The Search for the Green River Killer

Between the Summer of 1982 and Spring of 1984 someone, almost certainly a man, picked up at least 40 and perhaps as many as 60 young women, mostly prostitutes, strangled them and disposed of their bodies in various locations in the Pacific northwest, predominantly in southern King County, Washington. Despite the efforts of a special police investigative unit that developed a proficiency in forensic techniques that would later prove useful in countless other investigations, and that had the lessons of Ted Bundy nearly a decade before to draw upon, this killer was never caught, and to this day his identity and final fate remains unknown. This book is an essentially journalistic account (in the modern sense, in which a description of the facts is coupled closely with a subjective evaluation of them) of the investigation of the "Green River" murders (so named because the first victims found were disposed of in the Green River, though most others were found elsewhere). Thus we read about the victims, who they were and in some cases how they drifted into prostitution and/or drug use, when they were last seen and with whom, when their absence first came to the attention of the police or the Green River investigators. We read of the detectives themselves, of the leads they followed, the manner in which they were forced to learn about the lives of prostitutes and the violence routinely directed against them, the political conflicts that occasionally helped but more often hindered their investigation, the forensic approaches they learned and perfected, the mistakes they made, the attempts to find links between the Green River murders and similar slayings occurring elsewhere, such as Portland and San Diego. We read of the occasional suspects, the coincidences or other apparent evidence that led the police to them, and the frustrating regularity with which they were always exonerated.
What we do not read about at all, of course, is the killer himself; in a book of true crime, this is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because we are largely spared the psychological mumbo-jumbo that might otherwise have dominated such an account, and as a result we are presented only with the basic descriptions of "profiling" as practiced in the 1980's by the FBI, and generalizations regarding the psychology of serial murderers. A curse because the real subject of the narrative, the one character we do want to know about most, never makes it onto the stage. It is perhaps a testament to the skills of these writers that we as readers experience some measure of the frustration that must have gripped the detectives on the case.
Unlike other reviewers of this book, I don't see how this book is "horrifying" or otherwise comparable to anything in the suspense or crime genre. While the crimes described were certainly horrendous, they were committed 20 years ago, the victims almost uniformly possessed a very specific profile that most readers will not fit, and most of the book is concerned not with the crimes themselves (which were never witnessed in any case) but with the investigation of them, which is a much less sensational and much more tedious process to describe. That these authors managed to maintain my interest in such subject matter should stand as a sufficient compliment to their skills. This book is worth reading whether you are interested in the Green River murders by themselves or police investigations of this scale in general.

This was probably one of the best books on a Serial Killer that I have read since Helter Skelter. I really liked the way the authors wrote in chronological order. Many true crime authors try to get creative and jump back and forth to make themselves look smarter or something; when all we want is the information. I also liked the way it went into depth about the problems within the different law enforcement agencies, as well as how the media and government play in to funding these type of investigations. It made the entire investigation much more clear. I also felt that the authors knew it was vital to give full descriptions of each victim (when they disappeared, where, cause of death, etc.) and comparisons between each victim. You could actually follow the killer's subtle signature, and watch their M.O. develop throughout the book. Anyone interested in Serial Killers should definitely give this book a second glance.

MYSELF BEING A TRUE CRIME FAN I MUST SAY THIS IS TRUE CRIME AT IT'S BEST AND READING THIS BOOK IS ALMOST LIKE YOU WERE THERE. THIS IS A HORRIFIC BOOK TO READ IT IS VERY CHILLING. THERE ARE PEOPLE THAT READ HORROR NOVELS THAT CLAIM TO BE HORRIFING BUT THAT IS ALL FICTION. THIS IS TRUE TO LIFE WHICH MAKES IT EVEN MORE HORRIFING. THE OTHER GOOD THING ABOUT THIS BOOK FROM A READERS STAND POINT IS THAT IT LEAVES A LOT TO SPECULATE ABOUT WHICH IS ALSO THE BAD THING BECAUSE IN REAL LIFE THIS MONSTEROUS KILLER COULD STILL BE AT LARGE AND TAKING THE LIVES OF YOUNG MISLED WOMEN.

