The Case of Linda Jane Rule

Linda Jane Rule was 16 when she disappeared from Seattle on September 26, 1982. She was last seen heading toward a K-Mart after leaving a motel room on Aurora Avenue North. Her skeletal remains were discovered four months later in a wooded area near Northwest Hospital. Ridgway later admitted killing Linda, although her murder was not initially included among the officially identified Green River killings.

Linda Rule was 16 years old and worked as a prostitute along the Aurora Avenue North area of Seattle. On September 26, 1982, she was last seen at approximately 2:30 p.m. after leaving a motel room on Aurora Avenue North. She told others that she was going to a K-Mart to buy clothes, but she never returned. Linda's disappearance occurred during the first months of the Green River Killer investigation, but her case was geographically distinct from many of the killings associated with Pacific Highway South.

On January 31, 1983, construction workers discovered Linda's skeletal remains in a wooded area near Northwest Hospital in Seattle, approximately four months after she disappeared. Her clothing and personal property were missing when her remains were found. The circumstances surrounding the discovery bore similarities to the emerging Green River cases, but investigators did not initially classify Linda's death as one of the official Green River murders.

Linda's murder remained unresolved for many years. The circumstances of her disappearance and the location where her remains were found had similarities to the Green River killings, particularly because she was involved in prostitution and her body had been left outdoors. Gary Ridgway later became a major suspect in the Green River investigation, but investigators initially lacked sufficient evidence to connect him to Linda's death. In 1984, Ridgway admitted to a Green River Task Force detective that he had picked up and "dated" prostitutes on Aurora Avenue North. After Ridgway's arrest in 2001 and his extensive interviews with investigators, he admitted that he had killed Linda Rule. His admission was made before investigators questioned him specifically about her case.

Gary Ridgway admitted killing Linda Rule in 2003. Her murder was subsequently included among the killings attributed to Ridgway, although it was not one of the 48 murders covered by his original 2003 plea agreement. Ridgway later pleaded guilty to the murder of Rebecca Marrero, bringing his known conviction total to 49.

Linda's case is unusual within the Green River investigation because Ridgway admitted killing her, but her murder was not initially included among the official Green River Killer victims. Her case also demonstrates that Ridgway's hunting ground extended beyond Pacific Highway South into Seattle's Aurora Avenue North area.