Green River Running Red

Green River Running Red by Ann Rule,is a book that depicts the story of King County Sheriff’s investigation and hunt for a serial killer who 20 years after his first killing would be identified as Gary Leon Ridgeway. Now that i’ve read about some of Ridgeway’s forty-eight victims and their lives of prostitution before he murdered them along with the details of each murder investigation, I will lay out two crime scenes as described in the book and the process in which they were investigated in the 1980’s. Then, I will assume the role of primary investigator and reinvestigate the scenes using the various systems, technologies, and outside resources available today to investigators that were not available at the time of the crime. 
Crime Scene Scenario 1:

On a warm Sunday in August of 1982, a local man of King County was drifting along the river in a rubber raft looking for antique bottles or anything of value in the murky shallow waters, but instead found horror. Peering into the murky water the rafter could make out what appeared to be two still figures floating beneath the surface with their eyes facing the sky. The man immediately signaled a passerby for help in notifying King County Sheriff’s Office about the discovery of the two floating bodies in the river. (Rule, p.13)

The Investigation: Upon King County Sheriff’s Office getting word of the found body’s in the river several officers were dispatched out to the scene as well as Search and Rescue. Upon the first responding officers’ arrival they affirmed that the two bodies in the river were in fact female bodies and were in someway being held close to the river bottom. One officer began to document the scene by taking pictures while the other officer began video taping ...

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...atterns, and link cases together by notifying each agency that a similar murder case exists and where. (Swanson, p.305)

Now that I’ve discussed the many new investigative resources available today I’m certain in assuming that many aspects of how King County’s Investigation was conducted would have been different, and their efforts much more efficient had they had at their fingertips back in the 1980’s, the use of todays technologies. However, all investigators understand that they have to work to the best of their ability with what is available to them at the time and cant focus on what isn’t. Crime scene investigation can be a daunting task with long hours, exhausted leads, media pressures, and being the first source to blame when cases are left unsolved. Investigators are the unsung heroes whose work may not always be acknowledged but should be recognized.