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SEATTLE - The last known remains of the Green River Killer case have been identified by the King County Sheriff's Office, nearly 40 years later.
The partial remains were found back in 2003, but were labeled "Bones 20" as there was no way to confirm their identity. But after extensive research and testing by Othram, a sequencing laboratory specializing in forensic genetic genealogy, the remains were finally identified.
"Bones 20" was determined to be Tammie Liles, who was first identified as a victim in 1988 through a match of dental records to a separate set of remains discovered near Tigard, Oregon.
DNA technology helps identify another victim of 'Green River Killer' Gary Ridgway
During the 1980s and 1990s, a string of murders haunted Western Washington, with dozens of women and girls found murdered. Gary Ridgway is now serving 49 consecutive life in prison sentences.
The Sheriff's Office said Tammie and another victim's remains were found near the Tualatin Golf Course near Tigard, Oregon. Gary Ridgway, also known as the Green River Killer, originally denied the murder of Liles and the other victim, but eventually led detectives to a site on Kent-Des Moines Road where he claimed he left a victim's body. There, investigators uncovered several bones and some teeth that were unidentifiable at the time.
Ridgway eventually admitted to moving the remains of some victims from King County to Tigard, which helped investigators piece together the partial remains.
Liles' mother was later contacted, and detectives obtained a DNA sample to compare them with the remains and confirmed that they belonged to Tammie.
While Liles had originally been identified as a victim in 1988, forensic testing has concluded that the remains of "Bones 20" also belong to Tammie Liles.