For years, I was hesitant to read this book. I have little interest in reading about true crime cases that are still unsolved. In 2001, a suspect was arrested and is believed to the Green River Killer. This book is the most complete work available on the Green River Killer and the story of the case.
The story starts in the early 80's in Seattle. The bodies of prostitues are being found all over the Seattle area. The last reported number of victims is 49. However, the actual total is known to be significantly higher. If it is accurate, this total is higher than any serial killer in American history. Smith and Guillen tell the chronological story of this investigation. The people of Seattle and police continue to find bodies throughout a four year period. The community is devestated and frustrated by the police's inability to catch the killer. Among the four main suspects mentioned in the book, the truck painter is the one who is goes unnamed. Ten years after the original publication of this book the new afterword tells the name of the truck painter who has become the primary suspect of the killings. Through the use of new DNA technology, Gary Leon Ridgway was directly linked to three of the murders. He was also indirectly linked to several others.
This book is a true crime masterpiece. The story is focused and stays on a chronological path. The new edition to the book adds a sense of closure to the case. In the future, the courts will tell if this sense of closure is real. Definitely, a must read for true crime fans.

Better than the Ted Bundy "Riverman" book, since you don't have to wade through that maniac's ravings. One of the better true crime books in that neither you (the reader) nor they (the author and his sources) really know who did it or why. This is what makes the Green River Killer case so disturbing--the very high number of victims taken in a short period of time from the same geographical area by someone who was never identified. Was it Ridgway? Who knows. The trial is upcoming.
Strengths: gets behind the scenes of the investigation and traces the growing horror of the sheer number of bodies being discovered. Points out some critical points in the investigation where costly mistakes were made (like not searching further up the river when the first bodies were found, and blowing a chance to catch the killer returning to the river because the media got wind of the stakeout and showed up with a helicopter!)
Weaknesses: Doesn't give a very good description of the scene around the Strip in 1982-84, nor speculate just why this area was the killer's hunting ground of choice. Gives some details on the victims, but not enough to make them real people. They remain simply street prostitutes with some background information. A critical missing piece is some accounts of how they lived while they were on the strip. But maybe nobody knows much about that. That's where the author should have dug a little deeper.
Worth reading if you're interested in true crime, and essential if you follow the Green River case.

"The Search for the Green River Killer" is an absolutely engrossing account of one of the worst serial murder cases ever. Even though written in 1991, when the murders were still unsolved, this account manages to keep you hooked as the task force tracks down leads and more and more bodies are discovered. Details about how criminal profiling, then in its infancy, was applied in this case, and about how the Seattle had only recently been preyed upon by another serial killer, Ted Bundy, were quite interesting.
The identity of the Green River killer was a subject of perennial speculation as I came of age in the Pacific Northwest in the 1980s. Who was responsible the unsolved murders of some 49 Seattle and Portland prostitutes? Who was the man described in a Crime Stoppers press release as "the most prolific killer of all time.... More vicious than Jack the Ripper, Ted Bundy, The Boston Strangler and Son of Sam combined."
My personal interest in the Green River killings grew when the FBI interviewed my former husband about a guy who briefly had lived with him. When I picked up "The Search," I hoped I might find some insight into what characteristics of this roommate, who committed suicide in late 1984, might have attracted investigators' attention for years.
When a suspect was charged in 2001 with killing four Green River victims, police said this suspect was someone they had considered during their earlier investigation. I thought "The Search" might shed light on why he came under suspicion initially. It does-although not by name. Reviewing information from news websites about the man charged in 2001, and comparing it with an unnamed suspect in the book should help the reader make the connections, however.
"The Search" does provide a fascinating portrait of how the investigation went awry, particularly in the early months. What emerges is an initially disorganized investigation plagued by political problems, under staffing, and overlooked leads. The fact that most victims were prostitutes complicated efforts to determine what happened in their final hours since they generally attracted no notice if they got into a car with a stranger, and their absence might go unnoticed by family for days or weeks. Among the factors hampering the investigation, according to authors Carlton Smith and Tomas Guillen, were:
· Contamination of the "freshest" crime scene-the Green River "dump site"-where a rafter found several bodies as officers dropped quite a few cigarettes while processing the scene.
· Lack of surveillance at places where bodies were discovered. A few days after the discovery of Dub Bonner, whose murder prompted the investigator to consider that a serial killer might be on the loose, three more bodies were found in the Green River quite close to where Bonner had been left. Evidence indicated that one victim, Opal Mills, may have been killed and dumped AFTER Bonner's body had been discovered. Later in the book, the authors discover other indications that the killer revisited "dump sites."
· Lack of communication between different police jurisdictions, and later between the Green River Task Force and the vice cops who worked The Strip where so many missing prostitutes were last seen. Smith and Guillen describe how officers on vice surveillance failed to write down license plates of customers frequenting The Strip, and how, at times, vice cops gave the impression that the killings were over, since they had not received current information from the task force.
· Disinterest in investigating missing persons reports involving prostitutes. Given the transient nature of prostitution, law enforcement tended to discount reports of missing prostitutes since many women worked a West Coast circuit to avoid problems with law. Only later did the task force make a serious effort to come up with a list of missing prostitutes and compare their dental records with unidentified bodies.
· Anti-prostitution efforts that helped clean up the prostitution problem on The Strip, but also resulted in numerous witnesses becoming harder to find as they moved elsewhere to pursue their trade.
· Intense press coverage that could have made witnesses "remember" something that they had merely seen reported. With a shortage of manpower in the early months of the investigation, police sometimes had difficulty getting a chance to interview witnesses before the news media interviewed them.
· County politics affected how much clout the King County sheriff and the lead investigator had in pulling together resources to work on the case. (The same seemed to be true of bodies found near Portland, Oregon, but "The Search" spends less time exploring what internal department pressures may have affected the Portland police chief's level of cooperation.)
· Lack of modern crime-fighting technology. Tools that we seem to take for granted today apparently weren't standard fare in even urban police departments in the early 1980s, including computers for organizing tips, lasers for detecting trace evidence, and equipment that could compare partial fingerprints to those on file elsewhere.

