The bridge where Wendy Lee Coffield was found.

Wendy Lee Coffield's body was found underneath this bridge.

The 16-year-old was found floating underneath this bridge. The inset photograph in the top right-hand corner shows the police removing her body from the river.

Sadly, this was just the beginning of Ridgway's killing spree.

Meeker Street Bridge.

Two teenage boys were cycling across the Meeker Street Bridge in Kent, Washington, when they spotted something floating in the water. After taking a closer look, they realized that it was a dead body.

Runaway.

This newspaper clipping is from the Spokesman Review. It was published on August 19th, 1982, just over a month after Wendy's remains were discovered.

By the time this article was published, the bodies of four more sex workers had turned up in the Green River.

Wendy was a runaway who had a history of prostitution. According to her mother, Virginia, she had dropped out of school in junior high.

During Wendy's childhood, the pair lived in poverty, moving from one low-rent apartment to the next. At one stage, they lived in a tent and attempted to make money by selling blackberries that they had foraged.

At the time of her death, the 16-year-old was reportedly living in a foster home.

Tacoma News Tribune.

According to this newspaper article in the Tacoma News Tribune, Wendy was partially clothed.

The medical examiner's office determined that she had been strangled.

The police got a lead on her identity after they published photographs of her tattoos in local newspapers. A few days later, a tattoo artist came forward to say that he recognized them.

Shortly afterwards, she was positively identified by her mother.

During his confession, Ridgway stated that he picked the young girl up on a highway. They then drove out to his "usual spot", where they had sex in his truck. At one point, he claimed that he "got behind her" and started choking her.

"I'm saying, stop moving and I'll let you go. And that was over and over again. But I wasn't going to let her go."

After strangling Wendy to death, he dragged her down to the river and pushed her into it.

Pimp war.

Interestingly, when the murders first started, some police officers theorized that they might be related to a "pimp war" or "drug involvement."

Aerial image.

This is a "Bird's Eye" aerial image of the bridge, which is also known as Peck Bridge. Image courtesy of Bing Maps.

Gallan Hirschi.

On July 15th, 1982, Gallan Hirschi and his friend Robert spent the day riding their bikes.

While they were cycling home, they noticed that an object was stuck against an old post in the river.

At first, it looked like a bag. However, after wading out to take a closer look, they saw human hair and a jacket.

According to Gallan, the body was on the southern side of the bridge.

To this day, he doesn't like the sight of hair under water.