Green River Killer
On the 12 August 1982, the body of a prostitute was found in the Green River, Seattle. A few weeks later more bodies were found. All were prostitutes, and all were killed by strangulation.
When it was discovered that the killer was returning to dump victims in the Green River, the police set up a survelliance operation, but when a TV station told of the operation on the air, the chance to catch the killer was gone.
The killer still continued to claim victims. By 1983 the total had reached about 40. The police were still no closer to solving the investigation. In 1984 it was discovered that the killer had dumped the bodies of 5 prostitutes near the Sea-Tac airport, in Washington State.
By 1985 the murders had ceased in Seattle and the police said that they had moved to Portland, Oregon, where 4 young prostitutes had vanished. Some prostitutes that disappeared, were never seen again.
By 1989, seven and a half years after the first known murder, the case had little public interest and the police had spent 12 million dollars in the investigation that had got them nowhere. By now the murders had ceased. The only good thing to come to come out of the investigation was that it improved the Seattle police department to one of the best in the USA.