On July 15th, 1982, children found the body of 16 year-old Wendy Coffield in the Green River near Kent, Washington. She’d been strangled with her own clothing.
Coffield was the first victim of the Green River Killer to be found. Even after a second victim was found police had a difficult time believing that they were dealing with a serial killer. It was largely through the risky and remarkable efforts spearheaded by now Congressman Dave Reichert (formerly of the King County Sheriff’s Office) and Bob Keppel, the chief investigator of the Washington State Attorney General’s Office at the time, that the Green River Killer was eventually caught.
