Rebecca Garde Encounters Gary Ridgway — The Green River Killer
Josh Trujillo-Pool/Getty ImagesRidgway was known as the most prolific serial killer in America when he was caught. He may have murdered up to 90 people.
By the time Gary Ridgway‘s trial was over, the Green River Killer had confessed to more murders than any American serial killer that preceded him. The prolific menace murdered 71 women between 1982 and 1988, but admitted that number could be as high as 90.
According to CNN, Rebecca Garde could’ve been one of them, as she barely escaped the killer with her life.
It was a drizzly Seattle evening in November 1982 when she opted to hitchhike home instead of waiting in the rain for her usual bus to arrive.
After trudging down the damp Pacific Highway South for a while, a maroon Dodge pickup truck stopped to give her a ride. Garde would later describe her first impression of the man as “boring” and “dull” — though he was anything but.
The 20-year-old offered the generous driver a sex act in exchange for $20, which he happily accepted. The young girl intended to buy some marijuana with the loot, but things rapidly took a turn.
Garde is the only known survivor of Ridgway’s murderous attacks. She shared a penchant for drugs and prostitution with many of his victims — and was nearly strangled to death like them too.
She doesn’t remember much besides his large hands and small eyes, in addition, to arguably the most ominous detail of her harrowing encounter:
“I remember the look in his eyes,” she said.
Wikimedia CommonsThe Green River Killer confessed to murdering 71 women between 1982 and 1988, though his bodycount might be even higher.
Garde was unnerved and asked to see some identification to assuage her fears. When he showed her the Kenworth Trucking Co. ID he used for his job as a truck painter, she felt relieved.
Garde pointed him to a local trailer park where they could park and enter the woods when he attacked.
“All of a sudden he starts grabbing me, and we’re rolling all over the place,” she said. “He tried covering my mouth and my nose, and I just kept trying to breathe. He smothered me on the ground. … He was sitting on top of me.”
Ridgway’s shorts were wrapped around his ankles. He was beginning to strangle the life out of her, when Garde’s mind began racing — and her survival instincts kicked in.
“No, this is not my time,” she remembered thinking. “I want to grow up. I want to get married. I want to have babies. I was like, ‘This guy is not going to kill me. I don’t belong here. I’m in the wrong place at the wrong time.'”
Wikimedia CommonsGary Ridgway will never be a free man again. Rebecca Garde’s account may have been an invaluable piece in the police’s quest to capture him. Nov. 29, 2001.
Garde managed to push the killer against a tree, temporarily stunning him. She quickly got to her feet and ran to the nearest trailer to find help. When somebody finally answered, she could barely find the words. She could only manage to utter, “Please help me.”
The lucky victim didn’t report any of this to authorities until December 1984, as she was concerned about her drug use and career as a prostitute.
Nonetheless, her story “contributed to the overall picture that was forming of [Ridgway] as a suspect,” according to lead detective of the Green River Task Force, Thomas Jensen. Ridgway was caught in 2001 and has been in prison ever since.
Garde was picked up in the very same area Ridgway found previous victims in. He said showing them his ID usually calmed them down enough to fatally manipulate them. Somehow, Garde managed to avoid that result.
“I got lucky and I was able to get away and run for help.”
