Gary Ridgway (born 1949), infamously known as the “Green River Killer,” is an American serial killer convicted of murdering dozens of women in Washington state during the 1980s and 1990s. Ridgway primarily targeted vulnerable women, many of whom were involved in prostitution, and disposed of victims near the Green River and surrounding wooded areas. After years of investigation, DNA evidence and forensic advances led to his arrest in 2001, making the case one of the largest serial murder investigations in U.S. history.