The Case of Denise Darcel Bush

Denise Darcel Bush was 23 when she disappeared from Pacific Highway South on October 8, 1982. She left the Moonrise Motel to buy cigarettes and never returned. Parts of her remains were discovered years later in Washington and Oregon, and Gary Ridgway eventually admitted murdering her.

Denise Bush was 23 years old and was staying at the Moonrise Motel near Pacific Highway South in October 1982. On October 8, 1982, Denise left the motel around midday to buy a pack of cigarettes. She never returned. Her disappearance occurred during the first few months of the Green River Killer investigation, when young women were disappearing regularly from the Pacific Highway South area. The night before she disappeared, Denise had been seen talking to a man near a 7-Eleven across from the motel. Her friend later described the man as being around 5'10", approximately 29 or 30 years old, wearing a blue plaid shirt and boots. The man was working on a pickup truck and appeared reluctant to be seen. Denise told her friend she intended to meet him later. Ridgway was in the area that day and had purchased gasoline from a station near the Moonrise Motel. Investigators later examined the circumstances surrounding Denise's disappearance as part of the Green River investigation.

Denise's remains were recovered in separate locations. In June 1985, her skull was discovered in Tigard, Oregon, near the Tualatin River. Other skeletal remains were later recovered in Bull Mountain, Oregon, south of Portland. The scattering of Denise's remains across locations in Washington and Oregon complicated the investigation and delayed the full recovery and identification of her remains.

Denise's disappearance was investigated as part of the Green River Killer case, but her remains were not immediately connected to the growing series of murders. The discovery of her skull in Oregon in 1985 provided investigators with physical evidence, but the full connection to Ridgway would take many more years to establish. Ridgway had already attracted the attention of investigators during the early Green River investigation. In 1987, police obtained hair and saliva samples from him, but DNA technology at the time could not provide the evidence needed to connect him conclusively to the murders. Advances in DNA testing eventually changed the investigation. Ridgway was arrested in November 2001 after forensic evidence linked him to several Green River victims. During his extensive interviews with investigators, Ridgway admitted that he had murdered Denise Bush. He also described disposing of her remains in Oregon.

Gary Ridgway pleaded guilty in 2003 to Denise Bush'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.

Denise's case illustrates the geographic reach of Ridgway's disposal methods. Her remains were scattered between Washington and Oregon, requiring investigators to connect separate discoveries to the same victim.