This is a list of 40 unsolved murders in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties since 1984, the year the Green River Killer stopped killing young women in the Seattle area. Almost all 40 victims were women, with many of the deaths reminiscent of victims of serial killers - prostitutes or young street teenagers.
KING OF THE COUNTY
1. Sarah Habakangas, 17, of Virginia, was found strangled Nov. 5, 1991, off Interstate 90 east of North Bend. He has lived in Tacoma and near the Sea-Tac strip mall since arriving in the Seattle area six months ago. Arrested twice in Seattle for prostitution.
2. Anna Lee Chebetnoy, 14, of Puyallup, found Sept. 17, 1991, off Highway 410 east of Enumclaw. Last seen in Puyallup. Found near the site where the remains of the Sumner teenager were discovered in 1990.
3. Female remains found on September 11, 1991, 10 miles east of Enumclaw near Highway 410. The remains were of a female with African-American features. He was 4 feet 11 inches to 5 feet 2. He was 17 to 24 years old. He had been dead for at least two years.
4. Unidentified skeletal remains, believed to be female, found along the Snoqualmie River near Fall City on September 6, 1991.
5. Dawn Jennings, 37, of San Juan Island, found on August 4, 1991, near Highway 2, five miles east of Skykomish. Police are investigating the possibility that she did not die of foul play.
6. Unidentified skeletal remains discovered on July 6, 1991 along I-90 near North Bend. The remains are white females, 14 to 22 years old, 5 feet 6 to 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing over 170 pounds. He is believed to have died in May or June.
7. Martha Reeves, 37, of Bothel. Found on September 20, 1990, five miles east of Enumclaw off Highway 410. She is believed to have disappeared from Seattle, where she was arrested twice for prostitution.
8. Rhonda Hanke, 22, of Portland was found along I-90 five miles west of Snoqualmie Pass on December 27, 1989. Shot in the head.
9. Kerry Anne Walker, 15, of Renton, found Dec. 22, 1989, north of Tukwila. The Renton High School freshman was last seen on Dec. 20, 1988, when her mother, on her way to work, looked into her room and saw her sleeping.
10. An unidentified woman, 30 to 50 years old, was found on October 3, 1989 in the 2300 block of Airport Way South in Seattle. Perhaps an Indian; he stood 5 feet 1 to 5 feet 4, weighed 100 to 120 pounds. Died of shotgun wounds.
11. Kimberly DeLange, 15, of Sumner was found Aug. 20, 1988, east of Enumclaw off Highway 410, where Chebetnoy was found in September. Last seen at Puyallup Mall.
12. Ophelia McGnight, 17, of Seattle. Found on February 6, 1988 in Montlake Park. Died of gunshot wounds.
13. Dorthea J. Presleigh, 24, found October 19, 1987 in Grandview Park, South King County. Disappeared from the Sea-Tac strip the day before his death from multiple gunshot wounds.
14. Debbie Gonzales, 14, of Auburn found on September 26, 1987 in the woods off the Auburn-Black Diamond Highway west of Black Diamond. There is no apparent cause of death.
15. Rose Marie Kurran, 16, of Lynnwood. strangled; a body left in a plastic bag just east of Sea-Tac Airport. Loved hitchhiking. Last seen on South Pacific Highway. Found on August 31, 1987. Police say she was the victim of a serial killer.
16. Shan M. Morehouse, 15, of Auburn found March 14, 1986 in the woods near Seward Park in Seattle. Died from a blow to the head.
17. Rose Ann Black, 25, Seattle, student at Seattle Vocational School. Found on August 20, 1984 in Lake Washington, near the swimming pool at 800 Lake Washington Boulevard, throat slit.
18. Kathleen Arita, 38, Boeing computer operator of Renton, found May 9, 1984 near Star Lake off South 272nd Way. Last seen leave home. Died of suffocation.
SNOHOMISH AMT
19. NN, severed man. Right leg found on February 28, 1991 in the Skykomish River near Startup; scalp attached to ear and brown curly hair found March 26, 1991 off High Bridge Road in Snoqualmie River Gorge southwest of Monroe; left leg found on August 22, 1991 on a sandbar on the Snohomish River five miles south of the town of Snohomish.
20. Tia Hicks, 20, of Seattle. Body found April 22, 1991 in the cab of a cruiser parked in Mountlake Terrace on Southwest 220th Street between Highway 99 and I-5. An obvious bystander who used drugs. Missing from Seattle.
