wendy lee coffield autopsy report

She had never been a great student; Mary suffered from a hearing misperception that made concentrating difficult. Before her disappearance, Wendy was, in her mother's words, a "magical kid." Born on Oct. 10, 1968, she was the only daughter of Ms. Gaspar and her then-husband, Charles Stephens (who died in. Led by a volunteer, Cairenn Binder, a team of five forensic genealogists began building out a family tree. No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments. English As is the case for many young women, Wendy Lee Coffield began acting out pretty much the moment she hit puberty. She was only 16 years old. Learn more about managing a memorial . Formerly known as Jane Doe B-16 or Bones 16, Sandra was eventually identified in 2012 after one of her cousins saw a television show about the Green River Killer and submitted DNA to the King County Sheriffs Office. At some point during her young life Denise had a medical procedure involving her brain and her skull had a small hole in the bony process there. Please contact Find a Grave at [emailprotected] if you need help resetting your password. Sandra D. Major She was just another kid that ran away that they didnt care about, she said. One of the detectives, Sgt. Linda Rule But he denied knowledge of the murders, and the police lacked further evidence to proceed. Looked like a body. Hair styles are only a best guess. (AP Photo/King County Sheriff's Department, ho), Investigators move the body of a woman found slain. Wendy was a runaway who had a history of prostitution. She was so young and died before she ever really got to live, she said. Now, the detectives said they finally had answers: Wendy Stephens, 14, had been identified as the youngest victim of the serial murderer Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer. November2001: Gary Leon Ridgway was arrested and subsequently charged with the murders of Cynthia Jean Hinds, Marcia Faye Chapman, Opal Charmaine Mills and Carol Ann Christiansen. By 1982 Wendy was working as a sex worker, had multiple run ins with police and was drinking and doing drugs often. You have all the time to be a grown-up with all those problems. But she wanted to be an adult so bad.. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option. It was obvious that she had died from asphyxiation. Rivers In Time ProjectKing CountySeattle Public UtilitiesSeattle City Light, Wendy Coffield's body being pulled out of the Green River, 1982, Green River, Meeker Street Bridge, Kent, April 15, 2009, Green River Murder Victim Identified;P Probe Inches Along The Seattle Times, August 18, 1982, p. A13; Carlton Smith, Wendy Juvenile in Jeopardy. Maureen Sue Feeney By 1984, the number of dead or missing women . All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. But I wasn't going to let her go.". Born sometime in 1965, Shawnda was one of three children and had a history of prostitution. 17 Apr 1966 - 8 Jul 1982 . As she moved into her early teens, her mother was struck and at times, frightened by her beauty and free spirit. Marcia Chapman and Cynthia Hinds, victims of the Green River Killer. Andrea Childers was only 19 the last time she saw her grandmother in 1983. I find that very ironic, in reference to Ridgways plea deal that would spare him from the death penalty in exchange for confessing and disclosing the locations of victims bodies. Constance Naon Add to your scrapbook. In April of 2003, Ridgway was accused of murdering Wendy Lee Coffield, Debra Lynn Bonner, and Debra Estes. There were women he confessed to killing but whose bodies could not be found. The victim was Wendy Lee Coffield, a 16-year-old girl from Puyallup. Year should not be greater than current year. This will never put an end or closure on her death or murder. Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried. The two separated soon after, but Ms. Gaspar, 17 at the time, said raising Wendy as a single, teenage mother was surprisingly easy. The police got a lead on her identity after they published photographs of her tattoos in local newspapers. Cindy Ann Smith Before the year was over, Ridgeway went on to claim the lives of 15 women. Green River, Running Red: The Real Story of the Green River Killer - America's Deadliest Serial Murderer, Pocket Star. But that may be at the request of her family. They took a report, filed it. You need a Find a Grave account to continue. When her husband answered the door, the two men introduced themselves as detectives from the King County Sheriffs Office in Seattle and asked to speak with Ms. Gaspar. July 15, 1982 - Body of Wendy Lee Coffield, 16, Puyallup, found floating in the Green River south of Seattle. Over time, the combination of advancing technology, science, and determined investigative work advanced the case until an arrest was made in 2001. But some unknowns persist. We talked while she was there, Ms. Gaspar recalled. She had to see for herself. With sparse evidence, her murder remained unsolved. Some of them had histories of prostitution, and many were last seen along Pacific Highway South near Sea-Tac airport. Her body was found July 15, by two teenage boys riding their bikes across the bridge of the Green River, Wendy was under the Peck Bridge. She was going through those rebellious ages, said Ms. Gaspar, who was at a loss for what had caused the sudden change, aside from a new, more freewheeling set of friends. Tina Marie Thompson She was born in June of 1965. 4. The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional. On on of her trips Gisele had become involved with a taxi driver known as Jak-Bak. Investigators believe she was killed not long after her arrival in Washington. He asked the older man if he had caught anything. Lets get their DNA profiles in, remembered Dr. Taylor. A former resident of Walla Walla, Washington, Alma dropped out of school at 17 and went back and forth between Seattle, where her father lived, and Walla Walla, where her mother resided. When the police recovered Coffield's remains from the water, they had no idea that this was just the beginning of a nightmare that would stretch on for more than a decade. Two boys riding their bicycles across a bridge spotted the tennis shoes first of fully clothed body. Wendy was 16 years old and last seen on July 8, 1982 in the Tacoma, Washington area. Oops, something didn't work. Their kids were still in the process of running, and I was everybodys horror story. For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab. We never heard from her again and did not know what happened to herWe respectfully ask that the media allow us privacy.. 