at the hands of a serial killer that the only place they want Ridgeway understandably is inside a State Penitentiary locked up in Walla Wala and nowhere else do they want him and so the news that he is now in King County in the hard of Seattle definitely locked up there's a lot of guards around we would imagine still very very secure but the fact that he is now across the state and he moved across the state without them even being told definitely unsettling for them Preston right I think also what's unsettling is when you look up Gary Ridgeway and his past victims the many anywhere online and you scroll through all of the victims the 49 at least that have been identified you see many who haven't been found the remains haven't been discovered so there are many more as you know and possibly even more than that that we don't know where they are and may not even be talked have been talked about at this point so it's unclear exactly where they're going to be uh dealing with him or where he might be leading them so it's going to be interesting to see how all of this unfolds yeah definitely I mean so so far we've talked about 49 confirmed cases but over the years authorities have been given every reason to spe it could be 70 cases 80 cases that is just staggering and if it is 80 cases we don't know if it is but if it is 80 cases that means at least 30 other people are still out there and have been out there for decades as a result of this and so again going back to that mother we got her reaction today she said that uh really kind of the only kind of Saving Grace she has with today's news is the fact that perhaps Ridge weight finally working with Authorities on getting them the remains getting them the identities of some of the other people still out there that is her Saving Grace uh but what what a story this is again his first time here in 21 years here in Seattle be interested to find out why now if that is the case why would he have any reason to want to do that is there something they're offering him is there is he in bad health I just I'm curious I think he's around 75 years old right now what would want to make him come out here and and help authorities in any way whatsoever Ryan keep us posted uh as this story continues to develop of course a lot of people interested in what the outcome of this is we appreciate it thanks