21. Sun Nyo Lee, 36, of Bothel. Skull found March 27, 1991 southwest of Monroe near the Snoqualmie River along High Bridge Road. Detectives were examining a scalp found on March 26 when they came across Lee's head, which is believed to have been severed.
22. Michelle Koski, 17, of Seattle. strangled; found on August 25, 1990, southwest of Monroe, near the intersection of Highway 522 and Echo Lake Road.
23. Robyn Kenworthy, 20, of Seattle. Naked body found on October 22, 1988, under a pile of logs at a logging site two miles north of Index.
24. Jennifer Burnetto, 32, of Tacoma, found stabbed to death on June 29, 1988, eight miles northeast of Index.
25. Hazel Gelnett, 66, aka Jennifer James. Found strangled May 8, 1988 in woods three miles east of Gold Bar.
26. Unidentified skeletal remains of a woman in her teens or early 20s found January 1, 1988 in Canyon Park northwest of Bothell, 600 feet south of 228th Street Southwest.
27. Jay Cook, 20, of British Columbia found on November 26, 1987 under the High Bridge near Monroe. Girl's body found near Alger, Skagit County.
28. A dismembered white male found on June 7, 1987, two miles east of Golden Bullion.
29. Molly Purdin, 21, of Kennewick, was found bludgeoned to death on July 7, 1985, eight miles northeast of Index.
PIERCE AREA
30. Tracey Wooten, 26, of Tacoma, found on August 15, 1990 in Tacoma north of Commencement Bay. Alleged prostitute.
31. Samontra Baker, 24, of Tacoma, found Aug. 13, 1990, in a vacant lot across from a Tacoma condominium. Last seen in a car with two strangers. Died from a stab wound.
32. Lisa Rivas, 19, formerly of Seattle, was staying at the Fife Motel when she died. Body found January 9, 1989 in the woods near the Fort Lewis Proving Ground off Highway 507. Trying to shake off a life of prostitution and drug abuse when he was killed by a blow to the head.
33. Tracy Whitney, 18, of Federal Way, found Aug. 28, 1988, near Sumner, floating at the confluence of the Stuck and Puyallup rivers.
34. Shannon L. Pease, 15, of Tacoma. Found April 4, 1988 in a field in Lakewood. He is believed to have disappeared on April 3, 1988 from Ponders Corner in the Tacoma area.
35. Unidentified woman found on March 24, 1988 along the 16 freeway in Tacoma. Fully clothed, 18 to 22 years old, between 5ft 1 and 5ft 4. He is believed to be of mixed race, possibly African American with Asian or Native American ancestry.
36. Jennifer Bastian, 13, of Tacoma, was found on August 28, 1986, in Point Defiance Park, where she was riding her bike when she disappeared on August 4, 1986. Police believe she was the victim of a serial killer who also killed Michelle Welch.
37. Stephanie Louie, 18, of Auburn, found on August 19, 1986 in the woods near Eatonville. Last seen by a family member in August 1983 at the Omak Rodeo. Reported missing in 1984.
38. Denise L. Sallee, 17, of Pierce County. Found partially buried in Parkland on March 29, 1986. Missing from a Tacoma Mall bowling alley on January 24, 1986.
39. Michelle Welch, 12, of Tacoma. She disappeared on March 26, 1986, while playing with her younger sisters in Puget Park in Tacoma. The body was found the same evening.
40. Terry L. Main, 21, of Pierce County. Found in Tacoma on February 22, 1986, the same day she disappeared around
FAQs
Were any of Netflix Unsolved Mysteries solved? ›
As of May 2023, one case has been solved thanks to the rebooted series: the story of Kayla Unbehaun. The girl, then 9 years old, was with her mother for a court-ordered visitation in July 2017.
How many cases were solved from unsolved mysteries? ›Unsolved Mysteries creator Terry Meurer previously told TheWrap that during its original 23-year run, the series helped solve over 260 cold cases.
Is there more solved or unsolved murders? ›In 2021, only 51% of homicides were solved, according to FBI statistics analyzed by the Murder Accountability Project.
What cold case was solved by DNA? ›Laura Kempton, 23, was found dead in her Portsmouth apartment in 1981. A four-decade-old murder has been solved with the help of genetic genealogy technology, New Hampshire officials announced Thursday.