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"We're
hoping there may be (other) physical evidence around the scenes
that may contain DNA," said
Robert Keppel, former King County detective and consultant to the
old Green River task force. If DNA or other forensic evidence could
be matched to even one set of bones or a crime scene where other
remains were found it; it would tie several cases together, Keppel
said.
It will
be difficult to solve most Green River cases because the skeletal
remains found are not likely to have a killer's DNA. Only 6 bodies
were found containing more than skeletal remains.
Many crime
scenes were frequently used for illegal dumping, making the evaluation
of evidence difficult. "In some cases we have bones, and some
cases we have unidentified bones, and we have 10,000 pieces of evidence
to go through," King County sheriff Urquhart said. "What
we're going to do now is ramp up this task force and go over each
and every case."
Investigators
will begin with crime scenes with the best chance of evidence. These
would be the bodies with the least decomposition and scenes that
had not been disturbed. Police will look for physical evidence of
partially clothed victims because hairs or fibers could yield new
leads.
Ridgway's
ex wife told police he kept visqueen, rolls of protective plastic
covering that comes in rolls, in the bed of his truck. Visqueen
was covering one victim's near North Bend, and near the remains
of another in Tukwila.
Investigators
say there is no DNA or circumstantial evidence to tie Deborah
Lynn Bonner and Wendy Lee Coffield
to Ridgway. Being
found in the same river location isn't enough.
Copyright Kari Sable Burns 1994-2006
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