The Case of Mary Bridget Meehan

Mary Bridget Meehan was 18 when she disappeared from Pacific Highway South on September 15, 1982. Her remains were discovered nearly 14 months later in southern King County and she was subsequently identified as one of Gary Ridgway's victims. Ridgway later admitted murdering Meehan as part of his campaign targeting vulnerable young women in the Seattle-Tacoma area.

Mary Meehan was 18 years old when she disappeared in September 1982, during the first months of the Green River Killer investigation. She was last seen on September 15, 1982, near South 165th Street and Pacific Highway South, an area that had become central to the investigation because numerous young women had disappeared there. By this point, investigators had already recovered the bodies of several victims and established the Green River Task Force. Despite the growing investigation, Ridgway continued to target women along Pacific Highway South.

Mary's remains were discovered on November 13, 1983, approximately 14 months after her disappearance. They were found near South 192nd Street and 27th Avenue South, in southern King County. The location was within the broader area where Ridgway had disposed of numerous victims. The delayed recovery meant that Mary's disappearance remained an unresolved missing-person case throughout the early stages of the Green River investigation.

Mary's disappearance became one of the many missing-person cases examined by the Green River Task Force. Investigators were dealing with a growing number of victims and missing women, many of whom had last been seen along Pacific Highway South. Ridgway was already a person of interest, but investigators could not establish enough evidence to arrest him. Mary's remains were recovered in November 1983, adding another victim to the expanding investigation. Ridgway remained free for almost two decades. In 2001, advances in DNA testing finally produced evidence linking him to several Green River murders, leading to his arrest on November 30. During extensive interviews following his arrest, Ridgway admitted murdering Mary Meehan.

Gary Ridgway pleaded guilty in 2003 to Mary'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.

Mary's case demonstrates the difficulty investigators faced in locating victims whose bodies had been deliberately concealed. She disappeared in September 1982, but her remains were not recovered until November 1983. Her disappearance also occurred during the period when Ridgway was repeatedly targeting women along Pacific Highway South, one of the most important locations in the Green River investigation.