The Case of Carol Ann Christensen

Carol Ann Christensen was 21 when she disappeared from Seattle on May 3, 1983. Her body was discovered five days later in a wooded area near Kent. The unusual circumstances surrounding the placement of her body made the case particularly disturbing, and she became one of the early victims for whom Gary Ridgway was eventually charged after his arrest nearly two decades later.

Carol Christensen was 21 years old and lived in the Seattle area. She disappeared on May 3, 1983, during a period when the Green River investigation was already examining dozens of disappearances and murders of women across the Seattle-Tacoma region. By this point, Gary Ridgway had already attracted the attention of investigators. In fact, the disappearance of another victim, Marie Malvar, later helped investigators focus on Ridgway during the spring of 1983. Despite that early suspicion, there was not enough evidence to connect him to the killings.

Carol's body was discovered on May 8, 1983, in a wooded area in King County. Her body had been deliberately positioned in an unusual manner. Investigators found fish placed around her body and freshly ground beef on one of her hands, details that made the crime scene particularly distinctive. The unusual arrangement initially raised questions about whether the killer had intentionally staged the scene or was attempting to communicate something.

Carol's murder became part of the growing Green River investigation. Her body was discovered only a few days after her disappearance, providing investigators with another homicide occurring during a period when young women were disappearing at an alarming rate. The investigation eventually led detectives to examine Gary Ridgway more closely. Ridgway had already been questioned about Marie Malvar in April 1983 after Malvar disappeared. He denied knowing her and investigators initially lacked sufficient evidence to pursue him. Ridgway remained a suspect for years. In 1987, investigators obtained hair and saliva samples from him, but the DNA technology available at the time could not provide the evidence needed for an arrest. The breakthrough came in 2001 when advances in DNA testing connected Ridgway to biological evidence from Green River victims. He was arrested on November 30, 2001. Ridgway was subsequently charged with Carol Christensen's murder. He later admitted killing her during his extensive interviews with investigators.

Gary Ridgway pleaded guilty in 2003 to Carol Christensen's murder as part of his guilty plea to 48 aggravated first-degree murders. He received 48 consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. Ridgway later pleaded guilty to the murder of Rebecca Marrero, bringing his known conviction total to 49.

Carol's case was among the four murders for which Ridgway was initially charged following his arrest in 2001. The other three were Cynthia Hinds, Marcia Chapman and Opal Mills. The unusual staging of Carol's body made her crime scene distinct from many of the other early Green River murders.