Gary Ridgway booked in Seattle, in 'institutional hold'

Gary Ridgway booked, in 'institutional hold' at King County Jail

Ridgway hasn't been charged, but he is in an "institutional hold" at the King County Jail, according to the Prosecutor's Office.

SEATTLE - Gary Ridgway, also known as the "Green River Killer" that terrorized Washington for years, was recently rebooked into King County Jail.

Ridgway previously pleaded guilty to the murders of nearly 50 women and teenagers, leaving multiple families grieving throughout the state.

Despite being locked up in Walla Walla's Washington State Penitentiary for decades, Ridgway was recently brought back to Seattle. He was booked at 10:42 a.m. on Monday.

Retired homicide detective Cloyd Steiger remembers Ridgway's reign of terror, and why he's known as one of Washington's most infamous serial killers.

"It'll never end. It never ends for the families and the victims," Steiger said.

Though he didn't work on the investigation, Steiger says he had colleagues who did, and believes these could be the reasons for his return.

"Either he's being charged with a new crime he wasn't charged with before, or he has to be resentenced on one or more of his charges from before, because of some technicality," Steiger said.

The King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office says Ridgway hasn't been charged, but he is in an "institutional hold." Beyond that, no other details on Ridgway's move have been shared.

The King County Sheriff's Office provided FOX 13 Seattle the following statement on Ridgway's rebooking.

"Since Gary Ridgway’s arrest in 2001 pertaining to the Green River murder investigation, the King County Sheriff’s Office continues to actively investigate potentially related cases."

When Ridgway was sentenced in 2003, prosecutors took the death penalty off the table if he agreed to plead guilty to any and all future cases in King County where his confession would be backed up with reliabl

In late 2023 and early 2024, the King County Sheriff's Office announced that two sets of unidentified bones were linked to two of Ridgway's victims through DNA technology.