The Case of Shirley Marie Sherrill

Shirley Marie Sherrill was 18 when she disappeared from the Seattle area in October 1982. Her remains were discovered nearly three years later near Tigard, Oregon, alongside those of Denise Bush. Gary Ridgway later admitted murdering Sherrill and told investigators that he had moved her remains to the Oregon site.

Shirley Sherrill was 18 years old and was living in the Seattle area when she disappeared in October 1982. She was last seen during the period when Ridgway was repeatedly targeting young women along Pacific Highway South. Her disappearance came only days after Denise Bush disappeared on October 8 and Shawnda Summers disappeared on October 9. By late October 1982, the Green River investigation was already dealing with a rapidly growing number of missing and murdered women. Investigators believed that a single offender was responsible for many of the deaths, but Ridgway remained unidentified.

Shirley's remains were discovered in June 1985 near Tigard, Oregon, in an area close to the Tualatin River. Her remains were found alongside those of Denise Darcel Bush, another Ridgway victim who had disappeared from the Seattle area in October 1982. Both women had been listed among the Green River missing persons. The discovery of the remains in Oregon initially presented investigators with another unidentified-remains investigation. Their eventual identification connected the Oregon discoveries to two women who had disappeared in Washington.

Shirley's disappearance was investigated as part of the Green River missing-person investigation, although her remains were not recovered until years later. In June 1985, investigators recovered the remains of two women near Bull Mountain Road in Tigard, Oregon. Green River detectives travelled to Oregon to assist with the investigation because the circumstances suggested the remains could belong to women from the Seattle area. The remains were eventually identified as Shirley Sherrill and Denise Bush. Both women had disappeared from the Seattle area in October 1982. Ridgway had already been a suspect in the Green River investigation for several years, but investigators lacked sufficient evidence to charge him. After his arrest in November 2001, Ridgway provided extensive information about his murders. During interviews in 2002 and 2003, he admitted killing both Sherrill and Bush and told investigators that he had later moved their remains to the Tigard location. Investigators were able to corroborate his account in the Bush case through the recovery of additional remains.

Gary Ridgway pleaded guilty in 2003 to Shirley Sherrill'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.

Shirley's case is significant within the Green River investigation because her remains were found outside Washington, alongside another Green River victim. Ridgway's later admission that he had moved the remains to the Oregon site also helped investigators understand that he sometimes relocated victims after their original disposal.