The Case of Rebecca "Becky" Marrero

Rebecca "Becky" Marrero was 20 years old when she disappeared from Pacific Highway South on December 3, 1982. Her skull was discovered in an Auburn ravine 28 years later, allowing investigators to finally confirm her fate. Ridgway had previously admitted killing Marrero, but the discovery of her remains provided the evidence needed to prosecute him. He pleaded guilty to her murder in February 2011, receiving his 49th consecutive life sentence.

Rebecca Marrero was a 20-year-old mother who lived in the Seattle area. On December 3, 1982, she left a motel room at South 168th Street and Pacific Highway South after leaving her three-year-old daughter with her grandmother. She was expected to return but never did. Marrero's disappearance was investigated by the Green River Task Force, which quickly suspected that she could be one of Gary Ridgway's victims. Her disappearance occurred during the early period of Ridgway's murder spree, when numerous young women were disappearing from the Pacific Highway South area.

For almost three decades, investigators did not know where Marrero's remains had been left. On December 21, 2010, three teenagers exploring a wooded ravine near West Valley Highway and South 292nd Street in Auburn discovered a human skull. Forensic odontologists compared the dental records with Marrero's records and positively identified the skull as hers. The location was significant because the ravine was close to where the remains of another Ridgway victim, Marie Malvar, had been recovered in 2003. Investigators subsequently searched the area for additional remains, although further bones discovered during the search proved to be animal remains.

Marrero's disappearance had remained an active concern for Green River investigators for decades. Ridgway had already admitted during his post-arrest interviews that he had killed Marrero, but prosecutors did not initially charge him because her body had not been found and investigators did not believe they had sufficient evidence to prove the murder. The discovery of her skull in 2010 changed the situation. Investigators reviewed Ridgway's previous statements and the circumstances surrounding Marrero's disappearance and death. Evidence showed that he had previously identified the general area where he believed he had left her body. After the discovery, prosecutors determined that the case could support a murder charge. Ridgway was charged with aggravated first-degree murder in February 2011. On February 18, 2011, Ridgway pleaded guilty to Marrero's murder. He was sentenced to another life term without the possibility of parole, becoming the 49th murder for which he was convicted.

Gary Ridgway pleaded guilty to Rebecca Marrero's aggravated first-degree murder on February 18, 2011. He received his 49th consecutive life sentence without the possibility of parole, adding another sentence to the 48 life terms imposed after his 2003 guilty plea. Marrero's identification finally gave her family confirmation of what had happened to her nearly 29 years after her disappearance.

Rebecca Marrero's case is particularly significant because it became Ridgway's 49th murder conviction. Unlike the 48 murders covered by his 2003 plea agreement, Marrero's case was prosecuted separately after the discovery of her remains in 2010 provided new evidence. Her identification also demonstrated that Ridgway's admissions to investigators could be revisited years later when new physical evidence became available.