"The Search" begins with the early river discoveries, and then backtracks to briefly describe the victims' lives just before their disappearances. From there, the book switches between describing activities of other prostitutes who fell victim and police efforts to solve the crimes. This straight-forward chronological approach creates some confusion since personal details about a particular victim are described within the timeframe of her disappearance, rather than when her body was discovered. Since most remains weren't discovered for months or even years after the woman was killed, connecting the discovery with the personal details was difficult. An index or an appendix with victim information, including disappearance and discovery date, would have been helpful. Supplemental material in the book does include maps of the sites where bodies were found and photographs of the victims, which helped to individualize them
Although the 2001 arrest makes "The Search" somewhat out of date, the details about how police attempted to investigate this difficult-to-solve series of murders remains very fresh and very fascinating.

This book meandered for hundreds of pages, dwelling on minute details and long-winded memories. I cannot recommend this book. These people actually made serial murder boring. And that is almost unforgivable. Go buy something interesting instead.

I live in the area of the Green River killings and I found the book accurate and informative. The information is not exploitive and the book seems to be written with more than feelings for profits in mind. There tends to be a warmth toward the victims also. I lost my first book and I am planning on buying another.

I came across this book in the '90s, and found it to be a much better read than Ann Rule's (later) 'Green River, Running Red.' I think this book is much more honest in its approach to the victims as bad girls on the streets; Rule wanted to paint them all as 'high school dropouts just going through a brief rough period before settling down to home and hearth.' Which made me constantly roll my eyes when I read it. Frankly, although this book was written before Ridgway's arrest (although the truck painter is mentioned in here as a good suspect), I think this is probably the best book on the case, hands down.

I've always been facinated by true crime stories. And this was the first book I picked up. In the past getting me to read was a task, and I just never cared much about reading. Therefore getting through a 200 page book took me months. I bought this book in an airport on my way to Las Vegas. It grabbed me in the airport waiting for a plane, I couldn't put it down. In fact I ended up reading for hours on my trip in Vegas instead of gambling (might have saved me a few bucks). Regardless, I finished this book in about 4-5 days. It's over 500 pages long so I even impressed myself.
I agree the politics gets a little too much at times, and it gets a little repetitive, but it does tell the story of "the search" for the Green River Killer. What makes this book even better now is that the killer has been caught and the book has been updated with more details. There were times late a night reading this book where I felt like someone was in the room with me, and that felt freaky. Obviously nobody was, but it's just the feeling I got that scared me pretty good.
Needless to say, I thought it was a great book to read. It's a tragedy that so many people died and that the police were so screwed up on this, but could I have done a better job? I doubt it, hind-sight is always 20-20. If you like good stories about true crime or serial killers, this one will get to you. Not many killed more than he did and even more rare is how long he was loose in today's times.
Reinhart and Kranske have my blessings for all that they went through over the years, and the toll it must have taken on their families as well as all the others that were involved. And to know they were so close but just didn't know is disturbing.
Buy this book, you won't regret it. You might find the police politics interesting as I did, or you might skip over a few paragraphs and get back to the discoveries, either way you shouldn't be disappointed.