18 year old Shirley Sherrill was once on the drill team and loved to dance. To use this feature, use a newer browser. When 16 year old Linda left her motel room on the afternoon of September 26th, 1982, she appeared to be in a good mood. The police detectives at the scene quickly realized that there was a serial killer on the loose. Never has done anything like this. Just a month earlier, another young girl, identified as Wendy Lee Coffield, was found strangled and floating in the Green River. This is a carousel with slides. By August 15, 1982, a total of five bodies had been found on or along the Green River. Thats when we knew that we had a serial killer, Mr. Reichert said. According to Smith and Guillen's book, The Search for the Green River Killer, the man standing then asked Ainsworth if he found anything, to which Ainsworth replied, "Just this old singletree." The youngest of two daughters, Wendy was 12 when she and a friend ran away to a nearby truck stop, hoping to catch a ride. They knew that they had to find and catch him as soon as possible before any more women disappeared. Throughout the 1980s and 90s, Mr. Ridgway, one of Americas most devastating serial killers, terrorized King County, Wash. She conceived yet again within a month. The girl had a pair of blue pants knotted around her neck. The persistent sneezing was usually her undoing. She dropped out of middle school, left her family home by 14 and was an occasional drug user (marijuana and Ritalin) who turned to sex work to financially support herself. Kimi-Kai whose name translated to golden sea at dawn in Hawaiian was described by her mother as an adventurous girl who loved unicorns and anything purple. to target victims of opportunity (women walking home, hitchhiking, etc.). At first, like, its not really happening, recalled Dave Reichert, a former King County sheriff and the author of Chasing the Devil: My Twenty-Year Quest to Capture the Green River Killer. You start out thinking youve got one body, Mr. Reichert said. She went missing in July and her body was discovered in August 1982. Verify and try again. They then drove out to his "usual spot", where they had sex in his truck. She had been killed by ligature strangulation. After months of silence from the local police, Ms. Gaspar had begun to doubt if anyone was actually looking for her daughter. Some of them had histories of prostitution, and many were last seen along Pacific Highway South near Sea-Tac airport. This is the first of 49 bodies found of suspected victims of a serial killer. Seattle? We're looking for the current whereabouts of these women, or their true names, or names of associates and relatives and when these women were seen last. On July 15, 1982, two teenage boys discovered the body of Wendy Lee Coffield, age 16, floating the Green River between Kent and Tukwila. Thus began one of the longest and largest serial murder investigations in United States history. The identity of Wendy Marie Stephens was one of those unknowns. When I got that notification, that this was it, that this was Wendy, I cant even tell you, Dr. Taylor said. You may request to transfer up to 250,000 memorials managed by Find a Grave. Ridgway's decision to dump his victims in this river earned him the nickname "the Green River Killer.". Even her birthday appears to have been lost to time. On July 15, 1982, the body of Wendy Lee Coffield was found in the Green River. Debra Lynn Bonner Sadly, this was just the beginning of Ridgway's killing spree. The medical examiner's office determined that she had been strangled. 14 An autopsy confirmed that Coffield died as aresultofstrangulation. Required fields are marked *. You have chosen this person to be their own family member. In memory of all the lost and murdered young women who fell victim to the Green River Killer, with my profound regret that they never had the chance to make the new start so many of them hoped to achieve Ann Rule, author of Green River, Running Red. With whom? Stigma complicated matters, according to Dr. Taylor. He claimed self-defense and was released, the charges dropped. Theclay reconstructions were done by National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to assist us in identifying the women. On July 15, 1982, two teenage boys, who live in nearby Kent, Washington, spot a body in the Green River floating against the Meeker Street Bridge. Try again. And in September of that year, she joined with friends, family and spiritual leaders on Zoom to, in her words, honor the spirit that was Wendy. For a long time the idea of hosting a service seemed daunting, even unbearable, but after so many years of unrest about her daughter, Ms. Gaspar feels relief and lightness and knowing that shes been sent on her way., She had her own problems, Ms. Gaspar said, but she was a precious young life who hadnt found her way yet., The Young Woman Behind a Last Mystery of the Green River Killer, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/26/us/green-river-killer-mystery.html, Photo Illustration by Aubrey Trinnaman for The New York Times, King County Sheriffs Department, via Associated Press; Photo Illustration by Aubrey Trinnaman for The New York Times, Elaine Thompson/Associated Press; King County Sheriffs Department, via Associated Press; Photo Illustration by Aubrey Trinnaman for The New York Times. . And how did they know her name? Then, remarkably, DNA profiling arrived on the scene, revolutionizing criminal investigations and leading to the first breakthrough in the Green River Killer case in years. Wendy Lee Coffield, 16, July 8, 1982, at state receiving home, Tacoma. Kelly Ware Sandra D. Major By mid-1983, King County investigators had found and identified eight victims, and a pattern: The killer was strangling young women sex workers or runaways many of whom were navigating the streets alone, after having escaped abuse or difficulties at home. Cynthia, who often went by Cookie, got a job through a private contractor to paint apartments, and worked with a friend, Opal Mills, another of Ridgways victims. Cynthia Jean Hinds All photos uploaded successfully, click on the Done button to see the photos in the gallery. As he drifted slowly downstream, he noticed a middle-aged balding man standing by the riverbank and a second, younger man sitting in a nearby pickup truck. This is a "Bird's Eye" aerial image of the bridge, which is also known as Peck Bridge. Thats beyond the realm of possibility, she said. It was published on August 19th, 1982, just over a month after Wendy's remains were discovered. Not a crier. You can set your cookie preferences below. She came for a late birthday celebrationHer birthday was March 29th. Linda Rule known to her family as Janie had a background all too familiar among Green River victims. If you have questions, please contact [emailprotected]. Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print. The body is later identified as Wendy Lee Coffield, who was 16 years old. The next day, Ms. Gaspars parents and sister came to visit from Phoenix. Share this memorial using social media sites or email.

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